Chapter 5: Assemble! Part 5
*Lexington Avenue & 53rd Street, Manhattan. A Few Minutes Earlier…*
16:26 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"Frosty the Snowman-!"
POW!
BOOMM!
"…REALLY isn't such a jolly and happy soul, after all," Spider-Man quipped as he landed on the unconscious form of the Jotun he had just knocked out. He suddenly heard a roar from behind him, and turned to see a bunch more of the blue snow giants lumbering towards him, weapons in hand. He instantly turned to the woman and her little boy that he had just saved.
"GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" he yelled. They didn't need telling twice, and they instantly headed for a nearby E & 6 train station, where two SWAT officers were waiting to bring them in for their protection. Now with them out of the way, Peter could focus his attention on dealing with the threats. Firing a web line that connected onto a charging Jotun's chest, he rammed his feet into the large creature, forcing him to topple onto the ground. Webbing its arms to the pavement to keep it from moving again, he then jumped into the air and fired balls of webbing at the Jotun, further enraging them.
"Look, guys, in case you haven't noticed, it isn't Christmas yet, and I'm pretty sure ol' Saint Nick would very much disapprove of your behavior right now!" the Webhead quipped.
"Why does this human not be silent!?" one of the Frost Giants yelled in anger as he swung at Peter, only to miss. "All the other humans on Midgard flee before us!"
"Holy crap, you guys DO talk!" Peter yelled as he webbed the weapons out of their hands with many shots of his webs. He threw them to the ground a good number of yards away, no longer able to be used. "In that case, I got to ask…" And at that, the arachnid jumped at the creature and began to deal out punches and kicks. "What's the jolly man himself like? You guys still upset about the 'No More Snow' thing from the cartoons? What's up with the blue? I though you guys were supposed to be white and where's the magic hat that made you guys come to life?"
Peter continued to spit out random questions and Frosty references until this particular group of Jotun was all knocked unconscious. Leaping onto the body of one and webbing them all to the street, he yelled out, "And that ends out Radio City Frosty Special Edition Christmas Spectacular!" He then realized his fists and hands were killing him. Sure, he was durable, but putting out that level of strength when he was so used to restraining himself…. "Ow…Carlie was right."
Suddenly, he saw a massive green lightning bolt descend from the heavens to another part of the city. Being the science geek he was, he knew that it wasn't natural lightning…meaning this may have had to do with whatever was going on. "Looks like you'll have to check it out, Parker," Peter mused to himself. He was currently near the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 53rd Street, around the Lower East Side. He checked his web shooters, seeing that he still had quite a bit of webbing left, and even if he ran out, he had a few spare cartridges on a belt under his costume near the waist line. With that, he shot a web line and swung off towards where the lightning, now gone, had descended. As he swung along, he couldn't take his eyes away from the chaos below him. Everywhere, these giant blue creatures were causing destruction, and the police were doing everything they could to fight back, not matter how bad it was against them. Being the ever responsible hero, he'd jump down and land a punch or a kick or a web shot to help the cops out and bring a Frosty wannabe down, but he knew he couldn't stand against them all. He continued on to his destination. It was absolute chaos around here.
"Where the heck is Nick Fury & SHIELD when you need them?"
As he got closer to his destination, he could hear the massive echoes of punches and kicks and explosions. What was going on over there? As Peter got to the Chrysler Building, he realized the source was coming from the direction of Times Square…still a good number of blocks away from his current location. Another thunderous boom came from that direction, and he could see a tower top exploding, along with a few flashes of light, presumably energy blasts.
"Well, I've always been itching to try this again," Peter muttered with a small smirk. Stretching his hands out, he shot two long web lines to a building a few other buildings over. He then jumped off the Chrysler and once he fell enough of a distance, the webbing snagged and catapulted him towards Times Square. More booms rang out, and louder, as he soared through the air. In just a few seconds, he landed on a building near the square, and just as he landed, something raced into the heavens. Two somethings, actually.
Captain Marvel was mercilessly pulverizing some guy in fantasy armor as they both went higher into the air. She was glowing brightly and yelling furiously. Peter couldn't help but watch, momentarily taken aback, watching them get higher and higher. Peter had always had a fan boy crush on the heroine (what straight male wouldn't?) and had seen her around the city on his patrols since she came onto the scene as Ms. Marvel a few years back. He had always wondered what had happened in those two years she had disappeared before reemerging as Ms. Marvel again…only to changer her moniker a few months later to Captain Marvel. He never actually met the woman or spoke to her, and besides, Peter figured that she'd never take the time of day to speak to a guy like him. He was perfectly fine with a fan boy celebrity-
Captain Marvel was suddenly falling thousands of feet, the fantasy guy having blasted her and then disappeared.
"Aw, applesauce," Peter muttered.
He didn't even hesitate. He jumped to the taller building next to the one he was currently on, and began using speed he reserved for the worst of situations to scale the walls and head to the top. Reaching the top, he snagged two web lines to the rooftop antenna and again took a quick look at the plummeting heroine, calculating how to do this.
"Only one shot, Parker," he muttered to himself. A split second later, he jumped off the tower, letting the web line get longer and longer in length as he fell down more and more. After a little more than a thousand feet, the lines snagged again, and Peter was instantly catapulted into the heavens, heading straight for a Captain Marvel plummeting to her death. Faster and faster she fell, while faster and faster he raced for her. Once within range, he stretched out his arms-
And Carol suddenly found herself held by two strong arms in skin-tight spandex while Peter's arms were suddenly filled with beautiful superheroine.
It took Carol a couple of seconds to stop screaming and another couple to realize who her savior was. "Spider-Man?!" she exclaimed in shock. She had heard about him, but never actually met the vigilante in person in all her time in New York the last few years she lived here. Growing up in Boston, she only heard stories about him; he had apparently been around for at least 10 years, since she was around 17 or 18. He was supposed to be the modern world's first true superhero, even though the Fantastic Four came onto the 'modern hero' scene first, in the early 2000's. He was a street level hero, had a rogues gallery that filled half of the Raft…and was notorious for never shutting up.
"Hi!" Spider-Man replied with a hidden grin and a voice that sounded surprisingly young; Carol imagined he'd be older. "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, at your service!"
"But…you can't fly!" she yelled back.
It was too easy.
"Wait-I can't?!" Peter replied in mock surprise as he looked down. "Holy crap, you're right, I can't! Someone should've told me before I did this! And I made a huge effort coming here to save you too!"
