Piper was walking through darkness that's as dark and infinite as a black hole. Without all the extra gravity. The darkness felt like it muted everything. Even the bandages on Piper's hands and feet felt less real as she walked on. Not knowing how long she's been walking Piper became bored out of her mind. Blinded by the darkness as she walked through this possible passageway between worlds. She didn't want to be without her hearing if she had decided to listen to her music. Leaving a lot of time to think.
"Wow, is this my soul?" Piper joked aloud to herself. Laughing lightly.
The darkness seemed to muffle even Piper's words.
"Tough crowd." Piper smirked to herself as she continued walking.
"Oh, if this is my soul then I must be soul searching," Piper blurted. Then stopped in her tracks to laugh hard at her own joke.
Once she had calmed down Piper continued walking.
"I wish I could've said bye to everyone," Piper muttered to herself. "I hope Ms. Munroe isn't too mad about me leaving like this… This is for the best. I guess. Having to say goodbye to everyone would've made it harder to leave."
Piper sighed, "How long have I been gone from home? Do the times zones correlate or is five months in the Marvel universe a hundred years in my universe…?"
Piper pocketed her hands and held her Ipod in her left hand in her pocket.
"Best not to think about it too much. I'll play with the cards I'm dealt with like I always have. I'll miss my best friend Joy, though, if it is a hundred years. That flip phone was the only thing I had of her and my home… And Grandma."
Piper walked in silence for a while.
"Man it's dark here. How much longer do I need to walk like this?" She asked herself.
Piper stopped walking for a moment as a thought popped into her head.
"Wait, what if I'm in a coma? I don't remember being in any kind of physical danger. Did a car hit me on my walk home? Wouldn't I remember something like that before going into a coma? Ugh, my brain hurts." Piper complained.
Piper continued walking again as she rubbed her eyes in pain. Then she placed her hands into her hoodie pocket.
"Jeez. This place is so creepy." Piper said to herself, "I mean sure it's only darkness. But I can't feel anything. No moister. No air. I don't even feel dirt building up in my sandals."
Piper looked left and right suspiciously.
"If I keep walking like this I could very well fall off a cliff or something. Maybe something is stalking. Maybe there's— Nope. No. No. No. Stop that Piper." Piper stopped walking to interrupt herself. "It's dark and you're alone. Don't start thinking about bad things or you'll end up freaking yourself out. Okay?... Okay."
Piper once again moved forward. She forced herself to think happy thoughts like: babies, being a mother, flowers, beating the asses of her enemies, and her favorite songs. Then there was a bright light in the distance. It was a welcome change, but blinded Piper. Piper didn't go towards the light but instead stood still as her eyes readjusted. She stared at the bright light.
"Okay." Piper said to herself. "A.) That's my way out and into my dimension. Dau.) That's some bioluminescent animal trying to lure me to my death. 3.) I am in limbo and that's the tunnel to whatever afterlife is popular right now."
Piper studied the bright light in the distance.
"Well, it's too bright to be any bioluminescent on any animal I know. I could be wrong though." Piper said to herself.
Then the light vanished.
Piper rushed forward slightly, stopped, then snapped her fingers in frustration. "Damn it."
Then the light flickered back on. Piper saw that a big, serpent like figure, swam past the light and disappeared into the darkness. Piper felt the blood pool away from her face and her heart started beating triple time. Next thing she knew, Piper was running full sprint for the light.
# # #
Tony Stark and Stephen Strange were still standing in the Room of Worlds and Piper had just left.
"What do you mean her dimension has no magic," Dr. Strange shouted in panic.
Tony backed up with his hands up, both confused and offended. "Hey! Why are you yelling?"
"Because," Dr. Strange said through his teeth. "That means her—"
"Piper." Tony told Dr. Strange.
"—Piper's world isn't connected to these doors. All dimensions have magic in them. That's why these doors are capable of doing what they are doing. If Piper's home dimension truly doesn't have magic. Then the doors could only substitute the closest thing."
"I take it that's bad," Tony stated, worried.
"Of course it's bad!" Dr. Strange shouted in frustration.
"Alright!" Tony shouted back. "What can we do then?"
