A narcissist, a CEO, a terrorist, and a biological experiment walked into a bar. Well, Aldrich Killian didn't 'walk' into a bar, so much as he was escorted into the bar.

By a ninety-three-year-old man.

And a dog.

Violently.

With his face.

The fact that the old man was Captain America and the dog was Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, may have had something to do with the metal bar caving in on contact. And his body's subsequent triple back-flip that followed the impact. And the ungraceful thud he made upon hitting the concrete.

That's what happens when someone lunges for their 'nemesis' without thought. They get tripped by a dog, slammed in the middle with a vibranium shield, and sent in an arc that would have all three judges of an acrobatics competition holding up scorecards with the number 10 on them.

Despite Killian's glorious airtime, the previous cry to kill them inspired action in his soldiers. The thump of his body on the concrete and the little skitter of the syringe that fell from his pocket gave way to the first gunshots. Small calibre firearms sounded out within the underground laboratory. The enclosed space made the small rounds explode with sound, the hail of metal falling upon the three.

Screams rang out from the terrified scientists through the room, not at all accustomed to the violence. They were just here to work, hired under Maya; they didn't have any part in human trials or knowledge about the terrorism plot. This was their nine-to-five, and the eruption of extreme violence caught them off-guard. Sure, sometimes a mouse or rat exploded; they had safeties in place.

But this?

Open gunfire in the room had them cowering, hiding behind desks or scrambling for the door, which had been sealed with multiple solid metal locks, leaving them trapped in a room between warring sides. They did their best to hide, hoping the flimsy wood tables would protect them.

Then, a powerful explosion of noise, a shot from a large calibre rifle overwhelmed all other sounds for a moment. Amaterasu jolted to the left, eyes wide with surprise, the bullet grazing her fur. The massive round impacted the floor where she had been sitting previously, the concrete exploding outward in a shower of rubble and a bright orange fluid.

"Get the civilians out of here!" Steve shouted out over the gunfire. He thought he heard Amaterasu bark in reply, but he couldn't be sure over the cacophony of noise. Steve raised his shield, the rounds flattening against the vibranium as he stepped back. He turned to duck behind the reinforced chambers near the center of the room, protecting himself from all sides.

There was another explosion from the massive rifle on the balcony. Amaterasu jolted to the right to avoid the shot, and then leaped upward, using her natural given gifts to slow time. She twisted in her arc, pushing off the very air itself, and backflipped into a kick down on Eric Savin's rifle.

The large gun was wrenched from his grip and clattered on the floor. Savin had exactly three seconds to look between the martial arts performing wolf, and the rifle on the ground. Back and forth. Trying to decide if putting up more of a fight against the supernatural entity was worth it.

He thought back to the tug-of-war he had lost. A fluke at best. The grass was slippery, that's all. She cheated because she had two more legs than he did.

He made his decision and lunged toward Amaterasu.

Savin found himself very quickly sailing across the room, courtesy of Amaterasu teleporting herself a foot to the right, and donkey-kicking him in the chest. The scream of mixed rage and terror caused several sets of eyes to follow the glorious arc of the Extremis soldier, tracking his progress into one of the windows on the opposite side of the room.

And then through it.

Another successful window smash!

The distraction allowed Ammy to slip away from her current spot, and focus on her main task at hand—rescuing the humans that weren't shooting at her, Steve, and Tony. She flashed her gaze to the other two for a moment, to ensure they were alright, before continuing.

Stark, confident in the build quality of his work, stepped forward, palms raised. Bullets plinked off his armour without effect—he had long since fixed the little issue with bullets making holes in his stuff. Well, his armour—Tony himself was still very much allergic to pain and lead, which is why he wore the suit.

Maybe he should make something a little more bullet-repellant for the other Avengers after this…

Repulsor blasts shot out, one after another, the concentrated energy impacting the shooters at center mass and knocking them off their feet. Several more individuals launched backwards from the shots, each impact causing those hit to do rough impersonations of Killian's series of flips, much to Stark's amusement.

Not one to be left out, Steve glanced around the barrier to take in the room and then whipped his shield at the wall in front of him. The metal bounced off the concrete wall, then the floor, humming through the air. It caught one shooter in the chest, and another in the forehead, before bouncing back toward Cap. Both shooters were sent to the floor courtesy of the Blunt-Force-Trauma-Frisbee-of-American-Pride.

Steve caught the shield and whirled around, ducking out of cover and crouching low. There was a break in the line of enemies firing at him, and he bolted forward, racing across the concrete. Powerful steps carried him straight toward the enemy. Nothing he hadn't experienced before during the war.

He leaped upward and, taking a page out of Amaterasu's book, planted a foot on the wall to his left. He pushed off the wall hard, soaring up and over the dented metal railing, landing on the balcony overlooking the room. A quick spin had him hurling the shield toward the closest pair of soldiers.

Unfortunately, they moved just a little too fast for Steve's liking, their reaction time near inhuman. One ducked and the other jolted to the side, before standing upright once more, bringing their weapons to point at the now shield-less Captain America.

Steve wasn't a super-soldier for nothing, however. He was already in the process of performing a roundhouse kick, his leg flashing out and catching one soldier in the wrist with his foot. The horrific snap of bone shattering was followed by another cry of pain as the gun he kicked from one hand caught the other soldier's as well, sending both guns clattering to the ground.

Steve jolted forward and delivered a powerful blow to one of his opponents, impacting their chest hard. The Extremis soldier staggered backward several steps, falling in line behind the other.

Clang!

The soldier in the rear realized why Steve forced him backward the moment that shield hit the back of his head, sending him face-first into the concrete. The shield bounced off the wall to the left, and the remaining soldier barely had the time to recognize the symbol of American pride hurtling toward his face.

Clang!

Steve caught the shield on the next rebound.

The impact sent the remaining mook over the edge of the railing, his unconscious body crumpling in a graceless heap on the concrete, half-draped over his groaning boss. Killian wasn't particularly enthused about having one of his soldiers land rear-first on his head and expressed his anger through muffled shouts and half-hearted flailing.

Obviously, he was still nursing a headache from his visit—violent escort—to the bar.

"Have you seen Laika?" Tony asked over the comms. "I lost track of her after she launched that one guy out of the window." He paused and then huffed. "Dammit, I wanted that to be my thing…"

Tony shot overhead and fired off a double repulsor blast into another armed guard, arresting his movement in an instant, allowing Tony to land in a classic super-hero pose, one knee and one fist on the ground. The poor woman was sent in a cartwheel across the room, flipping end over end, and crashed into a desk, scattering papers and computer parts in a glorious eruption that would send any person with the slightest hint of OCD screaming in another direction.

"I haven't seen her since the shooting started," Steve replied. He glanced around the room and raised his shield, catching several rounds off the metal, entirely unconcerned now that the enemy numbers were dwindling.

Tony responded to the shots with another long-range blast, flattening the schmuck that thought a pistol would have served him well against Iron Man.

"Adding to that, where'd all the egg-heads go? They didn't just disappear, did they?" Tony asked.

His question was answered with an outward explosion of dirt, rock, and ice.

They had, in fact, disappeared.

While Tony and Steve had been busy taking care of the aggressors and neutralizing the threats, Amaterasu had been busy as well. Sure, a couple of ice slicks here and there helped incapacitate several foes. She had also sprinted headfirst straight into people's legs. The unstoppable force of Amaterasu's zoomie-laden sprints sent well-built former soldiers flying from the force of impact, carving a path of destruction with her face.

Of course, that hadn't been the only thing she had done. Cloaking Maya and the other scientists—and her new little rodent friend—beneath an illusion had been step one of her absolutely brilliant plan.

Step two involved throwing herself out a window.

Maybe not the best plan for most people that wanted to survive until the end. For Ammy, she casually jumped up and out of the sole remaining window and shattered the glass. She might as well balance everything out and allow just a little more airflow into the stuffy room.

Still, she wasn't one for unnecessary destruction in times of emergency. After all this though? Maybe she'd dig up the driveway and plant a few trees in its place. And maybe level Killian's entire house, and replace it with lovely sprawling greenery and flowers. Possibly hunt down those people that Killian mentioned get away with destroying the environment and rampantly cover their property in nature of all sorts.

Just a little environmental terrorism, as a treat.

Amaterasu righted herself following the dive out the window and began digging. Digging and digging and digging some more, throwing an impossible amount of dirt out of the hole as she tunnelled at a shallow angle. It wasn't very wide, barely enough for Amaterasu to crouch in as she worked herself deeper into the earth. Eventually, she hit what had to be the concrete foundation and split it open with a casual swipe of her tail, shattering rebar-reinforced material inward.

This wasn't the point where she had answered Tony's question about the scientists, however.

Several people jumped and shrieked in surprise when their semi-sheltered location behind the reinforced containment chambers was breached. Not from the open sides where bullets were flying, nor from the top where someone could jump down from the containment chambers.

