Emptiness…

Nothingness…

A vast expanse of space, devoid of both light and darkness. Nothing to touch, taste, smell, hear, or feel. A complete separation of self from what experiences and sensations made life.

Floating along in this nothingness, she tried to remember. She knew she had been someone at some point. Friends, family, and loved ones. She was sure of it! She just couldn't remember who… or what, or when, or why, or even how she ended up wherever here was. She could feel herself, kind of. She was there, but not, a feeling of self starting to pour in, giving her a vague outline in her mind of who she might be eventually.

Then she felt a tug on her core, the empty space and nothingness surrounding her seemed to shift and warp, reality stretching and bending and twisting and begging for the unstoppable force from carrying out its will on the universe. It was agony, absolute torture, she was burning, fire, heat, a boiling ball of superheated plasma and fusion thundering through her being. Every inch of her essence was screaming with the feeling of the superheated force ripping through her, her being seeming ready to burst from the pressure and heat and-

And then she wasn't. Had it even happened? She felt fine and empty once more, feeling like herself again – or as much as she could in this emptiness. Maybe a little cold all things considered. Like a feeling of cold in her paws. The cold slowly creeping up her body, the numbness growing more violent, her form tingling and shuddering and freezing and cracking and shattering with every moment, the nothingness surrounding her seeming to fill her, if such a thing were possible, violently muting her existence and sensations of self. She was hollow, empty, opposite from when that force was pressing outward on her insides, now she was collapsing in on herself, the freezing temperatures condensing into an infinitely small point-

But she wasn't. She was fine. Had anything even happened to her? She wasn't hurting or burning or freezing or empty. She simply was.

She was content.

She was comfortable even, warm, a cascade of sunlight streaming down and bathing her in a blanket of tangible heat, letting her feel content. She let out a yawn, shifting to the side, the grass lightly tickling her fur as she adjusted herself, giving a slight stretch, before settling in and getting comfy again. This was better, much more relaxing than the nothingness of moments prior. She could feel her mind drifting off again, a content sigh escaping as she slipped into the clutches of sleep, listening to the sounds of the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze.

She dreamed she was running through an open field. It was familiar, comforting in a way, with high cliffs and mountains nearby, a soft breeze rustling through her fur. She could smell seawater not far from her location and gave an excited little yip as she bounded through the field, weaving in between horses, birds, and rabbits that littered the field. She leapt over the river with a single push of her powerful form, clearing the water with plenty of room to spare.

She raced toward the tiered cliff walls, ignoring the pathway leading up the tall rocks and instead opted for leaping at the flat wall, her form soaring high into the air before she tensed up and launched herself upward again, the air forming a solid barrier under her paws briefly. She hurled herself up and toward the cliff face, all four paws clinging to it before leaping up off the surface again, shooting upward. She had her front paws out, reaching for the lip of the cliff, just shy of grabbing hold, mere moments from plummeting back toward the ground.

Then with a flex of her will, the universe paused and shifted, and the air lurched forward. A powerful breeze erupted behind and underneath her, sending her forward just far enough for her to land at the edge of the cliff on all fours. She gave an excited bark as she jolted forward once more, quickly cresting a small hill and standing at the top, gazing out at the beach and open ocean before her, happily breathing in the scent of the sea and enjoying the breeze rustling through her fur.

"Ammy! What's gotten into you, ya big furball?" The familiar voice laughed.

Her heart lurched to a stop for a moment and she froze, every muscle locking in place. She rolled her eyes upward to the bridge of her muzzle, locking onto the tiny individual balancing on her snoot. She gave a happy whine and lowered her head down to the grass, and brushed the Poncle off her nose with a paw.

"Hey, what's the big idea— ack!" Issun, the ever-faithful Poncle companion of the great Amaterasu, was very quickly silenced and muffled by a big wolf tongue slapping his face with an excited series of licks and nuzzles, the large wolf being gentle with her tiny companion and yet still throwing him around a little. "What are you- bleh! Just because I called you 'No-Bath-Ammy' doesn't mean you need to give me one!"

She had missed him! Surely he would understand and accept a light assault of wolf love in return! She eventually let up though, letting Issun get to his feet and wipe himself off, before leaping back up onto her shoulders and settle into her fur. She gave a happy yip, her tail wagging at full speed as she turned her attention away from the small friend she had missed for so long and turned toward the ocean once more.

The ocean was missing. When had they arrived at the city? She glanced around at the short one and two-level houses, and trotted a few feet to her left, descending the stairs toward the lazy river that coursed through the city. She looked up at the buildings on the other side of the shore, finding them oddly empty, the normal lively sounds of the city replaced by a chilling silence. Her fur raised slightly, and she glanced around, before looking down at the water's surface.

