First Defeat
Stark Towers
"You seriously aren't thinking of going," Steve said, walking up to the God of Thunder. "What if you lose?"
Thor eyed the super soldier. "Do you honestly think I would lose?"
"Don't underestimate her just because she's a woman, Thor," Steve continued. "I know she's family, but…"
"The Earth is under my protection, Steve Rogers. I will not let anyone harm this realm, even if they are my family." Thor strode out onto the balcony, raised Mjolnir, and flew off into the New York skyline.
"I say we follow him and give him some much needed backup, just in case," Natasha suggested.
"I agree." Tony walked onto the platform, where he was fitted into his suit. "Jarvis, send the jet."
"At once, Sir."
Seconds later the Avengers heard the engine of a silver jet, which hovered close to the balcony. The rear ramp slowly lowered, and Steve, Clint, Bruce, and Natasha slipped inside.
"You guys really don't mind me staying inside a small aircraft?" Bruce asked as the jet flew away from Stark Towers.
"Yeah, we don't," Clint assured him, which made Bruce smile slightly.
Natasha took a seat behind the pilot's seat and directed the aircraft close to the Upper East Side.
Meanwhile, Tony took some time with Pepper and Antonia before leaving.
"If things get bad, I want you two to stay in the panic room," he said softly, running a finger down Antonia's cheek. "And wait for me there."
"I know," Pepper assured him. She held Tony's other hand and squeezed it, ignoring the cold chill that came from his suit's metal glove. "Play nice."
Tony smirked while Antonia slapped her hand against his metal breastplate. "I'll do my best. And you, squirt, take care of your Aunt Pepper for me, okay?"
"Ta," Antonia replied, reaching up to touch Tony's rough cheek.
Tony blinked and pressed a kiss to Antonia's forehead. "I'll see you later, kid."
Antonia nodded once and watched as Tony strode onto the balcony and flew off.
"He'll be fine, Antonia," Pepper said softly, brushing some locks of hair from Antonia's face. "Don't worry."
But Pepper wasn't sure who she was reassuring: Antonia, or herself.
Upper East Side
Sigyn strolled past several luxury shops, ignoring the stares that she received from several passers-by. She had called off the Chitauri from attacking most of the major cities; the mechanical beasts were hovering somewhere in the atmosphere, awaiting their orders.
Of course if an aircraft suddenly rammed into one of the Chitauri, that wasn't her fault now, was it?
Sigyn heard the distinct sound of Mjolnir rushing through the air. Seconds later Thor landed on the ground with a loud thud, and a few Midgardians cried out in surprise.
"Thor," Sigyn said, a smirk playing on the corners of her mouth. "Long time no see, my dear brother-in-law."
"Sigyn, stop this madness." Thor straightened himself and looked at her, his eyes pleading.
"Is that what you told Loki on the Bifrost bridge?" Sigyn said quietly. "Before you sent him into that dark abyss? It wasn't enough that you took Odin's love away from him, was it? You just had to take his life as well."
"I never killed Loki, Sigyn! I love him as much as you do!"
"No one loved Loki more than I," Sigyn declared. "All of you failed to see how much he wanted to feel loved…accepted…cared for. I gave him all of those when the rest of you didn't."
Thor could hear the hurt in Sigyn's voice, but her expression remained passive. Even her once lively blue eyes that reminded Thor of the deep blue sea were now lifeless. It was as if he was staring into a chilly wasteland of nothingness.
"Now," Sigyn continued, raising her hand. A deep green ball of energy flowed from her fingertips and rotated in her palm. "You even had to kill him and my child. If it weren't for you and your beloved Avengers, my son would have lived!"
"Thanos tortured you, Sigyn! Whatever words are coming out of your mouth were planted there by him! He has you under his control! Fight it!"
Sigyn's only reply was to send the energy ball hurling towards him. It slammed against his chest with such force that it knocked him onto his back. Sigyn quickly summoned another one, but this time Thor was ready.
