An hour or so after Grace left, all the guests did, too. All that remained were the Avengers, Maria Hill, Dr. Cho, and Rhodey. They ordered Chinese take out, which is why Clint is spinning a chopstick around in his hand like some sort of drummer while arguing with Thor.

"But it's a trick!" he says.

Thor laughs, handing Steve a drink. "Oh, no. It's much more than that."

Clint deepens his voice as he gestures dramatically. "'Whosoever, be he worthy, shall haveth the power!' Whatever man! It's a trick." Maria laughs from her spot next to him,.

Thor smiles patronizingly. "Well, please, be my guest."

Clint pauses, looking at him skeptically. "Really?

Thor shrugs, gesturing to the hammer in its spot on the coffee table. "Yeah, why not?"

Clint stands, and Rhodey laughs. "Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," the latter says.

Tony sighs, amused. "Clint, you've had a tough week; we won't hold it against you when you inevitably fail."

Clint looks at Thor, a brow raised. "You know I've seen this before, right?" He grabs it with one hand, grunting as he tries to lift it, but it won't move. Clint just laughs. "I still don't know how you do it."

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony says.

Clint turns to him. "Please, Stark, by all means."

Nat, finally looking up from her conversation with Bruce, laughs, "Oh, here we go."

"This is gonna be even more beautiful," Rhodey says.

Tony rolls up the cuffs of his jacket as he walks over to the hammer. "Never one to shrink from an honest challenge. It's physics."

"Physics!" Bruce exclaims, laughing.

Tony grabs the handle and looks at Thor, "Right, so, if I lift it, then I rule Asgard?"

Thor nods calmly, completely unconcerned. "Yes, of course."

"I will be re-designing the palace and having statues built in my honor," Tony says. Then, he pulls on the hammer, which doesn't budge. "I'll be right back."

He comes back with the hand of his Iron Man suit on, then tries again, even the using the blaster to help him. Yet, it still doesn't budge. So, Rhodey gets the hand of his own armor, and they try together.

Still nothing.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asks.

"Are you on my team?" Tony replies.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright, let's go!"

Of course, nothing happens. Tony sighs. "I bet Grace could."

Thor chuckles, taking a drink. "Oh, I don't doubt it. Pepper is technically her mother, after all."

"So, you admit that she's great?" Tony replies.

Thor turns to Bruce, ignoring Tony's question. "What about you, Doctor Banner? Hulk?"

Bruce sighs as Tony sits down. "Oh, alright." He stands and grabs the handle, pulling on it as hard as he can. It doesn't budge, so he pretends to Hulk out, covering up the embarrassment. Nat smiles a little, and everyone else just gives him an awkward look. He sighs, going to sit back down. "Whatever."

"What about you, Cap?" Maria asks, looking over at him.

"I'll give it a try," Steve shrugs. He stands, rubbing his hands together.

"Let's go, Steve; no pressure," Tony says.

Steve grabs the hammer and pulls, causing it to shift a little. But, again, he can't lift it.

Thor laughs. "Nothing."

Bruce looks at Nat as Steve sits down. "Widow?"

She laughs, laying back on the couch. "Oh, no. That's not a question I need answered."

Tony sighs. "All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged."

Clint swears, agreeing with Tony. Maria gasps. "Steve, he said a bad language word."

"Did you tell everyone about that?" Steve asks Tony, exasperated.

Tony ignores him. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Yes, well that's a very, very interesting theory. I have a simpler one," Thor replies, standing. He grabs the hammer, the flips it, catching it again. "You're all not worthy."

Everyone boo's him and laughs, but the jovial atmosphere is shattered by a loud, piercing, ringing. When it fades, there's another sound — clanging footsteps, then a voice that sounds more like a growl. "Worthy?" A broken Iron Legion suit stumbles toward them, leaning to one side. "How can you be worthy? You're all killers."

Steve stands, his voice filled with concern. "Stark."

"Jarvis," Tony says, trying to call on him for help."

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or... I was a dream?" the suit says.

Tony grabs an iPad and begins tapping on it, talking to Jarvis. "Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit."

"There was a terrible noise," the suit continued, "and I was tangled in... in strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asks, brows raised.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asks, his hammer still in hand.

A voice comes out of the suit — not the suit's low one, but Tony's. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

"Ultron," Bruce says.

"In the flesh," the suit replies. "Or, no, not yet. Not this... chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

Maria stands slowly, cocking her gun. Nat asks, "What mission?"

"Peace in our time," the suit replies.