Carol was shocked. "Are…are you joking?! We're falling to our deaths, and you're JOKING?!"
Peter stared at her from behind his mask. "You haven't been here that long enough, have you?"
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" she screamed in reply, anger now coursing in her veins.
"Yep, definitely a New York Newbie," Peter quipped. They continued to plummet to the ground, until Peter realized something. "Y'know, not that I don't enjoy holding a beautiful blonde bombshell in my arms and all, but…can't you FLY?!"
"And now you're HITTING on me?!" Carol fumed.
"It was just a compliment! But seriously, why aren't you flying?!"
"That guy I was fighting, Loki, somehow neutralized my powers!"
"Well…that sucks!"
"REALLY?!"
"What do you want me to say?!"
"How about what your plan is to getting us out of this situation?! In case you forgot, WE'RE FALLING TO OUR DEATHS!"
Peter knew when to joke and when to be serious. He knew where to draw the line. But for some reason, he just couldn't help himself from joking with Captain Marvel and pushing her buttons. He had no idea what; it was just something about her.
"Um…actually, I never usually get this far with this move!"
"SO YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO?!"
Peter grinned behind his mask. "Nope, not at all!"
"WHAT THE F-?!"
"Now, now, a lady shouldn't be using such language, Captain Marvel."
"I'm going to die in the arms of a maniac!"
By this time, Peter saw that he was in range of a skyscraper. 'Oh well, fun's over.'
"Oh, Captain, my Captain, ye of little faith!" he yelled as he fired a web line at the topmost ledge of the tower, which it perfectly snagged. With a yell of joy, he maneuvered them both into a swing towards the streets below. "HANG ON!" She gave him a look of incredulity. "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" As he swung on, he unconsciously grabbed tighter onto the heroine, and she unconsciously held onto him tightly, both fearing that she'd slip and fall to her death since she was temporarily depowered. Suddenly, Peter saw a group of people…and a large green monster on the ruined sight of Times Square. "Let me guess," he said, "that way?"
"Yes, that way!" Carol yelled back.
Within a few more seconds, the Webhead and his ride tag along were close enough for Peter to let go of the web line and jump down towards the group, and he could see just who they were-Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Black Widow, Yellowjacket, Wasp, Quicksilver, Spider Woman, Black Panther…and his old buddy, Wolverine. He landed in front of the assemblage of heroes, Captain Marvel in his arm.
"TA-DA!" he exclaimed. "One stick in the mud personality heroine, saved by your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man!"
"What?!" Carol yelled as Peter let her go, Spider Woman biting back a laugh.
"Well, I just met you like five minutes ago, and you already seem like the 'doesn't know how to have fun' type of girl," the arachnid quipped.
Carol got directly into his face. "SHUT. UP." Her teeth bore as she snarled the words. "OR I WILL HURT YOU."
"Well, he does have a point, Carol," Jessica laughed.
"JESS!"
"Spider Woman," Peter said as he walked over. "I've always wanted to meet my number one crazy obsessed fan!"
"What?!" Jessica gasped in surprise. "You're the copycat, Spider-Man, not me!"
"Actually, I've been Spider-Man for 11 years," he replied. "You've only been around for only 8, if I recall correctly."
"Don' argue with him, Jess," Logan smirked as he came forward. "You'll be fightin' a losin' war. Trust me, I know."
"Logan, buddy!" Peter exclaimed.
"Good to see ya, Webs…and don' call me buddy."
"Is there anyone you don't know here?" Hawkeye said in exasperation.
"Fought the Hulk once, worked with your Warriors, World War II, Binary, Brotherhood battle in Wakanda, Stark came to Japan that one time, that time with Kitty…I don' know them two," Logan shrugged as he pointed at Hank and Jan.
"I was just joking…" Clint muttered.
"Um, I have a question," Spider-Man asked. "What was that green lightning bolt I saw earlier? I thought it might've had something to do with all the blue Frosty the Snowmen running around."
"It did, Spider-Man," Captain America said. "The one behind all this…he calls himself Loki, and he wants to conquer the world. He managed to throw us around pretty easily-"
"Even the Hulk?" Peter said in shock.
"Even the Hulk," Stark replied.
"He was just lucky…" Hulk muttered.
"Anyways," Steve continued, "he's the one running the invasion and who brought the giants here. He also has help-a woman who calls herself Enchantress and a man with an ax called the Executioner. Not only that, he managed to transform four street criminals into fellows with strength on par with Captain Marvel."
"Damn…" Peter whistled.
"And to make matters worse, they kidnapped the Scarlet Witch-"
"And we should be trying to find her now!" Pietro interrupted. Despite his clear efforts to hide his worry, he was very concerned about his sister right now. "Who knows what that mad psychopath is doing to Wanda right now?!"
"We'll find her, Quicksilver," Cap promised, before turning back to Spider-Man. "I've heard about your activities in New York, Spider-Man. We could really use your help."
"W-wait…my help? MY help?!" Peter gasped.
"That's what he said, Webs," Logan answered.
Peter was out of his mind. Captain America-THE Captain America-was asking for his help. He was being asked to work with some of the greatest heroes of the world, some of the best secret agents, some of the most powerful mutants in the world, and a king of a foreign country…he, HIM-Spider-Man!
"Uh…yeah, yeah!" he replied. "You got it, Cap. I'll help anyway I can. You can count on me." He could barely believe this. Then, he got a crazy idea, and gestured over to Captain Marvel. "And my sidekick, too."
Carol stared at him for a good two seconds before making for the Webhead, with Jessica just able to restrain her. "Let me at him, dammit!"
"Ok, that aside," Stark mused, "now we just got to-"
They were interrupted by a vicious and bone-chilling roar. All 14 heroes turned to see a massive horde of the blue skinned Jotun lumbering towards them from three different directions, all with their weapons in hand and with murder in their eyes. What grabbed their attention, however, was the one Frost Giant that was leading them all. He a bit taller than the rest of them, and his skin was just slightly bluer than that of the others. His weapons were two sinister looking ice scythes. He was clearly the one who was the ruler of these creatures.
"Crap," Carol muttered. "That's…
"Amora the Enchantress promised my people that there was a glorious battle here awaiting us," Ymir of the Frost Giants of Jotunheim sneered. "A group of pitiful mortal humans who think themselves gods, trying to defeat us; allow us, mortals, to show you the error of your ways." And with another vicious roar, Ymir led his armies against the heroes.
