“We have to go now,” Fury said. Jim, Claire, Toby, their troll friends, everyone was listening in the large briefing room. “We’ve managed to capture most changelings in positions to do real damage, but Stricklander doesn’t know who they all are. And their HQ was empty when the assault team breached it.” He shook his head. “Someone was clearly observing Stricklander, and we need to remove the kids as soon as possible.”

“What about the bridge?” Claire asked. “Once we’re done…”

“The only thing that bridge can be used for is to invade Earth,” Fury replied. “So half of it will go into a blast furnace, and the other half will be scattered across the solar system. If they can fish chunks out of the sun, I’d say they’ve earned their chance.” He glanced at Ophelia. “Which brings us to the children in the Darklands. I don’t want a whole army trooping down there, so it will be the Avengers, the Trollhunters, and Angor Rot for the initial meeting.”

“Why him?” Barbara asked.

“The girl is my apprentice, or will be,” Angor growled. “It is my duty to protect her.”

“And, by mentioning that we have ensured that Angor is no longer a danger to Trollmarket, we will hopefully set the tone for any future negotiations,” Fury said.

“Trollmarket will not enjoy our secret being broken,” Blinky said.

“That’s good, because I don’t want the secret broken. Short of Gunmar and the changelings, it looks like most trolls believe that good fences make good neighbors, and that’s fine going forward.”

“SHIELD can also assist you in concealing any future… breaches,” Natasha said.

“That would make Vendel happy. I hope.” Blinky didn’t look confident.

“I’ll be happy if he listens to us.” Banner said.

“Oh, he will do that.” Blinky shook his head. “It’s what he’ll say afterwords that I’m worried about.”

“Then let’s go,” Clint said. “The longer we wait, the bigger the chance of things going wrong.”

“What if it… Goes poorly?” Ophelia asked.

“Do not worry, Lady Ophelia,” Thor said. He spun his hammer in the air. “We are well prepared to assist your children.”

“But it won’t come to that,” Jim said quickly, turning and looking at Thor and the others. “Remember, most of these trolls are just…ordinary people. They may eat cats…” He shrugged. “Yeah, that kind of shook me, but we eat cows and chickens, but the thing is, they’ll be scared, and for most of ‘em, it’ll be like a bunch of humans running into trolls. They’re afraid, not hostile. I—” Then he blinked, looked up at Fury and the others, and blinked again. “Um, sorry.” I just lectured the Avengers.

“No,” Captain America said. “It’s a good point. We’ll be in their homes, and their kids will be behind them. Be prepared to defend yourselves, but don’t push.”

“Let’s go,” Fury said.

“Nope, we’re waiting one.” Mr. Stark said. “Hammertime, Hamletlass, given that I seem to have been overruled, I’ve slapped some things together for you. My lab. Now.”

Jim followed the others, wondering what Mr. Stark had in mind.

He didn’t have long to wait.

“Get behind the screens and drop your clothes,” Mr. Stark ordered.

“My clothes?” Claire said, scandalized.

“You can keep your underwear on, don’t worry. Jarvis is the one who will be measuring you.”

“Good afternoon, Madam. You may trust in my complete discretion.”

“Yeah, he sort of needs that when he books my social calender,” Mr. Stark said. Claire and Toby got behind their respective screens, and a spray of light followed. “Got that, Jarvis?”

“Yes, sir, I am modifying the armors as we speak.”

“A-armor?” Claire squeaked.

“Like, you—” Toby started.

“Mine?” Mr. Stark shook his head. “We don’t have six months to train you so you don’t kill yourselves, and you don’t need a weapon system. This is based on some high-threat protective suits I’ve been working on for Fury. Had the components, just had to cut’em down to pint-sized.”

Behind him, Ophelia and Javier glared, and Captain America winced.

“No. These are to keep you alive since the best option is off the table. No repulsors or flight, just enough strength enhancement so you can move like you weren’t wearing—”

“The suits have been sized, sir.”

“Thanks, Jarvis.” Tony picked up the two suits as they slid out of a hypertech machine that Jim was comfortably certain he’d never understand in a century. “Put ‘em on.”

