The menacing singular palace, the home of Hel, forbade all who are unworthy of speaking to the Goddess from stepping foot inside the ominous structure. Summoning his courage and desire to assist his Brother, Loki forced himself to continue onward, into the palace and to face Hel herself.

Inside Eljudnir the walls of the grand halls were tall and insurmountable. The gates creaked open, slowly but steadily as if the palace had been expecting company that was long overdue. The banisters of stone were just as high and the gates of the entry way were huge even in comparison to the extreme nature of the palace itself. Venturing further, deeper inside the palace Loki was greeted by Hel's servant and maid; Ganglot and Ganglati. Their unnaturally slow pace and delayed responses made their presence all that much more sinister.

Refusing to wait for Hel's servants to see to his request Loki walked down the halls of the palace to seek Hel for himself. Each hall was lined with men who were being eternally punished for their sins; they were riveted to the walls and floor with their hearts cut from their chest and left to dangle before their eyes. Ravens were attacking and clawing at their eyes while a fire continuously burned their bodies. Venom dripped down from the ceiling and walls scorching their damaged flesh to an unbearable pain. The tortured souls cried out endlessly in torment, begging for assistance and pathetically reaching out to any one person who happened to be nearest.

Loki had to close his eyes as he ventured down the halls. Their voices echoing in his mind, their state of being haunted his memory and would not soon be forgotten.

The dripping venom was becoming abundant, creating a stream for which all those who trekked the hall must wade through. Ignoring the pain that stemmed from the burning liquid as it dripped on his face or stung mercilessly at his hands Loki braved the toxic pools on foot. Controlling his pace as to not violently disturb the liquid he inched his way toward the central hall where he hoped Hel was waiting. The venom burned his legs and the potency irritated his eyes. Nearly blinded by the toxicity Loki stumbled out of the venom and onto the stone floor that sat at the edge of the pool.

He stood up on shaking legs and stared into the large circular room of black stone and fog. A throne of stone and bone jutted of the floor and towered over the room. Sitting upon the throne was the single form of a woman. An embodiment of life and death itself; Hel.

"Okay. How about now?" Bruce was attempting to adjust the sensitivity of the sensors that J.A.R.V.I.S. was using to track the bizarre storm. He slid out from underneath the large control panel that was mounted on the wall, small flecks of grease stained his face and glasses.

'No change. Sensory output and readings remain consistent.' The A.I. answered flatly.

"Damn." Bruce removed his glasses from his face and tried to wipe away the grease from the lenses with his shirt. "So, it's not a fluke."

'Apparently so, Sir.'

Standing up and brushing off his clothes Bruce walked over to the chair and sat down heavily. "We have a 'what', a 'where' and a 'when', but we don't have a 'why', a 'who' or a 'how'." His mind was racing as he attempted to analyze the situation. "Any theories J.A.R.V.I.S.?"

'Perhaps the energy restoration on Mjolnir is connected to Loki.'

"How?" With his glasses clean he returned them to his eyes.

'Unknown.'

"Nice theory."

'I am only a machine, Sir. Programmed by man.'

"Right, sorry." He felt foolish apologizing to a computer but J.A.R.V.I.S. seemed so human sometimes. "What would Tony do?"

'I would not recommend delving into coffee and musical hits from the 80's just yet, Sir.'

Tony appeared at the doorway to the workshop. "'Yet', being the key word." Half of a Pop-Tart was in his hand.

"Tony, do you have any idea what's going on?"

"An object not of this Earth is reacting to an energy source, also not of this Earth, after the disappearance of a man who is unsurprisingly, not of this Earth."

"So...?" Bruce impatiently awaited an answer.

"I have no idea what on Earth is going on."

"Fantastic."

"I don't know what's going on, but she might."

"She?"

"Agent Hill." Tony was looking through his unique phone with the remaining Pop-Tart between his teeth. "I texted her 10 minutes ago, she should be here any minute."

'Sir, Agent Maria Hill is requesting permission to enter the tower.'

"Correction: Any second. Let her in J."

'Right away, Sir.'

Tony sat on the edge of his desk and watched Bruce silently sitting in the chair. Unable to take the staring Bruce stood up abruptly. "What?"

"I heard you and Jane talking this morning. Something wrong with her, or the little 'beyla'?"

"No, no. False labor." He was relieved to know he wasn't the only one aware of Jane's condition. "I think she's just scared."

"I would be, too. Having the child of a God punching me in the gut for nine months seems more like a punishment than a blessing. Then again, I'm the hopeless romantic type."

"Yeah."

"Hello." Agent Hill was standing in the doorway, she only caught the last sentence of their odd conversation and they knew she overheard them by the odd look on her face. "Mr. Stark, Dr. Banner. How can I be of assistance."

Tony responded with a stern tone. "Tell us what S.H.I.E.L.D. is doing, right now."

"S.H.I.E.L.D.?" She was genuinely confused. "What makes you think-"

"Because S.H.I.E.L.D. is always involved and always will be. Now please answer my question."

"Tony, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded."

"M.I.A. or K.I.A.?" Tony threw back the irony of using anagrams and initials in secretive situation.

Hill crossed her arms and stared at him with amazement. "M.I.A."

"Liar."

"Excuse me?" Her offense was clear.

"You work for Fury, the man who has made a living out of lying. The man who can turn fact into fiction and vice versa. I'm not going to just take your word for it."

"Then why-"

"After Coulson was taken down I knew you were promoted to Fury's right hand. Now you're working at Stark Industries. You're either a plant or on one of the worst undercover assignments in history. I'll ask again, what's S.H.I.E.L.D. doing?"

Sighing in defeat Hill looked Tony right in the eyes and answer. "Regrouping."

"Regrouping?" Tony looked at Bruce to see if he believed the answer either, he did not. "Why?"

"I'm not authorized to say. However I can assure you that S.H.I.E.L.D. is now under new management and is struggling to regain control."

Bruce didn't like her answer for a new reason. "New management? What happened to Fury?"

She blinked a few times and looked down at the floor. "M.I.A."

'Sir, the storm is increasing in size and activity.' J.A.R.V.I.S. intervened.

"Put it up on the screen." Tony immediately focused on the situation at hand. "What the hell?"

Bruce and Hill stood behind Tony and looked at the screen over his shoulder. Hill couldn't believe what she was seeing. "How is it possible for a storm of such magnitude to focus itself on such a finite area?"

Answering for Tony, Bruce's response was full. "We don't know yet, Agent Hill."

"Maria."

"Pardon?"

"Just call me Maria. I'm not an agent anymore, remember?"

'Strong electrical activity matches the signature readings associated with Asgard.'

"Asgard?" Maria was getting upset. "What have you guys been doing all this time?"

Tony looked at her sheepishly over his shoulder. "I'm not authorized to say. Besides, it's complicated."

...to be continued...

Author's Note: Using references from Norse Mythology, which is why the details of Helheim are so intense.