"Aw, applesauce…"
*Little Italy, lower Manhattan*
16:30 EST May 4, 2012 AD
Jane stumbled out of the car, looking around hectically and frantically for any more Jotun. "Ok, the coast is clear, for now at least," she said. At that, Thor got out of the car.
The Jotun REALLY hated Thor.
"What the HELL did you do to them?!" the astrophysicist said in exasperation.
"Well, I've continuously beaten the Hel out of them for the past few…" Thor counted off three or four of his fingers. "…Millennia, I believe."
"God, if we hadn't been together for three years…" Jane muttered. "Thor, as your friend, I'm going to tell you…if you ever do get your powers back, don't piss them off anymore."
"Now where would the fun in an immortal life be without smashing and laying waste to a number of Frost Giants every so often?" the fallen god smirked. Jane sighed as she ran her hand through her hair. She should have figured that there would never be any way to convince Thor out of a fight. Hell, he literally knocked out the entire population of one of Atlantic City's bars one time when a biker was making the moves on her. Why?
"Eh, I was bored."
She was starting to wonder if all…Asgardians were like this. Looking around, she saw that they were in Little Italy, and it had definitely seen better days. Cars were burning, bodies littered the floor and at that moment, a few NYPD squad cars and two SWAT vehicles were racing by on an adjacent street. One of the cops yelled at them to get out of the streets as they sped off. Indeed, the streets were kind of empty here. A few blocks over was where people were still outside, scavenging and looting and searching for loved ones.
"He caused this."
Jane turned to Thor. "What?"
"Loki." Jane had heard his stories on his half-brother. "I saw that bolt of lightning…I may not have seen him for three years, Jane, but I recognize the work of my brother. Long has he always sought to conquer Asgard and claim Odin's throne as his own. He has always sought to humiliate me, destroy me, break me and to conquer me. Loki knows he will never be equal to me in our father's eyes. Everything I have earned, he believes it is rightfully his to own. And…I believe that as I have grown so attached to this world, he now seeks to take it from me."
Jane stared at him with her mouth open. She knew from what Thor had told her that Loki Laufeyson was a madman, a psychopath, an evil god bent of ruling over Asgard, and in essence the entirety of the "Nine Realms of the Cosmos." But it never sunk into her mind that it would include Earth…not until now.
"There are heroes across the planet that would stand against him, and stop him," Jane said. "SHIELD and SWORD, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men…"
"They are formidable indeed, Jane," Thor said as he walked on. Jane took this to realize that they weren't going to be driving anymore…pffht, yeah right. She turned to get their stolen squad car, but not before she heard Thor say, "But they are merely mortal humans. How can they hope to stand against a god?"
*Central Park, Manhattan*
16:30 EST May 4, 2012 AD
Wanda found herself unceremoniously thrown into the ground, which resulted in her accidentally getting dirt in her mouth. Spitting out the dirt, she turned and tried to get up, but she only got as far as her knees and one hand on the ground before her face was met with a glowing scepter.
"Please don't," Loki stated with simplicity. "I still need you."
Wanda stared defiantly at the Norse God of Mischief. She would be damned if she would cower and beg for her life like a dog. She was nothing like that-Magneto had instilled defiance of power into her mind, and she utilized that right now as she refused to let the Trickster see any weakness in her. "You will pay for this, Loki," she said quietly, ice in her voice. "This whole invasion of yours…it will blow up in your face, and you will be beaten and my allies will make you pay…unless my brother finds you first."
"The speedster?" Loki laughed. "He could never pose a threat to me. Nor the soldier, or the man in metal, or the monster, or the half breed from the stars…you are all pathetic mortals, scavenging what little you can claim for yourselves. You pretend to be gods with your skills and powers, thinking you can change your world for the better, that you can quell chaos. You feeble minded fools…nothing can quell chaos. It is the natural order."
At that moment, Enchantress appeared with a teleportation spell, along with Executioner, Wrecker, Piledriver, Thunderball and Bulldozer.
"Ymir has gone off to deal with the mortal heroes," Amora stated. "And the Destroyer is heading back to their location now. And…you have captured the witch." Amora stared at Wanda sinisterly. "Well done, my Lord."
"Yes, indeed, my lovely Enchantress," Loki smirked. "She is truly quite powerful, as you say. The arcane abilities in her…it is unlike anything I've ever seen. Such potency…it can easily stand against the powers of the All-Father. At last, I can truly claim and conquer what is rightfully mine…in conquering this pathetic cesspool of a realm that my oaf of a brother was banished in, I've found a weapon that will win us the Nine Realms."
"So you plan to turn me into a weapon," Wanda chuckled. "It didn't work when Sinister tried it, it didn't work when the Hellfire Club tried it, and you won't have any better luck."
"Now what makes you think I need YOU at all?" Loki laughed. Wanda's eyes widened as she suddenly understood what he was implying. When he decided to claim her power, she merely thought she was going to be forced to fight for him…but all he wanted was her powers. Wanda herself was of no use to him at all. Before she could even move or react, however, Loki suddenly waved his hand and she was lifted off the ground. Green spheres of magical energy ensnared her hands as they were forced up in a horizontal stretch formation. Her legs and feet were also ensnared together by the same green energy. She was now suspended in the air unable to move or cast any hexes or arcane blasts. "All I need is the power inside you," Loki sneered, and Wanda found herself slowly starting to know fear. "Your power, and after I take it from you, I could care less what becomes of you, wench."
"Then pass her on to us," Wrecker said suddenly, a sneer on his face. "After everything we're doing for ya, I think me and the boys could use a nice reward."
"And she's as nice as they get," Thunderball added, eyeing the mutant with predatory eyes.
Wanda unconsciously gulped in horror.
"Very well, my minions," Loki chuckled. "You may do as you wish to her…after I gain her powers."
At that, Wanda felt the pain again…and then the screams began escaping her lips.
*Times Square*
16:40 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"WHY DON' THESE THINGS GIVE UP, DAMMIT!?" Wolverine roared as he slashed at another Jotun's throat, drenching his claws, his black uniform, the Jotun's neck and the street below with blue blood as the creature collapsed to its death. "THEY JUST KEEP COMIN' AND COMIN'!"
"Then keep gutting them, you big baby!" Barton yelled as he fired a volley of explosive arrows at three Frost Giants. He was back to back with Widow as she fired rapid rounds of machine gun fire.
