Enter Thor!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Avatar.

Cautiously they made their way through the forest. They met no resistance for a long time until they were about ten miles from the Tree. Then they were met with a line of Na'vi warriors. They would let no one through and there was no way to get past them. It was obviously from the blankness in their eyes they were being controlled but it was a strange sort of control. The Na'vi were being directed but their own minds were dictating how to carry out the orders they relieved. They were puppets who thought. They were given one stern warning and that was it. The group retreated and conferred in the trees.

"We need to get past them," Rogers said.

"Actually if we can't get past them would our other unknown buddy be able to?" Tony asked.

"I don't know," Rogers admitted.

"He could also be approaching from an entirely different side and have gotten through there," Bruce said

"No," said Barton, "Whoever is doing this is never going to let anyone near that tree."

Before anyone could say anything else though an arrow slammed into the tree truck next to Natasha.

"Wha…?" said Tony.

"They're attacking!" said Rogers.

"But we didn't do anything!" Tony said, thoroughly offended.

"I think they changed their minds about the terms," Natasha said.

Na'vi warriors headed towards them and more arrows whizzed around them.

"I have to get out of here!" Bruce said sounding panicked. His skin was showing up green in some places.

"Uh, green Alert!" said Tony.

"Retreat!" Rogers snapped.

They ran. Banner was having problems. Forcing down the change was keeping his mind occupied and as such he wasn't paying attention to the route and almost fell more than once. Tony kept him upright as they fled through the forest.

Barton was the only one of them who was returning fire and was covering their retreat. It wasn't enough though. Natasha grimaced and finally took out her hand guns and shot. Tony glanced back and noticed that both she and Barton took care not to fatally hit the Na'vi.

Unfortunately it still wasn't enough. An arrow whizzed past Tony and he snatched it out of the air and threw it like a spear towards the nearest Na'vi. It hit him in the chest and threw him off the branch he was standing on. Banner stumbled and Tony steadied him.

Rogers swatted an arrow that would have embedded itself into Tony's back and ripped off a branch and tossed at two of the Na'vi. One got hit but the other escaped and threw his spear at Rogers. Rogers neatly sidestepped, caught the spear and ran. He used the spear to sweep away attacking Na'vi or bat away arrows.

But despite all that, they were going to be caught anyway and probably killed. Tony could see Na'vi flanking them and moving ahead to cut them off.

Then one of the flanking groups wobbled. Two of them fell off the branch they were on. Three others were swept away by the Na'vi who was attacking them. Another one ducked the swing of the new Na'vi and grappled with him. It was a lost cause though. The new Na'vi easily threw him off and smacked his attacker in the face with what looked like a large hammer.

"That way!" Barton shouted, pointing toward the new Na'vi. The changed direction and headed for the opening, fighting attackers all the way.

The new Na'vi, Buff, Tony decided to name him, kept the opening clear for them and as soon as they were all clear, followed them. They ran for their lives and fought for their lives and together the six of them were enough.

Finally the Na'vi stopped giving chase. They continued to run for awhile and finally all crawled up into a tree that looked safe and collapsed in the branches to catch their breath.

Bruce had his eyes closed tightly and his fists clenched whilst he fought with the beast inside. Finally though he relaxed and slumped against the truck clearly exhausted.

"So Buff," Tony said casually, "Who are you?"

The new guy frowned at Tony confused and then said, "I am Thor'odi, Son of Odin'bo."

"Odin'bo?"said Natasha frowning, "That's the clan leader of the Omaticaya. You are next in line?"

Thor'odi eyes darkened and shook his head. "No. I am…banished, I think is your word. I am not of the People anymore. I have not been for many years."

"Why?" Tony asked before anybody could stop him.

Thor'odi glances at him and then said, "I love one of you. One of your people. Jane Foster is her name. She sleeps now."

Tony whistles and the others look startled because Jane Foster. Jane Foster was the person who had discovered Pandora. She and her team. Tony didn't know what had happened to her though. He had assumed she was dead because Pandora had been discovered a long time ago. The distance and the ships' capabilities had made colonization slow though. Back in the day it had taken about twenty years for them to reach from Earth to Pandora. Luckily communications had been fairly fast with only a day lag in between. Rogers was the only one of them here though who had made the twenty year trip though.

"I know her," Rogers said, "She does still sleep."

"Does she fare well?" Thor'odi inquired.

"Yes," said Rogers, "She's fine."

Tony looked at Romanov inquiringly and she said, "Foster and others of her team choose to stay in cryo for years at a time. Especially because the travel time was so long and it was easier to do so when they had to wait for equipment. A long time ago they went into cryo and stayed there. There is a date they are supposed to come out but I don't know it."

Tony blinked and then said, "I'm thinking maybe Foster's decision mayn't have had to do with the science as much as we all thought."

He caught a flicker of a grin on Barton's face before it was smoothed away professionally.

"Tell me, how are you all not affected by what has happened?" Thor'odi asked, "I have seen others of your kind and they are under control as the others are."

"We have all been chosen by Eywa," Natasha said, "Her seeds came to us. Yesterday these same seeds landed on us and shocked us." She showed him her hair. "This is the result. We believe that she locked us out to prevent us from that fate."

Thor'odi's face had changed though when seeing her hair thought He appeared pained though he tried to hide it.

Natasha picked up on it though and she asked softly, "Thor'odi, what is it?"