Moments later, Claire gasped. “This feels like—”

“Like an AI helped tailor it for you? Yeah, Pepper thinks we should license it to boutiques.”

As he spoke, Claire and Toby came out. They were wearing white and gold suits that looked like motorcycle racing suits with a somewhat bulkier collar. Claire wiggled in hers. “I can feel the air—”

“That’s some neural and tactile feedback working. Helps with situational awareness.” Mr. Stark gestured at the suit. “The base suit will stop most small-caliber bullets, and if it gets hit by something heavier, like say, a troll, it stiffens up and spreads most of the impact over the entire suit, so you get bruises, not chunky salsa.” He gestured for them to lift their arms up. “It’s flexible, and touch the stud to activate your helmets.” Toby reached up and touched the collar, and suddenly a helmet appeared out of the collar of the suit, a clear visor showing Toby and Claire’s face.

“It’s got lowlight and thermal imaging projected on the visor so you can see in the dark or smoke, and a two-hour air supply if things get tight.”

“Didn’t you just ask for some bulletproof clothes?” Jim heard Black Widow ask Fury.

“It’s Stark,” he whispered back.

“This isn’t so you can get into the fight,” Mr. Stark said. “It’s so you can survive running away. It will spread out impacts, but it won’t stop them—you get hit by a big troll, and you’ll take damage. Get hit hard enough…” Stark shook his head. “So be careful.”

“Right.” Captain America looked at everyone. “Remember, we’re here to talk, not fight. Best case? We end this without any more fighting, and everyone wins.”

Claire was usually the one who had the Horngazel, for the simple reason that she had a purse. So it was her job to open the gateway.

Her parents and Dr. Lake weren’t coming. Fury had ruled out any noncombatants on the way.

Which means he doesn’t think we’re noncombatants. Claire didn’t know what to think about that. Sure, she wasn’t Natasha, let alone Hulk, but on the other hand… Director Fury’s right. We kept this town from falling apart before the Avengers were here, and before I knew it, it was just Toby and Jim. Mr. Stark might mean well, but sometimes he really rubbed her the wrong way.

The gateway opened, revealing the stairs. Mr. Stark shifted. “And that’s interesting—until you opened it, as far as the sensors could tell, that’s a solid concrete wall, and behind it is nothing but granite.”

“Mass sensors as well, Tony?” Mr. Banner asked.

“Everything.”

“Well, that’s disturbing.”

“Let’s go,” Director Fury ordered.

It was daytime, so the stairs were deserted. At least they were until they came to the bottom. Two guards were standing there. They looked up and blinked.

“Fleshbags!” one said. “How dare—”

“Guys, it’s alright,” Jim said.

“Queen Usurna said that you had betrayed Trollmarket!” the left guard said, hefting his pike.

“What?” Jim frowned. “No. I’m here to help Trollmarket.”

“With humans!” the second one said, a large, rocky troll. “I knew it was going to be a problem when you first gained the amulet!”

Claire held her staff at the ready. Toby hadn’t opened up his hammer, but he held the hilt at the ready.

“Now see here!” Mr. Blinky said. “The Trollhunter has the right to bring guests before the council!”

“Not humans!”

“That’s not in the rules!” Blinky said.

“Because nobody ever needed it in the rules! What’s next? Telling us we can’t eat cats?”

“Indeed, we would not do such a thing,” Thor said. He walked up next to Jim. “But we will be seeing your council.”

“Who are you?”

“I am—”

“My guest,” Jim said, and for a second Claire’s mind gibbered as Jim cut Thor off. “They are all my guests, and I’ve brought them here for something that can save Trollmarket, that can end the threat of Gunmar. I don’t know what Usurna has been saying, but it’s my right. And my responsibility. Not yours.” For a moment, the two trolls loomed over Jim’s unarmored form, then backed away.

“As you say, Trollhunter.” Then Jim led the Avengers and his friends into Heartstone Trollmarket. One troll almost said something, but then he saw Angor and quietly fainted.

Yeah, this is going to go great… Claire thought.