They were getting their asses kicked. The Jotun were swarming them like crazy, and their numbers didn't seem to be ending any time soon. Loki clearly was making to ensure that they were all too occupied to come after him. Bullets, explosions, battle cries, war cries, yells, smashes and booms rang out for blocks around as the assembled heroes fought back viciously against the oncoming hordes of Frost Giants. They were outnumbered and outclassed…but they weren't out powered.
Except for Captain Marvel; her powers still neutralized, Carol was unable to put up the fight she yearned to give right now and dish out the damage she really wanted to. But even depowered, she wasn't one to run from a fight. She was a former soldier, and a former SHIELD agent, dammit. Give her a gun or two and some ammo, and she fought just as fierce. And at the moment, that was exactly what she was doing, firing two guns she had grabbed off a nearby SWAT officer's body, a combat belt with a bunch of ammo cartridges in the pouches.
Hulk was taking the brunt of the force-he had instantly made to smash Ymir and since then he had been engaged in a vicious brawl with him. Ymir was unlike any of the other Jotun-he was stronger and more resistant…and certainly more ruthless and uncaring. He wielded two ice scythes, and he knew how to use them well. He was certainly powerful. Not on the level of the Hulk, however, but where he failed in strength, he made up in skill. This made it a vicious battle for the both of the titans. Their fight had traveled all over Times Square and had caused even more damage than their fight with the Destroyer.
"Just hold the damn line!" Stark yelled out, his armor once again fully functioning as he grabbed a Jotun by the head and threw it into the ground, firing his uni-beam at another. "We can't let these things keep us here! We break them down and go find Loki!"
"Never took you as the leader type, Tony!" Cap yelled with a smirk as he grabbed his shield as it ricocheted from the head of a Jotun.
"Me? I dabble in many things, old man!" Iron Man replied as he touched down. "SHIELD REFLECTION!" At that, he fired his repulsors at Captain America, who protected himself with his shield at an angle, allowing the repulsor blasts to fire off to the Jotun.
"Cool," Spider-Man whistled as he blinded a Frost Giant with his webbing. With a somersault, he rammed his feet into its face, slamming it into the ground.
"Stay focused, counterpart!" Jessica chuckled as she landed next to him in a crouch, firing her venom blasts. "We can't have you bloody killed while you're sightseeing, now can we?!"
"I've lasted this long!" Peter quipped as they got back to back, firing webs and venom blasts. "So, I've been wondering...you shoot webs or anything?"
"What?" Jessica replied. "That's a bit random, isn't it?"
"Do you?"
"No!"
"So why are you called SPIDER Woman?! You don't seem to have any spider powers!"
"I can cling to walls like you, if that helps! And I have spider DNA in my blood!"
"Hey, me too!"
"You're pretty random, aren't you?!"
"It's more fun than it looks!"
"Annoying to most!"
"You seem to be fine with it! Most women can't stand me for five minutes!" Spider-Man yelled as he shot a web line above Jessica's head, blinding the Jotun charging her. In a flash, she rammed her fist into its eye and fired venom blasts at its mouth.
Spider Woman smirked. "That should tell you something, shouldn't it?"
"Eh, I think it should," Peter shrugged as he fired more webbing. "Not sure what, though."
"I must admit, you certainly live up to your reputation," Jess replied as she fired her venom blasts at a Jotun making to slam Peter to the ground. "You're nothing like what I'd thought you to be!"
"Is that a good thing?"
"I would say so-you certainly made me laugh for the first time this whole day."
"Huh…I think that's the first time I've heard that in years!"
"Well, you left quite the impression on Captain Marvel."
"I think she wants to kill me."
"Oh, she's just joking!"
"NO I WASN'T!" Captain Marvel yelled as she fired at a Jotun, distracting it enough for Hulk to smash it with Ymir's face.
"Ignore her-she's just embarrassed she had to be saved. She's not used to being the damsel in distress."
"I could tell-real stick in the mud."
"That's what I always saw!"
"REALLY, JESS?!" Carol yelled out.
"Oh you know I kid!"
"Me too!" Spidey quipped.
"NO ONE ASKED YOUR OPINION!"
"Hey, now be nice to my male counterpart!"
"Y'know, Spider Woman," Spider-Man said with a smile as he kicked a Jotun in the crotch, making it howl in pain. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship!"
"I believe so!" Spider Woman yelled back with her own smile as she blasted the hit Jotun in the face.
"Oh, joy…" muttered Carol.
"Cheer up, Danvers," Logan said as he ran past her. "He stops getting' annoyin' after a while."
"How long?!"
"I'll letchu know when he does!"
"Yes, find a new friend in this chaos," Pietro yelled as he rapidly unleashed volleys after volleys of deadly momentum enhanced punches on the Jotun. "Meanwhile, Wanda is God knows where with that mad man!"
"WE'LL FIND HER, DAMMIT!" Natalia yelled. "FOCUS ON THE CURRENT PROBLEM!"
"Do not be so hostile to Pietro, Black Widow," Panther shouted as he rammed daggers into the eyes of a Frost Giant. "He is right to be concerned of his sister! With such power, Loki can easily use her against us!"
"I think he was more concerned on the flesh & blood aspect!" Janet yelled. With a roar, she fired more stinger blasts-until she was rammed by a massive fist into the ground.
"JAN!" Pym yelled as he grew to 30ft and brutally slammed the Jotun responsible into the ground. Jan, however, was far from out of the count. Surprising the other heroes minus Pym, she grew from a minuscule 6 inches to a massive 30ft, slamming her foot into a Jotun and ramming an entire group of them into the theater with a swat of her hand.
"Don't worry, honey!" Jan grinned, much to Pym's relief. "It'll take more than that to keep me down!"
"Umm…that might be something we may actually have to worry about!" Peter yelled out, his Spider-Sense, already going crazy, now going on haywire.
"What do you mean?!" Hawkeye yelled out.
"Something bad is coming!"
"Oh, because this isn't bad enough!" Carol yelled.
"Apparently not!" Spidey yelled as he pointed. "What the hell is-?!"
FREEAAAWWWAAAAAOOOMMMMM!
A sudden energy blast of devastating proportions came out of nowhere and hit the ground where Spider-Man and Spider Woman were standing just moments before Peter grabbed Jess and leapt out of the way, allowing numerous Frost Giants to take the blasts. To the horror and shock of the assembled heroes, the Destroyer came lumbering back onto the scene.
"Well," Mockingbird yelled as she avoided an ice spear. "We're screwed."
