Chapter 8

The inner eight were sitting in the living room a week later in a semi-circle. Harry stood before them, regarding them carefully. There was a huge trunk sitting by Samuel's feet with two more surrounding it. The supposedly bottomless trunks were filled to the brim with gold bars, assorted jewels and precious stones, and U.S dollars. Harry owned five hundred thousand billion U.S dollars, not counting the golden bars which were probably more than that and the jewels. He had ordered the Shot Empire disbanded, giving each member, bar the inner eight, one million dollars.

"Men, I applaud you for your good work at Shot Empire and I sincerely thank you for standing by my side even when my leadership was in doubt." He said. Liam immediately cut him off. "Your leadership had always been excellent boss, never in doubt. We are just glad you regained your sanity in the end." The dark-haired man was grinning. The group nodded and mumbled in agreement. Harry smiled thankfully. "Back at Hogwarts while I was unconscious I met Death. It told me that now that I am the Master of Death I have the option of changing dimensions."

"Change dimensions?" both Sasuke and Naruto asked, confused. Suigetsu's eyes narrowed. "Why would it offer that?" "There's probably an apocalypse coming." Liam joked. Silence met him. His eyes widened, fixed on his employer. "I'm right, aren't I?" Harry nodded, gaining the shock of the team. He closed his eyes. "Yes. The Earth is losing her magic and dying. Only way to avoid that is to evacuate." Before protests could be made Harry raised his hand. "I will bring you all with me. The option is there, unless of course you want to stay on a dying planet." The silence continued to stretch. Samuel finally spoke. "My son. What of him?" Harry smiled reassuringly. "He can come along" Samuel sighed in relief and pulled out his phone, already calling the nanny to bring over the ten year old boy.

Meanwhile, Harry continued. "I have already prepared and downloaded our identities into Imperium. Once we get there into the new dimension she will download that information into the government records." "Can we know the information you have drawn up?" Itachi asked. "This information would be accessible to you once we get there. You can collect and take whatever possessions you wish with you. I recommend you do not take items that contain your personal information or anything that will betray our past to anyone. Personal items must be safe guarded. Where we are going there are no magical beings but magic exists. So I will need you to collect as many magical gadgets, books, tomes, technology, potions and other items we may need. You have another week for that. Clear?" "Sure thing boss." "Yes." "Hai." Harry nodded dismissively.

Back in his chambers, Harry found his six compartment specialized trunk. There was a compartment that held magical creatures and plants of all kinds, separated by habitat. There was a compartment for potions making, one with a large farm, there was a large castle where the elves he employed to take care of the trunk lived, there was a compartment that was a weapons vault filled with all kinds of military weapons both magical and muggle. The last compartment held a work station where he could experiment alone. All this was held together by his own magic and protected by blood magic; blood wards, blood password, blood recognition plus Death's magic. As long as he lived (which was forever) and Death existed (which was for eternity), the trunk would remain intact and fully functioning.

Harry put everything he valued in the side compartment that existed exterior to the main trunk. This included a picture album that contained photos his agents forced him to take and keep over the years. Sitting there with his album in his hands, Harry marveled at all he had gained; friends and family that cared for him and who he cared for in return. He could not imagine life without them anymore. Which was a good thing that Death agreed to anchor their lived with his own. As long as Harry lived, his agents would live too unless they wished to depart. 'The shock they would receive when they realize that.' Harry thought with a smirk.

A week later the ten individuals were gathered in Gringotts ritual chamber. Harry closed his eyes to concentrate, making sure to cocoon Zack with his magic. As the youngest and a muggle, the boy was much less resilient to magical travel of any kind. 'We're ready.' The air grew cold very quickly, runes flashing crimson all around them. Suigetsu had the mind to panic. "Is this supposed to happen?" Naruto threw him a dirty look, but before he could reply there was a tug in his navel and he knew no more.

They were sent spiraling for what seemed like hours, then just as suddenly as it started they were spat out. Light assaulted their eyes, making them groan. "Was that supposed to happen?" "Shut up Suigetsu." Sasuke snapped. They stood up, taking in their surroundings. They seemed to be in the desert.

"Great. We're in the middle of nowhere." Liam said, internally cursing their luck. Harry ignored him. He pressed a button on his watch. "Where are we?" A disembodied female voice replied. "In New Mexico my Lord. The nearest town is three miles west." "Thank you." Harry looked around again, then up. Imperium, please remove any evidence of our arrival here." "Breaching satellite feeding." A few seconds later, the voice said. "Wiping of records complete."

With a satisfied nod, Harry created a portkey from a long rope he conjured. They all made sure to touch it then activated it. They were sent spinning again, only this time they landed on their feet. Samuel kept a sure hand on Zack the whole time. They were now close enough to see a town. They took their time walking into it, scouting out the placement of all buildings.

