A fire crackled in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by trees. The moon hung high in the sky, adding to the illumination of the scenery. In the clearing, an older man with greying blonde hair sat on a log, staring into the fire. Next to him was a young girl, lying on the ground with a blanket over her.

"Daddy," the girl started. Her words took her father out of his trance. "I can't sleep. Can you tell me a story?"

The father nodded. "Which one do you want to hear? The one about Galactus? Or maybe the one about the aliens from a different dimension with the goofy names?"

The girl shook her head. "You told me all of those stories." She said. "Can you tell me the one about the superheroes?"

The older man chuckled. "You sure?" In response, his daughter nodded her head. "Alright. Two years ago, the world had superheroes. Men and women with great power and the ability to use it to save people from bad guys. Whether it was alien, god, mutant, or mankind itself, superheroes sacrificed their lives to save those who couldn't save themselves. The heroes like Captain America, the Amazing Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Doctor Strange always did their best to save people. And when they couldn't do it alone, they'd form teams. The Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men were all heroes who united to help people. It was an age of miracles. An age of marvels. And an age of heroes."

"It was better then." The girl added, her sparkling blue eyes looking into her fathers'.

"Much better." The older man replied. "No villain could stand up to them." His disposition changed to a slightly grimmer one. "Until one did." His gaze returned to the fire. "A villain named Doctor Doom ended the Heroic Age, destroying the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Avengers, all of them. Every hero that stood up to him..." He looked to his daughter, a sadness in his eyes, as if he were recalling memories. "They aren't around anymore." He sighed before forcing a smile. "But that's the thing about heroes. They won't give up until they beat evil."

"Do you really think the good guys are going to come back?" The girl asked.

"They always do." The older man gave her a reassuring grin before kissing her on the forehead. "We just have to hold out hope until then." He ran his gloved fingers through her blonde hair. "Get some sleep muffin." He told her. "In the morning we'll move on before-." His line of thought was interrupted by a rustle in the treetops. He narrowed his eyes to see past the darkness.

The girl sat up from the floor, worried. "Daddy?"

The older man stood and began walking to where he heard the noise. His muscles were tense and his eyes focused, ready for what may come. The girl watched him march towards the darkness. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for anything suspicious but she hoped that it was nothing. Her heart beat into her ears and soon it was the only thing she could hear as she focused her attention on her father's back. However, her pulse would stop entirely upon feeling the tight grip on her shoulder. Slowly, she would look up to see the cold metallic face of the world's new ruler.

"Daddy!" The girl shouted as she was pulled to her feet by Doctor Doom.

Without hesitation, the man spun around to meet his daughter's attacker, his fist blazing into an orange ball of flame he readied to throw. "Hannah!"

"Ah, ah, ah." Doom's unsettling voice slithered through his metal mask. "You wouldn't risk the chance of harming your beautiful young daughter. Would you, Jonathan?"

"Let her go Doom!" Johnny Storm, better known as the Human Torch, shouted. "This is between us, leave her out of it."

"Do not be naive, Storm. I am not one to leave loose ends. You and your offspring are the last of the Fantastic Four. If left to your own devices, you will try to fight against me. You will fail but that is a thorn in my side I would rather not deal with." As Doom spoke, a small army of Doombots stepped out of the shadows, surrounding Johnny, almost daring him to make a move.

"You almost sound like you're scared of me Doom."

Doom replied by laughing, loudly and arrogantly. Johnny's eyes focused on Hannah who had tears staining her cheeks. He just needed an opening.

"Storm, you are less to me now than you were before I had the powers of a god at my disposal." He clenched his free hand which crackled with yellow energy. "You said it yourself: The might of the Avengers couldn't stop me. The strength of the X-Men could not hold me. And the knowledge of the Fantastic Four could not free the world of me. Doom is all powerful. Doom is almighty. What do I have to fear from the likes of a man who abandoned his own family to save his own neck?"

Johnny winced at the words but smirked. "Even with all that power you still can't go five minutes without hearing yourself talk." he looked at Hannah and winked. "Some things never change." His body began to smoke and his blue eyes turned into red hot pits of fire. "Now Hannah!"

In unison, the father and daughter shouted two words that Doom had come to hate with his entire being: "Flame on!"