Her reflection was distorted, broken, barely there. She was blurry… if that was her at all. The shape was too vague and looked too distant, the clear water reflecting her as if it had been disgustingly muddy and contaminated. The world rippled as an earthquake shook her on her paws, sending her careening to the side and into the water, giving a startled yelp as she slipped below the surface.

She held her breath and tried to orient herself in the suddenly turbulent water, finding herself being pushed this way and that, the powerful currents trying to drag her deeper, and then releasing their grip, allowing her to make progress toward the sunbeams piercing the water's surface. She kicked and struggled, fighting through the molasses-like fluid, gritting her teeth and straining her muscles to break the tension at the top of the ocean.

The surface broke with a powerful snap, letting her take a deep breath of fresh ocean air. She paddled forward and found that the infinite abyss below her had turned into shallow waters at the edge of the beach. Her paws found traction as she struggled forward, body drained of energy from the struggle and the fight against the forces of nature. She flopped herself down onto the beach and huffed, rolling her eyes up a little and giving an inquisitive whine, checking to see if her little Poncle friend was okay.

"Yeah yeah, I'm fine. What was that, Ammy? You had me worried for a second," Issun spoke like he hadn't experienced that sudden shifting of reality at all, his words and tone no different than if they had just been taking a stroll down the beach. For all she knew, they might have been. What was happening to her?

"You going to be okay?" the Poncle spoke again, hopping down to land on the bridge of her nose and looking into her eyes closely.

Her eyes slipped closed for a moment and she let out a powerful yawn, grumbling to herself as she curled up a little, wrapping her tail around her body and getting comfortable on the sand. She could feel the movements of Issun on her snout, and cracked an eyelid for a moment, before closing them again with a soft huff, lightly annoyed at having her nap interrupted.

"C'mon Ammy, ya gotta wake up, we've still got a world to save."

"Ammy? Cmon wolf-butt, wake up!"

"Wake up! We can't keep everyone waiting."

"Wake up!"

Her eyes shot open and she leapt to her feet, fur bristling as she crouched low to the ground, claws digging into the grass and soil below her. She took in her surroundings in an instant. The greenish grass below her, the tall spaced-out trees lining the clearing, and the paved pathway running right through it all, leading off into the trees in either direction. She looked down, her paws just inside of a beautiful ring of pink, yellow, and blue flowers, tall blades of grass lining it all like some sort of natural barrier. She shifted her gaze around the clearing, nothing in sight, and so turned her attention to the sky.

Tall square-shaped and reflective buildings clawed their way into the sky, shattering the natural beauty of the world around her with a staggering difference of industrialism and unnatural structures. She paused and flicked her ears, taking everything in with her other senses.

The wind felt… wrong. The air felt thick, heavy like something had just muffled all life and left the world in a stale emptiness. It smelled wrong too, the nature surrounding her tinged with scents of humans, but the larger smell of stone and metal and smoke and blood wafted in from all around, setting her on edge all over again. She listened closely, the echoing of a roar and screams fading away as the sound bounced off the buildings and trees. Alarms were blaring still, and the sounds of large masses of stone crumbling and shifting echoed hauntingly through the silent city surrounding the park she found herself in.

An explosion rocked the sky above the clearing, drawing her attention toward a metallic object billowing smoke and flames careening toward the ground and directly toward her. The wolf launched herself backwards with a graceful flip, landing on all fours and ducking her head down, shielding her eyes from the plume of dirt and dust exploding from the impact crater and raining around her.

Buried halfway inside the smoking crater lay an alien shape, a weird and metallic object with a hole in its side. It was some form of transport, but not one that she had seen before. It reminded her somewhat of the great stone ship she had flown on, ages ago. In another life.

Where was she? Why was she here? What was going on?

She stood there, mind reeling, before another explosion in the distance broke her of her thoughts. She could worry about that later, people needed help! She took a breath and then leapt forward, racing her way toward the last loud noise she heard and-

A sharp, searing pain lanced down her side, sending the large wolf sprawling to the ground, rolling through the grass and letting out a yelp of pain. She staggered to her paws, whipping herself around and growling as she looked at the alien form standing at the edge of the crater the smoking vehicle lay in, looking down at the weapon in its hand and shaking it, trying to make it function again.

Letting out a fierce growl, she crouched and launched herself forward, paws digging into the earth as she rocketed forward, watching the tall, bulky creature shift something on the weapon back into place, looking back up and raising the weaponry toward the large lupine once again. The creature was far too late though, the large 200 pound mass of furious wolf crashed into it and launched it backward.

