Everyone was silent as they stood on the roof, waiting for Tony. He was ten minutes late, something that didn't seem to surprise anyone, although Steve continuously glanced at his watch while Thor paced back and forth, growing more agitated with every passing minute.

Finally, Tony emerged in the Iron Man armor, his faceplate up, carrying the new vessel with Pepper following closely behind him. If Pepper disapproved of Tony's spontaneous decision to go to Asgard, she didn't show it, instead, she nodded to each of the Avengers before turning to Tony.

"Once the device takes us to Asgard," Tony told her. "I won't be able to reach you. I don't plan on being gone for... more than a week, at least. But until I return, you're in charge of the company. I settled it already, the board doesn't have a choice. If SHIELD calls, tell them what I told you."

"You mean that you're making a quick run to Asgard with the boys?" Pepper asked. "And what if that doesn't satisfy Fury?"

"Um, if that doesn't work, tell Fury that I'll get him a new Ferrari for Christmas. Maybe a fire-red one this time. I know how much Fury favors fire-red Ferraris."

"Tony, be careful," Pepper said. "I know how trouble always seems to find you."

"Relax, Pep, it's me," Tony said.

"That's what I mean." Pepper said.

"Are you and JARVIS talking about me behind my back?" Tony asked.

"How else am I supposed to keep track of you?" Pepper asked.

"Not cool, J," Tony said with a frown.

"My apologies, sir," JARVIS said. "But I completely agree with Miss Potts."

"Keep this up and I might leave you behind too, JARVIS," Tony said.

"Inadvisable, as that would also include leaving the suit," JARVIS noted dryly.

"Yeah, okay, you win," Tony admitted. Then he smiled at Pepper.

"Don't worry, Pepper," he said. "I'll be extra careful. I'll come back to you. I promise."

Clint snickered, and Tony turned to him. "Something funny, Big Bird?" He asked.

"Nothing," Clint said. "I just didn't take you for the video game type, Tony."

Tony frowned in confusion for a second, then blinked as he realized what Clint was talking about. "Yeah, well, at least we're not taking a raft to Asgard," he said with a smirk.

"I'm totally lost," Steve said.

"Don't worry, I don't get it either," Bruce said, offering a small smile to the Captain before turning to Tony. "Tony, we should probably get going. I think Thor's about to have a panic attack."

They all turned to Thor, who was staring into the distance, frowning. "I feel as if something bad has just happened," he said.

"Whoa," Tony said. "Do you feel a disturbance, As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced?"

"Are you endangering the mission?" Clint asked. "Do you think you shouldn't have come?"

Thor glanced at them briefly, as Steve frowned in confusion and Bruce chuckled. "Okay," he said. "That time, I was thinking it too."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Stark," she said. "Let's go."

Tony nodded. "Right," he said, walking forward and holding the device out. "Thor, go ahead and put the tesseract right in here... good. Everyone hold on, or it won't work."

"Like a portkey, right?" Clint asked with a smirk.

"For heavens sake, stop it," Natasha said sternly, taking hold of the device as the others did the same.

Tony turned halfway so he could look at Pepper. "Goodbye, Pep," he said. "Take care of the company. Don't let those stuffy suits tell you what to do. I'll be back as soon as possible. I called Rhodey, he should be here tomorrow, in case... well, you know..."

"Tony, I know how to watch out for myself," Pepper said. "It's you I'm worried about. Just get back here in one piece, alright?"

"Alright," Tony said. "...Well, see ya."

Turning around, he noted that everyone was holding the device, and he twisted the handle.

Everything fell away into blue, and took the breath of all those who had not jumped worlds before. It felt as if they were flying, they were weightless and what felt like a wind blew all around them. Then they seemed to cease existence at all, if he didn't know any better, Tony would have described the feeling as the sensation of dissolving into nothingness. A brief image of Mike Teavee floating in the air flashed through his mind, and then he seemed to come back together again. The blue began to fade into more substantial colors, and Tony could see, as if through water, a grand hall of marble and intricate design.

The stone floor began to solidify beneath his feet, and he realized he'd been holding his breath and was now beginning to breathe again, when suddenly the blue came rushing back like a wave, roaring in his ears and swirling violently. Tony realized that where he had been beginning to breathe before, his lungs were now screaming for air, and a great pressure pushed against him on every side. The blue began churning even more turbulently, and the color faded until it was a swirling tsunami of pure white.

