The orphanage was always quiet at night. Most of the children were already asleep, their breathing soft in the dimly lit dormitory, but Kaori Fujimoto sat wide awake in the rec room, the glow of the television painting her pale face in shifting colors. She was twelve, but unlike most twelve-year-olds, she had never gone to school, never sat at a desk surrounded by the sound of pencils scratching paper or teachers calling names. Her classroom was here, in the orphanage common room, filled with the hum of a PlayStation 5, the rustle of comic pages, and the soft static of late-night movies.
Kaori wasn't normal—though she had always kept that truth locked deep inside. Her secret was dangerous, frightening even to herself. She had the power to become anything—any monster, robot, ghost, or even the nightmarish animatronics from the cartoons she watched. With each transformation, she didn't just borrow their strength; she doubled it. Diablo, Godzilla, even the animatronics from Five Nights at Freddy's—if she wished it, she could become them. But that wasn't the only secret. Kaori could also open doors—doors that no one else could see. A flick of her hand, a whisper of thought, and she could step into the glowing world behind the screen.
And tonight, she was going to use it.
On the TV before her, the screen was filled with chaos: a massive blue beam piercing the sky, a gaping hole torn in the heavens, and an army of Chitauri swarming through like a plague of locusts. She had seen The Avengers movie before—dozens of times, actually—but this time, something inside her burned. She wanted to be there. Not as a viewer, not as a fan, but as a warrior standing side by side with the heroes she admired.
Her hand trembled as she pressed her palm against the screen. The glass rippled like water, sending waves of light across the room. She took a deep breath. Once I go in, I can't die, she reminded herself. That was the rule. In the fictional worlds, she was untouchable, an immortal shadow.
Still, her heart pounded as she whispered, "Take me in."
The screen pulled her forward, and in a blink, the orphanage disappeared.
---
Kaori landed in the middle of New York City, and the world was fire. Buildings cracked and burned, cars lay overturned, and screams filled the air. Above her, the sky was split open, and alien warships descended like sharks circling prey. The Avengers were already there—Iron Man zipped past in a streak of red and gold, Captain America shouted orders to fleeing civilians, Thor's hammer cracked with lightning, and the Hulk roared as he smashed a Chitauri into the pavement.
Kaori's eyes widened. They were real. More real than she had ever imagined.
But there wasn't time to stand in awe. A squad of Chitauri soldiers had spotted her, their weapons charging as they hissed in an alien tongue. Instinct took over. Her body lit with violet fire, bones twisting, flesh reshaping, her small frame swelling into a towering form. Wings of bone and flame erupted from her back, horns curled from her skull, and claws like burning steel replaced her hands.
She had become Diablo, the Lord of Terror.
The ground split beneath her as she roared, a sound that shook the windows of the skyscrapers around her. The Chitauri hesitated for only a moment before firing, but their blasts bounced harmlessly off her armored hide. With one sweep of her claw, she sent three of them flying into a burning taxi, which exploded in a wave of flame.
"Whoa!" Tony Stark's voice crackled through the air, his helmet swiveling toward her as he hovered mid-flight. "Uh, Cap? We got… well, I don't even know what we got. Big, red, and scary—but it's fighting on our side!"
Captain America's eyes followed the destruction Kaori had caused, then landed on her massive form. He didn't flinch, didn't question. He only shouted, "If it's helping, then let it fight!"
That was all the permission she needed.
Kaori's massive wings carried her upward, her claws ripping through the alien gliders one by one. Each time they tried to regroup, she unleashed a torrent of hellfire from her maw, burning them to ash. The Chitauri ships that dared to dive too close were ripped apart in seconds. She was chaos, destruction, but all of it was directed at the invaders.
"Remind me never to piss that thing off," Clint muttered from a rooftop as he loosed arrow after arrow.
Thor actually laughed, lightning crackling around him. "This creature fights with fury worthy of Asgard!"
But deep inside the monster, Kaori was trembling. She had never unleashed this much power before. She could feel Diablo's essence inside her, whispering, begging her to lose control, to give in fully to the darkness. But she clenched her fists, forcing her human heart to remain steady. I'm not the monster. I'm Kaori. I'm helping.
Suddenly, a massive Leviathan—the great serpent-like warship—broke through the portal, its armored body slithering through the sky. Even the Hulk paused to stare at its size.
Kaori snarled. Her eyes glowed brighter, her wings stretching wide. If the Avengers were going to stop that thing, they needed more than strength. They needed terror.
She climbed higher into the sky, her wings beating like thunder, and then she dove, her body surrounded in an inferno of violet fire. She struck the Leviathan head-on, claws tearing into its skull, ripping through metal and alien flesh alike. The beast screeched, writhing in pain as she forced its head down toward the streets below.
"Hulk!" Captain America shouted.
The Hulk leapt, smashing his fists into the Leviathan's weakened skull. With Kaori's claws tearing from above and Hulk's might crushing from below, the colossal creature's head split apart, its body crashing into the ground with an earth-shaking boom.
The battlefield went silent for a moment. Even the Chitauri seemed stunned.
Then Iron Man let out a laugh. "Okay, giant scary demon thing? You're hired."
For the first time, Kaori let herself feel it—not just the heat of battle, but the rush of belonging. She wasn't just watching from a couch anymore. She wasn't a lonely orphan with a secret too heavy to share. She was a hero, standing with the Avengers.
The war wasn't over—the sky still swarmed with enemies—but as Kaori spread her wings and roared once more, she knew this was only the beginning.