Flying down the rainbow path, Danny made his way to the castle – veering off to the right when the entrance came into view. He'd learnt multiple times from the Ghost Zone that it was best not to be seen; some ghosts were very territorial.

Hovering just below the lair's large bay windows, Danny looked around – searching for a way in without catching anyone's attention.

Spying a hanging balcony a few windows along he sped towards it, perching himself on the ledge to peer into the dark room, his back tense in anticipation. Not hearing any movement, Danny slowly lifted a hand, encasing it in a green ecto-glow. Gold ornaments glinted prettily in the eerie light as large wood-carved statues of Vikings and mythical beasts stood by a set of embellished doors. Deep shadows fell across their features menacing.

Lowering himself down off the ledge, the halfa slid forward into the room, glowing arm held in front. Sticking to the walls he crept further and further into the room, wary of the looming statues that glared down at him from their towering height.

Reaching the doors, Danny gently pushed them open, peeking around the edge of the doorway to find a deep descending staircase. Scanning the area, he glided down the steps to where another set of doors stood. Unlike the grand doors he had just passed through, these were a plain iron grey, the surrounding walls austere and plain. Whatever was on the other side was meant to be kept hidden.

Curiosity overran him. Extinguishing his glowing hand, he gently pulled one of the handles, dragging the door open. Danny's eyes widened slightly as he found himself at an entrance of a narrow lit corridor, niches littered either side, hiding strange valuable-looking objects that glinted at him in the dim light.

At the end of the walkway stood a podium with a blue-white cube seated on top. Danny bit his lip at the sight of it; it radiated an immense power that was pulling on his heartstrings, urging him forward. And before he even realised what he'd done, Danny was staring down at the cube, hands quivering in excitement as the cube sent a whispered promise of authority and respect, if only he'd reach out for it.

Splaying his hand cautiously, Danny curled his fingers around the edges of the cube. It was warm in his palm as energy coursed through him like electricity, beating in rhythm with his heartbeat. The cube hadn't lied, Danny felt invigorated. Capable. Strong.

"Draugur!"

Whipping his head around, Danny found an odd man in old-fashioned armour standing opposite him, brandishing a spear, fear evident on his face.

"W-we do not want any t-trouble, Draugur! S-step away from the Tesseract! G-go back to M-m-mistress Hel!" the man jabbed at the air with the spear, his voice quavering.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "Uh, okay then... Hey, do you know where I can find a guy called Tony Stark? Dark hair, big glowing thing sticking out of his chest, really annoying?"

"S-step away from the Tesseract, D-draugur! I-I-I am willing to fight to d-defend it!"

Danny lifted his hands in submission, his right still clutching the blue cube that hummed happily in his grasp, "Okay, seriously. I have no idea what you're talking about. Is this some kind of time-realm – like Dorothy's – except with Vikings instead of knights? Because I have to say, capes have never been my style," stepping forward to placate the man, Danny attempted a charming smile.

It didn't work. Reeling back in fright, wielding his spear with wild fervour, the Viking screamed, "We're under attack! Helheimans are after the Tesseract!"

Danny quickly side-stepped the nearly nonsensical man who had begun to erratically stab at the air, jumping out of reach before flying through the heavy grey doorway and back up the stairs. Barging through the decorative door, clutching the cube to his chest, Danny dove for the balcony ledge, catapulting himself off the edge.

Turning back to face the side of the castle, glancing through the windows, Danny saw more men dressed in armour running in distress towards the cube's room.

Ducking out of sight, Danny tried to catch his breath, "Okay, note to self, Vikings are not the best conversationalists."

/ / /

Thor had very rarely seen his father angry – disappointed, yes. Agitated, less so. But truly angry, Thor had only ever seen once. In that anger, Thor had been banished to Earth to suffer as a mortal due to his arrogance. Tony Stark, however, had just committed an act much worse. Tony had just disrespected and degraded the ruler of Asgard and peacekeeper of Yggdrasill in less than two minutes of his company.

Thor felt Jane curl up in his side at the sight of Odin's fierce glower. Wrapping an arm around her, Thor looked back at his two mortal companions. Steve appeared to be having an internal debate with no sides winning. Fear was evident in his stiff shoulders, yet the glares thrown in Tony's direction challenged Thor's father's own. Tony in defiance was simply staring at his watch and looking around the room, as if expecting something to happen.

Odin's voice rumbled throughout the throne room, "You dare belittle me, mortal creature of Middle Earth? Do you not know of my abilities and power? Bow down in respect or face the consequences."

Tony replied by clicking his tongue in a distracted manner, tapping at the glass screen of his watch.

A guard brandished a sword at Tony, pointing its tip at his neck, "The great Odin commands you to kneel!"

"I'd rather stand, thanks. I have something much scarier than a god after me and I don't want to be at a disadvantage. He should have gotten my note by now."

