"A young woman on the cusp of beginning her life has a fateful encounter with a powerful entity. Her life as she knows it comes to an abrupt end, paving the way for a new destiny that she never anticipated."
The Ashen Avenger is a Crossover between the DC Extended Universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, importing June Moone, Katana, and Enchantress from Suicide Squad (2016). Originally published on FanFiction.Net, it is now available on Archive of Our Own here
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This story contains examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Enchantress and Katana use blades that are incredibly sharp and cut through numerous things that other swords wouldn't.
- Action Girl: The three female leads, June, Katana, and Enchantress are all different variants of female warriors.
- Action Survivor: June Moone. Being a normal girl caught up in severe circumstances, she does the best she can. she grows into this role when she's trapped on an island with Enchantress stripped from her and manages to evade being recaptured.
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: While there are numerous chapters filled with action and violence and sometimes horror, there are also chapters where there is hardly any action, and instead the characters confide in one another about their pain and grow closer. Some examples being Pietro and June's bonding in Avenger's Tower in Chapter 11, the recreation of the Barton Homestead in Chapter 14, and Chapter 9 when Katana confesses her past to June.
- Adaptational Badass: June Moone is a meek woman who falls victim to everything around her. She starts out that way here, too, but eventually grows into an Action Girl as the story progresses. Especially because she has access to magic of her own.
- Adaptational Heroism: Enchantress is a Generic Doomsday Villain in Suicide Squad (2016). Here, she is reimagined as a Dark Is Not Evil sorceress.
- Adaptational Nationality: June is adapted from American to English.
- Adaptation Name Change: Katana's true name in Suicide Squad (2016) is Tatsu Yamashiro. Her first name is changed to Akiko.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
- June's relationship with Enchantress amounted to a parasitic relationship in the source material. In this, she and Enchantress become close to one other, almost to the point of sisterhood.
- Katana and June never interacted directly, whereas here, they were best friends since before the story. Same with her and Enchantress, who go from enemies in the source material to allies and friends in this fanfiction.
- Adaptational Superpower Change: June could only access Enchantress's magic by invoking her name in the original film. She still has that here, but Enchantress can wander outside of June's body for a limited time that is lessened when extensive magic is used. June also has her own magical abilities thanks to Enchantress. Later on in the story, Katana gains access to a strengthening necromantic power through Soultaker, using the strength of the souls to strengthen herself.
- Adaptational Wimp: Subverted. Enchantress initially was weak due to the weak bond between her and June. Once the bond became strong, this was no longer the case.
- Age Lift:
- June Moone was born in 1988 in Suicide Squad (2016). She was born in 1994 in this fanfic.
- Enchantress was 6,373 years old in the source film. She's millions of years old in this fanfic.
- And the Adventure Continues: The story ends with June, Pietro, Katana and Enchantress heading off to investigate the infinity stones.
- Asshole Victim: Agent Moore's execution at Enchantress's hands is especially graphic and violent, but very well deserved considering his terrorist allegiance to HYDRA.
- Band of Brothers: Female variant. Enchantress, June, and Katana all go through this, especially the Ultron arc.
- Big "NO!": Agent Moore gives one when June with her dying action takes one shot to free Enchantress from her defective prison to save the world from her cataclysmic unintentional storm.
- Big Sister Instinct: Both Katana and Enchantress towards June. The former has been her best friend for years, while the latter is a mentor for her.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Enchantress trains June in melee combat with a staff after the Sokovia disaster specifically so that she could be an effective combatant without magic. It's implied she does the same for Wanda.
- Bullying a Dragon: HYDRA's been doing this for millennia against Enchantress. The story displays what happens when the caged dragon flies free again. Once she takes a level in badass, June invokes this trope on a much less ferocious level.
- Central Theme: Good is not obvious. In the first ten chapters, Enchantress is repeatedly feared and judged based on her ominous appearance, which she takes in stride. The second ten chapters deal with the Maximoff siblings who have been tricked into villainy but are still good.
- Chekhov's Skill: June's Healing Hands. She heals Bruce and Natasha of their sterility and to save Pietro's life during the Ultron arc.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: Subverted. Katana is never referred to by that name until she becomes an Avenger.
- Continuity Nod: There is a scene that involved Ghost watching the news as it's revealed to the world the S.H.I.E.L.D. has been a breeding ground for HYDRA.
- Cool Sword: They are when they're katanas that can suck away your soul and make you even more powerful.