Sharp teeth and powerful jaws clamped down around the neck of the aggressive alien creature and with a powerful crunch, the alien was no more, its body being flung off to the side with a whip of the wolf's head. She landed with a huff, straightening herself out and giving a derisive snort, turning her attention away from the corpse and back toward the direction of the explosion.

She felt a pull unfamiliar to herself and glanced toward the city where it had come from. Smoke and fire and screams caught her attention. She shook herself out, limbs stretching and claws digging into the earth for a moment before she took off at full speed, kicking up leaves and dirt behind her.

The large wolf raced around trees, bolting across the pathway, leaping over benches and rocks in her way, moving at an impossible speed for a lupine of her size. Her fur rippled in the wind as she moved toward the sound of chaos as more explosions and screams caught her sensitive ears. She leaped from the bushes, leaves trailing behind her as her claws gripped the pavement. Another shrill scream caught her attention, and her eyes shifted, locking onto what looked like a group of people being backed into a wall, two of those alien-looking creatures advancing upon the group and aiming their weaponry at them.

She watched in horror as the weapons were raised and the triggers were being pulled, watching the ends of the weapons lighting up in what felt like slow motion. She pulled upon her divine powers, the world pausing for a moment as she felt a pull on her energy reserves. With a thought, she worked her powers to cut across the weaponry being aimed at the humans, her intent being to knock the aim askew.

She released her grip on the world and the space distorted and shifted, a force coming from nowhere and leaving just the same. The force hit the weaponry of the two aggressive aliens, sending their weapons pointing upward and off to the side at the last possible moment, redirecting the blasts to the concrete building.

The aliens staggered as the weapons were knocked from their hands, only given seconds to recover before the massive wolf launched herself at them. She wheeled herself around in mid-air, back paw connecting to the skull of the first alien, sending it across the pavement and rolling several feet with a cry. The large wolf then lunged forward, completing her mid-air turn and latched her jaws around the shoulder of the second creature. With her feet planted on the ground, she twisted her body and leapt, rolling in mid-air and slamming the aggressive creature to the ground, immediately killing it as its spine shattered. Without waiting, she lunged for the alien still getting to its feet and pinned it to the ground, a sharp squeeze of her jaws ending its life swiftly.

She huffed softly and composed herself, casting her gaze from the two downed aliens and, seeing that they were unmoving, shifted her attention toward the family of four watching her closely. The father and mother had their hands on their children, shielding them with their bodies, while the kids watched her in what looked like fear and awe.

The four humans and the wolf gazed at each other before she sat down and gave a happy little "arf", wagging her tail as she watched the four. The parents blinked, looked at each other, and then shifted just a little further back, edging themselves toward a door at the side of the building. They had to keep a tighter grip on the two children who suddenly very much wanted to "see the doggy!"

The father, keeping his gaze on the large "dog", blindly reached backward and after a few moments of flailing, grabbed the handle and opened the door, ushering his children into the building behind him. His wife glanced at her husband, then back at the large canine sitting and watching the four with happy golden eyes, and leaned in to whisper into his ear.

"Did… did that dog just do martial arts?" She asked quietly, even as they slowly closed the door, still watching the white dog closely and slowly disappearing into the building.

The large white wolf only gave a single happy "bork" in reply. Before the door fully closed, she heard the husband reply with a sharp snort, laughing a little.

"I think that's the most normal thing we've seen today." Then the four were gone, hiding in the building and hopefully safe from stray shots from the invading aliens.

Feeling slightly better and knowing she helped, the large wolf got to her paws and shook out her fur to clean it of the alien blood and dirt that made its way onto her. She turned, claws digging into the pavement as she shot off once more.

She raced down the street and gained speed only to skid to a stop and trip over her own paws, winding up sprawled out on her front, paws flailed out and body frozen for a moment as she looked up, gazing into the massive swirling blue and black portal in the sky.

She blanched at the sight of hundreds of aliens racing through the air, being shot down by flying metal men, arrows, and a large green man slamming through them. Lightning struck down somewhere nearby and set her fur on end, poofing up a little from the residual electricity, before locking her eyes on what looked like a man being dragged through the air on a hammer.

The massive buildings and unfamiliar landscape just added to the impossible situation she found herself in. She gave a huff and untangled herself from her pretzel of limbs and tail, shaking out the poofed-up fur, and starting her swift lope into the middle of all the chaos.

Just what in the world has she gotten herself into?

