The golden realm of Asgard, home to the great Odin, and the mighty Thor, hums with life. Its shining spires, made from the stuff of stars, reach to the heavens as they shine in the sunlight. All is well, for now. A sudden calm falls over the golden realm. A flash of green. Then only silence and darkness remain.
Randall's motorcycle roared as he pulled up to the lab to where Dr. Hank Pym had called him. He turned his bike off, and walked up to the steel double doors. The doctor had said that it was an issue of the highest importance, and seemed to Randall like the old man was about to pass out from excitement. Concern for the doctor's health was the main reason he'd left Marleen's apartment at quarter to midnight, otherwise, he would have told Dr. Pym that he was sick or something. Upon entering the lab, Randall found the entire place dark, except for the small pinpricks of light from machinery set up around the room. Using his cell phone as a flashlight, he picked his way through the lab, trying not to disturb anything, lest he'd been called to deal with an intruder. He found the doctor in his office, talking on the phone in a frantic voice.
"I assure you, he's the one you want not me. He's Janet Van Dyne's son, for pete's sake, and I've worked with him intensively for approximately two and a half years now."
"Sellin' me out doc?" Randall asked suspiciously. How was he to know just what the hell was going on here?
The doctor just waved his hand at him, dismissing him. Randall's admittedly slow thought process was having a time trying to understand what the doctor was about.
"If I have to I'll come with him, just trust me, Randall is the man for the job."
A few more "uh-huh's" and "alright's" and a "thank you", and the old doctor hung up the phone.
"Doc?" Randall asked, a little concerned.
"Wonderful news Randall," the doctor turned to him with an ear-to-ear grin.
Renee walked at her usual fast pace down one of the corridors of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s massive heli-carrier. Maria had requested her presence in the main conference room immediately. Renee and Maria had served on the same squad for the last 8 years, and in that relatively short amount of time, they'd been to hell and back. If Maria said something was an emergency, Renee was on it, no questions asked. When she reached the massive bridge of the ship, she noticed the air was tense, and that all of the crew members in the room were working at a busier-than-normal pace, giving Renee good reason to pick up her pace as she ascended the stairs up to where the main conference room was on the second floor.
She opened the door to see Maria, and a strangely dressed man standing on either side of the large polished table in the center of the room. As soon as Maria noticed her, Renee snapped to attention.
"At ease Captain," Maria relieved her from her salute, and then went on to introduce the strange man,
"Aro, this is Captain Rogers," Renee reached her hand across the table, and Aro grasped hers, as if he were unsure of the nature of the handshake.
"Captain, this is Aro, son of Thor."
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Renee said respectfully, withdrawing her hand from their awkward greeting.
"The pleasure is all mine," Aro said in a deep and hearty voice, "I have heard the stories of your father's bravery and prowess in battle since I was but a lad."
"Likewise," Renee replied with a grin.
Her father, the famed Captain America, had regaled her with stories of Thor, and their adventures together along with the other Avengers. These stories had been part of the reason she'd joined up with S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place. Renee had never met the God of Thunder, nor had she known he had a son, but if she had, Aro would have fit the description perfectly. He was head and shoulders above she and Maria, and was probably taller than most of the crew members on the heli-carrier. He had a handsome face, covered in brown stubble, with shoulder-length hair pulled back in a half pony. He wore a sleeveless chest plate engraved with a variety of intricate Celtic designs, with the silhouette of a dragon in the center of his chest. His bare arms were muscular, and sliver bracers covered his forearms. Instead of a hammer like the one his father wielded in battle, Aro had an intricately designed sword hanging from his hip.
Maria drew Renee's attention to the task at hand, "Now, Captain, I'll let Aro fill you in on the situation."
A woman stood outside of a hangar on the S.H.E.I.L.D. base in the desert of Nevada, smoking a cigarette. She was tall, with bright red hair, and mischievous face. As she took another drag, she saw a figure walking towards the hangar, with a large duffle bag slung over one shoulder. As he drew closer, she saw that he was tall and wiry, with messy brown hair. As he neared her she eyed him with her scrutinizing gaze, and observed that he was handsome, though in a very unconventional way. He stopped before passing her and asked,
"Is this the…"
"Yep." She answered, flicking the butt to the ground and crushing it under her boot.
As they headed in, he said,
"I'm Erick, Erick Banner." He held out a hand to the woman on his left. She ignored it and said, smiling to herself,
"Terra," she then picked up her pace and walked ahead of him, "Terra Stark."
The two made their way into the hangar, and found a heli-jet, waiting to take them to their destination. Once they were fastened in, the heli-jet started up, its engine roaring with infinitely sustainable power, supplied by the Starks, of course. It lifted off, and carried them across a vast expanse of desert, and then over towns and cities and suburbs, and finally out to the ocean. It seemed to Erick that the hours-long trip would have been better spent had he brought along some reading. He'd been so hard-pressed to leave that he only managed to take a week's worth of clothes, and his research (along with the majority of his father's). He eyed the stunning woman who'd greeted him. She was definitely a Stark, her haughty attitude, and her resemblance to her father's famous face would have given it away without introductions.
This was definitely Bruce Banner's son, Terra thought as she eyed him sitting there, staring out the window. She'd met Dr. Banner on several occasions when he'd come to visit and collaborate with her father on one scientific matter or another. She'd never seen his son though, he had the same thin face and wiry body that his father had, but was tall, and had a pleasing countenance, like his mother.
Finally, after two and a half hours of silence in the heli-jet, their destination came into view, the enormous heli-carrier that housed all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s operations. Erick was awestruck, he'd heard stories all about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base, but he never expected it to look like this! The enormous flying craft was floating in a beautiful blue sky, buffeted by enormous white clouds, its giant propellers dispersing any of those unfortunate enough to come close. Terra, however, was not impressed. She had been there hundreds of times, and what's more, helped her father redesign and upgrade it. She knew it's every room and power coupling. The heli-jet gained permission to land, and they began their approach towards the enormous landing strip, already full of heli-jets and other aircraft. As their craft came lower to the landing strip, Erick could see a small but powerful looking woman standing their waiting for them. She was dressed in tight-fitting, black military garbs, covered by a black leather jacket. She had wild black hair that moved with the heli-jet's propellers.
Terra and Erick unfastened themselves and exited the heli-jet, Erick fumbling with his bag and ducking down attempting to avoid the heli-jet's propellers. The small woman began walking immediately, Terra following after her, leaving Erick struggling to catch up. As they walked across the landing strip of the carrier, Erick noticed that all of the men and women around were working at a nearly frantic pace. He knew that the reason they'd all been called in had something to do with a crisis his father had helped them with a couple years before he was born. But he had no idea exactly what was going on, and was beginning to worry. As soon as they entered the carrier, the small woman lead them through a series of halls, and finally into what Erick knew was the bridge. It was enormous, and along with a gigantic window with a stunning view of the clouds outside, there were hundreds of screens and holograms of all sizes. The woman lead them up a set of stairs along the back wall of the bridge, and into a room with a huge screen on the far wall, and a round table in the center of the room. There were several people sitting and standing in the room.