No, Maya had nearly pissed herself when Amaterasu's head broke through the solid concrete wall to her immediate right. The wolf's head was covered in dirt and rubble, her tongue poking out. She shook side to side slightly, in what appeared to be very excited wagging that she couldn't fully follow through with due to her impersonation of a wall-mounted animal head.

Amaterasu worked both front paws out of the wall and strained, trying to free herself. She twisted and turned, and finally pulled herself free from the wall and fell to the floor with a flop. She landed on her head and rolled forward twice, ending her little tumble on her back, looking up at the dozen scientists from her position on the floor, paws to her chest, tail wagging freely.

"…You're all kinds of weird, you know that?" Maya commented, looking down at the large wolf.

An affirmative bark was her response. Amaterasu jumped to her feet and nosed at the hole she dug in the wall. She took a couple steps back, and tilted her head, gesturing for the gathered scientists to start crawling into the tunnel she dug.

…

"You're kidding, right?" One asked after a moment. "That's way too small! And dirty, and dark, and—"

Amaterasu stopped listening after that, ignoring the rambling of someone who obviously needed to go outside more often. Instead, her attention was caught by the sight of one of Killian's close guards sailing across the room in a fantastic cartwheel, destroying a desk in her landing.

She chose to ignore the horrified cry of one of the scientists beside her, the person lamenting the loss of their perfectly organized desk, and the hours and hours planning out the most efficient placement of everything they needed in a standard day.

Sorted by colour. And material density.

Amaterasu rolled her eyes. Humans were weird sometimes, but she loved them regardless.

Seeing as no one willingly made a move toward the lovely and perfectly serviceable escape tunnel Ammy made, she figured she didn't have the time to gripe and encourage them onward to the surface single file.

Brute force and instilling fear it is then!

It was at this point that Amaterasu answered Tony's question of where the egg-heads went. She huffed and willed her magic into use once more, pulling on a flood of energy. Her breath frosted and little patches of ice spread out under her paws on contact with the floor, darting outward in little jolts.

Amaterasu heaved with her magic.

An explosion of ice, rock, and dirt showered the scientists gathered, causing them to cry out in various expressions of terror, disgust, and in Maya's case, an enthusiastic shout at the destruction of her former boss's home.

No one in the group could see through the shower of debris, though sunlight started to trickle through in thin beams. The cloud of dust gradually settled, allowing the gathered group to look at what exactly happened.

Amaterasu sat down and huffed out a breath, frost and snowflakes fluttering to the ground from the effort. She fixed the nearest person with a look, raised a paw, and pointed at the tunnel.

The now significantly larger tunnel, tall enough for everyone to stand upright in, and wide enough for two to walk side-by-side. The walls were coated in thick ice to keep up the structural support, while the floor was still firm dirt that allowed the humans to clamber out.

There was no room for arguing or protest now. Amaterasu had made her point, and no one needed a translation of her actions. The message was simple.

They could either go willingly, or Ammy would drag them out kicking and screaming. Whether they wanted to or not wasn't up for debate. They were going.

"Y-yes, Ma'am," came the shocked reply.

Amaterasu kept watch, trying to make sure no one was attempting to sneak up on the group evacuating the building. The dwindling sound of gunfire, the occasional clang of Steve's shield meeting someone's face, and the blast of Tony's repulsors—followed by a trailing shriek as someone was sent flying—made it seem as though things were wrapping up quite nicely.

With the group now through or in the tunnel, a swipe of her tail had a wall of ice seal the hole. Ammy crouched and leaped up, clambering through the shattered windows and up onto the ground level once more.

A glance to the right verified that Eric Savin was still on the grass, completely motionless save for the shallow rise and fall of his back. His skin was glowing orange, healing up the last few cuts and scrapes gathered from his sudden exit from the building. Still, he was down for the moment, so she could focus on the civilians.

Amaterasu led the group away from the building. She kept her ears perked, actively listening to any threats or danger to the group she was escorting away. They marched on, the last gunshot having been fired over a minute ago at this point. The change from thunderous battle to still silence unnerved Amaterasu. Still, she had to lead them onward a bit further, just in case.

Down the street they went, until they were a fair distance away from the building. Amaterasu's ears flicked as the sound of a low buzzing reached her ears, far off in the distance. She squinted, then 'wuffed' happily, her tail wagging.

"Why are we stopping?" Maya asked.

Amaterasu turned and set her paw on the ground before the group. Lifting it revealed the communications collar she had used earlier. She kicked it into the middle of the stunned group, and took a couple steps back, looking at the gathered scientists staring down at the device.

"What are you—"

The question was cut off with an enthusiastic bark, and a knowing grin from Amaterasu. Before anyone could even question why they were all gathered in a group, in the middle of the road, in plain sight from all directions, Amaterasu used her magic once more.

A wave of cold washed over the group, chilling them as the temperature plummeted for a moment. A thick chunk of ice sprouted from the ground, then another, forming large slabs in a quickly closing circle around the gathered humans.

A short growl from Ammy had a small white creature wriggle itself free from her fur. The little rodent fell to the asphalt and glanced up at Amaterasu. The wolf huffed, and the little rat responded with a squeak. The small creature took off toward the growing ice structure, leaping over the final growing barrier.

The rat rolled to a stop after its leap, and sat down in front of the half-grown ice slab, watching the scientists closely. It postured itself like a guard, its red eyes flickering just a little bit brighter.

"Wait! Amaterasu, don't—" Maya's words were cut off as the final slab of ice sealed the structure with a thud. The top was left open, allowing those inside access to sunlight and air.

"Hey, uh, Maya?" One of the scientists began. "I know this is a bad time and all," he spoke, turning toward the others, "but I quit. Killian's a dick."

Maya blinked and looked at the man with a stunned expression. She then turned to the rest of the people around her, everyone now out and away from the building, safe from the stray bullets for the moment.

The corner of her mouth quirked upward against her will. Followed by a toothy grin, turning into a smile. Then laughter, soft, and breathy at first, turning into an uncontrollable outpouring of emotion.

Amaterasu stepped away from the prism of ice, having heard and seen enough. Instead, she cast her gaze skyward, eyes locking onto the quickly growing shapes racing toward her location.

Confident that the SHIELD agents in the approaching Quinjets would be able to restrain and contain the scientists, Amaterasu turned tail and began loping in the direction of Killian's mansion. She didn't feel too bad about leading them into custody—they were all still involved and someone had to do something about all of this.

Besides, if they were being mistreated or having their knowledge abused for gain by another group, she'd shut that one down too. She wasn't going to take chances that could lead to people being hurt again. Ammy would just do her best, and what was best for those around her.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Back in the basement, Tony and Steve were taking a moment, standing side-by-side on the top balcony overlooking the laboratory. Despite their relatively simple win, Steve couldn't help the little bit of concern at the back of his mind.

Some of those soldiers he fought had been moving a little too fast for his liking. Their movements were too quick compared to normal people he sparred with. Not to mention their durability and resilience—some of those hits to the head should have knocked them out for a couple of hours, or at least kept them down for a while.

But some were starting to stand up again, grimacing and rubbing the back of their head, or pulling themselves up from the concrete. A glance over the railing let Steve see the broken wrist of the one man he kicked had already healed, his skin glowing a heated orange. Killian was up as well, scowling at the two on the level above him.

"Hey, Cap, you weren't just giving them little love taps, right?" Stark asked. "I wasn't really trying to hurt them, but they should still be feeling it."

"No, I wasn't," Steve replied. "They should still be down, though." He frowned, and glanced across the room, his eyes falling on a woman who got back to her feet after taking a minute to rest.

She held a gun in her hand and looked at the weapon with disgust. Then, she crushed it in her grip with a growl. The pieces of the weapon glowed orange for a moment, as did her hand, the hot metallic pieces falling to the concrete and bouncing across the floor with a series of metal pings.

"I don't think they were trying very hard either, Tony," Steve warned. "I think we were both right. About people being injected, and about how Extremis would act. They're faster, stronger, and that one's wrist already healed."

"Oh boo. So, what, they can get up a little quicker? Maybe hit a little harder?" Stark flipped up his faceplate and raised an eyebrow at Steve. "Well, c'mon then, old man. Put your back into it."

"Stark, I think we should take this outside. More room to maneuver, and an open space. You provide air support and I'll—"

Steve was interrupted by Aldrich Killian jumping from the bottom level of the basement. He cleared the dented railing and landed in a crouch, turning to face the two heroes with a little smirk. Killian raised a hand, brushed back his hair and smoothed out the wrinkles in his suit, standing straight.

"Huh," Tony blinked, glancing back at Steve for a moment. "You know, now that the bad guys can do that, it's not as impressive anymore. You need some new tricks."

"Tony, focus." Steve narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his shield. His eyes flicked from person to person, noting the lack of ranged weaponry on the Extremis soldiers starting to gather at the foot of the stairs. This didn't ease Steve's worry at all.

"You should listen to Captain Rogers, Tony." Killian took several lazy steps to the side, moving in a slow pacing motion in front of the two. "You know, it's so like you to ignore others. You really haven't changed since we last met. Still the smug, self-centred ass everyone loves."