"This is where we will stay for now." Harry announced. This received a few incredulous stares. "Here?" Naruto asked. He gestured to his smart watch. "There's no signal in this place!" Liam nodded enthusiastically. "For once we agree." "We need to stay low for a while. What better place than in the middle of nowhere?" Grumbles were issued but they eventually died out. Harry called Alfred. "I need you to prepare living arrangements for us. Make it believable." He addressed the rest of them. "While he's at it, your personal information has been uploaded to your wearables. Everything from birth place to graduate diploma" Alfred nodded, taking off to the Sherriff's office he spotted down the street. Harry started down a different path. "In the meantime do as you wish."

A couple of hours later Suigetsu, Naruto and Liam were in a bar having drinks. Liam was glaring at his beer. "Just what does he think we would be doing here? Counting the sand grains? Or perhaps gaze at the stars." "Or maybe gossip with the locals." Suigetsu chortled. Naruto smiled, hitting Liam's back in a reassuring manner. "Cheer up Liam! We'll have so much fun tinkering with that plethora of cars now that we have nothing to do." That cheered Liam up considerably. "You know what, you're right. Perhaps we can also figure out how Harry made his car fly. I know it wasn't magic." "You should ask him." Naruto suggested. Liam snorted. "Last time I asked he started speaking Marsian. I don't want to try again." Naruto shrugged, looking around. He rolled his eyes at Suigetsu, who had already surrounded himself with women. "Suigetsu is in his prime." The short-haired brunette grimaced. "Please do not remind me of his carnal tendencies." The blonde smirked. "Canal tendencies you wish you had." "Shut up." Liam snapped. Naruto raised his hands in peace. "Sure thing."

They dissolved into comfortable silence, letting the low music wash over them. Liam spotted a black suited man in the corner watching the bar. He nudged Naruto. "Look over there." The blonde followed his line of sight. "You'd think they'd be more discrete." 'Yeah." Naruto agreed. He wondered to which agency he belonged to. It took only moments to realize the guy was a spy. So this place was under someone's watch. His eyes were drawn to Suigetsu. The white-haired man gestured by the door. Another black-suited man was watching. 'This is either really bad or just a coincidence. Pity I don't believe in coincidences.'

Alfred entered the bar, quickly spotting his partners and the spies. He went straight for the three, casually ordering a beer on the way. "Trouble?" Naruto shook his head. "No, not really." Alfred handed him a set of keys. "You're sharing a house with Liam." Cerulean eyes settled on him in horror. The older man rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. Boss' orders." Betrayal crossed Naruto's face. "I can't believe this!" "It's a living arrangement, not an assassination." Naruto's eyes flickered to Liam, who was unsuccessfully flirting with a blonde woman. "Might as well be. By the end of the night one of us will be dead." A thoughtful look settled on Alfred's features. "Don't you think your animosity is the only reason Harry is always pairing you up?" "Well whatever he is planning, it's not working." was Naruto's immediate response.

"Are you sure?" He knocked back his drink. "From what I see, your insults have gone soft around the edges." Alfred said and waded his way thought the crowd and outside. Naruto was left in thought. Perhaps Alfred was right. He and Liam have grown so used to exchanging insults that it was more instinctive than due to any bad blood between them. He looked around again. The black suits hadn't left. Seems they didn't plan to do so anytime soon.

It has been two years since they changed dimensions. Most of that was spent in relaxation, partaking in any hobbies they liked. Some of it was spent on 'errands'. Information scouting and other similar things. Mostly it was wizards in the group who did that due to their talents. Harry was preparing a business they could run in New York so they could move there. As for Samuel, he did almost nothing. He along with Sasuke, Naruto, Suigetsu and Itachi were non-magicals so spent most of their time in New Mexico. Sasuke and Itachi would sometimes be sent on missions but it was few and far in between. Zack was enrolled in the local high school. The pre-teen definitely knew the kind of life his father led, but fortunately wanted nothing to do with it. Samuel taught him some defensive fighting techniques and a bit of offense but left it at that. He would allow Zack to live the life he wanted to. Though he hated violence Zack loved his father along with his many uncles. They were family to him. He particularly made sure to sit down and have a conversation with Harry at least once a fortnight.

So far Phoenix, the name they gave themselves, managed to stay low-key. Though, Harry was thinking of moving them to New York sooner. Stark Industries was ripe for the picking and Harry wanted to be closer to its location. He would invest into the business for their technology and to get access to more sufficient labs.

Harry himself was enjoying the solitary life. He shared his house with Itachi. The small two-bedroom building was sufficient for now. He also ran a garage. A small business but he did not mind. It gave him time to experiment. Imperium was a lot of help in his experiments, an encyclopedia of information. The A.I knew exactly what he wanted, exactly how, exactly when. He built her from his own magic; she was a part of him. The others would sometimes come to work with him if not on missions, most frequently Liam. When Harry was away on some business Liam would be in charge of the garage, much to Naruto's chagrin. All in all, they had settled well.

So it was a surprise when an energy surge hit New Mexico, causing a brief power outage. Harry was immediately wary. He hopped off his bed and to a device on the desk. "Imperium, check that out. I want a visual." A hologram of a brunette popped up, her violet eyes serious. "yes, my Lord." It changed to show the desert. The image got closer to reveal four people getting into a van. A half-naked man, two women and an older man. Harry paid close attention to the pattern he could see on the ground. His eyes narrowed. "Bifrost?" "It seems so. Want me to put it on file?" Imperium asked. Harry nodded, eyes now following the van headed for the town. "Show me a video feed during the power surge." Another video popped up. There was a bright flash of light coming down from the heavens and a kaleidoscope of colors. Harry saw the vague figure of a man falling inside it. He guessed it was the barely lucid blonde man from before.