Johnny erupted into a red flame that immediately blew back all of the Doombots near him. While Hannah ignited a blue flame that caused Doom to let go of her in shock. As soon as her feet hit the ground, the 9-year-old threw a blue ball of fire into Doom's mask before running away. The Human Torch soared into the sky, letting loose a torrent of fire that threatened to set the entire forest ablaze.

"Hannah!" Johnny shouted towards his daughter. "Just like we practiced, okay?"

Hannah ran into the trees, still covered head to toe in fire, as Doombots chased after her, firing at her small body. Upon hearing her dad's words, she leapt into the air and began to gain altitude until she too was flying.

Once the fire burning Doom's green cloak faded, his eyes began to crackle with energy. "Take the girl." He told his Doombots. "Storm is mine." He began to levitate towards Johnny who was blasting down Doombots. Once Doom was close enough, the Human Torch shot a fireball at him that the tyrant deflected.

"Bah!" Doom knocked the flame away from him but his target was nowhere to be found. Johnny flew in from the side, barreling into Doom's side, knocking him backwards.

"Don't 'bah' me!" Johnny smirked. For a moment, it felt like old times. Once again, he was the young and hot headed Human Torch of the Fantastic Four instead of an older, bearded hippie with no family but his daughter. With the thought of Hannah, he was suddenly back to reality. He whipped his head towards the young girl flying just a few yards away from him. She was dodging enemy fire but much less graciously than her father. Johnny knew It was only a matter of time until she was shot down. "Hannah!" He called. "Keep flying! I'll catch up!"

Hannah looked at her father. "But-!"

"Trust me!" He winked before returning his attention to Doom.

"Don't make promises you cannot keep, Storm."

Johnny prepared yet another flame blast as Doom shot a surge of yellow energy from his palm. The two clashed in the night skies and it sent a surge of energy that melted any Doombot unfortunate enough to be floating nearby.

Hannah had flown as fast as she could, for as long as she could but she was still young and her powers were relatively new to her. Thanks to the training she received from her father she was much more adept in these situations but she has yet to surpass a time limit for how long she could keep up her flame covered form. As she began to decrease her altitude, she looked up to see sparks of fire in the skies a few miles away. Her father was still alive and seemingly giving Doom a run for his money. That or Doom wasn't trying so hard. As much as it pained her to leave, Hannah knew that she would only get in the way of her dad and get them both killed. Hopefully her father could get a chance to run and they can both live to fight another day.

As she touched down, she tried not to think so fatalistic but it was hard not to be afraid of the world's greatest super villain. She checked behind her for any sign of the Doombots before collapsing on the ground, only looking up to watch her father work.

Underestimation was Doom's greatest flaw as an adversary. It has cost him many victories in the past and now was seemingly no different. For now, the Human Torch burned with the fire of the sun itself and was now able to unleash it all on Doom who had taken a hefty defensive state, only managing to evade and block attacks.

"This," Johnny shot a stream of flame at Doom, striking him in his armored chest. "Is for Reed!" Before Doom could compose himself, the Human Torch punched him in the face. "And that's for Ben!" A barrage of fire pelted Doctor Doom until he slammed into the forest floor. "Franklin, Valeria!" The villain stood, dusting himself off and noticed the trees around him begin to ignite. The air itself tasted charred and burnt as Johnny radiated so much heat, it looked as if the sun was rising just above Doom's head.

Doom stared into the light, eyeing the man through the fire he created. He stood, unflinching as the ground seemed to melt beneath his feet.

"And this," Johnny continued, staring at Doom. "This is for my sister, you son of a bitch." He clenched his fist and flew downwards at the villain, bringing his self-made sun with him. Ever since the cosmic rays gifted the Fantastic Four with their abilities, Johnny has been warned to never unleash the full power of his inner flame. Reed warned him that even attempting something like that would mean the end of all mankind and Johnny himself. But that was when he was young. Now, he was older, wiser, and had far more control of his flame. The heat that struck Doom was beyond comprehension. In one moment, it felt like half of the earth was being hit with the full force of a solar flare. As the miniature sun consumed Doom, Johnny drew the flames that covered the forest back into himself, absorbing it and the heat that could destroy this quarter of the planet. He only unleashed just enough to incinerate Doctor Doom and the surrounding clearing to ash.