He hesitated and then showed her his hair. It too was limp. "I was not visited by Eywa's seeds as you all were," he said haltingly. "This is a consequence of my banishment. I was cut off from The People…from everything."

Everyone blinked at him for moment and then were about to break out in various cries of outrage but all choked them back down when Natasha made a movement that clearly meant: 'abort!'

Tony clamped his teeth shut abut seethed inside. That landed firmly in the space marked 'cruel'. He knew, a little, how much oneness with their land and with their people meant, how much a part of their life it was and so he could understand, a little, how much it hurt. And even that little understanding told him, that it was too much, far, far too much.

A part of Tony though was wondering why he was so angry. He didn't really sympathize with people. After Yinsen, Tony had decided that interaction was best served cold. But somehow, he couldn't seem to apply the philosophy now. He frowned again wondering what had happened to change his mind. Tony Stark did not like outside interference with his brain, thank you very much. He concentrated and tried to parse through his own thoughts looking for the answer. In the end he found it not in his brain, but rather in his chest. It felt like a subtle vibration. If he was back in his human body he would have said it was the arc reactor, but he wasn't in his human body. It finally dawned on him that what he was feeling was what Romanov had been talking about; the ability to sense one another. And they were all together now, the chosen ones. It felt like a bond, like a source of energy, like a strength. Tony shook his head and tuned back into the conversation which had started back around him.

Natasha had evidently soothed Thor'odi and was asking him if he had ever been chosen by Eywa. He nodded.

"In my youth," he said, "Then your people came and I thought that this was my purpose, but it was not. But I found my Jane and I cannot regret it."

"What can you tell us about what's happening?" Rogers asked.

"The Tree of Souls has been harmed," said Thor'odi. "With what I do not know. I managed to get close to it sometime earlier today but was forced out. There is a device. It appears human made. However it is wielded by my brother Loki'odi."

"Your brother?" asked Clint.

Thor'odi nodded.

"I've never heard of him," Natasha said frowning. "Would he not be in line for leader?"

Thor'odi shook his head. "Very rarely it has happened but my brother was born without the ability to connect with Eywa and world. For this reason he could not be considered. He could not become a warrior as he could not bond with an igran. He spent much time away from the hometree. He left soon after I was banished, for good. We have never heard of him since."

"Could you tell what the device was for?" Banner asked.

Thor'odi shook his head. "Nay. It was stabbed in to the roots of the Great Mother. My brother held another device in his hand though. It had….things to push?"

"Buttons," said Natasha at the same time that Barton said:

"A remote."

"There were a lot of your buttons. They seemed to control what he wanted."

Tony blinked and tried to understand what was happening. "So he jacked into the tree and is then using the network to control the others by controlling what the Tree sends out."

"Thor'odi said the device was human made though," said Rogers frowning, "Who would make such a thing though?"

"Maybe someone who would want the Na'vi gone, someone who could make a deal," Barton said, frowning.

"Maybe we should be asking who could make such a thing," Stark interrupted. "That stuff is not easy to make. I could probably do it but I don't know enough about the planet's network to make it and I wouldn't even if I would. I don't know who would be able to."

"I may know enough about the biology to guess," Bruce said, "But Grace knows much more than I but she would never do this. And even so she doesn't have the knowhow to make such a device."

"My brother would know," Thor'odi admitted, "He spent much time examining how Eywa and our people connected so as to be able to overcome his handicap. He was not successful though, when he had left, but I have no doubt that his knowledge would have grown. He was as smart as my Jane, perhaps even more so in some things."

"A smart evil villain, great!" Tony said sarcastically, "No offense Buff."

"None taken," said Buff, "I understand the difficulty this produces."

"Can we fix it though?" Rogers asked, "Would just removing the device be enough?"

Thor'odi shook his head. "I do not know. Perhaps. But the Mother is a source of great power. It could be dangerous. I do not how my brother put it there without repercussion."

"Great," muttered Barton.

"Maybe if we figure out who made it, we might find away to shut it down, or remove it safely," Banner said. "If there is a possibility to shut it down from a distance we should take it because I don't know how we're making it to the Tree."

"I don't think we can," said Romanov. "The magnetic flux messes up the quincopters' instruments when they get close. I don't think any sort of radio wave would make it through."

"Finding the person is a good idea though," said Rogers. "We'll should check that, see if it pans out."

"I could hack the computers," Tony said, "See if I could figure out who has the specs to do this and see what the top brass has to say about it."

"Alright you and Romanov should go back. Romanov, I think your tank is almost empty right?"

Romanov shook her head. "I'll be fine. Thor'odi, do you know where I can find some iztarang that is not connected to any other plant?"

Thor'odi thought for a moment and nodded. "Yes, I know where."

"Take me," she said and he nodded.

Rogers frowned and Barton said, "It's the same plant I ate, Rogers."

"Besides," said Tony, "I'm already in the facility. All I have to do is wake up there and hack in from my computer."

"But what if you can't get back to the unit? If whoever did this, catches you snooping around they won't be happy," Banner pointed out.

"If I'm not awake in four hours come get me," Tony told them and then tried to get comfortable on his branch. "Nobody do unspeakable things to me," he instructed, "I know I'm irresistible but you're just going to have to find a way to do the impossible."

"Can I hit him over the head?" asked Barton looking like he wanted to bleach his brain.

Tony huffed and fell asleep.

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