"A demi-god on earth." Harry mused. "Bring up everything you can on this being." "Of course." Harry spent the rest of the night tracing the god's, Thor as Imperium informed, movements and reading up all he could on him and his kind. By sunrise Harry already had an idea of why Thor was here. Considering he did not have Mjolnir, the hammer still in the desert where it crashed minutes after Thor's arrival, he was probably exiled. No Asgardian visited Earth, or Midgard, at least not in the past couple centuries. This needed further investigation.

In the morning Harry had Itachi in the kitchen. "You probably know of yesterday's happenings." The black-haired man nodded. "You found anything?" Harry tapped his watch. A hologram displayed above Itachi's watch, show information and pictures of Thor. "He's probably been banished to Earth, but I need you to look further into it. Make as little contact as possible." Itachi nodded, then smirked. "Does this mean we're leaving sooner?" The younger raven rolled his eyes. "We'll see." Itachi sat down to eat. He really did hate this place. He read the file and contemplated his move, taking into account the fact that SHIELD will be involved.

Alex entered Harry's garage near noon. "There is a man running around town claiming to be Thor. Tell me he's crazy." "He's crazy." Harry's voice as bland. Alex scowled at the car Harry was working on. "How?" "Bifrost. It is real and so is Asgard." Harry supplied. He wiped his oily hands on a rag, throwing it to the side. "You and I are going to look for Mjolnir." "The legendary hammer. Think you can lift it?" Harry shrugged. "Only one way to find out. We'll go at dusk."

At lunch, Phoenix was gathered in the living room, minus Harry and Itachi. Sasuke shook his head. "We exchanged one crazy universe for another." "Are we expecting more in the future?" Samuel asked, always the level headed one. Alex replied. "I don't know. Imperium cannot predict it, and Harry is unsure." "More unknowns." Suigetsu sighed. "Here I thought we would live the rest of our lives in oblivion." "Stop moaning Suigetsu. Nothing around Harry remains bland for long." Alfred snapped. Suigetsu glared half-heartedly. Naruto grinned. "Finally, we would have some excitement!" "What do you think will happen?" Liam questioned. Alex shrugged. "I suggest we lay low until we figure everything out." "That's all we can do right now, I guess." Sasuke mumbled.

Just after dusk Harry and Alex were at the site of the landed Mjolnir. They parked Harry's Audi R8 a few feet from the outer ring of the hole. They jumped into the depression. For a few seconds they just stared at the hammer. Runes lined the hammer head, the whole thing humming with silent strength. Curiosity soon overpowered Alex and he reached out, tracing fingers over the inscribed characters. "Incredible." Harry joined him. "I wonder why SHIELD has not investigated this yet?" he wondered out loud. He waved a hand over hammer. A replica of the it appeared above it. Another gesture made the replica to de-assemble itself, revealing all the parts the hammer was made of and deciphering the runes. "Not much is contained within it but the energy of a dying star, iron and the handle. The runes hold the thing together and give it some sentience so only one who is worthy of Mjolnir can weild it." Alex listened absently. "It has the energy of a star. What more could you need?" He grasped the handle and pulled, but the hammer did not budge. "Guess it's true then." Harry also gave it a shot. To his Mjolnir moved as soon as he tugged upwards, easily being hefted up. He gave it a little swing. "It's incredibly light." He said and put it back to the exact location it was in. "And I'm sure it has anything to do with any worthiness I possess." Alex scanned the hammer using his watch and using his wand to cast multiple diagnostic spells. He recorde3d everything he gathered. Half an hour later they were on their way back to their houses. "What is the plan of action?" "Shield will soon be at the site. Track their experiments quietly. I want a tracking spell on Agent Phil Coulson and possibly Clint Barton and Romanov if they arrive. Take anyone to assist you." Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov, Harry learned, were one of the best assassins and spies. Harry wanted to control what SHIELD knew about Mjolnir.

Soon after that Phoenix settled into a new routine. Alex employed Sasuke and Alfred's help to track SHIELD and their progress, or lack of, on Mjolnir. Itachi routinely followed Thor, relaying all information to Harry. Harry's theory was confirmed when Thor could not lift Mjolnir. Naruto particularly felt sorry for Thor.

Everything took a turn when the Warriors Three and Lady Sif came to Midgard, bringing along with them a large metallic guardian of some sort that came to pulverize everything in sight. Luckily, there were protections placed around Phoenix's collective properties, saving them from damage. This is whn Harry decided was the appropriate time to gather his things, instructing his employees to do the same. By the time the battle ended with Thor wielding Mjolnir again, they were done packing. Thor and his friends left Midgard, Phoenix left New Mexico. They arrived at the pre-prepared penthouse Harry had been working on, fully furnished and right opposite Stark Tower. This is when their new lives will begin… again.