As fast as it had appeared, the sun had dissipated into nothing as smoke came from what once was their campsite. Hannah watched on, sitting on the ground, too afraid to move. She was hoping that something would alert her to run away or towards the impact site. That signal came in the form of a slow-moving orange flame shooting into the air before crashing just a few miles away from Hannah's current location. The young girl smiled and took off running towards it.

Johnny landed on the ground with a thud and took a moment to breathe. He was sweating for the first time in years and felt himself fall to exhaustion. The entire area surrounding him was steaming and it began to rain due to the heat still in the air. The drops did the job in cooling him off and he smiled. Even if Doom was still alive, he was happy to finally unleash the full extent of his power on the man who deserved it the most. After his moment to recover himself, Johnny stood up to look for his daughter. However, almost like a sixth sense, dread had encompassed him.

"A good effort, Storm." Doctor Doom's cold voice spoke above him. "But like those who tried before you, not good enough." Johnny grimaced and readied another ball of flame but Doom shot a beam of energy right through the man's shoulder, causing the hero to fall over. After Johnny's last stunt he could barely create a sizzle, much less an attack. He looked to Doom, a pained grimace on his face as he nursed his now wounded shoulder. "Though I suppose I should thank you." Now that Doom was right in front of him, Johnny could see he was in perfect condition. There wasn't so much as a smudge on his green cloak. "I wanted to know just how much damage my new visage could take. Thanks to you I now know that I am nigh invulnerable." His metal hand gripped its fingers around Johnny's throat. "I suppose you did have a use after all."

The Human Torch was no idiot. He had been in the game long enough to know when he was finished. Only unlike the old days, there was no one to rush in and save him. But still he smirked. "You think you're invulnerable Doom. But you and I both know that your greatest weakness will always be yourself. So, take your victory for as long as you can hold it. It isn't going to be long before someone stops you." As Johnny spoke, thunder struck behind them.

Doom's eyes were focused and angry. For some reason, he found himself wanting the Human Torch to be afraid but the man was beaten and facing certain death, yet he smiled. With his free hand, Doom pressed a palm to Johnny's forehead. "You think too much about tomorrow," With a flick of yellow energy, Doom ignited the Human Torch's head for a brief moment, killing him instantly. "For a dead man." It was painless and quick. A mercy in response to the respect that Doom held for his former adversary. The metal clad conqueror let him go and watched his body slump to the ground. He took a moment to survey his surrounding before he began to float and then fly away, his work here clearly finished.

However, watching from a nearby shrub was young Hannah. The girl had hot tears running down her face that seemed to blend into the rain. She stood and slowly moved towards her father's unmoving corpse. "Dad...?" She called quietly. "Daddy?" Upon hearing no answer, she dropped to her knees next to her father and cried on his chest. "Daddy please... How am I going to keep going without you?" Hannah Storm knew her father well enough to know that he'd tell her to be strong. She was all that was left of the Fantastic Four and she was all alone in a world that wanted her dead. Hannah Storm would have to be strong.

Eight Years Later - The Sanctum Sanctorum

A young girl slowly tiptoed through a long, dark hallway. Candles lit her way as she crept down the hall. Given that she wore a nightgown and a robe, she was clearly meant to be asleep but this girl was wide awake, her brown eyes wide behind her glasses. She came to a stop in front of one door before opening it and peeking inside. It was far darker than it was in the hallway. With a wave of her finger, one of the candles from the hall flew off of the wall and next to her, illuminating the room a bit. Now that she could see, she tipped into the room and towards the bed where a boy lay sleeping.

The girl cleared her throat. "Ben." She tapped his shoulder. No response. "Ben?" She shook him a little harder this time. No response. She sighed and stood straight before whispering something to herself and outstretching her arms. Light pink circles encompassed both of her hands as she turned her wrists. Matching her movements, the sleeping boy's blanket began to raise and wrap tighter around him. The girl rose her arms into the air and the blanket followed, lifting the boy with it. Once he was a few feet off his bed, the young magician ended her spell and the boy dropped back onto his mattress with a thud. His eyes shot open and he popped up off of the bed and leapt to the floor with a startled and alarmed look on his face. Once his senses came to him, he looked up at the girl.