Odin reclined back in his throne, his knuckles white in anger as he gripped the arms, "Oh? And what would be more fearsome than I, the great Odin?" the deity gritted out.

Tony chuckled, "Hypocrisies."

A large bang echoed through the room as the entrance was shoved open. A team of guards stood panting.

Stepping further into the room they kneeled, before one cried out, "My lord, it has taken it! It has taken the Tesseract!"

Thor stood up, Jane quickly following suit, "What has? What has taken it? The Frost Giants?"

The guard shook his head at Thor. Taking a rattling breath, he replied, "No, my liege, a Draugur of Helheim!"

A heavy silence blanketed the hall. No one made a sound.

"Where is the Draugur now?" Thor growled.

The guard hesitated, "Well…" nudged forward by his teammate, the guard continued, "W-we appear to have lost it."

Thor felt a powerful presence by his side. In his peripheral vision he found his father standing next to him.

"You lost the Draugur?" Odin's voice was deep and menacing.

The guards ducked their heads, a new one calling out, "Only momentarily, you highness, it appears to be searching for something. We do not believe it has left Asgard yet."

Odin scowled, "Scour the land, capture the Draugur and return the Tesseract to its rightful place. I will join you in this hunt, as will my son, Thor." With a flick of his cape-tail, the deity left, the guards shadowing his footsteps.

"You were lucky," Thor heard Steve mutter to Tony in a disgruntled manner.

The Thunder God could almost hear the smirk in Tony's voice, "I wouldn't say that. I would say something more along the lines of manipulative."

Their voices drifted away as they walked further down the hall, following after Odin and his guards, red and silver suitcase in hand.

As the final guard left following Odin, Jane tilted her head up at Thor, "What's a Draugur?"

Thor looked long and hard into Jane's soft brown eyes, "They are one of the most fearsome and dark creatures of the nine worlds, residing in the lowest of the realms, Helheim. Their ruler, Hel, was a deity who was banished to reside with the Draugurs for eternity," Thor took a harsh breath, "On Earth I suppose you would call a Draugur the un-dead."

/ / /

Danny threaded his way through the low buildings of the city, desperate to catch a glimpse of Tony. Sadly, he had yet to find any trace of the kleptomaniac inventor.

Balancing himself on top of a roof near the castle, he scoured the streets. He was becoming worried. Despite the fact that the metal man had stolen his family's legacy and greatest achievement, Danny would not be able to bear the guilt if Tony or his friends had gotten hurt in their exploration of the Ghost Zone.

Dull noises came from the castle, sconces were set alight, casting long shadows against the rest of the city. Danny watched with interest through the large windows as Vikings hustled through the corridors, heavily armed with antique weaponry.

The voices were getting louder. Angry and frightened shouts of "Draugur" echoed through the city as a horn was sounded. Danny twisted his head as the city began to light up. The buildings appeared to burst into golden flames as each household glowed, spreading out across the horizon.

Ducking low into the shadows of the roof he crouched on, Danny tucked the blue cube closer to his chest, trying to hide its glow. He turned back to the castle to watch the battle preparations. It was going to be extremely difficult to find Tony and his friends now.

Pausing, Danny leaned out as far as he risked on the roof. Staring back through the windows of the castle, Danny saw two figures walking at a more casual pace. The taller of the two was blond and stood almost half a head over the second. The other had darker features visible by the blue-white glow emanating from its chest.

Danny grinned darkly. He'd found them.

/ / /

Thor swiftly strode through the halls, following after where his companions had left. Jane was hurrying alongside him, attempting to keep up with his longer gait under the strain of the heavier gravity.

The alarm had just sounded. The conch shell's song still reverberating through the empty night.

"We must hurry," Thor called over his shoulder, walking faster.

Turning a corner sharply, Thor spied Tony and Steve up ahead, arguing. The nearby planet's luminosity was streaming through the window and the glow from Tony's chest seemed eerie.

"–If you had hurried up, we wouldn't have lost them!" Steve cried, shaking his hands at the shorter man.

"What's it matter? Whatever's coming will go straight for what it's looking for anyway. I doubt it would want to fight a whole army." Tony placed his suitcase on the ground next to him.

"Which is exactly why we should be with the others! We wouldn't want to be caught off-guard by this Draugur thing!"

Tony waved him off, stating, "Don't worry, he's harmless."

"He? What do you mean he?" Steve narrowed his eyes.

Tony was about to reply when a glowing green energy beam burst through the ceiling-high glass window, missing Tony by less than a foot's distance. Shattered glass rained down on the three mortals and god as they instinctively raised their arms in protection, cries of shock and surprise penetrated the air.