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Steve Rogers was not having a good day. Or a good week. Hell, the month had been kind of shitty- sorry, unpleasant. He had just weeks earlier been woken up after what seemed like a brief sleep, only to find out he had been asleep and frozen in ice for over 60 years.

That realization had left him sprawling, left in an alien world far too advanced and evolved to what he had left behind. All his friends were old, or dead, and he had missed his whole life. He didn't regret what he had done, but he really wished he had been able to at least dance with Peggy one final time before he had gone.

It hadn't even been a few weeks before all this happened. Flying boats, super spies, a narcissistic billionaire in a metal suit, some big green monster with anger management problems coming from a levelheaded scientist, and "gods" falling from the sky. The alien invasion just topped it all off if he was being honest. He just accepted the situation and carried on like any good soldier would do, because sitting down to try and make sense of it all absolutely was not going to happen at this rate. Honestly, it could start raining cats and dogs and he severely doubted he would even be phased.

Of course, at that moment, just as he heard one of those aliens charging up behind him and he winded back his arm to throw his shield to brain the creature…. A massive dog fell from the sky.

The pure white canine fell on top of the alien, crushing it into the pavement and killing it instantly. Steve Rogers paused, blinking, mind reeling. He hesitantly looked up, lifting his shield a little in preparation for some kind of feline to crash down on top of him.

"Woof!" The large dog barked.

He looked back down at the white canine, finding it sitting down within arm's reach of himself. He blinked, watching for a moment, eyes following the swishing tail of the large beast, trailing up its rather massive form, up to its dopey open-mouthed grin, panting happily as it watched him with bright golden eyes.

"Uhm… Thanks," Captain America was stunned, blinked, and then added for good measure, "Good dog."

A happy little "wuff" escaped the canine as it got to its feet, wagging as it approached the patriotic hero. It gave a happy little whine of excitement as it pressed its shoulder and neck up against his side, pushing the man slightly. Steve dropped his free hand down to rest on the canine's head and rubbed between its ears, the white dog giving a happy little growl and leaning into his touch. The wagging of the dog's tail only grew faster, if such a thing were possible, kicking up dust from the ground with the force of the wagging.

Before Steve could rationalize the situation further, another explosion sounded off near them, catching both of their attention. The dog backed away from the Star-Spangled Man and shifted a little closer to one of the walls of the buildings on their street. Captain America crouched and lifted his shield, pulling out his handgun once again. He aimed at the alien on the flying vehicle racing toward their position, who was firing down the street with the powerful blasts, shattering portions of the street.

Steve prepared to fire at the incoming Chitauri, only to have his actions interrupted by a blur of white as the massive canine raced passed him. He was about to call out to the dog in hopes of getting it to move out of the way, only to watch with stunned silence and an open mouth as the dog leaped off the ground, planting all four paws on the side of a building, and then pushed off, launching itself through the air toward the incoming warrior.

Captain America watched, completely useless as the dog rotated in midair, twisting itself around, one leg dropping while the other lifted up mid-twist, and catching the alien on the flying vehicle square in the chin with a roundhouse kick that would look at home in a martial arts tournament. The alien impacted fell off the vehicle with an indignant cry, hitting the pavement in front of Steve with a wet splat.

He didn't even pay it any attention as he whipped around, watching the speeding vehicle race away, the dog looking down at him and giving a happy little "bork!" before the white canine turned around, placed its front paws on the handles of the vehicle, and rode off into the sky.

Captain America slowly raised a hand to his ear, pressing on the earpiece to activate his comms with the rest of his team.

"Hey, Thor? You wouldn't happen to have a big white dog from Asgard, would you? Maybe a wolf mix? Very friendly, gold eyes, and can roundhouse kick targets off a moving object?"

A silence followed his question. He would have felt silly for asking if he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes. Eventually, after several moments Thor spoke up.

"Nay, we do not have these 'dogs' as I have seen here on Midgard. There once was a wolf that stood taller than three men, and I've encountered hellhounds that breathe fire. Neither are friendly," Thor answered. He shot overhead and crashed through a group of aliens with his hammer, sending their remains falling to the street below.

"You good, Rogers? Hit your head a little too hard?" Tony chuckled over the comms.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm good," Steve replied, rolling his shoulders as he jogged toward his next fight, gripping his shield firmly as he weaved through debris. His mind was racing as he thought about his recent encounter, and also about the ongoing battle. He raised his hand to his head again and activated his comms. "If you do see that dog I talked about, it's friendly. To us. Not the Chitauri. Just… let it do its thing." Steve huffed as he rounded a corner, glancing up at the sky and catching the echoing sounds of bark from the chaos above.

"…what the shit."