"Emilia?" Ben stood upright, wiping the sleep from his eyes. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

Emilia gave him a big smile and grabbed his wrist. "I found it." She said, pulling him out of his room and down the hall.

"Got what?" Ben asked. "Where are we going?" His questions went unanswered until Emilia brought the two to the Sanctum's massive library. Bookcases circled the wall and stretched several feet high. Most of those books were pulled from their shelves and left on the floor, opened to specific pages. It seems Emilia's been busy.

The girl brought Ben to one of the many desks in the library. This one, however, had a large stack of books crowding its surface along with a candle and a juice box. Emilia pointed at one of the opened books. "This is it." She said.

Ben looked at the book closely which, like nearly every other book in this library, was in a totally different language, complete with random circles and sigils. He looked back at the dark-skinned girl and shrugged. "I give up. What is it?"

"It's our way out."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "You found a teleportation spell?"

"Not just any teleportation spell." She smiled. "A spell that can get us out of this dimension."

Ben smiled back at her. "Awesome! Do you think you can pull it off?"

"It's not a beginner's level spell but it's doable." She responded. "It's as simple as flying."

Ben's smile disappeared. "You're not even that good at that."

Emilia jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "I'm working on it."

Ben shrugged. "Good enough I guess. Now we just need to make sure Alex doesn't find out and we're golden."

"Make sure Alex doesn't find out what?" The booming voice of Alex Rogers came from the doorway leading into the library. The two teenagers looked up to see the strapping auburn headed boy looking straight at them. "Because I think I already know."

"Nothing." Emilia Strange began frantically closing all of the books on the desk. "Nothing weird." She gave him an unconvincing smile. Ben Parker rubbed the bridge of his nose. Emilia always was bad at playing it cool.

Alex folded his arms and smirked. "You two still trying to leave, huh?"

Ben shrugged. "Can you blame us? Anyone can go stir crazy sitting in this big house for most of your life."

"Better to go stir crazy in here than to die out there."

"Pfft." Ben walked past Alex, his hands in his pajama pockets. "Says you."

Alex looked to Emilia who was picking up the books from the desk. Before the older boy could say anything, the fifteen-year-old spoke first.

"Don't look at me like that." She said.

He sighed. "Em, you know what I'm going to say."

"Then there's no point in you saying it."

"Then why do you keep hunting for spells to leave?"

"Because," Emilia began levitating the books towards their rightful spots on the bookshelves around the library. "I'm tired of this creaky old house floating in space!" She moved towards a large curtain in the library, pulling it open to reveal a swirling mass of pink and white space. "This is not normal!"

"And you think going back to earth where a madman rules the world is better?"

"Yes!" Emilia sighed. "No... I don't know. I just want to get out of here. Just for a little bit." She stared out of the window into the empty space. "I just feel like I should be out there. My purpose isn't to be locked away in some pocket dimension where we're the only living things."

Alex had heard it all before but that doesn't mean it got any easier being the hardass. He shook his head. "No, Em. I'm sorry but when we were left here, I was told to protect you and Ben and the best way to do that is staying put."

"You've been saying the same thing since you were twelve."

"I've been right since I was twelve."

"The world could be bright and sunny now and we'd never know it because we're floating out here!"

"Em." Alex said sternly. "No."

The young girl frowned at Alex before storming past him. The seventeen-year-old ran his fingers through his hair. Not the start to his morning he wanted but among the three of them, he was always seen as the older brother so he had to act like it and sometimes that meant making the decisions that warranted a few days of silent treatment. He turned to leave the library and found Ben leaning against the doorway with a bowl of cereal.

"You can't be mad at her." He said through a mouthful of milk and bits of oats.

"I'm not mad." Alex responded. "I'm just exhausted that I have to keep having the same conversation with the two of you over and over again. You need to stop encouraging her. Earth is a dangerous place and we're all better off staying out of it."

"Wow. The fearless son of Captain America everybody." Ben spoke, mimicking an announcer's voice. "Watch as he avoids danger and abandons a world in need."

"Don't start that." Alex walked past Ben, through the foyer of the Sanctum and down the long hall where their rooms are. The younger boy followed.

"I'm just saying. You have the kids of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and freaking Captain America hanging out in nowhere space while the place we came from - our home dies." Ben argued. "What kind of heroes are we?"