Dr. Strange tossed the flip phone to Tony. "Put this back onto the compass. I'm going to gather some ingredients. Call me when the doorway is back up." He stated as he flew off.
Tony compiled and waited for the pitch-black portal to pop back up again and for Dr. Strange to return. He then called in one of his remote-control suits. Thinking that having a suit here will help in some way. Tony's remote-control suit arrived when the pitch-black door reappeared.
"Stephen! The portal's back up." Tony called as the suit mimicked his movements.
Dr. Strange flew in with a bunch of stuff in his arms, "It's Doctor Strange and you've brought over a suit. Good." He placed his things on the ground. A piece of white paper with a symbol painted on it, some herbs, an old coin and a magic dictionary book.
Tony rolled his eyes, "Why not Dr. Up Tight." Tony thought to himself.
"So where is Piper," Tony asked Dr. Strange as he examined the items from afar.
Dr. Strange sprinkled some of the herbs onto the wet paint. Making the white paper turn light blue. "She is in the Subnoctem dimension. I didn't recognize its doorway before since it's dimension doesn't have a lot of magic in it. Thus, not showing up as often as the other doorways do. But I can get her out of there with your help." He explained.
"What can I do?" Tony agreed.
Dr. Strange placed the coin in the center of the symbol and the whole paper started glowing. "If either one of us goes in their we'll be stuck in Subnoctem forever." He told Tony.
"You mean you can't use your Ring Sling and walk in their and save Piper?" Tony asked thinking it was an obvious and simple idea.
"No!" Dr. Strange growled. "Or I wouldn't worry about this. The Subnoctem dimension only has magic because is drains magic from the people that enter it. My spells and magical items are useless in there. That's why we need your suit to carry this into it."
Dr. Strange then placed the glowing piece of paper into the suit's hands.
"What is it?" Tony questioned.
"It's a portable magic portal I made to only activate when the next person touches it." Dr. Strange answered.
"Won't its magic drain in the Subnoctem dimension as well?" Tony stated.
"Yes, but slowly. The ancient coin has a lot of magic stored in it. Giving the spell a heavier magical charge and a better chance of lasting longer." Dr. Strange replied.
Tony and Dr. Strange set up the suit to walk into the pitch-black doorway. Then Tony ordered it to move forward and the suit disappeared into the darkness. The two stood in silence for a couple of seconds, staring at the doorway.
"Where will the magic portal send her, if Piper finds it." Tony questioned.
"It'll send her to one of the most magically charged places in the multiverse, Asgard." Dr. Strange answered.
Tony turned to look as Dr. Strange. "Do you think Piper will find your portal before it's too late," he asked worried.
Dr. Strange looked down at his feet and sighed. "I don't know. All we can do is hope and keep throwing lifeboats out to her."
Tony looked down as well. Then looked back up in a determined stance and said, "I'm going to miss that suit." Then he said, "I'm going to go call Thor." He left the Room of Worlds and then the Sanctum Sanctorum.
# # #
Piper's lungs were burning, and thick saliva started to build up in her open mouth. She ran as hard as her short legs would allow her. The source of light was farther than Piper previously judged but still she ran. Never relenting. The adrenalin in her system helped keep her going. As a stitch in she side started to stab Piper she had reached the source of the light. A glowing piece of paper and an unmoving Stark Suit. Taking a moment to catch her breath Piper reached out to examine the glowing piece of paper.
Piper was instantly blind by a pure white light that engulfed her being. Her stomach dropped as she felt herself fall from a great height. Then the light seemed to squeeze Piper into a tight box. Finally everything was still and the world was bright again as Piper stood among clouds. Piper looked around in disbelief. She dropped face first onto the floor and embraced her surroundings. Laughing hysterically.
Once she had calmed down Piper finally noticed the see-through rainbow ground. Before she could understand what that meant she heard a man's battle cry. As Piper stood up a giant golden sword slashed down in front of her. Right where she had been lying down. She locked eyes with the wielder of the sword. It was the Guardian of Asgard, Heimdall. He wore golden armor and a golden helmet with horns. His bright orange eyes burned through Piper with mistrust and anger. He slashed at Piper again.
"Whoa!" Piper dodged his attacks, "I come in peace! I come in peace!" Piper cried out in panic.