Suddenly, everything disappeared, and Tony found himself hitting the ground hard. He gasped for air and the blood rushed to his face. Shakily, he stood to his feet and looked around. They were definitely somewhere, although the 'where' was uncertain. Looking around, he saw the other Avengers also gasping and slowly standing up, Thor already at his feet, taking deep breaths and looking around in anger and shock.

"That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?" Tony pointed out breathlessly.

"I do not understand," Thor said in response, walking past Clint and Natasha, who were helping each other up. "We are in the Plains of Ida!"

Tony looked around at the empty fields of grass. "...Yep," he said. "I'm assuming that's Asgard over there?" He nodded towards a shining city with a dark sky behind it, a golden tower rising from the center.

"Aye," Thor said. "Mere seconds ago, we almost materialized within the palace itself. How did we end up in the plains of Ida?"

Tony frowned, as Steve said the very thing he was thinking. "Is it possible the device didn't work right?"

Everyone suddenly realized the same thing, and they all looked around furtively.

"Where is it!?" Tony demanded, panicked. "What happened to it!?"

"It's gone!" Clint exclaimed, staring at a spot on the ground in the center of the group, presumably where the device would be if it had traveled with them.

"Tony, Clint, Calm down," Steve said, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "Yeah, this looks bad, but we need to keep calm, losing our heads won't fix anything."

"Thor," Natasha said, pale but otherwise in control. "What should we do?"

Thor stepped forward to where the device should have been, and he looked lost. "...I'm not sure," he said. "I don't know what caused the device to drop us here, but it was no malfunction on Tony's part. It was definitely a tesseract."

"A tesseract?" Bruce asked, a bit shaky himself. "What do you mean A tesseract? There's more than one?"

"Well, no," Thor said. "The tesseract, as you know of it, is the only one of its kind. However, the name tesseract simply means a doorway or portal through time or space. What we just experienced was a tesseract, even though the device is... no longer with us."

"We jumped without the tesseract?" Tony asked. "Is that even possible?"

Thor nodded. "Aye, but my people have not yet been able to master it," he said. "We only could tesser using the tesseract and Heimdall's Gate. The tesseract was lost on Midgard centuries ago, and the Bifrost was destroyed a few years ago. We had been rebuilding it, but it is not yet finished. Other than that... We do not have the power to tesser on our own."

"...Alright," Bruce said. "So, if your people haven't developed the ability to tesser on their own, the question to ask is who could have sent us here without the tesseract?"

Everyone looked at Thor, who looked frightened. "I do not know," he said. "Unless they are the power Loki warned me of." He turned suddenly and with a yell, brought Mjolnir down to the ground, sending a slight shockwave through the ground. "I am too late," He said lowly. "They are in the city." He looked down at the floor, and his voice was rough and sorrowful. "I have failed."

Nobody knew quite what to say to that, and they all stood for a few moments, before Steve stepped forward and put his hand on Thor's shoulder.

"Not yet, you haven't," he said. "I mean, even if the aliens are in the city, we're not gonna go down, not without a fight. There are people in that city who need you."

Thor looked up. "...Aye," he said. "Let us fight, for the glory of Asgard, and Midgard!"

Suddenly, a burst of green light erupted from the point of the tower in the distance, tinting the oranges and the blues of the Asgardian landscape.

"Remind you of anyone?" Bruce asked, and no one had to say they agreed.

"Come!" Thor said, reaching down and picking up Mjolnir. "We are due in the city."


As soon as they arrived on the outskirts of the city, it was obvious that whatever was happening had gone down quickly. There was a deadly quiet over the city, and there was no life anywhere. Not a single person was on the streets. The green light beam was still shooting into the sky, and the atmosphere around the end of the beam was distorted and warped, as if the light beam was transmitting though a wormhole.

Thor led them quickly and quietly through the streets toward the palace in the center, and the others followed quietly. Well, as quietly as they could.

"For heavens sake, Stark, walk quieter!" Hissed Natasha.

"Sorry," Tony hissed back in defense. "I'm in a 240 pound metal exoskeleton, in case you didn't notice!" He sighed. "Maybe if you would let me fly-"

"I told you, this is a reconnaissance mission," Natasha whispered. "Busting in guns blazing isn't an option!"

"Maybe Tony should stay back," Clint suggested. "We can go on ahead and gather intel, and then come back."

"I could stay back with him," Bruce suggested. "We wouldn't want to risk something setting the Hulk off during recon..."

"No," Steve said firmly. "Until we have some sort of idea about what's going on, we all stick together."

"Ugh, fine," Tony said. "But I can't help it if my footsteps fall a little louder than the freaky spider ninja spy here."

"Hush," Thor said suddenly. "I sense someone approaching."