"Talk about feeling useless," Carol muttered. She was still the only one who was able to stand toe to toe with the Destroyer, and right now she was currently depowered and unable to take it down. Her guns wouldn't do anything.
"Hulk!" Cap ordered. "Focus on the Destroyer! Iron Man, Wolverine and I will deal with that Ymir guy!"
"Got it!" Hulk roared as he threw Ymir into a nearby building and charged towards the Destroyer, only to meet a very powerful metallic fist as it slammed him into the ground. Hulk only got angrier and fired a massively powerful uppercut at the machine. Meanwhile, Ymir was struggling to get up only to meet savage claws slashing at his face, enticing roars of pain. Swinging his ice scythes blindly, he was hit with Iron Man' uni-beam blast as Wolverine and Captain America struck at his leg.
"Ok, so the two impromptu leaders are facing the blue guy there," Hawkeye stated as the other heroes regrouped. "I nominate Danvers as our new field commander."
"What?" Carol stuttered.
"You've got the experience, girl," Bobbi remarked.
Carol looked at Jess, Clint, Natalia, Bobbi, King T'Challa, Pietro, Hank, Jan and…Spider-Man, and cocking her gun, she nodded with a smirk. "Ok, then, team, here's the plan. We still need to find Wanda and we'll need to get through these guys. Pietro, make as big a suction vortex as you can, and suck them all in. Jess, you distract them and break their ranks with your pheromones. Natalia, Clint and I will take the right flank while-!"
FFFRREAAAAASSWWEEEEEAAOOOMMMM!
"RRRAAAAAUUUGHHHHRRRHHH!"
The heroes watched as the Destroyer fired a massive energy blast at the Hulk, so powerful that it sent the titan flying through various buildings and down multiple street, and eventually, right into the Empire State Building a couple dozen blocks over. People were still in that general area, fleeing and panicking, and it got worse when the Hulk crashed into the bottom right sides of the skyscraper. He was oblivious to the people around him, and oblivious to the damage he had caused in his impact. All the Hulk cared for right now was to smash the Destroyer to Kingdom Come. Oblivious to the other things, he jumped back to where he had been.
…Which meant that he was oblivious to the fact that the Empire State Building was now collapsing, with its foundation completely uneven.
Carol, Jess, T'Challa, Hank, Jan, Pietro, Clint, Natalia, Bobbi and Peter did see this, however. They watched as the foundations groaned and grumbled and the bulk of the skyscraper began sliding down and down, turning into a leaning position that easily threatened to topple and utterly crush everyone under it, along with killing everyone still inside the Empire State Building in the fall.
"Um…that isn't good," Jan said in shock.
"No kidding," Jess replied.
"Pym, can you hold up a building?!" Carol demanded.
"Of THAT size?!" Yellowjacket replied. "I've never tried something like that. I don't think the Particles enhance my strength levels to those proportions.
"I have an idea-!" Spider-Man began, only to be interrupted by a vicious roar. Jotun began descending upon them, taking advantage of their momentary distraction. Within seconds, the heroes, huddled together, were now either separated or in pairs. Peter instantly saw that this wasn't good. Here they were being divided and conquered while the Empire State Building was slowly falling to its doom with hundreds of people inside it falling to their deaths. If he could just get there in time…!
"One vortex, coming up!" Quicksilver roared as he began moving at high supersonic speeds, creating a suction vortex that started pulling in the Frost Giants, each of whom were promptly greeting into the vortex by swift rapid punches.
"Good work, Quicksilver," Carol yelled as she, Clint and Natalia rapidly fired at the creatures. "Yellowjacket, we'll cover you so you can get to the Empire-!"
"KINDA BUSY HERE!" Pym yelled as he was jumped by a swarm of Jotun.
"Dammit!" Carol yelled in anger. "Spider-Man and Panther, help Pym! Jess, you-!" She was interrupted, however, as Spider-Man suddenly jumped over her head, rammed a powerful punch into a Jotun's face, and then swung off at high speeds to God knew where. "Spider-Man! SPIDER-MAN!" she yelled in shocked anger, only for her cries to fall on deaf ears. "WHAT THE HELL!"
"Did…he just leave!?" Bobbi yelled in shock as she jumped up and rammed a bo staff into a Frost Giant's eye, making it roar in pain. "He said he was going to stay and help us and he LEFT!?"
"When I find him after this is over, I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!" Carol yelled viciously as she loaded her final cartridge into her gun. "Jessica, you better change your name after this!"
"He must have a reason for leaving!" Panther yelled as he landed in a crouch, a dead Jotun falling behind him with daggers in its neck.
"Really?! What's going on that's more important than the end of the world?!" Natalia yelled.
"Well, I think there's a Knicks game going on today!" Clint offered.
"Clint, shut up!" Bobbi yelled.
Meanwhile, Cap, Iron Man and Wolverine were doing the best they could against Ymir. He may have been big, but he was very agile, and very apt with those ice blades of his. Unfortunately, he was up against three heroes instead of just one. Two of them had faced armies and won, and the other had a suit that had all kinds of surprises waiting to be unleashed. Cap repeatedly dodged every attack that came his way or blocked it with his shield, and threw and rammed it into the Jotun's face. Logan's claws were dripping blue with blood as he constantly slashed at the giant's thick skin and left numerous scars on Ymir's body. Stark fired his repulsors left and right, not relenting and not giving the titan any chance of recovering time. Ymir had faced Asgardians and trolls, and here he was, being humbled by mortals.
Hulk, however, was the worse off; no matter how much madder or stronger he got, the Destroyer was able to meet him in strength levels. Each blow was met by the other with full force. Punches on metal and metal on thick skin echoed out as the two titans continued to duke it out, unrelenting and undeterred. Unfortunately, Hulk was still a living thing that had a stamina reserve. Even though he could fight off countless armies and aliens and super powered beings, he still got tired and exhausted, and despite what most of the planet thought, the Incredible Hulk could still feel pain. The Destroyer had none of those limitations. A relentless metallic juggernaut, it just kept coming and coming.
"Y'know, Banner," Hulk mused in his mental landscape, "when we agreed to this, I wasn't expecting us to get our ass handed to us so soon!"
"Yeah, neither was I," Bruce mused as he watched the battle from his place inside their shared conscious. "I really do wish that Captain Marvel can get her powers back some time soon."
"This isn't going good!" Hawkeye yelled out as he fired more arrows.
"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Carol yelled back. Suddenly, her gun stopped firing bullets and simply clicked every time she tried to shoot. 'Oh, crap, I'm out…' she realized. She barely saw the incoming ice spear in time, and dodged out of the way. "And I just ran out of ammo!"
