Iron kills fairies.

[notawastedlife]

The part of the universe they were in was crumbling -- slowly, but accelerating -- under them, and there was a periodically discorporeal version of the Big Bad Wolf trying to eat them, or at least do considerable harm to them

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[apoorupbringing]

Chase was painfully aware of the smell of charred fur and what he guessed were guts. He stood staring at the small crater where the wolf had been, and then all the parts of his body that had been scraped, cut, bruised, yanked out of the socket, or otherwise traumatized started to check in and he collapsed onto his ass, legs splaying out in front of him, and groaned.

"I hate everything."

[sciencefact]

There are brains in Jane's hair. There are brains in Jane's hair. She'd frozen the moment the beast had exploded and she hasn't moved yet, but she can see it there, in her peripheral vision. Brains. In her hair.

And the portal she'd worked so frantically to keep open for the past hour has just been obliterated.

"I'm with the kid," she says, hands still held uncertainly before her like the victim of a hold up. A bloody glob slides from her right cheek to land on her shoe with a plop. "I hate everything, too."

[notawastedlife]

Tony wiped some magic wolf off his visor, and then pulled the helmet off entirely, letting out a slight, "Hoo," as he exhaled, stepping over to the remains of the portal device.

That was a pity.

Still, though... he turned to look at Jane. "Really?" he said. He seemed, if anything, oddly invigorated. "We just crossed beyond the borders of what we know. Met the Big Bad Wolf, went woodchopper on him- I'm the only one who sees the fun side?"

[sciencefact]

"Everything includes you, for the record," Jane replies, and finally moves, albeit slowly, to push some of her hair from her face. "Next time I'll remember my full-body robot suit. OH WAIT, I don't have one," she snaps, because his enthusiasm is all the more irritating when he's looking at her with a squeaky-clean face.

"What was that?" she asks, jabbing an angry finger at the mess. And then jabs it again for emphasis.

[notawastedlife]

"The Big Bad Wolf," Tony said, toying a piece of singed meat.

Who was going to clean this? Maybe he could get Dope to do it, although then there'd still be pieces of wolf around for weeks.

Interesting that it was so straightforward and solid, now. "As mentioned. Well, something adjacent to it. Might have looked like that because we read fairy tales, or... vice versa, it's an intriguing intellectual puzzle. That... smells, I might put the helmet back on."

He did not, however.

[king_ofcups]

Walter was livid.

Of all the irresponsible, arrogant, idiotic things he'd seen done -- most of them by his own hands, of course -- this had to top the list.

"Can someone please explain to me why this device was activated in the first place?" he roared, turning toward the rest of the group, his face a mask of unrestrained fury, his lab coat splattered with gore.

[notawastedlife]

"Sure, I'll just let- he's gone," Tony said, turning around to find Peter, because he still wasn't entirely sure of the answer to that, although what the wolf had looked like -- to Peter, and to Chase -- before it looked like a wolf meant he could make some pretty sound guesses.

But Peter hadn't stuck around. Probably fortunate, he'd been geared up in his Spider-Man costume, and he still had that weird thing about protecting his identity. Who knew who knew what now, though.

"My now absent colleague had a lapse of judgment," he said, pulling off his helmet. "Happens to everyone. Maybe usually a little less... messy." He looked around the scrapyard, frowning, although more contemplative than actively upset.

[king_ofcups]

"You colleague's lapse in judgement could have easily ripped apart the very fabric of our worlds. There are consequences to these actions that cannot possibly be predicted, and don't think they've been avoided simply because you've blasted your little toy to kingdom come!"

Happens to everyone was not an excuse Walter would accept. Tampering with such things carried with it a great deal of responsibility, that couldn't simply be shrugged off as a mere mistake.

"How long did your colleague allow the portal to remain open before charging through?"

[notawastedlife]

"This place has people imports people from other universes on a regular basis, I think there's some level of... give that wouldn't be present in your regular variety spacetime fabric," Tony said, twirling one hand vaguely in mid-air as he circled the remains of his little toy, as Bishop called it.

"As for- timing? Before? I think he just dived right in. And then it was open however long you kept it open. I know how long it was for us, but I don't want to assume there was no time dilation."