It's Not All Fun and Games
It was a mere five minutes after Penny and Ned had left the Star Wars convention that a minion from the Dark Kingdom chose to make an appearance, shattering today’s tranquility. With no time to spare, they sought a secluded spot to unleash their magical personas.
“Duck!”
Penny reacts swiftly, narrowly avoiding a truck hurling towards her. Once she originates herself, she spots a monstrous twenty-foot green goblin. The goblin, visibly frustrated, lifted another car.
“Scout Blue, I could really use your mist ability just about now,” Penny shouted, narrowly avoiding another car tossed in her direction. “The goblin keeps chucking stuff at me, and it’s really to land a hit!”
Behind her, she hears people screaming for the Scouts to do something about the goblin. She can’t pinpoint when the civilians noticed the differences between regular villains and villains with magical origins. Maybe it was when Black Widow and Captain America teamed up to deal with a werewolf, only to realize the werewolf was unaffected by all of their attacks.
It wasn’t until she, Gewn, and Harry showed up that the werewolf was defeated. Perhaps that was when everyone realized there were things beyond their understanding and magical beings the Avengers couldn’t defeat on their own.
“Misty Blue,” Ned called out, his arms outstretched as a cloud of pale blue mist materialized from his palms.
It took seconds for the small cloud of mist to grow larger, blanketing the street in sparkling mist. It would be difficult for an outsider to see through the mist or maneuver through something so sparkling. However, for her and the Scouts, their magic allows them to detect magical presence in the mist easily.
“Passion kick,” Penny yelled, hoping Ned to move out of the way in time.
She jumped and aimed her kick at the goblin’s head. Her legs glowed white, becoming brighter when her kick landed. Just like she expected, the monster didn’t dodge in time to avoid a brutal kick to the head. The goblin crashed to the ground as sounds of its impact could be heard.
“I detect no human origins,” Nebula revealed, appearing right next to Penny. “The goblin is a minon created by its masters.”
Sighing in relief, Penny pulled out her wand and prepared to rid the goblin. Ned, suddenly armed with a trident, pointed his weapon at the goblin. This was a precautionary step in case the goblin got up and started attacking.
A little too violent? Yes. Are they violent all the time? No. They only use violence when dealing with minions created by dark magic. If they were initially human, they would have responded differently.
“Time to purify,” Penny told herself, transforming her golden tiara into a disk. “Purify tiara!”
Tossing the disc in the goblin's direction, she watched the glowing disc hit the goblin. The creature was enveloped in a bright light when the disc hit the goblin. Seconds later, the goblin disintegrated into a pile of dust, and the golden disc transformed into a regular tiara.
Deciding it was safe, Penny put her hands to her side as Ned made the mist dissipate. Gradually, the mist faded, and the streets were now clear.
“Oh no,” Ned blurted out, taking a step back. He suddenly sounds nervous. “How did they get here so fast?”
Not knowing what Ned was talking about, Penny opened her mouth to ask Ned what the hell he was talking about. However, Ned placed one hand on her cheek and turned her head to the left. Initially, she only saw a crowd of curious onlookers. Still, when the crowd slowly parted to make a pathway, she saw the source of Ned’s worry. There among the crowd were Iron Man and Captain America.
Great. Out of any one of the Avengers, it had to be them. They are extremely hard to lose track of, and the last time she was chased by them, it took an hour to lose them!
“Hey, how’s everyone doing,” Penny asked, maintaining a cheerful expression. “Are you taking the time to enjoy today’s weather?”
She and Ned subtly glance at each other, silently communicating. They really want to make a quick escape, especially since they both have three exams tomorrow and will need all the rest they can get.
“Scout Red and Scout Blue, how are you?” Iron Man said, ignoring Penny’s question. “I didn’t expect to see you at a Star Wars Convention. Are you fans of Star Wars?”
“We were in the area,” Ned responded quickly, and it took everything in him not to ask for an autograph. “Why? Are you a fan of Star Wars?”
From the corner of her eye, Penny sees Ned putting one hand behind his back so he can form a cloud of blue mist. Oh, she realizes what Ned was doing. He was stalling and waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Not a bad plan.