"Easy." Alex stopped walking to face him. "We aren't heroes. We're teenagers and if we leave here to go fight out there we're going to end up exactly like our parents."

"But we have to try man. Before he left me here, my dad told me that with great power-."

Alex cut him off. "If you say with great power comes great responsibility, I'm going to throw you outside."

"Do you even know what it means?"

Alex stopped in front of the door to his room. "I don't care what it means. My responsibility is to protect what we have here. To me, that's worth more than an adventure as a wannabe superhero." He opened the door to his room. "My dad told me something too. He told me to keep you guys safe. And whether you like it or not, that's what I'm doing." He closed the door in Ben's face, leaving him alone in the hall with his bowl of cereal.

"What a jerk."

Jotunheim

A young woman marched through two feet of snow, a blizzard whipping around her. She was covered from head to toe, a hood and cloak hugged her torso and heavy leggings protecting her lower half. With one hand she kept a scarf from flying off of her mouth and with the other she dragged a heavy axe. After what seemed like hours of aimless marching, the woman could finally see the light in the distance. A cave rested at the base of a large mountain. Inside, the promising glow of a light of some kind.

As she entered the cave she pulled her hood off of her head, freeing her golden blonde hair that draped off of her shoulders. Her light blue eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cave, focusing on the green light coming from deeper within the cave. The woman hoisted her axe to hold it in both hands before slowly moving further into the cave. Oddly, the darkness of the cave grew more encompassing but the bright green light glowed brighter until it was all the young girl could make out. At the back of the cave was a small green stone, emanating with a magical glow.

"Finally." The blonde woman kneeled down to run her fingers along the smooth surface before taking her a bag from around her waist and emptying its contents on the ground. Six other colored stones clacked to the ground to join the green one. Now there were seven stones of different colors of the rainbow. Together, they began to glow a solid white and hum with power. "The pieces of the Bifrost are reunited." The girl spoke alone, her voice echoing in the cave. "Midgard awaits." She placed her hand on the seven shards of the Bifrost. "I, Daughter of Thor and Princess of the lost realm of Asgard invoke thee, Bifrost: Take me to Midgard so that I may kill my enemies and avenge my fallen family."

After a few moments, the pieces of the Bifrost seemed to surge with energy before erupting in a torrent of white light which began to cover her. The Asgardian shielded her eyes from the light but in a flash, she was gone, a trail of smoke where she had been. The Bifrost shards ceased their humming and the color faded from them. Soon, they were just ordinary rocks, exhausted of their magical energy.

The warrior could feel herself flying through the cosmos but all she could see was a blinding white light that pulled her from the icy tundra that was Jotunheim to her new location. She gripped her axe and steadied her pounding heart. After a long couple of years travelling from realm to realm, hunting down the seven pieces of the Bifrost that had been lost when Asgard was destroyed, she was finally ready to enter Midgard. She was one step closer to avenging Asgard. Though still young, the woman's heart ached for revenge and that vengeance would only come when she separated Doom's head from his shoulders.

The Sanctum Sanctorum

Emilia Strange has never truly known what normal is. From her very first memory she could only remember darkness before being saved by her soon to be adopted father, Dr. Stephen Strange. He would train her in the mystic arts and introduce her to the magic dwelling within her that had always yearned for an outlet. But as fast as he had come, he had gone - leaving with the few remaining Avengers to battle Doctor Doom for the fate of the earth. He had promised Emilia and the other children that if they survived they would bring them back. Even then, the five-year-old Emilia could tell that he wasn't too confident about their chances of making it back alive. Obviously, ten years have passed and the trio are still floating in a pocket dimension so at this point it was probably safe to say that their parents were never coming back. It had not been all bad though. Thanks to enchantments and spells Doctor Strange had littered around the Sanctum, they always had food and entertainment. There was even a theater room complete with thousands of movies. The books in the library practically gave them any normal education and early on Alex had created a chore system to make sure they never got too lazy.