"What's wrong, Goldilocks, you jealous?" Tony replied. His gauntlets tightened at his side, the blue glow of his repulsors growing brighter. "And for the record, I think I've changed for the better. Stopped blowing innocent people up at least. How's that been going for you—fix your little glitch yet?"

"Necessary sacrifices for the progression of science," Killian scoffed. "I took your little formula and combined it with what he," a gesture toward Steve, "is. The perfection of human biology. I'm the next step in evolution, Tony. It's glorious."

"Congratulations, you made spicey steroids," Tony snarked. "So, how long until you go 'pop' like the others?"

"Why go through all this trouble?" Steve asked, interrupting the back-and-forth. "I read your file. You grew up with a number of problems, and it looks like you've cured all of them. Why not lean into that? You could change so many lives for the better."

A low chuckle left Aldrich Killian. He shook his head and looked at Steve like one would a naïve child.

"Come on, Captain. You of all people should know about all the money and technological progress in war. Hell, Tony is more than aware of how profitable conflict is—that's how he made his billions." Killian stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked between the two. "World peace doesn't pay the bills, Captain. But changing the very way war is fought? Controlling the war on terror itself? Limitless potential for wealth and power."

"You really need to work on your evil plan. Pretty basic—six-point-five out of ten," Tony said. "At least make a better evil lair, this is pretty bare bones. Ya have a secret base somewhere?"

"There's the Stark I know. Hiding behind jokes and bodyguards for safety because you can't be bothered to fix yourself. You lack the drive, Tony. You won't go over that line. That's why I'm your better," Killian spoke and gestured to himself. "You stopped making weapons. I made myself a weapon. You hide behind your armour like a coward. I'm here without anything between you and me."

"You have terrible risk management skills," Stark stated. "I don't suppose you want to just give up? Save us the trouble and just sit down and wait for the men-in-black to take you away? I promise I'll bring you flowers in prison."

"Not a chance. It's been nice catching up with you, Tony." Killian's hand tightened at his side, a ripple of heat rolling up his forearm. "Don't worry too much about dying, I'll try to make it quick. A final little courtesy for giving me the drive to become better than you in every way." He paused, then smirked. "Hell, I'll even take care of Pepper for you; make sure she gets the life she deserves."

"…What did you say?" The whine of Tony's repulsors grew louder, causing Killian's grin to grow in response.

"Tony, don't. He's baiting you," Steve spoke lowly. "Stand down."

"Oh, she didn't tell you? We knew each other pretty well back in the day. I wonder, how do you think she'll react when you're gone?" Killian drawled, a wide smile gracing his face, eyes predatory, waiting for a chance to strike.

"Don't you dare." Tony grit his teeth, body tense.

"I can already see it now. So devastated by your loss, looking for comfort and familiarity. In comes an old friend, almost unrecognizable from a little 'physical therapy'. Working in the same field, telling old stories of her dead partner. Growing closer, clinging to that little bit of familiarity in such confusing times. Letting me in close, and eventually, giving in to desires." Killian laughed. "I give her a year at most before she's wrapped around my—"

The faceplate of the Iron Man suit slammed shut, and Tony whipped his arm upright, gauntlet aimed at Killian's face. There was a flash of light, a quick jolt, and the concrete wall behind Killian's head exploded outward in a shower of rubble.

Stark's wrist had been caught by Killian, the metal of the suit creaking and groaning in that tight grip. The brief shock at being stopped in his tracks was pushed away, buried in the back of Tony's mind. He swung a haymaker at Killian, trying to cave in that smug face with his hands.

The man raised a palm, and metal met flesh with a smack. Killian staggered back a step, then twisted a foot, planting himself firmly. He tightened his grip further, the metal groaning under the pressure of the enhanced human's strength. The hands that gripped the metal started to glow, even as Tony tried to wrench away from Killian's grasp. The metal heated further, and Tony grunted in pain, watching in shock as his arms were slowly forced downward, held in that iron-tight grip.

Killian opened his mouth to talk to Stark again, revelling in his moment. This was his moment, finally face-to-face with his adversary. His nemesis. The person that had tossed him to the side and left him all those years ago. The cause of his drive to improve. The inspiration for his plans for the Mandarin and the terrorism plot. There was so much to say and enjoy in this moment, watching Stark struggling against his strength. He had to make this perfect.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to talk about any of it. He forgot about Captain America just a couple of feet away.

Steve brought the edge of his shield down hard on Killian's arm, the concentrated point and superstrength causing the enhanced bone to snap beneath the force. Killian reeled back, clutching his broken forearm with his other hand, biting back a cry of pain.

"You little shi-"

Clang!

Flesh met metal once again in a thunderous collision, Killian reeling backwards from the impact of Steve's shield on his face. His nose was flattened, giving him a visage reminiscent of a pug. Despite being an enhanced human, Killian was no trained soldier. Stunned from the blow to the head, he didn't have time to retaliate against Tony's double-handed repulsor blast, sending him careening into the wall.

"Smarmy bastard," Tony huffed. He looked down at his hands and shook them out, testing the range of motion of his suit.

"You okay?" Steve asked. His attention wasn't on Stark though, and kept his guard up.

"I'll be fine. Nothing was really damaged. Just don't touch the glowy bits."

"I noticed," Steve replied.

Tony finally turned away from the groaning and healing Killian, looking over the assembled Extremis soldiers. He paused, then glanced at Steve, before turning back to the gathered goons.

"I don't suppose you'd all want to just give up now? Save yourselves the humiliating defeat?" Tony asked.

Silence was his answer. Tony rolled his eyes and raised his arms in a 'what-can-you-do' kind of gesture.

Instead of retreating, the surrounding soldiers grew closer, hands and limbs glowing a weak shade of orange as they approached. The temperature in the room rose several degrees as the enhanced humans moved toward the two Avengers. Their footsteps echoed ominously in the basement, the wall of angry Extremis soldiers—

"Hey, we'll take the offer! I didn't sign up to fight Iron Man and Captain America."

The movement in the room stilled, every head turning to one of several soldiers who hadn't moved. Of those that hadn't moved, almost all of them were from that little backyard barbecue and tug-of-war contest.

Mike turned away from the whole group that had been advancing on Tony and Steve, followed by the members of his squad. They ignored the heated looks from their former colleagues; the incredulous stares from Tony and Steve, and instead made their way to the shattered windows.

Mike was the first one to jump up, grabbing at the ledge ten feet in the air and started pulling himself up. He looked upward and froze, blinking in surprise at coming face-to-face with Amaterasu, the wolf that had handily beaten them all in a contest of strength.

"Wuff!" Ammy barked in greeting, her tail giving a little wag.

"…" Wordlessly, Mike dropped from the ledge and turned around. He used an arm to encourage his friends to follow him, guiding them all toward the middle of the basement. The group turned, and all piled into a single containment chamber, cramming themselves in. A button was hit just inside of the entrance and the thick polymer blast door slowly raised. Higher and higher.

The group stared at the others through the raising glass.

The rest of the Extremis soldiers stared back.

It closed with a thud.

…

"Anyone else want to cooperate?" Steve asked. Every single head turned back to face him; Tony included. "What?"

The peace was shattered by a growl from Killian, the powerful Extremis user getting to his feet with a huff. He clenched his hands, and ran forward, feet pounding against the concrete. The soldiers took that as their queue to charge, clamouring up the stairs or jumping from the lower floor to grab at the railing.

"Nope." Tony reached to the side and grabbed Steve by the back of his suit.

Steve made a surprised noise as he and Tony were jolted backwards with a flare of the thrusters on the Iron Man suit. The motion was a sudden and short hop, landing the duo in the center of the room with their backs to the containment chambers.

Already, several soldiers were climbing over the edge of the railing up above, crouching down to throw themselves at the duo. Steve interrupted the attempted attack, hurling his shield forward violently. The precision throw caught one on the wrist, causing him to lose his grip and fall below. The shield bounced twice more, catching a woman in the head and sending her tumbling, before rebounding off of the wall, returning to Steve's hand.

"Nice throw. We should sneak you into a frisbee golf competition sometime," Tony commented. He raised an arm and a compartment opened up on his forearm. Several glowing blue projectiles hurtled through the air, each one striking a different target.

The soldiers struck by the objects looked down at the weapons clinging to them, little teeth-like legs digging in and holding tight.

"Romanoff inspired me," Tony explained. "Now, Jarvis."

Powerful electric currents raced through the ones with the projectiles attached to them. Their convulsing and helpless movements tripped up their fellow soldiers, keeping the angry hoard half-trapped on the balcony, stifling the incoming wave for the time being.

A loud bark from behind the duo made Tony jump, while Steve whipped around in surprise. Amaterasu soared over their heads and landed on all fours in front of the two. There was no warning, no sudden realization about what Ammy was about to do.

The universe lurched.

Tony and Steve stumbled.