That was enough to quiet the Avengers, as they all waited. Hawkeye pulled an arrow and notched it, pointing towards a street corner several blocks away. Trusting his hearing, the others all watched that corner and waited.

A few moments later, a woman in a suit of dirtied armor stumbled around the corner and fell to the ground.

"Sif!" Thor cried, lowering his hammer and running towards her. Looking at each other, the others decided she wasn't a threat- probably- and followed.

Thor reached the woman and knelt down, offering his hand as she struggled to stand up. "Lady Sif," Thor said. "Pray tell, what has happened!?"

"...Thor?" She said, looking up at him. "Where- where have you been!?"

Thor looked confused. "I do not understand your meaning," he said. "I have only been gone a matter of hours."

"Hours?" Sif asked. "What do you mean hours?"

"Uh-oh," Tony muttered to Bruce. "This can't mean anything good."

"I left this morning," Thor said. "To fetch the Avengers."

"Thor, that was three days ago," Sif said. "You left three days ago. When the... things... came and took the palace, we assumed the worst. You had never let such a thing happen before."

"What has happened!?" Thor demanded. "Lady Sif, tell me what has happened in my absence so that I may set things right."

Sif looked at Thor and bit her bottom lip. "...After you left," she said. "They came out of nowhere. They... appeared out of thin air. We fought without ceasing, but they were too many. We were overcome. The leader, their leader was a cruel woman, she spoke of the defeat of the might prince Thor, and she... she lamented your absence, wondering who would fill Odin's throne during the Odinsleep."

"What?" Thor asked. "Has my father fallen asleep at such an early hour?"

Sif swallowed and nodded. "Yes," she said. "He slept the evening you left, we do not know what evil caused him to fall. But that's not the end of it, Thor, she... the Witch-Ruler, she killed him as he slept."

Everyone was speechless, as the news sunk in. Thor looked suddenly frail, a look that didn't quite suit him, and he looked Sif into the eye. "...Once before, I heard such news," he said quietly. "I was tricked into believing the Allfather had died, and the thought tore at my heart until I cared not for life, nor glory. Please, tell me this of similar design?"

Sif shook her head. "I... I'm sorry, my prince," she whispered, a tear welling in one eye. "Tis true. I saw... I saw the fatal strike."

Thor stepped away and looked down, allowing himself a moment to grieve, before looking up again. "Tell me of the rest," he said. "The city is affected by a strange power, what is this sorcery? Is my brother the prince involved?"

Sif frowned in confusion. "That is a mystery," she said. "For they imprisoned me along with the other warriors who fought for Asgard. I know not of this green light, nor of your brother. I do not even know how I came to be here, Last I was aware, I was resting in the dungeons, before I found myself here."

Thor frowned. "Strange, as we had an experience of a similar nature," he said. "As we attempted to tesser into the throne room of my father's palace, we were suddenly transported into the Plains of Ida, and the tesseract was gone."

"Gone?" Sif asked in surprise. "But... how?"

"We don't really know," Bruce spoke up, coming forward. "But I think it's safe to assume that whoever did it was a friend, not an enemy."

"And how do you figure that?" Clint asked curiously.

"Simple," Tony interrupted before Bruce could continue. "If we had materialized in the Throne Room, we would have been caught off guard and ambushed by the aliens. Instead, we were dropped in the fields out of the city."

"Not to mention," Bruce said. "Whoever had the power to send us out of the city without the Tesseract also could have taken you from the dungeons and dropped you here, where you would run into us and tell us what was going on."

"You must be the Avengers, warriors of Midgard," Sif said. "I am glad to finally make your acquaintance after hearing so much of your triumphs in battle."

"Thanks," Tony said flippantly. "Give me a week, I can get you a signed 9x13 glossy and I'll throw in a free StarkPhone app... well, I suppose I could pull a few strings, get you a phone to go along with it, free of charge. Not one of the newest models, of course, but still."

"Stark, shut up," Natasha suggested.

Sif gave a wry. "No," she said. "It's good to hear something light after the trials of the past few days. But, I forget myself. It's not safe on the streets. We should find a place to lay low, so we can plan our next move carefully."

"Agreed," Thor said. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Sif looked around. "We are near the house of the good goatherd Raumr Halson," she said. "He is loyal to the crown and is brave of heart and spirit. He will give us his aid."

"Very well," Thor said. "Lead the way. We will start our plans immediately. We begin war on the morrow." Thor looked around the darkened streets tinted by the strange green light, and his eyes narrowed. "I swear by my father's spirit," he said solemnly. "I will reclaim this city."