Clint woke up with a pounding headache. "Ugh," he groaned, sitting up. He massaged his temple while he tried to remember what had happened before he had blacked out. "What happe-" he started, stopping mid-sentence when he opened his eyes fully. Wherever he was now, he definitely wasn't in the living room of the tower. "Uh, guys?" he asked, looking around for his friends. Sure enough, Steve, Natasha, and Tony were all nearby. All of them appeared as confused as Clint felt. After a moment of silence while they studied their surroundings, Tony spoke up. "I know we all were thinking it, but I'll be the first to say it out loud. Where the heck are we?" "It appears we're in some forest region," stated Steve as he starred at his surroundings. "Brilliant observation, Captain Obvious," muttered Tony.
Clint couldn't help feeling that this place seemed familiar. There were many trees around, creating a thick canopy that still allowed for plenty of golden light to shine on the area. Little undergrowth could be found besides the occasional bush or tall patch of grass or cluster of flowers. Nearby, several hills led up to a small mountain range, which in turn gave way to higher mountains. Overall, a quality of peacefulness and tranquility surrounded the area.
The sound of footsteps caught Clint's attention. As he turned around, what he saw helped him figure out exactly where he and his friends were. A tall, blue humanoid with hooves and a tail was staggering towards the small group of humans. It seemed unbalanced, perhaps unsure of how to walk. "Ah, my friends! I have found you at last!" it exclaimed in an accent that seemed to contain elements of several different languages and dialects. "Who's that?" asked Steve. "Correction: WHAT'S that?" asked Tony. The blue creature looked confused. "My friends, you do not recognize me? It is I, Thor! Son of Odin!" "THOR?!" exclaimed everyone else in unison.
Everyone, that is, except Clint. "This is going to sound crazy," he told his friends, "but I think I know exactly where we are." This caught his fellow Avengers' attentions. "What is it, Clint?" asked Natasha, who had been mostly silent up until this point. The archer took a deep breath before speaking. "If I'm right," he said, "we have somehow been transported into the video game, World of Warcraft."
By now, those back at the tower had noticed that something was not right. Those in the kitchen had heard the cries of confusion from the living room, followed by a noise that sounded like a cross between an energy release and a camera. They returned to the scene in question to investigate. They were met with an empty room. Their friends were nowhere to be found.
"Tony?" called Pepper, searching around for her fiance. Just recently, Tony had worked up the courage to propose to her. She had obviously said yes.
"Steve! Where are you?" hollered Bucky, wondering what trouble his long-time best friend had gotten himself into. Even when he was small, Steve could always find something to get himself into. Wherever he is, Natasha had better be there to keep an eye on him.
"Thor!" yelled Sam. "I thought I told you not to change the channel!" Sure enough, the football game that had been on before had been replaced by a map of some sort. It showed four continents surrounding a massive whirlpool. Each continent was labeled with a name: Kalimdor on the left, Eastern Kingdoms to the right, Northerend on top, and Pandaria on the bottom.
Before any more investigating could be done, Bruce came back up carrying the forgotten stabilizers. When he saw the confused looks on everyone's faces, he paused. "Wha- what did I miss? Where are the others?" "That's what we're trying to figure out," Pepper told him. "The three of us were in the kitchen when we heard shouts coming from in here. Then there was this odd noise, and when we came back everyone was gone!"
Bruce pondered over this for a moment. "Have you tried calling or texting them?" he asked. This time, Bucky answered. "I may not know much about modern tech," he said, "but I'm pretty sure you have to have your phone with you to be able to answer it." He pointed to where the cell phones of Tony, Natasha, and Clint were sitting.
That's when Bruce noticed the device. It hadn't moved from its original spot, but a red light, indicating a malfunction, blinked rapidly. "Oh, geez," muttered Bruce as he walked over to examine it. "What?" asked the others in unison. Bruce looked towards where his invention was pointed: the computer. "The prototype must've gone off," he said, mostly to himself. "What does the machine do?" asked Pepper. "Theoretically," said Bruce, "it has the capability to temporarily open doors to different realities or dimensions. I know, I know, it sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi film, but me and Tony have done a lot of research on it. We were planning on testing it today, but it's still completely experimental."
"So what does all that science talk mean?" asked Sam. "It appears," said Bruce, "that the device must've been activated accidentally. When it went off, it must have hit the others. I don't know what it did to them, but we need to figure that out so we can reverse whatever happened."
"What are you talking about, Clint?" questioned Tony. "That sounds like something out of a bad sci-fi movie. And I know what bad sci-fi movies are like. I grew up in the 70's and 80's."
"Don't you see?" said Clint. "Thor's a Dranei. We're here in what appears to be Elwynn Forrest. It all makes sense. We're in Azeroth!" "But how did we get here?" asked Natasha. "And why is Thor... blue?" "That I don't know," Clint told her. "I'm guessing you don't know how to get us out of here, either," said Tony. Clint shook his head. "Not a clue."