The concrete balcony and flooring shattered. Metal shrieked in agony as it was rent apart with supernatural force. The walls, the very foundation of the mansion shuddered. Cracks spread out from the line that sliced through the walls and floor, causing dust to filter down from the ceiling.

The nearly three dozen Extremis soldiers, Killian included, plummeted to the floor below amid large chunks of concrete. Screams of agony and shouts of fear sounded out, rebar-reinforced concrete forming a very poor cushion for the short fall.

"Sir, the structural integrity of the building has decreased drastically. Please use caution," Jarvis spoke up.

"I can see that," Tony replied. He looked up at the cracks on the ceiling, and the light filtering in through the diagonal slash in the wall across from them. He narrowed his eyes, looking through the gash in the wall, and noticed the cut travelled back through several more layers of walls and flooring, light filtering in through the far end. "What the hell happened?"

Amaterasu hadn't meant to put that much force into the move. Still, the heavy use of the ability staggered her a small bit, forcing her to sit down. She looked over her shoulder and gave a big doggy grin to both Steve and Tony. Her ears folded back, and her tail quivered on the floor, twitching back and forth hesitantly.

Oops.

"…Hey, Rogers?" Tony began. "I'm taking Space Dog with me on any big villain fights now, 'kay?"

"Really? That's what you're worried about right now?" Steve sighed and quirked an eyebrow at Tony.

"Yes, really. Come on, think you can handle that if she gets the zoomies?"

"Can you?"

Tony raised a finger and took a step past Ammy.

"Of course I can, I—" Tony paused, and glanced down at the wolf. He stared hard at her tongue-lolled-out expression and the broad tail wagging. Stark turned to face Steve and pointed right at him. "Know what? Fair point."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I swear, it's like babysitting," Steve sighed to Amaterasu.

"Hey, that's insulting," Tony replied. "Babies are far more predictable and easier to manage."

"STARK!" Killian's voice cried out.

"Yes, dear?" Tony replied.

A molten hand punched through the rubble, allowing Killian to rip his way through the material he had been buried in, crawling out of the rock like a demon tearing itself through the crust of the Earth. Several of his soldiers did the same seconds later, more than one horrific injury apparent as they hauled themselves from the rubble.

One, in particular, looked to be in rough shape, a thick chunk of rebar punched clear through his gut. The metal sizzled and glowed brighter each second that passed. A hand gripped the searing hot metal, and a violent tug wrenched the rebar straight through his side!

Amaterasu gagged in revulsion, watching the man's insides come out for more than a brief moment. Steadily, everything returned to its proper place, organs being pulled back into the body through the power of Extremis, taken in like some cavernous maw slurping up a plate of pasta. Ammy shuddered, and shook her head, bringing herself to all fours again.

Tony turned toward Ammy and Steve, likely prepared to deliver some snarky one-liner or clever phrase when he really should be focused on the Extremis soldiers–the number growing with each person that crawled free of the rubble.

He never had the chance.

Killian hurled a slab of metal and concrete at Stark, the thrown object colliding with Tony's helmet with a sound similar to that of a gong. He staggered back, and brought a hand up to his helmet, feeling over the dent with his gauntlet.

Amaterasu returned the favour by tugging on her magic, focusing on that chill feeling in her core. A sensation of cold radiated from her form, the air growing frosty around her. A swipe of her Celestial Brush had a sheet of ice rocketing across the floor, straight toward the unsuspecting Killian. He only had a moment to widen his eyes in surprise, before the ice hit him.

Killian staggered back, shouting some vague muffled threat as his hands moved up to his face. He grasped and tugged on the cone of ice that had formed over his head, his eyes glowing a furious orange as he attempted to free himself. In his violent struggle to remove the ice from his head, Killian tripped backwards over some of the rubble, sending him down and out of sight once more.

Amaterasu could see actual steam rising from where Killian had fallen. She rather enjoyed that.

Despite Aldrich Killian's momentary time-out session courtesy of Amaterasu, there were still soldiers racing toward the three. Powerful enhanced muscles had the Extremis soldiers covering the large distance in seconds, quickly coming upon them.

Tony took off, keeping out of reach as he took Steve's earlier advice to provide air support. He shot to the left, dodging the efforts of an opponent leaping for him, rewarding the lucky soldier with a repulsor blast straight to the face, sending him violently to the ground.

Steve tensed and held his shield before himself, blocking a thrown piece of rebar that dented itself against his shield and clattered to the floor. He stomped on the end of it, the motion sending it a few inches into the air. Then, he punted it hard.

The hunk of metal warped further from the force of the kick and rocketed toward the approaching Extremis soldiers. Four of them were knocked from their feet, falling in a pile of limbs over the metal, or on top of their fellow soldiers.

Tony laughed over the comms at their rather unfortunate tumble and zipped across the room, peppering the enhanced enemies with precise shots, causing them to stumble, or sending them skipping across the floor if they tried jumping for him.

Amaterasu, meanwhile, waited. She eyed the approaching enemy with apprehension, conflict running through her mind. She could end this quickly. A Power Slash fueled by a large chunk of her magic would likely end the threat in an instant.

But… She didn't want to kill anyone. Unlike the Chitauri who had been causing rampant destruction and killing innocents, these people were just charging her, Steve and Tony. Honestly, she didn't blame them. The three did sort of ruin their plans for world domination. Well, as world domination-y as they could get through military contracts and gaslighting people.

But they weren't targeting innocents right now. That didn't deserve an execution. The power difference between the Goddess of the Sun, and these enhanced humans was laughable. Everyone deserved a second chance, so long as innocent people weren't on the line in the immediate future.

So, instead of using her gifts to take life, Ammy decided to do what she did best.

Help people, and have fun doing it.

Amaterasu crouched down low to the concrete, her claws digging into the surface with ease. Her muscles tensed, and she gave a low, challenging growl that reverberated through the room. She waited for the right moment, watching those opponents grow closer, and closer. They were almost upon them now, one making a swing for Steve.

She lunged.

The concrete beneath her paws shattered into chunks from the force of her launch. She hurtled through the air, fur whipping violently with the speed of her motion. Ammy flew past Steve and impacted the Extremis soldier swinging for him instead.

All four paws struck him right in the ribs, and before he even had a chance to realize what had happened, Ammy shoved off of him. The crunch of his ribcage and violent launch across the floor wound up in a tangle of limbs that resembled a tumbleweed. The wet thump of his body impacting the wall went unnoticed, with Amaterasu already shooting for her next target.

The next soldier she was aiming for was close; he was facing her. His hands were raised already, likely prepared for her attack. So, Ammy twisted herself violently, her back leg kicking out to rotate her body and to push off the air, sending her at an angle toward the ground.

Amaterasu hit the smooth floor on her side and curled herself up, skidding across the floor. The man tried to jump, but he was far too slow. Her back hit the man in the legs, his attempt at jumping over her only succeeding in Ammy winning the physics competition. The blow to his legs had the man performing a violent double front flip, cracking his face off the solid floor at the end of the motion.

Ammy merely uncurled from her slide, planted her paws, and slid to a stop. Her claws dug furrows in the solid floor, slowing her momentum. Then, she took off again, hurling into the swarm of enemies with an excited bark.

The wolf blurred from one opponent to the next, her paws contacting most of them center mass, causing the momentum to send them sprawling across the floor and into their fellow soldiers. Amaterasu didn't stop her barrage, pushing herself faster with every impact.

Ammy launched herself off the wall, the force causing it to shatter, crumbling onto one of the soldiers that sat at the base, struggling to stand up from Amaterasu's previous hits.

She sailed through the air, her next target in her sights. At this point the soldiers had long forgotten about Stark and Steve, instead doing their best to avoid the terror of Amaterasu. Their attentiveness would do little for them.

The next target was directly before Ammy, and the soldier's eyes widened in fear, bracing herself for the hit.

Nothing happened.

Amaterasu teleported herself beyond the woman, leaving her combination of confused, relieved, and horrified. Where had the wolf gone?

Ammy's little move sent her careening into an unsuspecting mook behind the woman, her paws hitting him dead center with a wet crunch. She shoved off of him, leaving his glowing form sprawled out on the floor. The woman that had seemed to miraculously avoid being tackled was now sent tumbling across the floor from a blow to her back, her momentum causing her to tumble across the floor and take out another two soldiers at the legs.

Steve stood back and watched the chaos unfold; his brow furrowed. He was supposed to keep that out of trouble?

Tony landed next to him a moment later, unable to take shots at the crowd due to Ammy zipping around. Instead, the two watched in stunned silence as the nearly three-dozen super-human soldiers were thrown around like playthings, unable to get to their feet long enough before being sent flying once more.

Amaterasu gave an excited bark and stopped reality in its tracks. Two quick swipes of her tail, and time slowed to a crawl. To an outside observer, Amaterasu just got faster. She sped up, the violent white blur turning into a streak of pure destruction as she bounded from wall to wall.

