Chapter 1 – Thor Thunders In
Professor Lillianna Lindellii was lost in thought as she walked through the spacious hallway of Rochester Institute of Technology. She had spent the whole summer in the Big Apple engaged in a battle of wits with her friend Nigel as they sorted through the notes on last year's 'accident'. However, the night before their friendly banter had turned bitter when Lillianna had brought up the recurring subject of Nigel moving upstate. She relished the time they spent together but loathed the big city. She couldn't understand why Nigel couldn't move upstate where things were nice and quiet and simple. It wasn't like there would be any problem for him to get a job; all he would have to do was put in for a transfer. It wasn't as if the University of New York didn't have any campuses upstate. She stopped for a moment noticing a picture of last spring's graduation hanging on the wall. She had lost so many of her students to that graduation, and as it always depressed her reminiscing about the past, she continued toward her office, cheering herself up by thinking of all the new students she would meet this week as classes started.
After sitting down behind her large, sparsely furnished desk, Lillianna picked up her beginning of the year memos. First, she skimmed the headlines of the New York Times that had been left on her desk. The only interesting thing was that a large branch of the bank with which she was a stock holding member had been held up then bombed in New York City shortly after she had left the morning before. Second was a message from the dean. The first page was rather generic informing her of a couple policy changes, none of which applied to her. However, the second page covered the topic of her new university hired secretary, which she would share with the quirky old math professor whose office was adjacent to her own. It also told her that the dean would be stopping by latter that day to discuss several matters with her. Next was a note from her new secretary. It contained a short introductory paragraph about its author and several reminders about schedules and grant renewals and other such 'trivial' matters. Attached were attendance roles with each of the students' names being followed by the grades they had received in previous of her courses. Lillianna scanned the list until she found the names she was looking for. Daniel extremely smart but she just had to find some way to make him actually pay attention and stop fooling around… Garrett, she sighed, how many times was he going to waste his money on that chemistry class he didn't even try to pass... Once she had finished going over the names she looked down to see the next set of letters. One from Shield, another from the CIA, and a few more from various other government organizations; without even opening one of them, she swept them all into the brightly polished chrome waste bin next to her desk. She turned on her I-pad and started to reorganize this semester's course plan. Though try as she might Lillianna could not focus on being a teacher. She closed the file and opened one that contained an, as yet, unproved theory by the college's weirdest, craziest and oldest mathematics professor ever, the same professor with whom she now shared a secretary. She had been just dying to wrap her mind around the problem all summer but had forgotten her I-Pad when she left for New York City.
Just as she had gotten the concept embedded into her brain, and was ready to start scribbling possible proofs, she heard the one sound she hated more than anything else in the world. Someone was knocking on her office door. A split second before she barked at whoever it was to go away she remembered the dean's note, substituted a "One Moment" instead. She scrambled to make it look like she had actually been working so the dean wouldn't catch her fooling around, then opened the door to find not the aged, balding dean but a young buxom blond with a slime so wide Lillianna couldn't be annoyed by her interruption.
"Hello Professor Lindellii, I'm Cindy your new secretary, I just stopped in to introduce myself and to make sure you received my note."
"Hello Cindy, considering we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other over the next semester, and the fact that 'Professor Lindellii is such a mouthful, why don't you just call me Lilly. And yes, I did get your memo. You made such neat and organized lists out of all the stuff I usually just throw in a pile and take the first week of school going through, if I hadn't read a note from the dean informing me of your new job, I might have thought a magic farie had visited my office over the summer. Thank you ever so much."
"No! Thank you professor – I mean Lilly, it's always nice to know I've done my job well. I'm sure you're awful busy so I'll let you get back to work. It was very nice meeting you, good bye."
"The feelings mutual," she replied as she closed the door stepping back into her office. Though really Lillianna wouldn't have cared if she had never met her secretary, and certainly wasn't fond of a girl who somehow managed to dress professionally and yet still show more cleavage that a lingerie model, and had a voice that sounded like it was coming over the self service register at Wal-mart saying "Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart." Lillianna tried once more to focus on this year's courses but before long succumbed to the desire to work out that math problem. Once again, just as she started writing the noise, which she deemed evil, broke through her concentration. This time though she was prepared she simply minimized the math file and spread the class schedule sheets out on her desk as she walked around to open the door. This time rather than the dean she found a girl whose tiny frame was weighed down with books and papers. Her hair was flurried and her glasses balanced precariously at the end of her nose. When she spoke, it was with a severe stutter.
"H-h-hello, I'm one of y-y-your n-n-new students. M-my computer is i-i-in th-th-the shop, s-so I couldn't g-get a s-s-supply list. I I was w-wondering i-if you could g-give me one n-n-now."
"Sure, um," Lillianna started not sure whether the girl was embarrassed by her own lack of preparedness; something which annoyed Lillianna, or whether she was frightened of something; which annoyed Lillianna even more as she knew for a fact she didn't have a reputation of meanness. "Just come on in. I'll see if I can find one." After a minute of half hearted searching, Lillianna printed off a supply list and sent the girl on her way.
This time she didn't even try to be treachery before starting back in on the math problem. She was about halfway through her first try at a proof when there came one short knock from the direction of her door. She tried to ignore it but it came again louder and in the rhythm of shave and a haircut. She went through the same 'look as if I'm working routine as last time before reluctantly opening the door. Again, as she had a feeling it would turn out, it wasn't the dean. This time it was one of her former students, one whom she had been strongly tempted to throw out of her class on several occasions.
"Hey, I was hoping you were in. I was just walking by, and I was wondering if maybe you and I could…" by now, Lillianna had stopped listening. All she could do was attempt to keep herself from strangling the tall lanky chemistry major that went out of his way to flirt with her at every opportunity. Finally managing to fully regain her composure, she interrupted his continuous ramble with.