The children had found ways to keep themselves busy for the past decade. For Alex, he read books from the library and sat in his room, perfecting his artistic abilities which he has never shared with his housemates. Every now and then he'd take a trip to the gym and try to stay fit. He called it his alone time. Ben spent most of his time enjoying the never-ending supply of food in the Sanctum and sitting in front of the theater watching any movie he could find. Emilia, on the other hand, spent her time studying. Stephen had instilled in her a thirst for magical knowledge and now that the entirety of the Sanctum was free to use, Emilia took the opportunity to keep tutoring herself in the mystic arts. While she loved learning how to use her astral form and turn a fire into a butterfly, she ultimately wanted to find a way to leave.

When they were left here, this sort of life was new for Alex and Ben, both of whom had lived in normal homes with their parents before Doom took over. Emilia has always known floating dishes that cleaned themselves or riding on the top of a magic carpet. But even now, as she walked through the massive, seemingly moving corridors of her home, she was tired of it. Alex had a point. It was dangerous to leave the Sanctum and go to earth. But the thing Emilia had come to grips with a long time ago was that she didn't care. One way or another, she needed to leave and she knew that she had the power to.

She reached the library and after taking a few moments to check over her shoulder, she ran towards one of the many bookcases and began thumbing through them until her finger landed on the brown leather-bound spine of the book she was looking for. She hoisted it off of the shelf and flipped through the pages until landing on the one that she had shown Ben that morning. She took the book to the desk and set it down, preparing to recite the spell she needed.

"Okay..." Emilia whispered to herself. "Simple as flying... I hope." After a moment of silence, Emilia's eyes lit up with pink energy, her hands were orbited by glowing sigils, and she began reciting words that no untrained tongue could form. As she spoke, she made different symbols with her hands for every word, the sigils around her changing with them. The ground of the Sanctum began to rumble and a gust of wind surrounded Emilia. She felt it working.

A bright beam of light appeared in front of her, eventually forming into a portal. Emilia stopped her chant, a large smile plastered across her face. "I did it?" She was somewhat shocked before jumping in the air and throwing her hands up. "I did it!"

And here it was. Her way out into the great unknown. The practiced magician was readying to take her steps into the void. She would leave and then come back quick before anyone even knew she was gone. She was sure that she could repeat the spell so even at the first sign of trouble, she'd jump back over and pretend it never even happened. Foolproof in the mind of the fifteen-year-old. She was about to take her leave but hesitated, noticing something else coming through the portal. She squinted through her glasses and could only make out the figure of another person becoming more and more clear.

"Um... Hello?" Emilia started.

The figure didn't respond, only marching forward until Emilia could totally make out a tall young woman with glorious golden hair that bellowed with the energy released from the portal. She was wearing leathers and furs, complete with golden metal bracers on her wrists and belt. Finally, and most alarming, she held a large axe in one hand that looked as if it had seen plenty of use in the past.

"Who are you?" Emilia asked the woman as the portal shut behind her.

"I," She began, raising her axe, pointing its sharp edges at Emilia. "Am the vengeance of Asgard. Now, little witch, where is your master?"

Emilia put her hands up. "Wait what? I don't have any master-."

"Fine then. If you won't tell me, I will force it from you!"

A Few Minutes Earlier

In the gym, Alex pelted a punching bag with a flurry of blows that would have toppled any normal man. The super soldier serum that Alex had inherited from his dad made sure that he would never need to work out to stay in shape but he still enjoyed his time alone in the gym. Lord knows Ben and Emilia rarely worked out. One thing that the late Steve Rogers had instilled in his son was the need to always stay prepared. While Captain America worked to create a better future for everyone, he knew that safety was never a guarantee. Even in this pocket dimension it was possible for the Sanctum to be brought under attack or something along those lines. Spending time in the gym made Alex feel like he would be ready for any event as well as giving him the chance to release some stress.

Alex placed a well-aimed strike to the midsection of the bag before landing another on its other side. With one more punch, he blew the bag off of its chain and into the gym wall. Not the first time he's done that but it felt damn good.

"Jesus." Alex looked over to see Ben walking into the gym wearing his own set of workout clothes. "You think that maybe talking your problems out with the punching bag may be a better solution than abusing it?" Alex chuckled and sat on the ground to take a swig of his water.

"It's not much of a talker these days." He responded.

"Lucky for you, Dr. Benjamin Riley Parker is here to listen."

Alex groaned playfully but Ben sat on the floor next to him, a smile on his face that suggested he genuinely wanted to talk.