The Extremis soldiers were sent in all directions, spinning out of control from hits at small points at the side of their torso, or knocked from their feet and to the floor. Amaterasu's path of destruction continued without pause, her form bounding across the room, paws a blur as she raced around.

Every hit to the Extremis soldiers had them fall, their bodies glowing brighter as they tried to heal, only to be hit with every attempt to stand. Recovering wasn't possible–they were being damaged too fast.

Amaterasu's paws started to tingle from the burning heat of the people she was throwing around and bounding off of. Yet, she continued onward, determined to win this without causing loss of life. Already several soldiers were down, sprawled on the ground or curled in the corner, their forms glowing a brilliant orange-white, on the verge of overheating.

Ammy left those ones alone. She focused her attention on the ones still willing to fight, batting them around with her high-speed blitz. In a final powerful push, Ammy launched herself at three soldiers still willing to stand. She bounced from one to the other in a rapid motion that had all three skipping across the floor, impacting various surfaces, their trajectory keeping them clear of the others.

Pushing off the final soldier, Amaterasu performed a graceful double-flip, her white fur resembling an angel as she soared in the air. Finally, she landed on all fours again, paws planted firmly, head bowed as she panted from the effort. Her moment of rest was interrupted.

Tony rocketed overhead, his repulsors firing toward something that was out of Ammy's point of view. She tried to follow the flight path, only to hear the voice that caused all this trouble in the first place.

"Savin! Do it—" Killian's shout was interrupted by what sounded like a heavy strike of metal.

"Look out!" Steve cried.

Amaterasu turned to look at Steve, only to get a perfect view of his shield hurtling straight toward her. Ammy followed the path of the shield, eyes on it as it crossed in front of her.

Sparks erupted outward, and a bubbly orange fluid splattered across the shield, the droplets that hit the floor sizzling on impact. Then came the noise, a crack of thunder exploded into existence, the familiar sound deafening in the enclosed space. The shield continued its flight path, rebounding off a pillar, and another wall, humming through the air.

Amaterasu's eyes flicked up after the impact, her eyes locking onto Eric Savin, who was crouched behind the rubble from the balcony. That massive rifle was back in his hands, pointed right at her. Amaterasu crouched, ready to dodge the next hit. That's when she saw it.

Savin's subtle glance to the side.

The slight shift of the rifle to Ammy's right.

He was aiming the weapon at Steve!

His shield was on the way back, the calculated rebound allowing the object to return to Steve's possession in time. It wouldn't be fast enough, despite the insane velocity of the vibranium disc.

Instinct and the desire to protect controlled her actions. Amaterasu lunged.

Savin pulled the trigger.

Despite her leap toward Steve, Amaterasu wasn't one to settle for just a single option. Her magic swelled, and a thick slab of ice exploded into existence, planting itself directly in the path of the bullet.

The large round punched through it without issue, rupturing the ice into massive chunks that sprayed outward toward the two.

Ammy hit Steve with a high-speed tackle, shoving the man out of the way with barely a thought. A sharp, lancing pain caught Amaterasu in the ribs.

Another thunderous explosion sounded out, muting all other noise for a moment as the soundwaves ricocheted around the room.

Amaterasu tumbled with Steve across the ground, the momentum of her tackle sending them to the corner of the room. Several downed Extremis soldiers scrambled out of the way, avoiding the forms that rolled to a stop.

Stark shot across the basement, one of his repulsors shattered, and a boot on his suit mangled, the sparking remains barely hanging onto his leg. Despite the molten furrows carved into the chest of his suit, Tony flew straight at Savin.

Eric Savin attempted to wheel the rifle around to hit Stark, only to catch a face full of repulsor blast. The shot exploded point-blank, rocketing his head backward and straight into a concrete slab. The repulsor hit him in the jaw, blasting half of it off with a single high-powered shot. Molten blood and fragments of bone littered the floor, while Savin gasped in pain, his eyes wide in surprise.

Tony landed hard and brought the remaining functioning boot down on the rifle, snapping it in half and rendering it useless. He whipped around and hit Savin in the temple with a vicious haymaker, causing the man's eyes to roll back, and his body rag-dolled straight into a wall.

Amaterasu grimaced and gave a short whine, the burning sensation radiating outward from her chest. She tried to take a deep breath, and panicked for a moment when she found it difficult to do so, a horrific wheeze escaping her maw. She gagged, then coughed, spitting up a glob of blood onto the concrete.

She cringed. Gross.

Despite the pain in her core, Ammy pushed her paws beneath herself and started to force herself upright. She was a little wobbly, distracted from the pain, but soon found a firm hand being pressed right against her injury.

"Hey, hey. Stay down, you've been hit," Steve said, attempting to guide Amaterasu back down. "Backup will be here soon."

Despite the genuine concern in his voice and the rather kind gesture of bringing his shield around to cover her flank, it was unnecessary. Amaterasu stood up a little straighter and stepped away from Steve. An attempt at a reassuring 'wuff' ended in a painful cough, splattering more blood across the floor.

That was annoying.

Ignoring Steve's concern, and the sounds of metal slamming against stone, Amaterasu focused. She forced herself through the pain, and took a long, deep breath, focusing her abilities inward. A use of Bloom had her feeling reinvigorated, and sent a pleasant warmth through her body, easing the pain. Another application of her magic, and she winced.

Ammy glanced to the side, looking at the injury for the first time. Then, she turned to the other side and narrowed her eyes. That was one too many holes in her body—straight through her ribs, without the projectile leaving her body.

Ouch.

A final use of Bloom had Amaterasu shudder in discomfort, feeling something shifting and moving inside of her. She watched her side, the wound flexing and deforming. The spent round of the rifle round fell from her side and landed in the surprisingly large puddle of blood beneath her.

With the bullet removed, her injury sealed itself. There was another uncomfortable shift inside her, and Ammy took a breath through her teeth. A deep, full breath. She exhaled, no blood bubbling up from her throat.

"Amaterasu?" Steve asked softly. She turned to look at him, really looking at the concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

A thoughtful tilt of her head was her response. She took another breath and shifted herself a little, flexing the previously damaged area. Then, a nod. She was fine.

"You scared me," Steve laughed, relief flashing across his face.

Honestly, he was too worried about others. She was only shot; it wasn't a big deal or anything. She'd been stabbed before, straight through the heart. Heck, in a past life, she'd battled twin owl demons, been cut and thrown around, then travelled through time, fought a massive multi-headed demon, and still had the strength to catch an enormous boulder on her back. All in a single afternoon!

Granted, she kind of died soon after. But she came back! Sort of.

A bullet was nothing… Hopefully. This new world was weird, and Ammy had no idea just how things would affect her here. Still, she hadn't died yet, so things were going well.

Did the moment when Loki stabbed her through the chest count as dying? If so, she already had a terrible track record.

A crunch of metal and a cry of pain jolted Amaterasu from her thoughts. She looked up, to see the red and gold Iron Man suit flying across the basement. Steve ran forward and caught Stark before he hit the ground, bracing the man.

Tony grumbled and pushed himself upright once more, staggering a little. He looked down at his armour, the middle caved inward in the shape of a foot. Scratches and finger-sized grooves littered the metal suit, exposing sparking wiring, and in some cases, burned, blistering skin beneath.

"I told you, Stark. You can't beat me. I'm your—"

A bark interrupted Killian. Ammy padded up beside Steve and Tony, glaring at the cause of this whole mess. Killian's eyes widened, then narrowed, glaring at Ammy as if she had ruined his birthday.

"I think she called you a greasy, hot-headed narcissist with daddy issues," Stark chuckled but clenched his teeth soon after. Amaterasu hadn't called him that; she rather supported Tony's enthusiasm for the insult, however.

Aldrich Killian stared hard at the three before him. Tony Stark, wearing his battered and shredded mess of a suit, clinging onto his body desperately. Steve Rogers, breathing a little heavier, a cut or two on his suit, but otherwise immaculate. Amaterasu, who shouldn't be standing there right now, her side painted red with blood.

He was going to need more firepower. Killian reached down to his pockets, feeling around for that syringe he had planned to inject that addict with earlier. Instead, he found nothing, and pat himself down, his eyes flashing orange in anger.

"I think he lost his keys," Stark commented.

Killian looked around the room, ignoring the various states of exhaustion and fear that his soldiers lay in. He didn't need them. He could do this on his own. The room was barren of what he wanted. The object that he so desperately needed to defeat his enemies was missing. He turned around and—

There! By the rubble of the balcony. Killian ran forward, racing toward his goal.

"I got him." Tony raised the one remaining gauntlet and tried to fire off a repulsor blast into Killian's back. Sparks spat out, falling to the floor. "…Oh."

Steve took up the chase, pulled his arm back, and hurled his shield at the fleeing Killian. The throw was true, striking the man in the back. Killian was forced from his feet and thrown forward, landing hard on his front, driving the breath from his lungs. Still, he crawled forward, moving for his goal.