“I have my favorites,” Iron Man casually said. It made the teens weary of the man’s intentions. “But the sequels? Not a huge fan of those.”
Simultaneously, Penny and Ned took several steps back as the heroes approached them. They are not idiots. Iron Man and Captain America are trying to lower their guard through casual conversation. It would have worked if they had taken this approach the first time they tried to capture the Scouts.
“We host a movie night every Friday,” Iron Man mentioned, noticing the pink-winged rabbit. “Why don’t you join us for movie night tonight? You can invite your flying bunny to join us.”
“No,” Nebula stated, shaking her head in disapproval. “I don’t trust you, and I don’t trust the man with the shield. His shield almost hit Scout Red in the head!”
“You are,” Steve asked, giving Nebula a strange look.
“The guardian of the-,” Nebula answered, but Penny put her hand over the rabbit’s mouth.
“They don’t really know anything about us,” Penny commented, staring at the heroes. “If only they can understand that.”
“Miss, we can’t let you or your friend go,” Steve spoke calmly and carefully. “We have questions we would like to ask.”
Ned gave a subtle nod, singling Penny that it was time. Seconds later, Ned revealed his hand and the cloud of pale blue forming above his palms.
“Misty Blue Blow Up,” Ned shouted, throwing the ball of mist onto the ground.
A thick, navy blue smoke expanded into a giant cloud, covering the whole street and everything under twenty feet in height. No one had time to prepare for the onslaught of smoke. With almost nonexistent visibility, nobody could move without bumping into anything.
Thinking fast, Penny and Ned fled the scene as Nebula followed them. Unlike everyone else, the cloud did not obscure their visions, and it was effortless for them to find a secluded spot to return to their regular self.
After hours of isolating himself to figure out the identities of the group of cosplayers, someone had enough of the inventor’s actions. The woman didn’t even seem surprised to see Tony sitting, as papers were scattered on the table. So, her husband must be sleep-deprived if he’s leaving a disorganized mess. Usually, he’s much better than that.
“Tony, you should take a break,” Pepper insisted, leaving no room for argument. “You can’t spend the next several days neglecting your health.”
“Pepper, there is a competition to identify the cosplayers first,” Tony stated as Pepper raised her eyebrows. “I can’t lose to the like of Reed!”
No one knows who initially started the competition to identify the kid who looked like they came out of the magical girl shows Morgan watched. One day, the internet decided to make it into a competition to see who could uncover the group’s identities. Initially, he didn’t care about the competition and was focused on capturing the group.
Then, Reed got involved, and because he was the better scientist, he entered the competition. Of course, he’s not actually going to reveal the identity of a group of kids because that’s asking for a shady organization to target them. He simply wants to be the first to know their identity and have them share ways to defeat the creatures hellbent on destroying everything.
“You’re going to break Morgan’s heart,” Pepper mentioned, letting out a breath. “You know how much she adores The Scouts, especially Scout Red.”
“Betray by my own daughter,” Tony sighed in mock offense. “How could she love a stranger more than her old man?”
Because it’s every little girl's dream to be a magical girl, and Iron Man is not as cool as magical girls in the eyes of elementary-age children. Every day, he sees his daughter pretending to be a Scout fighting a monster, which turns out to be Harley wearing a blanket over his head. Sometimes, Abby pretends to be a monster with Harley when Morgan wants to pretend to be what she calls “the main character.”
“Speaking of our daughter, Morgan has been asking to buy Scouts Merchandise,” Pepper mentioned, unbothered and unfazed. “Before you say anything, remember she hadn’t begged you to invite Spider-Man for dinner for two days.”
So, he can buy his daughter Scouts merchandise or risk Morgan's resume changing because she is begging to meet Spider-Man. After months of hearing his daughter begging throughout the day, he will pick the most obvious answer.
“Buy her some Scouts merchandise under the condition she starts wearing Iron Man merch,” Tony groaned.
No, he’s not jealous. He’s Tony fucking Stark. Why would he be jealous of a group of cosplayers his daughter adores more than anything else in the world?
Penny sneezes out of nowhere, wondering where the sneeze came from.