Using Mjolnir, Thor blocked the next energy ball that came rushing at him. It flew down the street and smashed against the wall of a building, sending cracks up the wall.
"Is that the best you can do?" Sigyn taunted, as she changed into her Asgardian armor. In her right hand she carried a sharp whip. "I thought you were always up for a challenge."
Thor gritted his teeth and threw Mjolnir at Sigyn. The goddess calmly raised her palm, cushioning the blow of the war hammer. She flicked her wrist and sent Mjolnir flying back to its owner. Sigyn then cracked her whip at Thor, and the sharp blade left a long, thin gash down the god's cheek.
From there the fight became more intense, with Thor taking most of the blows. Sigyn took her own fair share of hits, but for every hit she received, she sent four of her own.
Although Thor was used to fighting Frost Giants, Dark Elves, and other beings from various realms, he found it increasingly difficult to hold his own against Sigyn. Each energy ball she sent hurtling towards him brought an intense, gut-wrenching pain that left him gasping.
She's making me feel her pain, Thor realized.
With each energy ball she hurled at him, she was including portions of her hurt, despair, and sadness that were flowing through her body. The longer she did so, she was ridding herself of the emotions that would have kept her from attacking him and was giving him less time to recover.
"Sigyn," was all Thor could say. "Sigyn, please."
"Do you yield?" she hissed.
"No," Thor answered. "Never."
Sigyn sent three more glowing green balls of energy at him; the last one slammed against his head that it made him lose his grip on Mjolnir. The mighty war hammer fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Thor fell to his knees as well, sweat dripping down his face.
He heard Sigyn approach him, her boots crunching on the loose gravel. "Do you yield?"
"I will never yield Earth to you," Thor said, fighting to keep his voice steady. "Sigyn…"
"Then you will live to see it fall." Sigyn raised her hand, summoning the last of her pain. Just before she could hurl it at Thor, a beam of plasma energy slammed into her torso, sending her flying down the street.
Iron Man lowered his hand, the small reactor in his glove shutting off. "Not if you fall first."
Thor groaned and stood shakily on his feet. "I must…get…Loki."
"Are you crazy? You put those two together and they'll take over Earth faster than you can say 'insane'!" Tony saw that Sigyn was slowly getting to her feet, a slight breeze ruffling her long blonde hair. The look in her eyes was deadly, and she was watching Tony and Thor with growing dislike.
"I felt her pain, Tony Stark. She believes Loki to be dead. If I can just show her that she's wrong…"
"What do you want us to do?" Tony asked.
"Keep her at bay long enough for me to take my brother here," Thor answered, picking Mjolnir up.
Tony nodded. "But hurry, Point Break. I think we just pissed her off big time."
Thor raised Mjolnir, summoning a bolt of lightning. As it hit the hammer, Thor flew into the sky, using Mjolnir's power to transport him back to Jane Foster's laboratory.
Tony raised his eyes to the sky before turning his gaze to Sigyn. He had to admit, the goddess was breathtakingly beautiful. But her beauty was marred by the hateful expression on her face.
"Why must you always get in the way?" she muttered.
"I should ask the same of you," Tony shot back. He then propelled himself through the air before Sigyn could take a shot at him, joining the other Avengers that were now busy fighting the Chitauri that Sigyn had summoned.
Her scream of fury followed him as he wound his way through New York, blasting the Chitauri out of the way.
Those two definitely need some counseling, Tony thought with a roll of his eyes.
Asgard
The entire realm had erupted in chaos.
With the crown prince gone, most of the Asgardians had turned their focus to Sigyn's attack on Midgard. Even Odin, who hardly failed to keep an eye on the rest of the realms, was distracted.
Thanos and The Other used this to their advantage: their forces burst through the Bifrost and easily overpowered Heimdall, with Thanos binding the mighty gatekeeper in chains of unbreakable metal.
The remaining Chitauri flew through Asgard, creating chaos. Odin had the warriors assemble in the palace, but by then it was too late.
When Thor arrived in Asgard using Jane Foster's portal, all he could see was death and destruction.