Amaterasu was too distracted, instead turning her Rejuvenation brush technique on Tony's suit. The rebuilding was intricate and took a lot of focus and energy to repair. Honestly, she was amazed at how difficult fixing Tony's suit was. Still, she focused as best she could, ignoring an irritating little numbness at the back of her mind, slowly filling in the damage and repairing the holes in Stark's suit.

Steve was the one to jog forward, hoping to catch up to Killian before he could attempt an escape. His boots fell upon the concrete in the nearly silent room, his strides carrying him toward Killian in seconds.

Amaterasu gave an irritated huff, blinking her eyes, finding it a little harder to focus on repairing Tony's suit. She shook her head, and growled, before turning her attention toward Tony once again.

Steve reached down and grabbed Killian by the back of his damaged suit, wrenching the man to his feet, and using his shield to slam him center-mass, forcing Killian against the wall.

Ammy huffed and shook her head again. She blinked, and took several deep breaths, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in her core, likely from over-using her magic.

Killian raised his hands above his head in surrender, his hands closed.

Amaterasu opened her jaws, panting unintentionally, growing warm under the fur.

Steve stepped back, eyes wide, as Killian's hands opened, and an empty syringe fell to the ground, exploding in a shatter of glass.

Tony glanced to his left, his attention moving from the miraculous repairing of some of his suit toward Amaterasu. He narrowed his eyes, noticing Ammy stagger to the side–she was panting harder.

"Hey, Space Dog, you feeling—"

A torrent of heat exploded from across the room, fire spiralling upward toward the ceiling. Steve was sent flying backward, his shield before him, the force of the explosion sending him halfway across the room. What wasn't protected by his shield had been hit by the blast, the blue suit turning black in some places from being charred in that single moment of exposure.

Both Amaterasu and Tony looked up, watching Steve land and slide back on his heels. Stark stepped forward, metal boots firm on the floor as he moved himself beside Steve.

The two looked forward at the form of Aldrich Killian, the man burning hot, his whole body sitting at a heated orange-yellow colour, his eyes white. The concrete near him bubbled and hissed, super-heated from the initial explosion, or melting under the touch of his feet on the floor.

"Wanna tag-team this bastard? I'm getting sick of this," Tony asked, rolling his shoulders.

"Just what I was thinking. Keep your distance." Steve nodded.

"Got it," Tony replied. The two started walking forward in tandem, Tony splitting to the left, and Steve to the right.

Amaterasu attempted to follow, intending to provide support for the two. Her first step forward caused her to stumble, her paws unsteady on the solid ground. A numb, tingling sort of pain radiated outward from her core, and she huffed, steam escaping her jaws. She tried to focus her magic in on herself again, using Bloom to allow healing energies to wash over her body.

It did almost nothing.

Amaterasu took a deep breath, and exhaled, trying to keep from growing too dizzy, the warmth in her middle catching her entirely off guard. She thought she had healed herself properly. Maybe she missed something? Could she have—

She froze, her eyes locked on Killian. A shudder worked through her body as the temperature inside her spiked further, the burning heat in her middle creeping through her veins. That was matched by the equally cold dread that settled in her stomach as she watched Tony and Steve run toward Killian.

The near explosion of the rat.

Trevor's practice speech.

That orange fluid on the ground.

She'd been injected with Extremis.

Desperately, Amaterasu willed her magic to the surface once again, trying to remember what she did to stabilize those plant samples. She had used a brush technique, right? Bloom?

Mustering up all the energy she could focus on controlling, she turned that all inward and tried to do the same.

Nothing changed.

She growled in pain as a wave of searing heat rolled through her form, a blinding hot spike of agony wedging itself into her mind. Still, she tried again, struggling to grasp onto the fluid nature of magic, and bent the universe to her will. Her sole goal was to heal and stabilize and whatever else she could recall Maya saying in her talks.

But… nothing happened.

Ammy glanced up, her jaw clenched, eyes on Steve and Tony.

The two were fighting like a well-oiled machine. Steve ducked and avoided powerful blows from Killian, and occasionally deflected them with his shield, leaving the Extremis user open to attack. Tony kept his distance, peppering the man with powerful bursts of energy, shooting holes into the super-heated and destabilized flesh of Killian.

Still, the man fought on, taking wild, untrained shots at Steve. He retaliated to the strikes with a shove forward, catching Killian's punch with the center of the shield and folding the super-heated limb in half, snapping the bone. It took seconds for the man to heal, and retaliate with a violent kick that Steve jumped over.

The jump allowed Steve air time, and he spun around at speed, clocking Killian in the face with his shield. Stark followed up the attack with a sharp uppercut, his metal gloves protecting him from the heat. The two passed Killian between one another, battering the man who was struggling to keep up, despite healing all his injuries and being too hot for Steve to touch.

Amaterasu shook her head, breaking her attention from the fight. She had to focus. A growl slipped past her teeth, smoke filtering out of her mouth and nose as she wrenched the energy in her body to cooperate with her. She grasped for that feeling of cold deep inside her, and willed it to the surface, hissing through her teeth in pain.

Ice started forming around her paws, and built up in clumps on her fur. The cooling sensation provided little relief, only delaying the inevitable as the temperature inside her spiked upward yet again. She let out an agonized whine, and shuddered, losing control of her body for a brief moment.

Steve and Tony were fighting hard. A red, concentrated laser erupted forth from Tony's forearm, the beam of energy cleaving clear through Killian's middle, leaving him bisected from the waist down, with nothing more than one and a half arms to work with.

Killian didn't stop.

Amaterasu couldn't distract them. One mistake could lead to their deaths. She grit her teeth and forced herself to keep quiet. Her gaze flashed around the room, looking for something, anything to use that could help her.

Instead, all she saw was the concerned look of the Extremis soldiers sitting up against the walls, trying to get to their feet, retreating to the farthest corners of the rooms, their forms still glowing a flickering orange from the built-up heat accumulated from Ammy's assault.

They were still on the edge as well, teetering close to overloading, but kept strategically away from the tipping point. They were going to die too if Ammy wasn't able to control herself or contain it. Sluggishly, Ammy turned her head to the center of the room.

The containment chambers.

As much as the thought of exploding inside a tiny box filled her with anxiety, she was far more afraid of hurting those around her, Steve and Tony especially. If it was too late for her already, she should do everything in her power to keep from bringing them along with her.

She took a single, agonizing step forward. Then another.

Her paws fell heavily on the floor, the heat within her building. The floor started to sizzle and hiss beneath her paws, the burning sensation suffusing her whole being.

She forced herself onward. Step after step.

Amaterasu tried once again to reach that feeling of deep, chilling cold within herself. It slipped away from her grasp, the brief sensation evaporating in an instant.

Teeth clenched, she forced herself forward. She staggered, and righted herself, legs shaking, body quivering in pain and agony and fear.

She could do this.

There were shouts, and the sounds of fighting increased further. Did someone call her name? She couldn't tell. The floor shook beneath her paws, a powerful impact rattling the very foundations of the mansion. Ammy couldn't keep her balance, her strength failing her.

She fell.

Fire coursed through her veins, and magma flowed through her insides. Pulses of pain increased further, faster, agony rippling over her. She struggled to contain it, to keep it in control, hoping that the sheer force of will would keep her together.

She was still slipping.

She could feel it. Something building. Something shifting. Something struggling to get out, bursting at the seams, pressing against her insides from all over. Her throat felt hoarse and raw, but couldn't remember making a sound. Normally hot tears felt cold in comparison as they matted her cheeks.

She gasped, struggling, fighting, straining. It continued, growing faster, and hotter, the pain building, spiking, reaching new heights, pressing against her very limits. She could feel it, that tension breaking through, fractures growing into cracks, gashes, open wounds bleeding heat and light and—

Something snapped.

Something settled into place. It was familiar.

It was impure. Wrong. Unnatural.

She wanted it out. Out out out out out out out out outoutoutoutoutoutoutoutOUTOUTOUTOUT—

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

A thunderous explosion of heat and light erupted from the center of the room, painting every surface pure white. The heat was intense, everything in a short radius of the source began glowing red, then orange, then yellow, solids shifting to liquid.

Tony and Steve felt their hearts stop, watching the spot Amaterasu had collapsed turn into what could be described as the epicentre of a nuclear strike. The brief instant they had to realize that Amaterasu was no more was wrenched from them violently, their instincts screaming for them to take cover.

Despite the intense heat that should have vaporized everyone in the room, they were fine. The power of the blast shot upward in a cone, punching a hole straight through the mansion and into the open sky. The cone of energy pouring outward grew tighter and tighter, the sound of a raging inferno creeping higher in pitch.

Attempts to block out the noise, to hide from the light were utterly useless. The pitch screamed higher, turning into a shrill whine that pierced flesh and bone. The light was too intense, every surface reflecting the pure energy radiating from the beam of energy.

It was like trying to stare at the sun.

The shrill scream of energy and power reached a tipping point, suffusing all thoughts and turning every sense to nothing but sounds and light and heat.

It stopped.