"Jan and Nat!" Bobbi yelled. "Cover Carol!"
"I can take care of-!"
"Not like this, you can't!" Jan yelled as she went super sized and slammed her foot into a Frost Giant's mouth. "You have no powers, and you have no weapons on you! You're going to get yourself killed!"
"Well, I can't just stay here and do nothing!"
An explosion then suddenly rang out as the Destroyer blasted the Hulk into the Times Square Visitors Center building. With a vicious and agonizing roar, the Hulk crashed right through, flying out on the other side of the building onto W46 Street. Apparently, there were people inside the Visitor Center, hiding inside from the carnage that was now plaguing the city. With the large gaping hole in the building's side, people instantly broke out into a panic. Unfortunately, as human beings can't ever rationalize in a dangerous situation, the first thing they did was run right outside, right into the sights of the Destroyer and the Jotun. And the Jotun and Destroyer were supposed to be destroying everything in sight.
"Dammit; Jess and Panther, break off and keep those things away from the civilians!" Natalia ordered.
"Um, where's Hulk?!" Pym yelled as he saw the Destroyer lumbering in the direction of where the Hulk had crashed. This was also the direction where the people were screaming and panicking and running away.
Ymir, meanwhile, had just managed to impale Logan through the stomach with his ice scythe and the mutant was currently doing anything he could to rip it out of his body, now that he was stuck impaled onto an abandoned bus. Steve and Stark were now forced on the defensive as Ymir switched to a mixture of brute force and skillful weaponry. Stark's shields and armor were starting to cave under the sheer force of pressure from Ymir's blows. Steve may have been an excellent combatant, but Ymir had a few millennia of battling under his belt. With a vicious roar, he punched Cap, who-even though he brought his shield down to protect himself-went flying into the air and crashed into a nearby abandoned food stand.
"There's too many of them!" Panther yelled as he threw another trio of daggers. He suddenly realized he was almost out of daggers. His only remaining weapons left were a few daggers, his vibranium claws, his combat skills and two daggers that could connect into a dual bladed staff.
"But we must continue!" Pietro yelled as he landed a 1000 punch combo into a Jotun's leg in an instant, forcing it down for Hawkeye to shoot an incendiary arrow at its face. "We have too much at stake to-!"
"MOMMY!"
Carol heard it, and turned to see a little boy tripping over a broken piece of car, abandoned by the masses of panicking people fleeing the area. In horror, she also saw the Destroyer lumbering in that direction. Jess and T'Challa were too busy keeping the Frost Giants at bay from the fleeing people. The child looked up and saw the metallic juggernaut lumbering in his direction. Carol didn't hesitate. In an instant, she was running to where the little boy lay.
"Danvers, what the hell are you doing?!" Natalia yelled as she saw the heroine running, but Carol paid no heed; she just knew that she had to get to that child before the Destroyer, who she saw now preparing to fire yet another blast. Carol pushed herself to run faster, and as she did, she felt the contractions of her lungs as they absorbed more air, the burns in her thighs as she made the run, and something else in her body, but she couldn't quite place what it was at the moment, maybe it-
"Don't worry, I'm going to get you to your mommy!" she cried as she approached the child.
"Captain Marvel?" he gasped.
"Yeah, that's me. Now hold on-!"
FFWWAAAASSEEAAAAWWWWWOOOOOMMMMM!
It happened so fast.
Carol had barely grabbed the child and started getting up to run to his mother when she saw the Destroyer fire its blast. She had no time to dodge it or race for nearby shelter. So she did the only thing natural to her-she turned and shielded the boy with her body. It was as she did that that she remembered she was completely unable to actually protect him without her powers. She was going to burn with him. She didn't care-she needed to make the kid think everything was going to be ok, no matter what. So there she stayed, her body facing the blast and her arms protectively surrounding the child, waiting for the blast to impact her, and when it did, she expected in that brief nanosecond to feel intense burning and pain and agony before death.
What she didn't expect was her body taking the full energy of the blast, the heat playfully nipping at her exposed skin, and the entirety of the blast being absorbed by her, with the child unaffected at all.
She was stupefied as her body began glowing intensely and her eyes became white orbs again. The sensation of unending adrenaline coursed through her once more and Carol…Carol felt like she had absorbed the sun. Her powers had returned.
"Kid," she said as she let the boy go. "Run." And with that and a vicious yell, Captain Marvel unleashed a massive energy blast at the Destroyer, sending it flying back. And with a resonating boom, she slammed her fist into it the juggernaut's face.
"Whoa…" the boy murmured before running off to catch up with the still fleeing crowds.
"HOLY SHIT!" Bobbi yelled as she saw the Destroyer fly into the skies, Captain Marvel viciously and mercilessly decimating the titan.
"She's back!" Jess yelled in glee.
Sure enough, Carol regaining her powers gave the assembled heroes just the push they needed. Carol slammed the Destroyer into the ground and set her attention on the various Frost Giants in the area. Firing a relentless barrage of photon blasts, she hit every Jotun she could, blasting them into the ground, into the skies, into buildings. If that weren't enough, she also put her fighting skills into use as she landed merciless combos and hits and kicks onto the Jotun, breaking them and their weapons. Joined in with the attacks from the others, the Frost Giants suddenly found themselves overpowered by the woman who had managed to turn the Destroyer's power against them. Arrow, repulsors, claws, blasts, fists, stingers, bullets and staffs united as one and decimated the massive hordes of invaders. A number of the Frost Giants fell dead while others sported massive injuries. Ymir saw this, and recognized that with this sudden boost of power, they couldn't win now. He confirmed this when Captain Marvel landed a devastating kick onto his arm when he tried to decapitate her.
"FROST GIANTS!" he roared, clutching his arm. "Make haste and retreat! To Loki and his followers!" With that, the Jotun began falling back, heading deeper into the city.
"We did it!" Jan declared.
"Not yet!" Carol said as she saw the Destroyer get back onto its feet
KRAKABOOM!
…Only to slammed right back into the ground by a burning, bleeding, vicious and pissed off Hulk. "THAT. MADE. ME. MAD!" he roared. Grabbing the juggernaut's faceless head, Hulk roared as he threw the Destroyer away, the titan flying off to parts unknown in the city.