"How many times am I going to have to tell you? I do not socialize with any students. I'm here if you have academic problems and an advisor to some students who just need someone to sit and pretend to listen to their life drama. I don't care that there is such a small age gap between us that doesn't mean you have any sort of chance in convincing me to go out with you." As she finished this sentence, she closed the door on him and went back around to her desk. She had just crumpled her failed first attempt at proving the old math professors problem when she heard again her least favorite of all sounds.
"GO AWAY!" she screamed throwing the crumpled proof at the door before pulling out a new sheet of paper. To her surprise and annoyance, she heard her office door open.
She looked up hoping it wasn't actually the dean this time but to her horror saw instead Thor standing just inside her doorway.
"Where can I find Professor Lindelllii?"
"Your staring right at her and whatever you want she's not interested. Unless of course it is an apology from shield for harassing me, then of course its apology accepted. Either way you can leave now."
"This is no joke I need to speak with the professor. You can't be him."
"Alright if you're going to be that way about it. I don't know my own identity, do you know yours?" Thor spent just a moment looking offended before he started a full-fledged interrogation.
"Where were you yesterday morning?" He continued without giving her time to answer, "Do you have anyone who can confirm that? What do you have against Rakewood Bank?" He would have continued if Lillianna hadn't cut him off.
"Who do you think you are coming in here and treating me like a criminal? You don't even have authority to arrest me if I had done something. If you must know, yesterday morning by the time of the bombing, I'm assuming that's what I'm being accused of; I was well on my way from New York City to here. And you can confirm that with Nigel Nicholby whose house I left around 5 am. Now GET OUT!" As she said this, she had already mentally picked up the large rock she kept hidden under her desk for just such occasions. She had had to force many people out of her office since the accident. Thor, doubting that a twenty some odd year old nerd could do him much harm, opened his mouth to continue speaking but even before any sound could escape, a skull sized rock came flying towards his face. He had just brought his arms up to block when the rock changed flight paths and collided so forcefully with his shoulder that it turned him 180 degrees.
"I SAID GET OUT!" A solid sheet of condensed air slammed into his back pushing him the two steps more needed for Lillianna to slam the door, which she didn't hesitate in doing.
Lillianna had always hated the first day of classes. Each year she looked forward to the diversity of the students, with their new faces, new ideas, and new questions, but the first day was always the same and she hated It because she didn't have to go through it just once like her students, she had to go through procedures iron out rules and everything else over and over again. This year looked as if it would be no different until towards the end of her first class when she turned around as always to write on the remarkably clean blackboard.
"You know it is hard to imagine you a senior professor, I've been told most people don't get one PhD before 30 let alone two of them. You can't be that old." Lillianna whirled around; ready to punish whatever loose-tongued student had made the comment, but instead saw Thor standing behind the last row of desks. Every one of her students had done the same, eager to see the man who had the nerve to say something like that to the school wide teaching idol, only to find a Norse God the culprit.
"I thought I already kicked you out of my office, what makes you think I will be any more inclined to listen to whatever idiotic proposal you have when you are interrupting my class?" She finished writing the assignment completely ignoring the Norse god in the back of her classroom.
"This is a matter of urgency –"
"Class dismissed. If you have any questions about the assignment my school email and office hours are on the paper I gave you at the beginning of class." Lillianna gathered her things and ignored Thor as her students filled almost silently out of the room. Thor heard some of what was whispered and realized that no one had been rooting for him.
"We need your help."
"First you harass me, now you expect me to help you? You crack me up. I don't care if you're an Avenger, let alone a Norse god. Whatever it is no. that is what I told the Press, moviemakers, FBI, CIA and president. NO."
"Your story checked out and we need help."
"Do you mean 'we' as in Shield, the Asgardians or the Avengers? If the first talk to the Avengers; if the second again talk to the Avengers; if the third talk to your supposed boss Furry. In any event leave me alone."
"Do you care so little about your race that you would deny them your aid?"
"They don't need my aid. They elected a government to protect them. And if the government can't, the head of the UN can always pick up his little red phone and call Shield."
"There is someone recruiting people like you – "
"Why are you still – wait did you say there are more people like me?"
"Yes, and someone is recruiting them. We need your help to stop him."
"Wait so I get it. Shield is racing someone to see who can collect the most 'abnormal' people. If the someone else wins, I'm guessing he is going to conquer earth right? Just another Power hungry moron like your brother was. I have friends in the Big Apple that still haven't gotten over that."
"It is not yet certain what he intends to do"
"I'll tell you one thing that is certain. I'm not going to have anything to do with you people. Not for all the toys in Stark Tower" Just then Thor had to doge the solid sheet of compressed air Lillianna had thrown at him.
"I am not here to fight you." The next projectile was blocked by his hammer: which Lillianna hadn't noticed being there before.
"Then why did you bring that?" Lillianna aimed her next shot at the hand, which held the hammer succeeding in knocking it out of his hand. It cracked the wood floor where it fell.
Thor ducked behind the desks and rolled to the other side of the room narrowly missing being hit by: a stone globe, microscopes, books and just about every heavy object in the room. He called his hammer and sent several lightning bolts at the professors head which she nimbly dodged. Lillianna parried with the now scorched blackboard that shattered as it hit Thor's hammer. She started to form large sheets of air as she continued to doge the lightning bolts coming from the ceiling. Then without warning, she threw them all at once at Thor knocking him several steps backwards toward the door. He ran several steps to the opposite side of the room but was met by another wall of solid air. Lillianna slowly pushed Thor towards the door using the same method.
"GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!" was the last thing Thor bruised both body and pride heard before the door slammed in his face.