An eruption of flame rolled out from the center of the blast, filling every corner of the room with nothing but blue and white fire. It washed over everyone and everything, the intense flames clinging to every surface like napalm.

But… It didn't burn. It felt warm. Comforting. Like settling around a campfire on a chill fall evening. The flames around the room flickered and then pulled back into the center of the room, gradually fading from white to orange, to a deep red. The fire blazed, but the heat of it remained contained, the sound of the inferno remaining the sole noise, roaring in the sudden stunned silence.

Then, a deep, guttural growl rose from the center of the flames. Like curtains, the fires parted, revealing a sight straight out of hell.

Glowing eyes shone from the depths of the fire; their fierce gaze locked on one individual. Every step forward out of the fire left another blazing pawprint, trailing behind the wolf. The air around her rippled and wavered, heat rolling off her in waves. Every puff of breath steamed up and outward, the water vapour clouding her face, obscuring the fine details in a mask of smoke, steam, and heat.

Killian stared at the emerging form. This wasn't right. She was supposed to be dead. He was supposed to win here. The plan had been going well, up until Stark and Rogers got involved. But his backup should have worked. She should be dead. That bitch should be nothing but a smear of ash on the walls!

Amaterasu let out a sharp bark, jaws clacking, molten spittle splattering the concrete with a hiss.

Killian let out a cry of anger, his body blazing a brilliant orange, and charged forward on newly healed legs.

The fire around Amaterasu surged. It swept upward and curled around, almost like a living creature as it arced and moved above them all. It raced into the open air, shooting upward like a serpent, slithering through the air. Its sudden movement left a trail of cold air in its wake, the movement of the fire sucking all the heat out of the room, each Extremis soldier losing the orange tinge to their skin, the heat pulled from their forms. Even Killian's bright glow was dulled, the heat feeding the fire coursing through the air.

Then, it fell, screaming back down to Earth.

The inferno blazed downward, careening toward Amaterasu, the snake-like movement violent and eager to consume. It raced above the wolf, and then shot forward, pulling a violent turn above Ammy. The column of fire hit Killian head-on, washing over his form in a violent collision that sent him hurtling backward.

Killian screamed, thrashed, and shouted, fighting against the unnatural attack. His Extremis-enhanced body blazed and burned and fought, healing itself from the rapid combustion of his flesh. It wasn't enough.

The fire poured onto him, melting through the walls, the force burying Killian deeper into the earth. The frustrated scream of agony was drowned out by the roar of the fire. The last of the fire careened itself into the hole in the earth, ending itself with a sudden pop of displaced air.

Silence.

Tony and Steve lowered their arms, going from protecting their eyes to looking at Amaterasu. The markings in her fur burned bright with fire, flickering and wavering in the air. Then, there was a slight shift, and Amaterasu sat herself down hard. She breathed out a huff of exhaustion, the air before her wavering.

Amaterasu looked up around the room, and blinked, as if taking it all in for the first time. Her markings faded, as did the heat. The molten surfaces around her cooled, forming a messy-looking puddle of solids.

"Ammy? Are you okay?" Tony asked. He stood across the room, looking on with concern, his faceplate still down. His armour was littered with more scratches and gouges, and one of the arms on his suit was torn off. Steve was little better, his suit covered in burn marks, and his skin a toasty looking red from being in close combat with someone who could melt steel with his bare hands.

Amaterasu looked at the two and huffed. She tilted her head and gave the duo the best doggy-grin she could muster in her exhausted, magic-drained state. Despite her status as the Goddess of the Sun, she was still very much capable of being tired. Who knew that containing an explosion fueled by your very being, relearning an ability that had been previously inaccessible in an extreme situation, and controlling a torrent of fire with her already flagging magic would leave her so tired?

She huffed and gave a little snork in amusement.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but you're bleeding," Steve added.

She was? Amaterasu looked down and found several little flecks of blood on the floor in front of her. She crossed her eyes, and huffed, the scent of iron hitting her full force.

She had a nosebleed! Well, that wasn't very deity-like at all. Amaterasu did her best to clean the strain-induced nosebleed—by crossing her eyes, and curling her tongue up, attempting to lick at her face with intense concentration.

"Ah. Yup. There's our refined Space Dog," Tony chuckled.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

"Tony, please, I'm begging you," Maya said.

"Did you know?" He asked.

…

"Maya, did you know?"

"…Yes."

"What happened to you? What happened to helping people?"

"I do want to help people, I just—" She paused. "It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it."

"Look, I—Killian's goal ever since he was young was to fix himself. You remember what he was like, and that was after years of physical therapy, treatments, and tech he made himself. When I called him after working your equation into my research… Limitless funding. My own hand-picked teams. Security, connections, everything," she explained. "And it worked!"

"You sold your morals for cash and power."

"You were worse."

"And I'm trying to fix my mistakes!" Tony seethed. "Everything I'm doing now is to help other people, Maya. I'm putting myself out there to fix what I did to the world."

"Then help me fix mine."

…

"Please, Tony. Take it."

"Is this—"

"I snuck out one last sample. There were only six made. Four of them were used in tests, and the fifth was supposed to be used in human trials today. The sixth was meant for Killian—I took it when he wasn't looking. I was planning on running. This was going to be my out—my leverage."

"I should destroy it now. I should hunt down the locations of every backup server and purge them all."

"There are no backups, at least for this new version. This is it. Everything was local, and progress happened too quickly this week to head out to the other locations. This is the last of it, Tony."

…

"Please, don't let my mistakes destroy it. You can help so many people with this. I've seen how you've changed, Tony. You're a better man now—a better person. You fix things, so don't… don't break it."

…

"Please, Tony. This is my life's work, and I—"

"Goodbye, Maya." He punched a hole through the ice wall with his repulsor and left.

…

"…Please," she whispered.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Phil Coulson straightened the cuffs of his jacket as he made his way down the ramp to the Quinjet. He had to make himself look presentable. After all, he was going to see Captain America again. Oh, and Amaterasu and Stark, they were there too.

He glanced up, looking over to the mansion that Killian had owned. Emphasis on had. After the events of today, the man would be in prison for a long time. That, and the entire building was levelled—smouldering remains were all that was left of the property. Coulson had the good graces to keep a schooled expression as he approached.

He couldn't crack a smile at seeing thirty super-human soldiers watching Amaterasu with caution. Every single member of that group stood quietly, accepting the handcuffs without hesitation in order to be put somewhere far away from the wolf.

"You've been busy, Frosty," Phil commented. "I do have to remind you that this is now part of an investigation and I suggest against following through with that."

Ammy glanced over her shoulder and gave a light yip in greeting, before returning to her task. He walked up behind Amaterasu and watched.

She stood on her back legs and placed her forepaws against one of the few remaining walls that hadn't become part of the pile of rubble and debris that used to be called a mansion. She pushed against the wall and leaned into it hard. There was a crack at the base, a loud snap of building material losing its structural rigidity.

Amaterasu pushed once again, and then hopped away from the wall, turning away from it to face Coulson properly. Her tail swished side-to-side lazily against the fresh grass, several flowers sprouting up from the motion.

"Awuff!" Ammy spoke.

The wall creaked and shifted behind her, the slow, steady motion picking up speed as it fell backward. Ammy sat in a picture-perfect image of innocence, not even twitching when several tons of building fell into the crater of rubble with an earth-rattling crash. Dust and debris flew into the air, the cloud of grey rising high into the sky, assisted by the fire still smouldering away inside the basement. The whole building turned from a multi-million-dollar structure to a rather large bonfire.

A piece of wood launched from the rubble when the wall fell, flying high into the air. It flipped end over end, in a large arc over the assembled agents, Ammy, and Phil. After an impressive amount of airtime, it came down to earth hard.

Right on Eric Savin's head.

His eyes rolled back, and he slumped to the ground. The handcuffed Extremis soldier was dragged away rather ungracefully, one of his shoes coming off as he was pulled by two SHIELD agents.

Phil would never admit it, but seeing the property in shambles was cathartic. It was nice seeing personal consequences for the people that committed terrible acts for their own gain. That, and the enraged, muffled shouting from the living ice block named Aldrich Killian was a lovely touch to the whole scene.

"This is going to be a lot of paperwork," Coulson sighed.

Phil turned away from the mess in front of him and watched over the rest of the scene. He had to at least attempt to keep everything orderly and smooth. The Extremis-enhanced soldiers seemed more than happy to be escorted away, more than several mumbling prayers under their breath. Coulson swore he heard mention of a 'demon in white' more than once as the soldiers were gradually escorted away.

There was a soft sound to his left, a light pressure against his leg, and he didn't even need to look to know what it was. Phil moved his hand and planted it on Amaterasu's head, rubbing her between the ears. The duo watched the group gradually be marched across the dug-up and overgrown driveway. The remainder of the concrete was set up around the pit that was the burning mansion, like a little rock ring around the campfire.

Amaterasu seemed proud of it all.

