Tony looked down at the generator powering his workshop and sighed.
"It's not looking good, Jarvis."
"Indeed sir. High concentrated levels of gamma radiation leaking through."
"Gamma, eh. Wonder if I can call him in."
"Dr Banner is currently under government-imposed house arrest, sir."
"Eh, we'll just bust him out."
He heard Pepper coming, and so told Jarvis to deactivate for two seconds. She was about to walk inside.
"Woah woah woah!"
"What?!"
"Radiation!"
"Get out then!"
"Got work to do, come back later!"
"Someone's here to see you- radiation?!"
"Who?"
"Some guy from the government, I don't know."
The government was just who he needed to talk to.
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Upstairs sat a man in a long coat.
"I'm not the kind of man who usually makes house calls, Mr Stark."
"Well, I'm not the kind of man who lets guests in."
The man was tall-ish, and resembled Samuel L Jackson. He had a leather eye patch, which covered his left eye, and a rough goatee that, spare his thick eyebrows, was his only source of head-hair.
"With all due respect, Stark, we both know you're more than a man."
"With all due respect, whoever you are, being a god is a tad hard."
The stranger laughed.
"Y'know, on any normal day I'd have had people come and take your suit from you by force. But I'm feeling generous today. I had a great Danish, the Mets won, and my favourite show just got renewed for another season. So I'm asking you nicely- give us your suit."
"I would, but I don't like getting naked in front of people."
"Fine. Mr Anthony Stark, your property is now property of S.H.I.E.L.D until further notice. On a further note I am placing you under arrest."
Pepper just looked, confused but clever. When that footage had leaked online, she too had correctly guessed it was Tony's.
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"So, Patches, who exactly are you?"
"I'm Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Which is?"
"The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."
"Which is?"
"We're basically the guys in semi-charge."
"And what do you need me for?"
"Protection, help. Now, get in. We're gonna be there soon."
The awaiting SUV went faster than expected.
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Doctor Bruce Banner, forty-two and counting, sat on his couch, flicking calmly through every channel without any hope of finding anything he wanted to watch.
Outside were five patrol men, all armed with permission to use their idiocy. He had learned long ago, how to control. How to be calm yet attentive. He meditated five times a day, ate only vegetarian, and refrained from watching sports. The other guy was locked inside, without a key to free him.
His door was opened.
"Director Fury, nice to see you."
"Dr Banner, time for a trip."
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"So, uh, what are we doing?"
Banner sat across from a man he was sure he knew.
"Tony Stark, how ya doing?"
"Just fine, thanks. See Fury got you too, I presume you don't do what I do when I get angry."
"Nah, I'm here because I built a special suit for fighting crime."
"Sounds interesting."
Nick Fury sighed.
"Banner, you're here for Gamma radiation. Stark, you're here for consultation. I don't need a suit and I sure as hell do not need the Hulk."
"What kind of consulting?"
"Something fell from the sky. Some kind of machine. Since you're the only asshole in the city who has experience with this kind of stuff who is both trustworthy and not in prison, you're consulting. And before you get on my case, the...thing has got high levels of Gamma."
"And this thing is?"
"...we're not exactly sure."
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There was an eight-foot tall, silver person standing in the middle of the wide, scientist-filled room.
"Sexy."
"Wait, so you want us to tell you what Gort here is, and why it fell from the sky?"
"Oh, we know. You see, protocol states that I can't tell you anything until you are fully briefed and fully aware of the current situation."
"Which is?"
"This thing, which you have so happily taken to calling Gort, is from another world, another universe which sits on top of ours like a cloud."
Tony and Bruce looked at each other, confused and amused.
"So, you're saying there's another world, above ours right now?"
"Yes I am. And I'm sure you're familiar with it. It's called Asgard. And we have reason to believe they're planning an attack."
"What reason would this be?"
"Initial scans show something present inside. It's emitting some kind of power, some kind of dangerous system."
"Gamma radiation."
"Exactly. So, you two are gonna work together on finding a way of either disarming this, or harnessing its power for defence. I'll leave that choice up to you."
He left them.
"Right, better get started!"