"You are trespassing—" Slash. "—on the holy grounds—" Swing. "—of Asgard!" He yelled stubbornly.
"I'm sorry!" Piper shouted. Heimdall managed to hit Piper in the shoulder. Her body naturally split apart and reconnected with only her hoodie taking damage. "Listen. "I'm a friend of Thor."
Heimdall paused for a second. "Are you now." He stated skeptically.
Piper nodded her head vigorously. "I don't expect you to believe me on my word. If you call Thor to the entrance here, he'll confirm, and you'll know we're allies." She offered in truce.
Heimdall stared at Piper, mistrustful of her offer. Still in a defensive position with his sword pointed at her. The man grabbed at a small horn from his belt that's next to a bigger horn. Still staring at Piper, Heimdall blew into the small horn. Three short, high pitched toots sounded from it then one long, high pitched toot. He then placed the horn back on his belt as he and Piper waited for who Piper guessed was for Thor.
A minute or two into this standoff Piper saw behind Heimdall Thor fly over the bronze entrance to Asgard. He landed beside Heimdall with hammer in hand.
"You called, my friend." Then he noticed Piper. "Piper!" He rushed to her and embraced her in a bear hug.
Piper groaned, "It's good to see you again too, big guy." She patted Thor's back.
Heimdall relaxed and put away his sword at the friendly display.
Thor backed away from the hug and Piper could breathe easy. "It's good to see you, Piper. Your hair is longer than when I last saw you," Thor commented.
Piper went to comb her hair, "Yah, I don't—." Piper then looked at her hair. She noticed that instead of being shoulder length her hair had grown past her shoulders. "How long was I in there." Piper thought to herself. Then she turned back to Thor. "Yah, it's pretty long."
Thor turned to Heimdall. Excited. "Heimdall, this is Piper. A friend of the Avengers. Piper, this is Heimdall. Our gatekeeper to Asgard. Thank you for calling me." Thor introduced them to each other.
"She said you were friends. I'm glad you were able to prove her right," Heimdall stated.
Everybody started heading to the gateway.
"How did you get here?" Thor asked Piper out of curiosity.
"It's a long story." Piper answered. "The short version is Dr. Strange and Mr. Stark tried to help me get back to my dimension but it didn't work out very well."
Thor and Piper left Heimdall at the entrance of the gate. The two of them continued into the medieval looking village of Asgard.
"Well I'm happy you're here" Thor stated as he roughly patted Piper on the back.
Piper stumbled forward with a laugh, "Thanks. I'm glad to be here too."
Piper looked around the village and saw pretty decorations were up. With fancy shields, colored fires being lit, and performers doing various tricks.
"What's the occasion," Piper asked pointing to all the festivities.
"This is the day we Celebrate the defeat of Ymir and the creation of the worlds we know today." Thor answered as he waved to the people they passed.
A vender shoved mugs of mead into Thor and Piper's hands. Startled Piper tried to give it back, but the vender moved on and Thor gladly drank from his mug. Piper held onto the cup, unsure as they continued to walk. Thor then threw down the clay mug and it shattered on the cobble stone road.
"Are you not going to drink your beverage?" Thor questioned.
"I'm not twenty-one yet," Piper stated.
Thor laughed, "Why does that matter?"
Piper took a moment to think about it. "Well, I did turn eighteen this August. So it's legal to drink at that age somewhere." Piper reasoned then she chugged the mead like she saw Thor do and then threw it to the ground. The drink was warm and sweet with honey. Piper smiled up at Thor. He laughed and shook her by the shoulders lightly.
"Excellent!" Thor stated proudly.
Piper then notice that they were in front of a large building. It was a castle that looked like it's made of cylinders. The cylinders worked their way up to the center where there was only one tall cylinder in the middle. Its color was a blinding white gold. Despite how fancy the castle looked. It complemented the look of the village below it, nicely. Like a mother bird resting herself over her chicks.
"You have a lovely home." Piper complemented him.
As they entered the castle Thor smiled at the complement. "Thank you, Piper."
