There were three rides at the top of the chairlift; Teamboat Springs, the ride the Avengers all planned to ride, Slush Gusher, and Summit Plummet, a twelve storey water slide and the icon of the water park.

'The ride is for groups of six, so we need to divide ourselves,' Natasha said.

'Yes. Okay,' Maria said. 'Um… you, Clint, Sam, Bucky, and Steve can go in one. I'll go in the second with Thor, Tony, and Bruce.'

'Good with me,' Natasha said. She nudged Clint and the first group went on ahead.

Maria turned to Tony. 'You complain about this and I will not let you go in the lazy river.'

'Yeah, okay.' Tony loved the lazy river and wasn't keen to lose privileges.

'I mean it, Tony. I'm being completely serious. I will personally escort you back to your hotel room and you will stay there the rest of the day.'

Tony exhaled sharply through his clenched jaw, but said nothing, giving no indication that he would do anything either way.

'Alright. Let's go.' Maria led her group through the line.

'The floor is burning my feet,' Thor complained.

'We'll get you some flip flops when we've gone on the water slide,' Maria said.

'Flip flops?' Thor looked down at his toes.

'They're a kind of open toe shoe with a strap that goes between the big toe and the other toes,' Bruce explained. 'They're awkward to wear, but they'll protect the soles of your feet.'

Thor nodded. 'I suppose that is a good thing. Because my feet really burn.' He paused. 'I think they may already be blistered.'

Maria turned around. She frowned and looked at Thor. 'Let me see.'

Thor nodded and lifted his foot up so Maria could see.

'Oh my god!' Maria exclaimed.

Bruce shook his head as he went to look. 'It can't be that… oh no. It is that bad.'

Tony got curious and looked. 'Yikes. How long does it take you to heal from injury, Thor?'

'Is it truly as bad as you claim -' Thor began. He stopped when he saw the state of his foot. On his heels the side, the ball of his foot and his toes, was all sore, blistered, and very, very red. 'Odin's beard!' he exclaimed.

'Thor, how long will it take you to heal?' Maria asked.

'Um… I cannot say,' Thor said. 'Perhaps a day or so…'

'You're gonna be super uncomfortable until then,' Tony said.

'We'll definitely get you those flip flops,' Maria said. 'Alright. Let's just… get in the raft. And we'll head straight to the Beach Haus.'

At the bottom of the ride, Natasha, Clint, Steve, Bucky, and Sam had already gathered and were waiting for everyone else.

'What do you think's keeping the others?' Steve asked.

'Maybe Tony's refusing to go,' Natasha suggested.

'Or maybe Thor's too scared,' Sam shrugged. 'He's an alien god. I doubt he's ever seen a water slide up close before.'

Steve nodded. 'Yeah. That's… makes sense. But he's not a god.'

'He's a god, not the God,' Natasha said.

'Does it matter?' Bucky asked.

Clint signed furiously at Natasha in his anger at being left out of the conversation.

Natasha nodded and signed back to Clint what was happening - what they thought was holding up everyone else.

Just that moment, the next raft came down the ride. And it was carrying Maria, Tony, Bruce, and Thor.

'Oh, there they are,' Bucky said, pointing at them trying to get out of the raft.

Natasha looked at the group in near embarrassment. 'Jeez. Look at Thor.'

'Is he scared to get out of the raft?' Sam asked. 'Oh no. He is. The alien god who's gone up against aliens and sentient robots and more aliens is scared to get out of a raft ride?'

'I don't think I can watch,' Steve said. 'But I have to.'

'Me too,' Bucky said.

Clint said nothing. He just looked on at Thor having to be helped out of the inflatable raft by Bruce, Maria, and a Disney Cast Member.

'Can we kick him off the Avengers?' Natasha muttered to Steve.

Steve didn't respond.

Maria, Tony, Bruce, and Thor approached everyone else.

'We're going to the Beach Haus,' Maria said.

'Shopping? In these?' Natasha asked, referring to her swimming costume.

'Thor needs flip flops,' Maria said. 'Badly.'

'Oh great,' Sam muttered.

'His feet are burned,' Bruce said.

'So are mine,' Sam said. 'Standing here waiting for you guys and it's hardly shaded.'

'Shit. Okay,' Maria nodded. 'Fine. Flip flops for everyone.'

As they started walking over to the Beach Haus, Thor began complaining.

'My feet hurt.'