"Damn you look terrible, Hulk," Jess gasped as he walked over to the other heroes. Indeed, the Hulk's durable skin was a mess. It was charred and burned, it was bleeding and it was darker in many places. There were many burn marks from the Destroyer's blast. But Hulk had a very potent healing factor, one which was being put to use as the injuries began to slowly repair themselves.
"Don't care," Hulk grumbled. "Still too mad."
"Well, that was some good work, everyone," Cap said as he secured his shield. "We have them on the run."
"And they said they're heading for Loki," Stark added. "My guess that where Loki is, so is Scarlet Witch. We follow them, save her and together we take that guy down."
"A sound plan," Pietro said instantly.
"And with the creatures recovering from this battle, we may stand a chance," Panther mused.
"Not sure, your Majesty," Stark countered. "That was just a large horde of them. My scanners show that there are still tons of these things across the city. The ones we fought didn't even account for half of the numbers I'm seeing."
"How do we handle that?" Pym asked.
"Not to worry, Dr. Pym," a voice on Steve's radio comm answered, surprising them all. "Leave that to us."
"Fury," Cap replied. At that instant, sounds of jet engines roared in the heavens. They all looked up to see SHIELD Raptor F-88 fighter jet squadrons, attack choppers, drop ships and Mandroid divisions flying in the skies high above. SHIELD had finally arrived on the scene.
"About time you guys showed up," Stark said as he established a connection to the Helicarrier.
*SHIELD Helicarrier UNS Odyssey, 1800ft in the skies, entering New York City airspace*
16:54 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"Don't start with me, Stark," Director Fury replied as he stared at the feeds on the screens; it was about time the SHIELD techies had managed to reestablish secure lines with the Warriors on scene. The entire command deck was buzzing as Hill barked out orders and deployments. "What the hell is happening down there?! I got blips all over Manhattan, and I got the NYPD, the mayor, the New York Governor, the Pentagon and the US President calling the Helicarrier-!"
"Some guy named Loki is trying to take over the world," Natalia's voice interrupted. "He's brought an army of creatures called Frost Giants to enforce his goals. He's also got a few lieutenants, a near unstoppable weapon, and he turned four civilians into his own thugs. And he's captured the Scarlet Witch. We believed he's trying to harness her powers for his own gains."
"Well damn," the Director replied. Swiping his hand on the screens before him, he brought up a feed from a satellite orbiting above New York. He could see the assembled heroes in the streets. "Did you all team up to fight against this?"
"Yes, sir," Cap's voice replied.
"Even the Hulk?"
"He's actually been a big help to us, Fury," Jess' voice replied.
Fury brought up feeds from the Raft to see what the situation was down there. "Ok…I'll want to talk about that later on. Anyways, listen up all of you. I can see you guys are working together to bring down this invasion, and that you have your hands full. Here's what I'll do: SHIELD forces will engage any of these things that they find. I got ground troops and Mandroid units deploying. The US military ETA is five minutes. We'll get them in on the flow, too. We do that, that should leave you all focused to handle the big guns of this whole invasion."
"Really, Fury?" Carol's voice replied. "That's all you'll do?"
"Nothing more for now; I have the World Security Council wanting me to nuke Manhattan though," Fury replied. "Don't make me have to resort to that." He brought up another feed of the areas surrounding Times Square and frowned. "Now, someone want to tell me why the Empire State Building is leaning in a slanted-?"
"Sir," Hill interrupted. "Coulson's on the line."
"Patch him through," Fury replied. "And all of you-don't mess this up…I don't always put my trust in superhumans and vigilantes, but you all seem to be our only shot of getting out of this. Don't make me regret it." With that, Fury severed the connection. "Go ahead Coulson. What's the status of the Raft?"
"The prisoners are secure, Boss," Coulson's voice replied. "We managed to get most to the temp cells in 42. Three of the things attacking Manhattan crashed into the Raft, but the Hulk took care of them. Last I saw, he was heading to Manhattan to help out."
"Yeah, he's with a bunch of the city's heroes and some of our Warriors," Fury confirmed. "I'm sending a transport for you, ETA in 10 minutes."
"Got it, Boss," Coulson replied and the feed went dead.
"Sir," Hill asked. "Can we really trust these superheroes and vigilantes?"
Fury stared at his feed. SHIELD officially only barely tolerated superheroes and vigilantes, as the Council stated. But Fury himself, he knew there were threats in the world only their kind could handle. This was probably one of them. Granted, he could've just taken complete control of the situation and had them all follow his orders. The problem with that was he had no idea what was going on other than it was an invasion, and they knew what was going on. No, he needed to put his pride away, and put some trust in these heroes. Captain America was down there, anyways, and Stark, though an ass, could get serious when it was called for, like right now. If anyone he knew could get this to turn around, Nick Fury was sure it was those two leading the others that could.
"I'd like to think so, Hill."
*Times Square*
16:55 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"Oh my God," Bobbi gasped. "THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, I COMPLETELY FOR-…" She found herself silent as she and the other assembled heroes saw that the skyscraper was actually…still standing, albeit slanting.
"Um…wasn't it, like, falling to its doom?" Clint asked.
"It was…." Stark mumbled. "JARVIS, scan the area."
"People are going to need our help there," Steve said. "Let's get there before we-!"
"Someone is holding it up!" Stark interrupted.
"What?!" Pym gaped.
"I'm serious, my scanners show someone is holding up the Empire State Building! I can't see who with all the debris, but someone is definitely holding it up-and it looks like they're struggling!"
"Then you, Danvers, Hulk and Pietro go on ahead!" Cap replied. "The rest of us will catch up as fast as we can!"
"Got it!" Iron Man replied. With that, he, Carol, Hulk and Quicksilver raced off and jumped off to the skyscraper. Pietro was the first to arrive, followed by Carol 10 seconds later, who came in time to see Pietro exiting the skyscraper.
"They're evacuating as fast as they can," he told her as she landed, three people with him. "I'm helping them out, but the police say that the superhuman holding up the building may not last longer." With that, the mutant sped off to help evacuate the building. The heroine took in the sight of police, paramedics and firefighters going as fast as they could and as best they could to get to the civilians and evacuate them as fast as they could before the skyscraper potentially fell or collapsed. She was wondering just who was under the giant infrastructure, holding up all that weight-it had to be a really strong superhuman. Perhaps he or she would be willing to join their cause. But first, she decided to help out with evacuation. Carol was about to fly over to the skyscraper, when a little girl ran up to her, looking worried.
"Captain Marvel!"
"Hey, little one," she replied as she leaned down, a smile on her face. "What's wrong?"