The inside of the castle was as grand as the outside. Tall pillars held up the curved ceilings. Flowers adorned every entrance. With the statue to commemorate the heroes of Asgard standing against the walls. Thor lead Piper to the Great Hall of the castle. Upon arrival Piper could hear: loud laughter, music, the sound of silverware and wood knocking around, and maybe a fistfight. Once inside the Great Hall Piper could see that she was right on all accounts of what she heard. Big, gruff looking women and men eating large portions of meat. Some dancing in the center of the room, fist fights to the left. Music next to the throne where it was able to project more sound, and in the throne itself was Odin. Drinking mead and enjoying the festivities with all his subjects.
Seeing comic book characters in person is always a mental trip. Especially once you get alcohol inside you. Piper couldn't help but stare at the old man with his long white hair. His cool half scarred face covered by a fancy looking eye patch. And wearing casual armor and a long, golden cape like Thor's red cape. Piper turned to Thor as they continued to walk up to Thor's father. Not knowing if he wanted to introduce them to each other or not. Before Piper could put any more thought into it Odin spotted his son.
"Thor! I see you have brought a visitor." Odin cheerfully shouted which caused the musicians to stop playing. Everybody in the Great Hall turned to Thor, Piper, and Odin. Piper couldn't help but feel a bit self-conscious.
Odin got up and hugged his son when Thor and Piper reached his throne. Then Odin turned to Piper with a smile, "Is this what Heimdall called you for?"
Thor smiled, "Yes. This is my friend from Midgard. Why don't you introduce yourself?" Thor encouraged Piper.
Piper didn't know whether to bow or to shake Odin's hand. In a fit of nerves Piper did both. "Hi. I'm Piper Thatcher Noonesdaughter." Piper introduced herself.
Odin laughed uproariously and so did the rest of the people in the Great Hall. Odin took Piper's bandaged hand and shook it as Piper straightened. "No need to be so formal. We're glad you are here. Come, drink! Let the music play!" Odin shouted and the music started up again as Odin sat back down on his throne. Everybody returned to the festivities.
Thor patted Piper on the shoulder encouragingly, "I would say that was a good impression. Come! You must meet my friends." Thor then lead Piper to a small gathered group of people.
Piper saw a large, rotund man in purple, cloth like armor with impressive biceps. Next to the man in purple was an even larger man sitting at the table eating his weight worth in meat and mead. His yellow feathered helmet bobbing as he got grease stains all over his pink shirt. Sitting on the table's edge was a man who looked like he was going through an armored, goth faze. His wide fuzzy hat shadowed his eyes as he fiddled with his mace. Leaning against a pillar were two people, a man and a woman. The lean, blond man wearing a Robin Hood esc outfit, leaned against the pillar in a flirting stance towards the impossibly, tall woman in red robes. She tucked her black hair behind her ear as she rolled her eyes at the blond-haired man as he talked to her.
"My friends! Meet my little friend, Piper," Thor merrily greeted his friends.
The five of them turned to Thor with a smile and looked to Piper. Thor pointed out his friends as he named them.
"That's my brother, Balder." Thor pointed at the man in purple. "Those three are the Warriors Three, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral." Thor said as he pointed to the big guy, goth guy, and Robin Hood guy. "Finally, Lady Sif, the shield maiden." Thor pointed out the tall woman.
Piper gave them all a small smile and a slight wave. "Hi."
Hogun nodded his head at Piper in acknowledgment.
Balder returned Piper's small wave and smile.
Volstagg laughed loudly, "Welcome Noonesdaughter. Come and enjoy this great feast before the battle begins."
Sif walked up to Piper and started examining her; touching her hair, holding Piper's bandaged hands to look at them, and making Piper look into her eyes. "She has a lone warrior's spirit and a motherly heart." Sif said as she turned to Thor. "She'd make a great shield maiden."
"I knew you'd like her," Thor stated proudly.
Fandral walked up to Piper with a suave grin. His friends collectively rolled their eyes at him. Fandral offered his hand for Piper to shake. Piper took Fandral's hand, suspecting what he might do next.
"It's a pleasure to meet a beautiful, young, flower such as yourself, Noonesdaughter." Fandral flirted. Then he went to kiss the back of Piper's hand.