'Of course they do, they're burned,' Maria said.

'I do not like the pain.'

'Nobody likes pain.'

Thor looked down at his feet as he walked. 'How far until the shop, Lady Maria?'

'I don't know, Thor,' Maria said. 'Not far, I guess.'

Thor groaned.

Clint tapped on Natasha's shoulder. I'm hungry, he signed.

'Maria, Clint's hungry,' Natasha said.

'Sure. We'll get flip flops and go get something to eat from Lottawatta Lodge,' Maria said.

Natasha translated it back to Clint, who nodded in acknowledgement.

I want a burger,' Clint signed.

Not a pizza? Natasha signed.

Clint chuckled. He did like pizza, he couldn't lie. Maybe I'll get the pizza.

They kept walking.

'How long now?' Thor asked.

'I… think we're on the other side of the park -' Maria began.

The Avengers all complain, voices overlapping each other.

'Hey!' Maria shouted. 'Shut up!'

Everyone looked at Maria. Some more sheepishly than others.

'Okay. No complaining. Just… shut up. Please. Or no lazy river.'

'Not fair!' Tony complained.

Maria glared at Tony.

Tony just nodded. 'Okay.' He sighed.

They kept walking in silence; half, maybe more, looking longingly at the lazy river. Especially before they pass by Frostbite Freddy's, that sold frozen beverages.

'How long now?' Thor asked.

'Not long, I hope,' Sam said.

'Yeah. Me too,' Tony said. 'I hate dancing around on this hot ground getting sidewalk burns.'

'Same.' Bruce was walking on his tiptoes, trying desperately to avoid stepping fully on the floor and for too long.

'Look!' Natasha pointed to to the Beach Haus.

The Avengers all hopefully looked towards the shop and ran over to grab a pair of flip flops to try and soothe their severely burning feet.

'Oh my god, flip flops!' Sam grabbed a pair of flip flops.

'These are flip flops?' Thor asked. 'Yes, we have these in Asgard, only we call them "thongs".'

'Oh boy. No. Don't call them that here,' Sam said. 'A thong is… something else.'

'It is?' Thor asked. He picked up a pair of flip flops and looked at them. 'What is it?'

'Yeah, it's best you don't ask,' Natasha said, clapping Thor on the shoulder. She went to look for woman's flip flops.

'But… what are -' Thor began.

'A thong is a kind of women's underwear, buddy,' Tony said.

'Underwear…?' Thor looks down. 'Oh. Oh.'

'God I'm so happy I don't have to walk on that hot ground,' Bruce said.

Everyone grabbed a pair of flip flops. Nobody cared about the pattern. They just wanted something to stop them from having to walking on the burning hot ground. Anything that would save what was left of their burning, blistered, red feet… well, that was an absolute plus.

'Thirty dollars each?' Maria asked in shock, looking at the price tag. 'Holy hell. Are they made of gold or something?'

'No, they're just branded,' Natasha said. 'There's no generic brands here, Maria, this is Disney. You have to pay the Disney tax.'

'Two hundred and seventy bucks is a hell of a tax,' Maria said. She shook her head, but put all the pairs of flip flops down on the counter. 'Absolute rip off.'

'Yeah, they're… it's…' Bruce sighed.

'They're making us pay more because they know we need it,' Bucky said.

'And that's not fair,' Steve said. 'There's nothing fair about Disney World' prices -'

'Okay, Cap, get off your soapbox,' Maria said.

Clint tapped Natasha's shoulder asking for a translation.

They're complaining about the high prices, Natasha signed.

'Prices here are obscene!' Clint blurted out.

Everyone looked at Clint.

Clint chuckled awkwardly. I'm hard of hearing, he signed. I can't hear without my hearing aids. 'But just because I can't hear very well, doesn't mean I can't speak. I just choose not to.'

'Yeah, okay.' Sam nodded. 'We know.'

Clint shrugged and went to look at some trinkets near the counter.

Maria, very reluctantly, paid for the flip flops. Nine pairs. At three hundred dollars. She clenched her jaw and forced a smile at the Cast Member who was clearly smiling back falsely back at her.

Then, she distributed the flip flops to the rest of the group. She tapped on Clint's shoulder and handed him his chosen flip flops.

'Alright. Let's go get some food,' Maria said. 'I don't care anymore. These prices are insane. And completely demoralising. I hate it so much here.'