#mostly because i really like the idea of peter summoning all of the canonical guardians and it being the wildest and weirdest family reunion

[amusewithaview]

Demon Summoning 401 (MCU gone wildly AU)

This was it, the class that the entire cohort had been anticipating since they each received their invitations to study at Shield Academy.  Shield was the only institution in the nation that even offered 401, and its entire program was built around that fact.  401 was where you learned how to summon Extra-Planar beings, known colloquially as ‘demons’, categorized as Class 10.  The ability to summon a Class 10 was not a question of skill or practice, but one of power: you either had it or you didn’t.  No amount of working, wishing, or wailing would change it.

Power wasn’t enough to strike a good bargain, though.  Hence the Academies.  No summoning was ever allowed, of demons of any Class, until the basics had been addressed.  For those able to call the lower-tier demons, this included Basic Demonology, History, Linguistics, Ethics, Husbandry and the like.  For those able to reach the higher levels, far more instruction was required, the lessons increasing in complexity exponentially for each accessible demonic realm.

All students at Shield were able to summon Class 10 demons by nature, but careful nurturing was required in order to make sure they didn’t strike a stupid bargain.  Dying at the hands of an irate demon was the least of the consequences one could incur with a shoddy summoning.

Darcy’s cohort was relatively large, with seven total.  Jane was their scientist, and a member of an older summoning family.  Pepper was their businesswoman, and the first of a new summoning line.  It might have been awkward for her if Peter wasn’t also in their cohort - also the first, but with a far more tragic origin.  He was their class clown, the glue that held them together, though it was a role he happily shared with Sam.  Sam’s line was younger, having originated during WW1.  Helen and Rhodey were their legacies, both with summoning lines so old the origins were largely lost to time.

Darcy was a bit of a mystery, having been adopted by completely vanilla mortal parents.  It was an unusual circumstance, since the summoning families tended to keep pretty good track of their offspring.  Fostering was not uncommon if a child was unwanted.  The mystery was part of the reason Darcy had decided to go through with the whole summoning thing.  Nobody on Earth seemed to want to step up to claim her parentage, maybe she’d luck out in one of the other planes.

Demons were, by and large, significantly better at keeping track of the summoning lineages, with hilarious and occasionally soap opera worthy results.

“I’ve gone over your circles,” Professor Coulson said.  “And I’ve decided-”

Everything froze, nobody even breathed.

“To okay you for summoning today.”

Darcy would have sworn there was an actual breeze what with the way everyone’s breath rushed out of them in a chorus of relief.

“So - who’s first?”

There were three beats of silence, Darcy counted, before -

“If there are no objections,” Pepper said quietly, looking at each of them.  Six clear denials had her smiling softly.  “I’ll go first.”

The circle she had drawn was quite small, modest but finely detailed.  Darcy watched as she went through the motions: candles lit, incense placed, all that remained was the blood - and Darcy winced as Pepper pulled her dagger, annoyed all over again that they were ritually necessary when there were so much easier ways to draw blood - and the incantation.

Pepper had chosen Gaelic as her summoning language, as had Sam.  Darcy and Peter used Latin.  Jane was their lone Ancient Greek summoner.  Rhodey and Helen both used family languages that were otherwise lost to time: the kind only known by scholars and summoners.  A summoning language didn’t need to be dead, it just needed to be something you wouldn’t expect to use in your day-to-day.

Soft murmuring in Gaelic drew Darcy’s attention just in time for her to see a brief flash of cool blue light and suddenly there was a figure standing in the circle.  She was obviously Class 10 from the top of her head to the soles of her feet: while not all of them chose to do so, only Class 10 demons could assume a human guise.

“Well done,” the demon said, smiling fondly down at the summoner on her knees just outside the circle.

Pepper grinned right back.  “It’s good to see you, grandmother.”

The demon folded herself into a cross-legged position, suddenly all business in a way that showed the relation between the two even moreso than their similarly-colored hair.  “Now then, what can I do for you today?  I know this is your first time, so the contract will be short.  You will summon me so we can catch up later though, yes?”

“Under the supervision of an Academy instructor, of course.”

“Of course.”

They exchanged eerily similar smiles.

“If I may make a suggestion,” Professor Coulson broke in.

“You may,” the demon said.

“We’ve got a few potential wild cards in the room.  Would you mind sticking around for the rest of the lesson to assist in case of any emergency?”

The demon narrowed her eyes at him, though the twist of her lips said ‘playful.’  “What will you give me for my aid, summoners?” she murmured.

“Your contract is solely with the one who drew the circle.  I made no summons, I make no bargain.”

“Cautious, clever, and correct,” the demon crooned approvingly, then turned back to Pepper and was all business again.  “It is good to see that you have worthy teachers,” she said, voice warm.  “I will stay for the duration of the lesson, provide aid should any currently in this room be in danger of bodily harm by that which they summon, and in exchange you will call on me again within the fortnight to have a proper catch-up.”

Pepper’s eyes slanted towards the Professor, who nodded.  “Done and done,” she said, reaching across the circle with her bloodied hand to shake on it.  The demon clasped her hand and, with a soft tug that seemed to make the air ripple, allowed herself to be pulled out of the circle.

The duo stood and the demon immediately pulled Pepper in for a hug.

After a moment, they parted, though each kept an arm around the other’s waist.  “Everyone, this is my grandmother, Natasha of the Shadows.  Grandma, this is my cohort.”

Natasha looked everyone over with sharp green eyes, lingering on Peter, Rhodey and - to her private alarm - Darcy.  “An interesting group.”

“Who’s next?” Professor Coulson asked.