"I don't know." Alex started. "I just... I can't get what happened with Em out of my head. I've had that argument so many times - with the both of you. But I know that, when it comes to Emilia, she's only going to get stronger at casting her spells. It's only a matter of time until I won't be able to just wag my finger at her to get her to listen to me."

"Then maybe - and this is a big maybe," Ben started. "Hear her out? Listen to her and just relent this one time?"

"There's no telling what's going on over there. Maybe New York is desolate and empty because Doom nuked it all to hell. Maybe he and every other villain are in some war. Maybe there's no more earth at all."

"Look, I get you're trying to protect us," Ben started. "But we can't just stay here and pretend like nothing is wrong."

"That's better than dying, Ben."

"You keep saying that but is this really living to you Alex?" Ben stood up. "We do the same thing every day, we see the same things every day, hell, I'm pretty sure we say the same thing every day! Really, how you can stand this pattern of life is impressive."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you and Emilia would grow up and stop pretending like we're in some fairy tale." Alex stood up to look at Ben as he too got louder. "We aren't destined heroes to come back from exile and save the world from the big bad villain. The real heroes - our parents - died."

"We may not be the freakin' Avengers but we are all that's left." Ben ran his hands through his brown hair, obviously getting frustrated. "I have the ability to help people and if it costs me my life then fine. I would be glad to have died trying to make a difference than spend another repetitive day in here with a control freak like you!"

It was clear to Alex that Ben was just ranting at this point so he grabbed his towel and water bottle and began to leave. "Whatever."

"You know, eventually, Emilia's going to realize that you can't actually stop her from leaving and... And..." Before he could finish, Ben felt a familiar buzzing sensation in his head. "Something's wrong."

Alex stopped in the doorway of the gym and looked to Ben. Suddenly, he had a horrible feeling in his gut. Fear. If Ben's spider-sense was going off that could only mean one thing. Instinctively, the two tensed up. "Emilia." They both said in unison.

Alex took off in a sprint towards the library, cutting through the halls as Ben chased behind him, not as fast but still managing to keep up. Even before entering the library, the two boys could see the light show coming from inside. They stopped in the doorway, seeing utter chaos erupting in the library. The many desks were either flung onto the ground or cut in half, many of the books were peeled off of the shelves and littered the floor, and scorch marks and deeps cuts were embedded in the walls. In the center of the library, the two boys found the cause of the destruction. Emilia flew through the air, blasting at a tall blonde woman with an axe in her hands. The intruder used her axe as a shield, the magical blasts from Emilia seemingly being absorbed into it.

"This, little witch," the woman started. "Is Slorbryter." She held the axe in front of her, almost admiring it. "Veil Breaker in your tongue. It is immune to your magic. You can't hurt me."

Emilia grit her teeth as she hovered in the air. "Wanna bet?" Her eyes lit up and, after a few hand signs, the planks of wood that made up the floor beneath the attacker's feet stretched up into hands, reaching around her and holding her down. "I already told you, you have the wrong place!" She explained. "This isn't earth!"

The woman started pushing against her restraints with all of her might, letting out an angry roar as she flexed every muscle in her body. With one more thrust of her arms, she burst the wood off of her and reared her axe back to throw at Emilia!

Before she could, Alex and Ben lunged at her, gripping her arms with theirs and stopping her attack. "Who are you?" Alex asked, trying to keep her retrained.

"Whoever, she is," Ben started. "She came to the wrong house."

Emilia began casting a spell, causing more of the wooden planks to cover the attackers' legs, slowly encasing her.

The woman grabbed Ben's chest with her hand and hoisted her arm upward, tossing him into the ceiling before he crashed back down onto one of the desks, snapping it under his weight. She then used her now free arm to grab Alex by the back of his shirt and throw him off of her and towards Emilia! The boy flew into her and the two dropped to the ground. The warrior stood, knocking the remaining wood planks off of her legs.

"It doesn't matter how many of you come! I will slay you all the same! All who ally with Doom shall meet the avenger of my family!" She spotted Ben trying to stand and she kicked him back over before placing her foot on his chest. "Where is Doom?" Her axe met the young man's gaze. "I will not ask again."

Ben squinted his eyes, as if he was trying to process what she was saying. "Doom? As in Doctor Doom? He isn't here! You aren't even on earth, lady."