The two watched as the ice block of Aldrich Killian was shifted and moved onto a little hand truck. The man struggled and fought as much as he could, which is to say, not very much at all. His head shook back and forth a little bit, but he wasn't able to properly move to look at anything. Still, he tried, muffled shouts and glowing eyes expressing his anger.

The metal mask over his face glowed orange and exploded outward as it heated beyond its limits. A torrent of flames rolled from his jaws, shooting into the air above the heads of the agents loading everyone up. The people directly around Killian ducked, and the ones at his sides spraying him down with cold vapour now aimed at his head.

"Stark! Amaterasu! I'll find you both!" Killian shouted. "I'll kill you! I'll get out and when I do, I'll hunt you down! I'll—mmf!" Killian's cries were silenced when Ammy flicked her tail. The block of ice around his body grew upward, encasing his head, with nothing but his nose exposed.

Now properly muffled and safe to transport once more, Killian was wheeled away, up into the back of a Quinjet, and out of sight. Just like that, he was gone, in custody, and no longer a threat to the public.

Stark lazily flew down from above, his mostly repaired suit coming to a landing before the two. He looked at where Killian had been taken, and then glanced back at Amaterasu, popping his face plate up.

"I think you made your first real enemy, Laika, I'm proud of you." Stark gave Amaterasu a thumbs up.

Amaterasu perked up and gave a little yip. Then, Tony frowned in thought.

"Well, he was mine first. I'll give you half-points."

Ammy's face fell again, and a little huff escaped her. She glanced up toward Coulson, who only shrugged in reply.

"Nice to see you again, Phil," Tony greeted. "A little late to the party like usual. You've gotta work on your 'fashionably late' thing."

"Stark," Coulson replied. "How did it go with the science team?"

"Well, that ice cage was a bit of a pain, I had to fly in through the top and cart them out one by one. But they're all rounded up and already on their way to whatever super secret facility you guys have."

"Good work. We'll make sure they're all investigated and punished appropriately for their part in these experiments," Coulson replied. "I know you used to be close with one of—"

"Maya," Tony interrupted. One of his hands remained closed during the talk, held against his side. It twitched just a little at that name.

Phil didn't feel too bad about the science team being punished for their experiments. Unethical biological experimentation had been made illegal by President Ellis and the knowledge had been public for years at this point. The ban was meant to protect the more vulnerable populations, like those with the X-Gene, or people that had been adversely impacted by things out of their control, like what happened with Ben Grimm.

It was also a broad ban to ensure that people wouldn't start trying to work on a Super Soldier Serum again. No one wanted a repeat of Harlem—when the Hulk made a rather destructive entrance to the world.

"We'll ensure everyone is fairly treated. All of this is going under a level seven security clearance, so I'd appreciate it if you refrained from mentioning the specifics outside of encrypted SHIELD communications," Phil said.

"Yeah, sounds good." Tony waved his hand toward Phil, seeming distracted. "Hey, I've got to run, Pepper needs me at the Tower." His thrusters and repulsors flared up, the suit lifting off the ground.

"Wait, Stark, we still need to debrief—and he's gone." Phil couldn't keep the massive sigh in any longer, resigned to accepting Stark's antics, and now the amused huffs of Amaterasu beside him. "Well, at least you're still here to debrief. What do you think, should we use photos and an array of scenarios to narrow everything down? Would you prefer to paint them out?"

Amaterasu tilted her head in thought as if pondering the question. A little hum escaped the large wolf, and a large paw tapped on the ground in thought. She perked up and angled her head up to face Coulson, wagging excitedly at her brilliant idea. She answered with pride, wiggling in place, paws padding at the ground with joy for her plan.

"Awurf!" Amaterasu answered.

The two stared at one another for a moment.

…

"Sorry, I've got nothing," Coulson apologized.

Amaterasu's ears fell back, and she hunched over, a frustrated huff escaping her. She grumbled something under her breath, which Phil was certain of it being a litany of frustration, if not cursing. Luckily, something snapped Amaterasu out of her little funk. Two somethings.

The first was a little white form blurring across the grass, loud squeaks drawing attention to itself. The second was Steve Rogers, who had finished helping the SHIELD agents escort the Extremis soldiers into the Quinjets.

Amaterasu padded forward, her tail happily swaying and swinging around in delight. She crouched down and lowered her head to the grass, watching the incoming rodent with a delighted little growl. Ammy didn't even blink as the white rat threw itself at her, scrambling up her nose and scampering over her head. It clung to her fur and disappeared into the floof around her neck.

Phil stepped forward to greet Rogers, subtly checking that he was still neat and tidy. Did he remember deodorant this morning? He skipped breakfast in a rush to leave, would he hear his stomach growling? Were his pants tucked into his socks? He never did that but what if today of all days he did, and now he was approaching one of his idols like an idiot, hungry, sweating buckets, and walking around like some weirdo with his pants tucked into—

"Coulson," Rogers greeted.

"America," Coulson replied. He blinked and furrowed his brow. "Captain. Captain America. Er… Captain Rogers." Phil subtly nodded his head—nailed it.

Steve raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, he was bumped into by Amaterasu. Steve immediately turned his attention to the large wolf, both hands going down to hold her cheeks and squish her face. Amaterasu turned her head slightly to the left, and winked at Coulson, all the while her tail swished happily behind her.

Phil made a mental note to get Frosty some premium snacks the next time he visited her shrine. Maybe he would bring her a plant as well. Would it be culturally inappropriate to bring her a Bonsai tree? Probably no more so than the meeting place in Little Tokyo between Amaterasu, Rumlow, and Maya.

"Everything go well?" Coulson asked.

"It did," Steve replied. "All security for the mansion has been brought into custody, and all animals for testing in the mansion were rescued before it collapsed. We found a Jack Taggart wandering down the street, who mentioned being invited by Killian for some tests. We brought him in for questioning as well."

Amaterasu wuffed lightly and stepped away from the still-smooshing hands of Steve. She sat back on her haunches and looked between Coulson and Steve.

"All-in-all, a pretty successful rescue. No casualties, everyone brought back to base, and collateral damage was kept to a minimum," Steve spoke, nodding his head with pride.

The still smouldering rubble creaked and shifted, the sound loud enough to draw attention. That small shift allowed the still-burning fires to creep their way into a secured storage room that had been buried under the rubble. Nothing important was kept there, except for some plants.

Some Extremis imbued plants.

A powerful explosion shook the ground and erupted high into the air. Rolling smoke, fire, and debris splintered into the sky, casting a bright flash of light out from the wreckage of the mansion. Amaterasu sat still, her ears folding back ever-so-slightly, refusing to look at the cloud of dust settling across the area.

"…Collateral damage kept to a moderate amount," Steve amended.

"Never a dull moment," Coulson sighed.

"Wurf!" Amaterasu added.

"I think we're done here. We've got to let the others do their thing and report the information back to SHIELD," Coulson began. "As for us, we'll be taking Roger's Quinjet to the Bus, and do our debriefing there. We were in the area at the time of the distress call."

All plans can be well thought out and executed. They could be set into motion immediately following a disastrous event, or performed in a calculated step-by-step motion that led to the conclusion. Simple, direct, easy to follow and manage, like the well-made plans for a debrief after fighting a group of super-humans with a cult-like following behind an insane narcissist.

Unfortunately for Coulson, his plan didn't involve a portal in a hauntingly familiar shade of blue to appear directly behind Amaterasu. It also didn't account for Thor, the God of Thunder, to step through.

"Lady Amaterasu!" Thor exclaimed, his voice loud, drawing more attention than the sudden blue portal did. "Friends Steve, and Phil, Son-of-Cole!"

"Thor?" Both Coulson and Steve asked at the same time. Amaterasu did as well, but as a little 'aroo' with a questioning lilt.

"It is good to see you again," Thor smiled, and stepped forward, arms wide.

Coulson wisely stepped back to avoid the bear hug from the God of Thunder. A wise decision on his part, due to the fact that he had regular people bones, and not the insane durability of the Goddess of the Sun, or Captain America. Those two, on the other hand, were swept up into a big hug, Thor holding up the two in his arms.

"I regret to inform you that I cannot stay, I have an urgent matter to attend to," Thor said. He set Steve down and shifted his grip to holding Amaterasu. He held the large wolf before himself like one would a cat, his hands under her front legs. "Lady Amaterasu, I require your assistance. It is of the utmost importance."

"Wurf?" She asked.

"I shall explain when we arrive," Thor replied.

The Asgardian lumbered off, holding Amaterasu in front of himself. Her front legs were stuck straight out, and her back legs swung back and forth with every step Thor took. The God of Thunder chuckled, his smile growing as he approached the portal.

"Sif shall be paying for my mead for weeks," Thor spoke in a high-pitched, half-attempt at a whisper.

Then, as suddenly as he arrived, Thor was gone, taking Amaterasu with him. The portal winked out of existence, leaving Coulson and Steve standing there at an utter loss for words.

"Should we be worried?" Steve asked.

"I'm not quite sure," Coulson replied.

…

The two both said the next thing that came to their mind.

"Fury isn't going to be happy."