Just a short update this time. Thank you to anyone still following this story.

Enjoy :)

The two groups stood observing one another; the Avengers faces were a mixture of confusion and apprehension, whilst the Asgardians were stoic and stony-faced. Their blank gazes flickered disinterestedly over the young team before them but they made no further movements. Tony cautiously moved in front of Thor, who was white with anger at his brothers' manipulation of his brave followers.

At the first sign of movement the Asgardians turned their heads in Tony's direction. Their movements were unnervingly uniform and Tony could feel his heart rate picking up as the collective group of blue eyes were trained in his direction. He surreptitiously glanced sideways at the kids, trying to ascertain whether or not they were wearing their suit bracelets. He could see all but Bruce's – the dressing gown sleeves too long to reveal whether or not he had it on.

"Nice of you to drop by, guys. Can I interest anyone in a beverage or a light snack?" the levity Tony tried to inject into his words fell flat, and the only response he received was a slow, considered step forward by the Lady Sif. Tony tried desperately to signal behind his back for the Avengers to activate their suits, and he could only hope that Pepper had the good sense to slip back into the house whilst he kept the Asgardians occupied.

A clanking sound from the house indicated that the Avengers had received his message, or maybe just used their own initiatives, but Tony was unwilling to tear his gaze from the hypnotised warriors before him in case they attacked without warning. Tony only had a few moments to panic about the lack of training the kids had had with their suits, before he was surrounded by five tall, metal Avengers. He chanced a quick glance behind him, as the Asgardians were still yet to make a move, and was relieved to note that Pepper was nowhere in sight.

After what felt like an age, the dark-haired warrior next to the Lady Sif stepped forward, eyes trained on Tony; his milky gaze making the seasoned Avenger squirm uncomfortably in his suit.

"Warriors of Midgard," he boomed in a flat, emotionless voice, "Loki, rightful ruler of Asgard, orders your immediate surrender. Lay down your arms and come with us now, of your own volition, and you will be treated respect and dignity, and Midgard will be kept safe under Loki's merciful and just rule."

A scoff from the blue suit to Tony's left informed him, to no surprise, that Steve would certainly not be going anywhere without a fight.

"Failure to comply with this most reasonable of orders," Hogun continued, either ignoring Steve's derision, or oblivious to it, "will force us to treat you all as hostile aggressors and you will be dealt with accordingly. Please choose wisely."

Hogun stepped back into line and the Asgardians waited patiently, as though expecting the Avengers to have a serious discussion between themselves about which option to choose, as though there was even a choice to be made.

"We don't want to hurt you," piped up Natasha's distorted voice from somewhere behind Tony, "but we will."

"This is your final answer?" asked Sif, with none of the regard or warmth that her voice had contained just a few days before.

"It is, Ma'am," Steve answered for the group.

The Asgardians moved as one, with no warning. The speed at which they advanced was alarming and Tony barely had chance to propel himself out of the way of the advancing troop. He heard Steve barking orders to the other Avengers and Tony easily complied with his directives; he just hoped the others would cope with instructions as well as they tried to manoeuvre themselves in their unfamiliar suits.

Tony positioned himself at the back of the advancing warriors and was momentarily joined by Bruce, their mission was to distract and disable the rear guard. He could see Clint hovering unsteadily above the crowd, an arrow prepped to disengage from his armour and fire at the horde below.

"A hard blow to the head might be our best shot at bringing them back to their senses; it worked with Clint," said Natasha over their shared comms.

"Clint may have been easy picking compared to these guys; they're like machines," said Bruce.

"Hey!" protested Clint, his arm steady and poised even as he fought to keep his balance in the sky. "I almost bested her; my natural chivalry clearly just won out."

Natasha's snort of derision was echoed by a number of her teammates, but the group had no time to further mock the archer as they became overwhelmed with the fighting skills of their foe.

Tony had a hard time keeping track of his teammates as he was surrounded by five muscled warriors. He was trying to land sufficient blows to incapacitate them without causing any serious harm, but the hypnotised Asgardians had no qualms about the damage they were causing.

Sir, significant damage sustained to blaster circuits.