The woman raised her axe above her head. "More lies!"

Before she could bring her axe down on top of Ben, Alex launched himself at her, slamming his knee into her side! The blonde lost her balance and toppled to the ground.

Alex pointed at her. "Whoever you are, you need to get the hell out of our house." He warned.

She smiled and used her axe to help her stand. "You know not who you trifle with."

Alex got into a fighting stance, fists balled and eyes narrowed. "I don't give a damn."

The woman swung her axe at him but Alex ducked and punched her in the side. She swung downward on top of him but he rolled to the side, letting her dig her axe into the ground. Ben, raising from the ground, took the opportunity to kick her weapon out of her hands before Alex landed another blow to her jaw! The blonde stumbled for a moment and wiped away a drop of blood. Alex tried to seize the moment to land another attack but the Asgardian caught his fist in her hand. Ben leapt from the ground and was preparing to grapple the tall girl into a chokehold but she expected him. Still holding Alex's hand in hers, she whipped the older boy into Ben who flew back, winded and gripping his aching gut. Alex used his free hand to get in a few jabs at the warrior woman's face but she let loose a punch, precisely in the boy's diaphragm! All of the wind seemed to exit Alex all at the same time and he fell over, clutching his chest, trying to breathe. He tried to stand but toppled back over, coughing. If it weren't for his own innate abilities, he probably would be dead.

Thankfully, before his attacker could continue her attack, a chair whipped into her back. She spun around to see Ben standing again.

"I'd say pick on someone your own size but there's no one here that fits so..." In response, the intruder grabbed a piece of a desk and threw it at him but the boy's own reflexes allowed him to slide underneath the projectile before leaping up and punching her in the face. He landed next to Alex in a crouch and, with one swift kick to her stomach, she flew back and away from them. Ben turned to his friend who was still struggling to catch his breath. "You okay?"

Alex nodded, still coughing, and pointed back towards the woman who was now picking up her axe from where Ben had kicked it.

Ben grabbed a bunch of books from the floor and leapt towards her, throwing them at her. The Asgardian swung her axe, cutting down the books as the agile spider-boy leapt from spot to spot, adding more ancient texts to his arsenal. Once he ran out, he jumped towards her, attempting to land a blow on her but, like before, she was ready and caught the boy's neck in her hand!

"Were those too high level for you?" Ben asked. "Sorry, next time I'll find the kindergarten reading level books and-." Before he could finish his joke, she threw him into the ground and slammed her boot onto his chest. Ben watched the Asgardian raise her axe above her head, a scowl on her face.

"You know," He said as he struggled to get her off of him. "You're kinda cute when you're ready to kill me."

"Shut up! Last chance. Where is Doom?"

"Like we've been telling you, crazy lady, you have the wrong place. Doom can't even get here."

"More lies!"

"No!" Alex shouted as he tried to stand. However, before the woman could drop her axe on top of Ben, a book flew into her head. The warrior growled and turned to see Emilia standing with her hands up.

"Sorry! Sorry! I just wanted your attention." She smiled sheepishly. "We're telling the truth. If you don't believe me," With a flick of her wrist, the curtain in front of the library window moved, revealing the massive red and white space the Sanctum resided in. "Look. This isn't earth. Doom isn't here."

The woman studied the scenery as she lowered her axe. After a few moments of contemplation, she felt the boy under her foot begin to squirm.

"Do you mind?" He said.

She moved her foot and helped him up. Slowly and cautiously, Emilia and Alex stepped closer to her, both nursing their bruises and sores.

"You mentioned Doctor Doom killed your family?" Emilia asked her. "He killed ours too. We were left here to be safe from him."

The woman was silent for a moment before turning to the trio. "If what you say is true then you know how I feel." She paused before turning to them. "You have my deepest apologies for my attack." She slung you axe over her shoulder. "I am Seren Odinchild, the last of the Asgardians and sole daughter of Thor. It has been my mission to kill Doom for his crimes against my people. I am afraid I need your help to reach Midgard."

Alex looked at Emilia who was trying very hard to avoid eye contact with him. That was all the reason Alex needed to know that however the Asgardian got here, it was her fault. Ben on the other hand, had gone sparkly eyed. He looked at Alex and then back to Seren.

"You know, I'm suddenly very happy you showed up."