Before he could do it, Piper pulled her hand away and punch Fandral hard in the gut. Causing him to fall onto his knees and gasp for breath. The five friends didn't even blink at Fandral's sudden breathlessness or at the fact that Piper punched him. Hogun sighed, grabbed a full mug of mead, jumped down from the table, and went to tend to Fandral. Volstagg and Balder were chatting with each other and Thor and Sif were talking with each other like Piper has done nothing out of the ordinary. Piper decided to sit awkwardly at the table with Volstagg and take off her bandages to look at her hands.
When she punched Fandral, Piper noticed that she didn't feel any pain. Come to think of it, Piper hadn't felt any kind of pain in her feet or hands since she left that dark dimension. After undoing her bandages. Piper saw that her hands to her elbows were gray from the effects of the frostbite. Like her nose, ears, and mouth, but the fractures had healed. There were only slivers of small scars all across her hands and forearms.
"Dr. Ghazikhanian said my hands and feet were going to take at least three months to heal." Piper thought to herself. "Does that mean I was in that dark dimension for three months or longer?"
Before Piper could delve too deeply into the small, time gap of her life. A deep horn rang throughout Asgard. Then with celebrity craze, Asgardian warrior's friendly brawls, music, and feasting ended. Everyone ran out of the castle lead by Odin with Thor dragging Piper with him. Everyone from the Great Hall stationed themselves outside the gates of Asgard. As Thor positioned himself and Piper near the front lines Piper could see an army. An army of tall, blue frost giants marching towards Asgard.
Piper stared at her surroundings in confusion then asked Thor. "Is this apart of what ever you call this holiday?"
Thor stared straight ahead at the on coming army with a gleam of determination in his eyes. "The defeat of Ymir didn't bring the rest of the frost giants much joy. Every year they try to destroy Asgard in revenge." He explained.
"I've never fought an army before." Piper stated nervously as she thought of the fist fights she got into when she was younger.
The army of frost giants approached closer. Piper was able to see more individuals than a blob of people. She could hear their collective chants clearly.
Thor placed his hand on Piper's shoulders, "Then I'm glad you are here to experience your first battle with me, Piper." He replied sincerely.
Piper smiled and patted Thor's hand on her shoulder because of how sweet that was. Deep down, however, she also would rather not do this at all.
The army of frost giants were close enough now that Piper could see individual weapons on them. Able to hear their feet stomping rhythmically with their chanting. Then a volley of arrows streaked the sky. Coming right towards the Asgardian warriors and Piper. Everyone managed to protect themselves from the arrows. Then directed by Odin from the back, everyone charged at the frost giants.
# # #
After several hours of fighting, the Warriors of Asgard once again defended their home successfully. Villagers passed mead and water around as healers tended to the wounded. Songs were being sung as the warriors chatted to one another and to the visitors from the village. Piper slept soundly in the nook of Thor's arm. She looked like a sleepy kitten next to a large dog sitting on the ground still covered in frost giant blood. Thor looked over at his comrades and felt pride at the new won battle. Thor then felt his Avenger communicator card vibrate and he took it out to answer it.
"I've been trying to call you for hours Thor. What have you been doing?" Tony complained as soon as the screen flashed on.
"My apologies Man of Iron. Today was the Defeat of Ymir. We finished another grand battle with the frost giants," Thor apologized.
Tony sighed, "No. It's okay. I forgot you told us about this. The reason I'm calling is to ask if Piper is there with you."
Thor turned the visual communicator to the sleeping Piper. "Yes, she is with me and is well."
Tony breathed a sigh of relief, "Oh, thank God."
Thor turned the visual communicator back to himself. "She told me there was another failure to getting her back home."
Tony was silent for a while. Not looking Thor in the eye. Then he replied, "I'm not sure we'll ever get her back home. Dr. Strange can't help her and I can't recreate the incident that brought her here in the first place. Her home doesn't seem like a place that we can reach easily."
"Then we'll be her new home," Thor replied simply.
Tony chuckled sadly, "She might not have a choice. Bring her back to Stark Tower. Ms. Munroe is worried sick about her."
"I'll have Heimdall open the Bifrost and we'll be there in a minute." Thor answered.
Thor then hung up his communicator, picked up the sleeping Piper and went to find Heimdall to go back to New York.