- Darker and Edgier: Per the norm of MCU films, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is relatively lighthearted and nice. This fanfiction is much more violent and gritty with numerous horror elements and graphic deaths. Not so much for the second half, which is Lighter and Softer than the first half.
- The Dreaded: Two examples here.
- Enchantress was sealed away thousands of years ago by HYDRA and was carefully guarded for that whole time. The story shows what happens when the caged and angry sorceress breaks free.
- Katana is revealed to be this to the whole criminal underworld across the globe. Natasha even says that crime gangs and families tend to flee when they learn she's close by.
- Eldritch Abomination: A humanlike one, but Enchantress still qualifies nonetheless, being a godlike being after all.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Mixes elements of mad science and the spy drama of the ''The Winter Soldier'' with ancient sorceresses, infinity stones, mystical swords, a Kree alien, a quantum warrior, and omnicidal robots.
- Female Gaze: When Pietro's imprisoned in Avenger's tower, at one point he gets out of the shower and June asks if it was safe for him to come in. He says yes. She finds him half-naked and gets a really good appreciative look at his built figure.
- Fire-Forged Friends: None of the three women who lead the story are hostile to each other, but they are wary of Yon-Rogg and Ghost. Fighting HYDRA brings all of them closer together as friends, but not enough to keep them together.
- In the second arc, there is some tension between Katana and Black Widow, mostly one-sided from the former, as she still viewed the latter as the assassin she used to be. Fighting Ultron brings them closer together to the point where Katana forgives Black Widow and accepts her long-established Heel–Face Turn.
- Game Face: Katana gains one when she accesses the necromantic power of Soultaker. It makes her resemble an onryō from her home nation's mythology.
- Genre Refugee: Enchantress. A supernatural cosmic sorceress in a world where wizards are typically changed into science. Doubles as an Outside-Genre Foe to HYDRA.
- Hearing Voices: June feared schizophrenia when she started hearing voices. It was actually Enchantress calling out to her, as she's a compatible host for her.
- The Hero's Journey: This whole story is how June grows from a normal girl to a full-fledged Avenger.
- OC: Agent Michael Moore and his squadron.
- Heel–Face Turn: Recurs multiple times with different characters.
- Yon-Rogg has made one since the time of Captain Marvel (2019).
- Ghost makes one after S.H.I.E.L.D. is outed as a breeding ground for HYDRA. She had no idea that she was even Heel to begin with.
- In the second half of the story, we have the Maximoff twins.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: HYDRA simply trapping June in the cave alongside Enchantress leads directly to the latter's freeing. To their credit, they did send someone down to make sure, but it was too late.
- Improbable Age: June Moone having a doctorate is repeatedly mentioned and treated as this, as well as handwaved by her being something of a Teen Genius and a prodigy in her pre-adult years.
- Jumped at the Call: Katana jumps at the chance to join the Avengers. Her reason for doing so is because June was, and she wanted to go along with the only girl she considers family.
- Mauve Shirt: Ghost and Yon-Rogg. Both get a decent number of lines and backstory and motivation before they're Put on a Bus.
- Multiple-Choice Chosen: According to Enchantress, there truthfully is nothing special about June in particular. She happens to be one of several compatible hosts for Enchantress. June just happens to be the one to free her.
- Oh, Crap!: A particularly satisfying one when Agent Moore realizes that the fatally injured June is about to free Enchantress again.
- O.C. Stand-in: Katana, June, and Enchantress were not very developed characters in Suicide Squad (2016). Here, they're the central protagonists of the story, given much more fleshed out personalities and more backstories.
- Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Katana, who is described as being wholly Japanese "with the height to match". She's nonetheless their greatest swordswoman. Helps that she has access to the necromancy of the sword to help her.
- Sealed Good in a Can: Enchantress, sealed away for thousands of years. The first chapter is when she's finally released.
- Time Bomb: A variant. When June is abducted and taken to an island near Japan, the containment unit for Enchantress is not appropriately designed for her. This meant that within a certain amount of time, Enchantress's magic would go out of control and conjure an apocalyptic storm that would've destroyed the world had June not been able to stop it.
- Took a Level in Badass: A big part of June's Character Development. Fighting back against HYDRA tends to help someone grow stronger.
- Twin Telepathy: Justified because Wanda is a telepath. She instantly knows when her brother is shot to death by Ultron. Tragically, it doesn't automatically reform when he's brought back to life, leaving her in a grief-stricken suicidal trance.