"How are the others faring, Jarvis?" Tony was little concerned with his own suit; he had enough gadgets and failsafe's that the blasters being impeded would make little difference to his overall chance of success. The others, however, had more basic suit models and the only real gadgets they were equipped with were related to their usual weapons of choice; if any of those failed then their only method of defence would be to fly out of reach of their attackers.

Mr Barton's suit is fully functioning and he seems his usual self.

"Not sure whether that's a good thing or not," quipped Tony.

"I heard that," came Clint's gruff response.

Dr Banner is mostly functional, although his face plate has received some damage and his inner capacity is pushed to the limit.

This report, coupled with the animalistic grunts coming over the comms informed Tony that Dr Banner was no longer the one in control of the green suit smashing bodies left and right.

Mr Rogers and Miss Romanoff are both fully functioning.

"And?" Tony pressed, when Jarvis seemed disinclined to provide any further information.

Unfortunately, Sir, Mr Odinson is no longer online and I am unable to get any readings on him.

Tony felt his heart stutter in his chest as his mind raced through every possibility of why Thor would be offline.

"Anyone got eyes on Thor? Clint, can you see him?"

"Negative, " Clint's brusque response was indicative of his concern for his teammate.

"I see him," Natasha sounded breathless as she answered. "Tony, he's taken his suit off."

"Is he okay? I don't see him," said Steve.

"He's holding his own…he seems pretty pissed."

"Keep an eye on him, Red. I'm on my way."

Tony activated his thrusters and blasted into the air. From his vantage point he had a good view of the whole mêlée; he could see that a number of Asgardians were laying dazed or unconscious around the beachfront, but at least 15 were still worryingly active. At first he couldn't see Thor, him being so much smaller than everyone else on the field, but flashes of lightning quickly pinpointed him in between Lady Sif and the Warriors Three.

The mini-god was handling himself pretty well but Tony could see, even from a distance that his body was tiring in a way it would not have done as an adult. His movements were becoming sluggish and the Asgardians were landing more hits than was comfortable for Tony.

Tony shot straight at the small group, landing on top of the dark-haired guy who had spoken earlier. His sudden appearance halted the skirmish and allowed Thor a small reprieve from getting his ass kicked. The warrior below him tried to stand up so Tony smacked a heavy, metal fist against his temple and he fell back to the ground, unconscious.

"You okay, Bud?" Thor seemed barely to register Tony's question, his small fists still balled up ready to jump back into the fight. "Just take it easy, okay? We got this."

Tony tried to shield Thor as much as possible as the fight resumed, but the angry god was not to be hindered. Lightening flashed alarming closely to Tony's suit, and it was with great difficulty that he was able to disable one of his opponents successfully, with the bright flashes constantly obscuring his vision.

With the heat of the battle dying down, and only a few Asgardians still standing, Tony gave himself a small breather to check up on the other Avengers; I know, I know – rookie mistake.

Tony was knocked across the beach by what felt like a small boulder hitting him in the back of the head and shoulders. He landed spread-eagled in the cold sand seeing bright flashes in front of his eyes. Tony could feel the hard metal of his suit digging into his skull and the top of his spine, meaning that whatever had hit him had used enough force to topple a small building.

The startled billionaire gingerly tried to get to his feet but a heavy weight suddenly pummelled onto his back, forcing him further down into the sand. His face plate started to rise, allowing the dry, cold sand to seep inside, filling his mouth and eyes. Worryingly, the tide was not far behind and Tony could not work out which would be worse; drowning, or choking to death – hmm, tough choice.

Sir…I-I-systems dama…

Tony's mouth was too full of the beach to attempt a response to the AI. His chest had tightened uncomfortably with the assault and the lack of air getting into his system made his head feel like it was going to explode. He tried desperately to engage any of his suit's defensive or attacking mechanisms, but nothing was working and Tony was in a desperate panic.

He could not remember a time when his suit had failed him so drastically, or when his genius could not get him out of any sticky situation. Now, however, his suit had given up the ghost and he felt himself close to following, as his brains only remaining function seemed to be extreme panic.

He could dimly hear shouts over the pounding of blood in his ears, whether from friend or foe he couldn't be sure. The heavy weight on his back seemed to be lessening and increasing periodically but Tony could feel no relief as his senses were completely overwhelmed by his inability to breathe.

Tony took a last, sand-filled breath, choking on the gritty powder before his vision failed him completely and he could think and feel no more.