Lowering his arms, Thor looked up. On the window's ledge stood a tall, humanoid creature, garbed in black with glowing green eyes. Thor shivered – they were Hel's colours.

Steve whispered, "That's what you call harmless?"

The Draugur stood motionless in the frame, analysing all the occupants in the room. Baring its teeth, it released a feral growl, "Tony!"

"Dan-Dan! Long time, no see! How's the family going?" Tony flicked loose glass off his shoulder before spreading his arms wide towards the Draugur.

The Draugur returned the salutations with an eerie glare.

"Give them back," it gritted out, jaw clenched.

Tony looked as if he was contemplating what the creature had said, before shaking his head, "No, I'd rather not just yet. Besides, I think you've taken something important from my fellow Asgardians. Don't you think you should return that first before demanding something yourself?" Tony nodded at the Tesseract held in the creature's hand, shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

Thor spoke up, "Return the Tesseract to its rightful owners, Draugur! It does not belong to your kind!" Grabbing Mjölnir off his belt, Thor held it proudly in front of himself.

The Draugur looked pained at the idea of releasing the cube, before feigning a shrug, "Whatever, Viking, I don't have time for this. Take your stupid Rubik's cube back – it doesn't do much anyway except make a good disco ball."

Tossing the Tesseract at Thor's feet, The Draugur turned its attention back to Tony Stark.

Thor frowned deeply in disgust, "You dare call me a simple Viking, Hel-spawn? I will teach you a lesson on how to treat a god!"

Advancing at a terrifying speed, Thor swung his hammer, aiming for the Draugur's head. He was surprised when it found nothing but air.

"Hey! Watch where you're hurling that thing! Didn't you know that the misuse of tools in an enclosed environment is one of the leading factors of on-site injury? Plus, I'm sure your mother would be mad if you got blood on the tiles."

Thor roared, swinging Mjölnir above his head before releasing it at the Draugur once again.

Ducking low, the creature held its palm out towards Thor, its entire hand becoming encased in a green aura. Before Thor could react, the beam glanced off his jaw, spinning him off balance onto his knees.

The Draugur didn't wait for Thor to stand as it attacked again. Darting forward, it pulled back a closed fist, sending it deep into the deity's stomach – who automatically keeled over – then raising its other to hit him in the cheek.

Falling on his back Thor looked up at the looming figure. Both of its hands were glowing, aimed at his torso.

The Draugur smirked, "I feel a little bit bad fighting like this, but I'll make it up to you next time I kick your butt."

The Draugur was suddenly pulled away from Thor's eyesight with a yelp. Sitting up, the Thunder God saw that Steve had stepped in to the fight, swinging a wild fist into the Draugur's throat.

Falling back, the Draugur gasped for breath, hiccupping slightly before kicking a foot out, tripping the ex-veteran who fell heavily to the floor.

Seeing his chance, Thor quickly stood and called out, "Mjölnir!"

The hammer flew from the other side of the room where it had lodged itself into a wall, the Draugur had to dodge slightly to stay out of its path, and was doubled over still struggling to breathe.

Spinning with the momentum of his catch, Thor twisted and jumped, raising the hammer above his head to smash it down into the Draugur's spine.

The hit slammed the creature down into the ground, the flooring cracked under the pressure.

The Draugur didn't move. Pressing harder into the creature's ribs with Mjölnir, Thor stood up, looking down at the creature's lax body.

Steve sat up, "You know, Tony, you're not much help in these types of situations."

Tony stood off to the side, staring in what seemed like horror at the fallen Draugur, before weakly joking, "Hey, come on! I was mentally cheering you guys on! You pretty much had it covered anyway!" Tony shrugged his shoulders, looking like he wanted to head towards the body.

"I don't think this collaboration project is going to work after all Tony," Jane commented, a frown creasing her face, "What did it want you to give back, by the way?"

"Nothing important," Tony smoothly replied.

"Well, whatever it was, it was obviously important to it." Steve hefted himself back up, walking up next to Thor to stare at the Draugur.

Thor slipped a boot under the Draugur's torso, about to flip it over onto its back, the arm holding his hammer raised.

"Don't hurt it!" Jane cried.

Thor and Steve gave her an odd look, "Why? It just tried to kill us."

"No it didn't! Didn't you listen to it? It said 'next time' it fought you. It never had any intention of killing you!"

Slanting a look at the unconscious Draugur, its face concealed by the crumbling floor, Thor carefully turned it face-up.

Only to stare right into the violent green eyes of the creature.

Raising both hands, palms out flat, the Draugur generated another energy blast, hitting both Steve and Thor in the chest, blasting them into a nearby pillar. Deep fractures ran up the length of the beam as the room shook. Twin groans of pain escaped the duo.

"Oops. Maybe not," Jane squeaked.

Flipping onto its feet, the Draugur tucked itself into a defensive pose, a glowing hand outstretched.