And then the Iron Legion crashes into the room, attacking them all.

~~~~

After briefly talking to Bruce and Clint, Tony sent Grace upstairs with her dinner. She went, albeit reluctantly.

Now, she's sitting on her bed, her empty plate resting on her dresser. Prince Caspian is on her lap, the edges of the book covered by the folds in her skirt. She doesn't want to take off her dress yet — her hair and makeup are still done, too. With any luck, when the party is over, maybe she can convince Tony to take a picture of her. Even if it isn't "safe."

Grace sighs, setting the book aside. She looks over at her easel, the first outlines of the new picture she's going to paint invisible on the canvas from this distance. But she can already see what it's going to look like — the Avengers, all of them suited up, fighting some unseen enemy that's outside the edge of the canvas. Her father is leading the charge, with Steve not far behind.

She looks up at the ceiling, taking a while, but finally convincing herself to get up and take off the dress. It's been about an hour now, and she's naive if she thinks Tony will let her take a picture of it anyway. She'll just have to settle for putting it on and wearing it around her room when she has nothing better to do.

She changes into pajamas, about to take her hair down out of the braided bun it's in and call Harley for sheer boredom when she hears a high-pitched sound coming from downstairs. It grates on her ears, then fades out. Her brows furrow. "Jarvis? What was that?"

But there's no response.

"Jarvis?" She tries again, gradually beginning to panic. "Jarvis!"

But there's nothing.

"Something is wrong," she mutters, grabbing the purple and gold bracelet off her nightstand. She presses the button on the side of it. "Something is very wrong."

She steps into Savior, and Sai says, "Hello, Grace."

"Sai, what's going on? Something is wrong, Jarvis isn't answering."

After a moment, Sai says, "I can't detect his presence anywhere. It's... there's something else. I don't know what it is, but... I don't like it."

"I have to find Dad." She rushes out of her room, heading for the stairs, but Sai stops the suit.

"It's downstairs with your father. You can't go down there," Sai says, almost sounding panickied. "You'll get hurt."

"Sai, I don't have time to argue with you right now-"

"I'm not letting you get hurt. It's my job to protect you-"

She's interrupted by a loud crash. Grace continues, more frantic now. "I can use the blasters and the flight power and all that now — I know what I'm doing!"

"Grace-"

"My dad is in danger! Sai, please!" Grace pleads.

After a pause, Sai replies, "Fine. But I'm taking you out of there if it gets too bad."

"Thank you," Grace sighs, starting to run down the stairs as fast as she possibly can.

Sai takes it upon herself to fly the suit down instead. "It's faster this way," she explains.

Grace lands just outside the main room, where she can hear a fight raging. She looks in, seeing the Iron Legion attacking everyone. It's utter chaos. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, steeling herself. "For Narnia..." she breathes out, opening her eyes, "and for Aslan."

And with that, she charges into the fight, giving a battle cry as she blasts the crap out of the nearest suit.

Tony turns amidst the chaos and looks at Grace with wide eyes. "Grace?! What are you doing?! Get out of here!"

She sees a suit coming at him from behind and blasts it, causing him to duck. "You're welcome!"

Then, she turns, running deeper into the fight. She punches, kicks, and fires wherever anyone seems to be in danger, and she does a surprising amount of damage. She hears glass breaking and sees Rhodey go flying onto the balcony outside. She loses sight of Tony.

Bruce dives over the bar, Thor throws his hammer, and Clint and Maria Hill are in hiding somewhere. Clint is weaponless. Steve is fighting without a shield. She doesn't know where to go, who needs help more.

Then, a suit takes Loki's scepter. Grace pushes herself off the ground, flying for it as Maria takes shots at it, but then Steve jumps on its back. She can't blast it or she'll hit him.

"Steve, go away!" she shouts. He either doesn't hear or just ignores her.

The suit slams Steve back into the wall, and he crashes to the ground as Nat and Bruce make a run for it, probably so Bruce won't Hulk out. Nat fires her gun at the suit, and it turns to them, but then Grace fires at it to divert its attention. It manages to dodge her attacks and starts firing back at her, successfully hitting Savior. The blast jars her back, nearly knocking the suit out of the air and damaging the armor, if only slightly.

"That's it, I'm-" Sai starts.

Grace flies away from the rouge suit, taking cover. "No, I'm fine! See, I'm totally intact! 'A scratch, a scratch.'"

"Do not quote Shakespeare at me right now," Sai replies, disgruntled but not yet taking control of Savior.

The suit with the scepter turns its attention to Clint while the other suits are being fought by the rest of the team. Grace runs to where Thor is hitting one with his hammer, effectively putting a hole in the wall as he does so. He throws the suit to the ground through a railing before she can do anything to help.

Thor turns, seeing Grace. "Does your father know you're here?"

"Yes," she replies. "And he's not very happy."

"Well, I'd imagine not. You need to hide. You're not quite ready for battle yet."

He turns and runs into the main area, hammer swinging, and, Grace, of course, doesn't listen. She flies up, spotting Dr. Cho crouched behind the piano. An already-damaged suit shakily flies up, going to blast her.

Grace flies straight at it, crashing into it and knocking it to the ground. Placing her hand directly on its face, she blasts it into oblivion.

"Cap!" she hears Clint shout as he throws the shield into the fight.

Steve catches it, and Grace beams. "Oh, you guys are screwed now!" She gets up, searching for her father and spots him grappling with a suit near the stairs. He has it in a chokehold. Grace starts charging up her blasters. "Let go of it!" she shouts at Tony.

He looks at her for a second, then tosses the suit away, pushing himself in the other direction. Grace, using both her hand and chest blasters, completely destroys it. Tony stands, then whistles. "Wow, that thing really packs a punch."

"Well, I'd lend it to you, but I don't think it'd fit," Grace replies. She turns as Thor hits the last Iron Legion suit over the head with his hammer.

"That was dramatic," a low voice says. She looks up to find a broken, worn-down Iron Legion suit talking. "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 supposed to be saved if it's not allowed to... evolve?" It picks up a broken Iron Legion suit and crushes the head in its hand. "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace: The Avengers' extinction."

"Shut up," Grace spits, blasting it with her chest blaster, causing it to fall to pieces.

The helmet flashes, the awful voice singing its haunting song before it dies: "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me..."

Grace sighs, popping up her helmet and looking at the Avengers. "And you've destroyed my home yet again. You're all lucky you're cool."