"So what do we do now?" asked Steve. That was met with a chorus of silence.
Finally, Thor spoke up in his new accent. "Perhaps our ally could assist us in exploring this realm. It appears he has much knowledge to share with us on life and customs of this place." The others glanced at each other. Thor's way of speaking was difficult enough to understand. Now, they had to re-learn his voice and accent all over again along with memorizing his new face. Nevertheless, they all pretty much agreed to what he said. "Who knows how long it'll be until we get back home. While we're here, I might as well teach you guys all I know about the game," Clint said.
The five of them decided that they'd best not be outdoors in the wilds of a strange world until they were properly prepared, so Clint suggested they locate the nearest human settlement. As it turned out, that settlement was Goldshire. As they looked around, they noticed two buildings in the central region of the town, with another cabin off to the side. A duel was taking place, the two combatants surrounded by a small crowd of spectators. Several children played by a small pond nearby, and some domesticated animals roamed around. "We're in luck!" Clint said to the others. "Goldshire not only has class trainer for most of the classes, it's also right near Stormwind and Northshire." "Speak English," Tony told him, who now had an understanding of what it was like to be utterly clueless. So this is what it's like to not be me, he thought.
They made their way into a building called "Lion's Pride Inn". A woman in a green and blue dress smiled at them as they entered. "Welcome to the Lion's Pride Inn!" she greeted them. "I'm the assistant innkeeper. Let me know if you need anything." "Thank you, we will," replied Clint, returning the smile. He led his party to a table near the fireplace. They all sat down, and Clint began to fill them in on the basics of the game. "It's a simple game once you get the hang of it," he told them. "All you need to do is complete quests and kill enemies to level up. Of course, there's a bunch of other features to enhance gameplay, but more on those later.
"Probably the most important factor to decide upon right now is what class to be. There's several different classes available: Hunter, Warrior, Druid, Paladin, Priest, Mage, Rogue, Warlock, Shaman, Death Knight, and most recently added, Monk. Now, some of the classes aren't available for all of us, like Druid or Shaman or Death Knight. After that, it really depends on which class you'd like best. Personally, I like hunters because of the archery abilities, but that's just me.
"Natasha, I think you'd make a great rogue. Rogues are master assassins who use stealth, or invisibility, as well as poisons and blades." Natasha nodded, smiling slightly as Clint described the class. That sounds like something I'd enjoy, she thought.
"Steve," continued Clint, "I think you'd be best as a paladin, a plate-wearing, ultra-strong defender of the Light. They have lots of abilities that use shields, not to mention the fact that they're really into justice and righteousness." "Very funny," Steve said sarcastically, referring to the last part. Otherwise, he thought Paladins sounded swell.
Clint turned his attention to Tony. "As for you..." he started, pausing a moment to think. "Oh! I know! Tony, you should be a mage." "What?!" exclaimed Tony. "No! That's lame. I'm not going to be some dumb wizard-" "Hear me out," Clint requested. "Mages are pretty cool, despite what you may think. They specialize in fire, frost, and arcane magic. Fire and frost are self-explanatory, but arcane magic is one of the more interesting specs. Arcane magic deals with teleportation, portals, polymorphing, conjuration-" "Oh, alright. I guess I'll give it a try if it'll make you be quiet," said Tony with a reluctance in his voice. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but all that stuff sounded rather cool.
Finally, Clint turned to Thor. "Okay, Thor, since you're a Dranei, your options are a little different. Unlike the others, you can be a shaman. I think you'd like that because of the lightning abilities, but you also might like being a paladin because of the hammer abilities. Either way, it's your call, but I'd strongly recommend you go the path of a shaman." Thor pondered this for a moment. "I will take heed of your suggestion, my friend," he said. "You have much knowledge of the realm in which we are in, and it would be foolish of me to ignore your advice. I shall become a 'man of sha'." "It's just 'shaman', Thor," Clint corrected him. Just then, the assistant innkeeper came over to their table carrying a platter of drinks. "They're on the house," she told them as she passed them out. Everyone thanked her before taking a sip of what tasted like hot apple cider.
And on that day, the Mightiest Heroes of Earth joined together in a new realm. They did not know what the future held for them, but this they knew for certain- whatever happened here in Azeroth, they would stick together. They would remain a team. And no matter what, they would stay true to themselves and each other. And on that day, they became the Avengers of Azeroth.
Author's Note~
Hello everyone! I'm super thrilled you all liked my first chapter, and I really appreciate the two reviews I've gotten already.
I'm sorry this chapter is so lengthy and boring at parts, but the next chapter ought to be a bit more exciting.
To answer a question in the reviews, these are the Avengers from the recent movies. I just put them under the Comics categories because the Avengers was a comic first.
If you have any suggestions for the story, feel free to leave me a review or PM. I'll be happy to consider it and let you know what I decided! :)
Please review this! I'd appreciate any feedback and/or encouragement you can give me!
Other than that, I believe that's all for now. Thanks for reading!