Justin Hammer was at his breaking point.
"First we cancel the Iron Patriot Initiative because you have 'second thoughts', then you decide to terminate our armour division, now you want me to, what, kidnap Tony Stark? I tried that before, Norman, and in case you didn't notice, he kinda broke out and killed everyone."
Norman leaned forward on his desk.
"Justin, I don't want you to kidnap Tony. My boss wants you to kidnap Tony."
"Just who is this boss?"
"He prefers the shadows."
Justin removed a torch from his pocket and shined it in Norman's face.
"There. Shadows are gone."
"Have you ever heard the rumours of the man in the desert?"
"What, that guy? Thought he was an urban legend."
"We thought the Spider-Man was an urban legend."
Hammer chuckled.
"How's that going for you?"
"My son seems to think we need help from the spider. Drago's been hanging around for too long."
"Well, Drago's been paid to hang around. I was hoping Stark would show up."
Osborn sighed and stood up.
"Maybe next time, Justin."
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Tony was entertaining a party of sorts. Around the largest table he could find were Pepper, Happy, Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, Clint Barton and Nick Fury.
"So, the Mutant League stood us up?" Peter asked.
"Wouldn't blame 'em. Grimmy boy hasn't washed in weeks."
"Watch it, tin head."
"Ooh, saucy."
Fury cleared his throat.
"There's an invasion coming soon, people. We've got to be ready."
Reed stood up.
"I did research, and there's been a continuous spike of energy emanating from a continuous cosmic path."
"Could be Thanos?"
"I don't know Clint. Might just be a meteorite-"
"A meteorite isn't a constant build-up of energy, Reed." Tony interjected. Happy went outside for a minute.
"Why can't we just, I dunno, send guys up there?"
"You want me to sanction a full scale siege of a warmongering alien spacecraft?"
Happy came back.
"Uh, guys, someone you may want to see."
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They walked the blond haired man in some kind of armour inside. He carried a hammer, which hung at his hip.
"Ok Nickelback, what's your name?"
"I am Thor, son of Odin."
Tony just looked around.
"Seriously, what's your name."
"Thor, God of Thunder. I have been sent by Odin to protect your people."
"Yeah, ok, Happy why did you tell us about a delusional bum?"
"My people sent a being to you before. Its name was the Dest-"
"Did it look like a giant metal guy?"
Thor nodded. Tony and Banner looked at each other.
"Klaatu." they said in unison.
"Why did you send it down?"
"There was war on Asgard. I lost a friend and gained two foes."
"And in order to protect yourselves you send down the one thing with enough firepower to protect you?"
"The first occurrence was performed by the Trickster Loki. The second a mere copy of the Destroyer, containing Odin's-"
"Yeah yeah yeah, do you know a guy called Thanos?"
"I do not know of-"
"Welcome aboard the SS Avengers."
"We aren't calling ourselves that."
Fury whistled loudly.
"Can we please get back to defending the earth?!"
Tony shook his head.
"It's been two months since Uatu. I think it's time we train up separately. I'll initiate Van Halen over here."
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Thor paced while Tony sipped a bottle of water.
"So, you're a god."
"Thou presumes on appearance, on legend. I am Asgardian. To us, thou can be the greatest of gods."
"But we still have our demons. I should know, I've been through the ringer."
Thor stopped moving.
"What danger do we have yet to face?"
"There's this mad...thing, this being called Thanos. He's coming, he's gonna cause trouble. So we're going to stop him."
"You would give up your life just to save those who do not know of you?"
"What is life if not being a hero?"
"You have bravery worthy of Asgard, Stark."
"Well, you aren't half bad yourself."
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Uatu stood, hidden from the sight of every being on the planet. He sighed, as events played out from the future.
"Chaos is unwarranted. The future holds failure."
To be continued in "Preludes to Chaos"