"You have to help him! He's hurting! I think holding up the building is hurting him!"
This caught Carol's attention. "Who?" she asked as Hulk and Iron Man arrived.
"Spider-Man!" This completely surprised Carol. "Hurry, he's under there!" the girl continued as she pointed to a section where the building's loose foundation almost met the streets. Carol couldn't believe what she had heard; SPIDER-MAN?! That stupid idiotic clown? Unconvinced, Carol dashed over to where the girl had pointed and lowered herself to see what was inside.
She was met with white lenses and a shaking spandex covered body. There in front of her, supporting the probably 90+ ton building on his shoulders and back, was the Amazing Spider-Man.
"Hey," he said with a strained voice. "Yeah…this was the idea I had. Sorry for running off, but I really didn't think there was another way. Guess you guys managed to take them down, though." Peter saw the heroine was still looking at him with shock. Then he remembered that his arms, unused to such strain despite being capable of withstanding it, were hurting like hell. "Um…Captain Marvel, you think you could…?"
"Oh, right," Carol said as she came back to reality. With essentially relative ease due to her strength, Carol took the building in her hands and raised it up, setting the skyscraper back into its foundation, balancing the gigantic infrastructure onto its base, ensuring that it wouldn't fall again. Peter then collapsed onto the ground, exhausted as his stamina reserves began to slowly replenish themselves. As people cheered, the other heroes arrived on scene and watched as Captain Marvel touched down and helped Spider-Man onto his feet. It took them a few seconds to put two and two together.
"Wait…it was SPIDEY?!" Wasp gasped in shock. "HE was the one holding up the building?!"
"Um…I guess so," Stark replied in awe. The other heroes, even Wolverine, were in utter surprise. As a result, none of them noticed the police car slowly pull up behind them.
Carol, as she helped the arachnid onto his feet, was still in awe, wonder and shock. She knew that he faced some pretty strong supervillians in his heroics, but this kind of strength display…she had never heard of Spider-Man performing such a feat before today. It surprised her. And she noticed that his body, though clearly able to perform such a feat, was also clearly not accustomed to doing so. His body was shaking and he was breathing slightly heavier than a normal person should. She never would've expected something like this from Spider-Man at all, especially after their…unusual first encounter just earlier today. Allowing him to lean on her, she helped him over to the other heroes, still in awe. She somehow felt she needed to say something after seeing this-some form of praise or congratulation or encouragement. All she could really think of, however, was…
"You're strong."
She was surprised to hear the vigilante chuckled and reply, "I know." Thinking he was being egoistic, Carol was about to retort with anger when he added, "It hurts, though…being strong isn't all that fun."
The two came over to the others. "Webs, you ok?" Logan asked.
"Yeah," Peter replied. "Just got to…catch my breath. I'll be dandy in a few."
"That was pretty impressive," Jess said.
"Really, man," Clint agreed. "Never would've expected that from you."
"No one does," the vigilante replied. "It helps with the underdog vibe I try to give off."
"Well, you're no underdog here, son," Cap said as he smiled in approval. "Doing something like that without any hesitation…not many would do that. That took guts. I'm glad you're fighting for our side, Spider-Man. You really do the title 'hero' justice."
"You have no idea how much I'm screaming like a schoolgirl inside my head after hearing those words." Everyone chuckled at those words. Peter continued, "Thank you, Captain America…that means a lot from you."
"Hopefully, you do even better when we face Loki again," Stark said. "Ok, everyone…we didn't do so well fighting him the first time, especially with his backup and that glow stick of destiny. But, we have another chance to bring him down. We're taking the fight to Loki this time. He caught us by surprise the first time, but now-"
"You battled Loki?"
They turned behind them to see a handsome blonde man standing before them, wearing jeans, a black shirt and a dark blue jacket. He wore his long hair in a low rise ponytail and had a slight scruff of beard. He had a look of curiosity and confusion on his face. Racing up to him was a beautiful brunette woman of around the age of late twenties or early thirties. "Thor…" she gasped as she finally came to his side. "I said this was a bad idea-!"
"But they indeed battled Loki-!"
"Dr. Jane Foster?!" Spider-Man suddenly said in realization. "And Dr. Donald Blake?! Holy…you guys are the experts in Einstein-Rosen theory! I did my thesis on your work! You two changed the entire wormhole view!"
"Spider-Man's right," Pym added. "Both of them are some of the most well respected minds in their field of work."
"And…he knows about Loki…" Natalia said in suspicion.
"Unusual, being these two were nowhere near the battle," Panther stated, also suspicious.
"Yeah…we weren't even in Manhattan when this whole thing started," Jane Foster replied. "THIS guy stole a cop car to get us here once we found out what was going on. Oh…and his name isn't Donald Blake. It's Thor."
"Wait, what?!" Pym and Peter exclaimed.
"It is true," the blonde man replied. "Donald Blake is only an illusion, created to mask my true identity in this realm. I don't even know anything in the field of 'Einstein-Rosen theory.' What I know is just simply fact to my people. Speaking of which, if you are going to do battle with Loki again, you will need my aid. I have dealt with Loki much in the last hundreds of years. You may be some of the greatest champions of Earth, some of Midgard's mightiest heroes, but against a god, you truly stand no chance. You need my help, protectors of Midgard."
"…Is anyone else freaked out?" Bobbi asked.
"Should I smash him?" Hulk asked with complete seriousness.
"NO!" Jane yelled. "Don't try to hurt him!"
"I don' like this," Logan growled. "Guy just randomly shows up and starts talkin' about the world's newest supervillian sensation like they grew up together or somethin' like that."
"My entire thesis paper may have been a lie…" Spider-Man said.
"THAT'S what concerns you?" Captain Marvel sighed in exasperation.
"I'm with Logan," Clint said. "This doesn't seem right."
"Ok, look," Jane sighed, trying to defend Thor. "He may seem like a crazy jackass, but there is truth in his words. I've been with him for three years now, and what he first said to me seemed impossible. But over time, I saw that he was right. You have to listen to him…Thor isn't trying to trick you guys. Yeah, his entire career the last three years may be a sham, but-"
"Ok, that isn't of concern to us right now," Cap said as he approached Thor, suspicion all over his face. "What I want to know is why you seem to know quite a bit about this 'Loki' fellow, and how you even know his name or that he exists."
Thor sighed and looked directly into the Captain's eyes. "Because…he is my brother."
XXXXX
TO BE CONTINUED….