Trying once again, Thor flailed his arm holding Mjölnir, hurling it at the Draugur with a howl, "Come on!"

Flying wide, the hammer crashed through another pillar, clacking noisily as it fell to the ground.

Thor leant heavily on the wall to heave himself back up. The Draugur hadn't moved, watching the god closely.

Letting out a fierce battle cry, Thor charged headlong at the Draugur, calling back the hammer as he ran, which loyally zoomed back. Catching it in his grasp, Thor leant back to gain impetus and sent it crashing down towards the Draugur's head – only to be tossed away with a sizzling zap of a domed green barrier. Thor flew through the air not for the first time, tumbling over himself before rolling to a stop.

Lifting his head, Thor let out an animalistic roar. Swinging riotously, the deity attacked with an unknown ferocity, the Draugur hurriedly back-stepping to escape the dangerous blows, its eyes focused on the weapon. Thor began to pin-wheel Mjölnir in front of himself as the Draugur released green rays in its attempt to dodge the dangerous hammer. Walls and flooring began to crack and collapse as the fight intensified. Jane, Tony and Steve had long hidden themselves out of range behind a snapped pillar.

Thor was getting desperate; the longer the fight went on, the more likely Jane could be injured. Jumping back out of range, his mortal friends hidden behind him, Thor once again lifted his hammer above his head, feet firmly planted in the ground. Outside, the night sky darkened, clouds rolled in as thunder rumbled menacingly. With a cry designed for battle, Thor summoned a bolt of lightning, the electricity collided with Mjölnir, the hammer rattling with power. The hammer crashed down into the marble floor, obliterating it as a shockwave of debris headed for the Draugur, currents of lightning chasing its path.

The Hel-creature tried to evade the attack, encasing itself in another transparent shield, but the impact was too strong; lightning bounced off the shield in a wide arc, smashing into the surrounding walls and ceiling in a vicious light-show as the barrier creaked, a spider web of cracks ebbing its way across the surface before the lightning pierced through, slamming into the Draugur with a blinding white light. The Draugur fell to the floor with a cry of pain, leaving a crater in its wake as the room continued to tremble.

The storm clouds dissipated and Thor was left panting heavily with a grin. It was over. There was no way the Draugur could get up after a blow like that.

Turning on his heel, Thor hurried over to where Jae was tucked away. He watched Tony first crawl out from under the pillar, a smirk evident, "Nice job. If it was me, I would have done things a little less, well – for lack of a better word – flashy."

Jane's head popped out next as she leaned over and punched Tony.

"Ouch! What was that for?" The playboy grumbled,

smug grin, "Well that could have been worse."

Then the roof collapsed on top of them.

rubbed his sore arm.

Jane huffed, "That's for getting Thor to fight your battles for you! The Draugur was after you, wasn't it?"

"Hey, the hair model was the one that jumped into my fight, I just didn't bother stopping him! It was his choice! What do you think I brought this for?" Tony patted his suitcase fondly.

Steve leant out from under the shelter, hands hovering over his ribs cautiously, "You knew that thing was going to come here?" he ground out angrily.

Tony looked nonchalant, "Well, yeah. I told you all about him, didn't I?"

Thor raised an eyebrow, about to ask Tony who exactly he was, when he heard a hollow moan erupt deep from within the crater where the Draugur had fallen. Grasping the hilt of Mjölnir tightly, Thor took tentative steps towards the marble depression.

From behind him, Thor heard Tony follow, "I wouldn't do that," he warned, "The kid's bark is way worse than his bite."

"What riddles do you speak, metal man?" Thor grumbled, leaning over the lip of the hole.

The Draugur was half-conscious, eyes unfocused, taking in heaving breaths and making a high-pitched keening noise. Thor's ears rang as he hastily pulled his head back.

"Okay, seriously, I recommend you move right now," Tony tugged Thor by the back of his cape, dragging him behind some fallen debris and clapping his hands over his ears. Thor opened his mouth to question his companion when a loud, ear-splitting wail echoed through the room, like a thousand Valkyrie in mourning, the entire building shaking under the intense cry. It seeped into his bones, making him feel empty and cold, etching into the darkest corners of Thor's mind. Tony was hunched over, clutching at his head, looking as the god felt.

Tentatively lifting his head, Thor watched as portions of the floor and walls were blown back as the ceiling buckled precariously with a low rumble. Cracks began to run throughout the mosaic already weakened by lightning.

The wailing refused to let up as large portions of pillars rattled loose, smashing against the floor. Thor heard Jane shriek from under her shelter as the ceiling began to camber dangerously.

And with a last gurgle, the Draugur's howl died out.

Taking his hands off his ears, Tony turned to Thor with a look of surprise.

"Well that could have gone worse."

And then the ceiling caved in.