Chapter 1

[This story contains spoilers for: Iron Man 3; Thor: The Dark World; Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Spider-Man 2; Spider-Man 3; Fantastic Four; and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer]

It started out as a normal April day, just like any other, when it turned out my life would be changed forever.

I was late for my fifth hour physical education class; I had a pass, of course. I was the last person who would skip class. Señor D had needed to talk to me about my Spanish homework. There was only 20 minutes left of fifth hour, not nearly enough time for me to change and run outside for tennis, so I decided to just go outside and take a "no dress" for the day. I ran out the back door of the school to the tennis courts, my mid-length, dark brown hair with auburn highlights flying behind me, found my P.E. teacher, and prepared for the worst.

"Well, Ashley decided to come to class after all, did she?" My P.E. teacher Ms. Graham snapped at me. Some boys looked over at me and snickered.

I scowled at them and waved my pass at her. "My Spanish teacher needed to see me. Sorry," she took the pass from me, glanced at it, and crumpled it in her fist.

"You couldn't even be bothered to dress? You're lucky Emily is at a softball game, or she wouldn't have had a partner."

I looked around, and saw my tennis partner really wasn't there. Good. It's bad enough I suck at tennis, but having a partner that sucks is better than nothing. "Well I figured there wasn't enough time for me to change."

She smirked. "You figured. Sit down, and I expect to see you after school for your make-up." She motioned to the bleachers and stalked away.

I sat down on the bleachers and watched the seven tennis matches going on. My friends waved at me, and I waved back. Then, through the woods behind the tennis courts, I noticed a weird cloud group hovering above the neighborhood next to our school. The clouds were circling around in one area. It looked strangely familiar, but at the moment I couldn't place where I'd seen it.

Suddenly, I watched as the clouds opened and a white beam of light crashed from the sky. It was over in a second, and the clouds dispersed.

That was... I thought to myself, No, it can't be. But it really looked like it...

I looked down at my P.E. class, and realized no one had seen the light. I tried to see through the woods, but the trees were too thick. If I focused really hard, I swore I could see a tall figure moving through the trees...

"Alright, next game! Rotate!" Ms. Graham shouted to the class. As they moved onto the next match, Graham glanced at me. "Ashley, what's wrong with you?"

I realized I was standing up on the bleachers. But now it looked like that figure was coming towards us, through the trees. "N-nothing," I said, sitting back down, leaning forward on the bleacher and pushing up my glasses. The figure was getting closer. I knew it wasn't my imagination now; it was definitely coming towards my class.

"Ms. Graham, is that a person?" I looked down and saw the girl closet to me pointing to the person in the woods.

Graham squinted through the cage surrounding the tennis courts. "Who's there?" She shouted to the person, causing everyone else to stop and look at who she was screaming at.

A man emerged through the tree line. He was tall, at least 6'2", and had on a long black coat with green and gold detailing. He was wearing a green shirt, black pants, black boots, golden armor, and a long green cape. He had shoulder-length, raven-black hair, greenish-blue eyes, and very pale skin. He also had a huge helmet with antlers curving up and back and he carried a tall, gold, pointed staff. I gasped.

He glanced at the cage around the tennis courts, and then ripped open the locked door with one pull. Then he nonchalantly strolled up to my class, who had gathered in a group, and were whispering and pointing at the strange man. He wore a smirk on his face.

"Well, are you not a funny little group?" He said with an accent that sounded British, but I knew better.

I jumped off the bleacher, knocking my backpack onto the ground, ran up to him, clapped my right fist over my heart, and kneeled. "King Loki," I whispered, and glanced up at him, "Welcome back to Earth."

He gave me a funny look, glanced around at my class, who were also confused, and looked back at me. "You- you know who I am? You know how to properly address Asgardian royalty? Wha- how is that?"

"I- well, it's a funny story, um, do you know about the movies about you and the Avengers?"

He flinched at the name. "I am aware of them. S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted your world to know about the superheroes, so they created the films. Idiocy, if you ask me."

"Hehe, yeah, well, I really love those movies, so I know all about all of you."

"Oh, and I suppose your favorite is my adoptive brother?"

I looked at him with the most serious look I could muster. "My favorite is you."

He stared into my hazel eyes. "Stand, child."

I stood.

"What is your name?"

I was surprised. "Ashley, sir. Ashley Johnson."

"Ashley. That is a lovely name. How old are you?"

I smiled to myself and looked down at the asphalt under my feet. "15, sir."

He seemed taken aback by this. After all, I was six feet tall. "And Ashley, where exactly am I?"

Quickly, I said, "Hydale High School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America, Earth."

He looked around. "I thought I told Heimdall not to send me to Midgard. Well, never mind that. Ashley, how would you like to go on a small trip?"

"Your Majesty?"

"I would like to offer to take you with me to Asgard. I would love to get to know you a bit."

I was extremely confused and flustered at this point. Apparently my teacher had had enough by now, because she snapped, "She is not going anywhere with you, you creep! And who wears those kinds of clothes anymore? It's 2014! I'm calling the cops," she grabbed my arm and tried to pull me away from Loki, but I shook away from her.

I looked back at him. "Your Majesty, I would be honored to go to Asgard with you."

He smiled. Ugh, that smile, I thought, grinning a little. He started to turn away from me, but a boy in my class shouted, "Ashley, are you nuts? He's crazy!"

Loki inhaled sharply, and stepped around me and up to the boy. "You, child, is that what you think is wise to say to your king?"

"My king?" He laughed. "This is America! It's a free country!"

Loki smirked. He started to raise his staff, but I shouted, "My King, no!"

He turned to me. "Why not? He needs to learn to respect royalty."

"Yes, I agree completely, but there's no need to start any trouble."

Loki smiled evilly. "Is there not?"

"N-never mind. Just, don't. Please. Let's just go," I pleaded. Then I heard police sirens in the parking lot. Damn it, Graham.

The police had the tennis courts surrounded in less than a minute. They were confused about the way Loki was dressed, but got over it quickly. They had the rest of my class file out of the court, but I stayed. "Sir, drop the staff and put your hands on your head. Miss, step away from him." One officer shouted into a megaphone.

Loki looked around at them, looked at the scared look on my face, and flat out laughed. "You Midgardians are so petty. Guns, you fools, cannot stop me. I am a God!" He took my hand and looked up at the sky. "Heimdall, open the Bifrost."

The clouds began circling around us, and a white light shot out of the sky around us. It sucked us up, and I gripped Loki's hand harder as we were pulled into space.

When we steadied, we were in a giant gold dome. As the walls finished spinning, I looked outside and caught my breath. Everywhere I looked, there were stars of every color, and in the distance I could see a huge golden city.

"What do you think?" Loki asked.

I said the first thing that came out of my mouth. "You guys really like gold."

He laughed a real, beautiful laugh. "Ashley, welcome to Asgard."

Behind him, I saw the Gatekeeper roll his eyes.