3

Meet the Team

Kratos sat by Tammy's body for a while before Natasha Romanova, the Black Widow, walked up to him.

"Uh...Kratos? Is that your name?" She asked.

"Speak." He replied.

"Fury is here. Follow me to the landing pad"

Kratos sighed. He removed his head from his hands and stood up.

The engine roared as the helicopter touched the landing pad of the tower. Out stepped Fury, black trench coat flowing under the wind of the chopper. Black Widow was ready to greet him.

"Good day, Miss Widow!" Fury shouted over the sound of the helicopter.

Widow escorted Nick off the platform into the office. He chuckled at the craters where Loki was repeatedly smashed into the ground.

"Who knew Bruce knew so much about interior decorating." Fury joked. "Remind me to take that out of his paycheck."

"He doesn't get paid." Natasha Replied.

"Well, at least Stark's got something to do in his spare time. Now, where's my new recruit?"

Kratos stood in the main office, arms crossed, snarl hidden under his beard. Fury approached and pointed his open hand towards two chairs and a desk that were still intact. Kratos sat, arms still crossed. Fury followed suit, leaned back in his chair and placed his leg on top of the other.

"So you've reconsidered." Fury noticed.

"I had."

"...You HAD."

"I had promised my service to you and your 'Avengers' had your followers saved Tamara. They could not. The deal was broken.."

"I see."

Fury leaned forward in his chair.

"It appears you now have two options." Fury said. "You can either waste your life away, slowly decaying in some sad, little apartment, moping over the death of your friend, or...you can avenge her death. It's your choice."

Kratos silently weighed his options. If he became an Avenger, what would that bring? Would he redeem himself in his own eyes for so much wrongdoing? In the heat of war, would he return to his monstrous habits? Would the Asgardians or the Olympians discover him? He couldn't take on all of them, should they find him. Then again, forever is a long time to keep running. Tamara's face. He couldn't let her death go to waste.

"I...will join your cause." Said Kratos after a time.

"See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Said Fury, raising out of his chair.

"What now?"

"What now? To be honest, the amount of paperwork I'm about to receive after this whole 'alien invasion' thing, I don't care much really what you do for the next little while, as long as when I call on you, you're there. I know your history. Don't make me regret this. Natasha, I have an appointment with command. Please ensure our guest gets settled in."

With that, Fury spun around and walked back to his chopper. The blades above spun up, and within moments, was out of sight. Natasha tried desperately to find something to talk about with this uncomfortably silent man sitting in the chair next to her.

"So uh...you're a god too, huh?" Widow asked.

"Too?"

"Yeah, we have one of your kind on the team. You too seem like you would get along, both men of few words, buff, kinda stern…"

"Who is this other god?!" Kratos' voice raised in concern as he stood up from the chair.

The door to the office opened to a group of very strange people. a man in a suit of armor, another man who appeared to have ripped all his clothing, a man with a shield, a man with a bow, and another man in Asgardian armor. Kratos and the Asgardian met eyes.

"What is that Asgardian doing here?!" Kratos asked sternly.

"Wait, I know you. What in the 9 realms is the God Slayer doing here?!" The Asgardian roared back. The hand with the hammer tightened its grip.

"Hey! Ho! Natasha, what's going on here?" Bruce asked, raising his hands.

"Guys...meet Kratos, our newest recruit, I guess. Kratos, meet guys." The widow said, a tension in her voice.

"Jarvis, I told you to let me know when I had company," Tony said, trying to move in between the two angry gods.

"Sorry sir, but when he arrived, you were lying on the ground unconscious after falling from an alien wormhole. I calculated you had bigger problems." The voice from the computer replied.

"This seems like a pretty big problem, Jarvis. Guys, you two have some history? Huh?" Tony asked nervously.

"History?! That man is a murderer!" Thor yelled as he pointed Mjolnir at Kratos.

"That man and his ilk cannot be trusted! The Asgardians are conquerors and murderers!" Kratos retorted.

"That man killed my kind"

"They killed my wife!"

"He destroyed Olympus!"

"THEY STOLE MY SON!"

There was a silence as the echoes of the exchange reverberated against the empty room.

"You have no place in this realm, or in any realm." Thor finally said after a time.

"You have no place lecturing me, boy."

"Then perhaps words are of no use here."

"You do not want this, Asgardian. Enough blood has been spilled today"

"Perhaps I do want this. I've killed plenty of foul beasts today. Why would I tarry in dispatching one more?"

"I have fought more battles than you have killed monsters, boy. You bring this upon yourself."

"STOP CALLING ME BOY!"

Tony barely dodged out of the way as Thor flew headlong into Kratos. The impact sent both flying through the wall out into the air over the city. Tony looked at his now broken wall, then to Widow.

"I'm not paying for that," Tony said. "Ok boys and girls, work's not over yet. Hawkeye, Widow, Cap, consolidate with police, make sure nobody gets in their way. Banner, does big angry Grinch have any more juice?"

"Man, if collateral is what you're trying to avoid, then count me out," Bruce replied.

"Ok fair. I'll go and try to talk them down before more people get hurt."

/

The blows exchanged sent shockwaves through the air as they fell. When they hit the ground, the impact sent cars flying in all directions, sending the nearby citizens screaming back to cover. Thor used Mjolnir to pull himself off the ground. He sent a blow screaming toward Kratos as he started to get up. Kratos noticed in time and rolled out of the way of the blow, the hammer smashing the impact crater even deeper into the ground. The shockwave sent Kratos flying into a cafe window, breaking tables and smashing into the back wall.

Thor grinned as he watched Kratos smash into the window. He turned to notice a group of citizens filming him with their phones.

"Have no fear, mortals!" Thor called out to them. "The situation is all under- OOMF!"

Thor suddenly flew to one side as a cash register came rocketing with the speed of a bullet from the cafe to Thor's face. Thor shook his head and pulled himself out of the frame of the car just in time for Kratos to smash his shield into Thor's body, sending him careening down the street, ripping up concrete and street signs as he tumbled.

Kratos, without hesitation, charged towards the direction of the Asgardian. The dust brought up by the fight made it difficult for Kratos to see Mjolnir flying towards him. The hammer hit him squarely in the chest, sending him flying into an office building. The foundation of the building began to creak and snap under the power of the impact. Kratos shook his head to regain his sight, then crawled out of the hole in the wall he found himself in. Thor was waiting outside the building, Mjolnir returning to his hand. Kratos had to end this fight before buildings started to come down with people inside. Kratos' strength began to quickly return, granted by the healing power of the Shield of Evalach. Kratos sprinted out of the tunnel created by his impact, tackling Thor and turning the fight into a boxing match. Thor's vitality and Kratos' experience were evenly matched. Each uppercut and left hook sent waves through the air, shattering windows and triggering car alarms. Finally, Thor broke free of Krato's grasp and flew into the air, building electrical energy as he rose. Thunder clouds began to form over Thor's head.

"Hey guys, hate to interrupt your dick measuring contest, but could we stop this now? You're scaring the locals." Iron Man said as he swooped in, still clad in his broken armor.

"Stay back Stark, this is between me and the God Slayer!" Thor replied, still charging his attack.

"Thor, buddy, if you two don't stop, I'll have to stop you...for you...or…okay, imagine I said something cooler than what I said."

Kratos, ignoring Stark's warning, jumped after Thor. Before Kratos could reach him, lightning channeled from the sky to Mjolnir. Thor sent the lightning screaming towards Kratos at the speed of light. The Shield of Evalach, while powerful, was not able to fully block Thor's godly might. The attack sent Kratos returning to the ground with such force, that the concrete became like a liquid wave with the impact. The walls of nearby buildings were blown away as if by a nuclear blast. Thor sighed with relief as he witnessed his own victory over the murderer known as the Ghost of Sparta. Surely it was done.

"WOAH WOAH, what did I just say?!" Tony yelled, looking at the damage done to the buildings.

"Relax, metal friend. It is done." Thor replied. He began to lower himself to the ground, clearly weary from the battle.

Kratos, lying in the impact crater, broken and battered, struggled to turn his head. He looked to his shield. It had broken in two. So much for 'heavenly' protection. He chuckled to himself before the pain in his chest forced him to stop. He looked toward his surroundings. The blasted buildings. The screaming people. This had to stop. Now. No more innocent lives. No more. NO MORE.

Thor's relief turned to horror as Kratos rose to his feet, flames engulfing his hands and forearms. Kratos looked up at his foe, His eyes bright red with the fire of his rage. Thor charged the god of war with all the speed he could muster. Kratos let out a roar, grabbed a nearby downed alien flyer, and hurled it at the Asgardian. The velocity of the flyer, with the momentum Thor had gained in his charge, stopped him from properly dodging. The flyer hit the shocked Thor, knocking Mjolnir out of his hand and hurtling him through the air. Before he could land, Kratos grabbed him from the air and throwing him back towards Stark Tower. Thor hit the stairs leading to the tower, shooting up dust and concrete. Thor attempted to raise himself, but Kratos, with the speed of his rage and his Seven-League Boots, shoulder-checked Thor further into the staircase.

"ENOUGH!" roared Kratos.

Kratos began to pummel Thor, a left punch, a right punch, over and over again. Each punch sent Thor's body further and further into the ground. Iron Man, unsure of what to do, shot a tranquilizer dart at Kratos, but the dart bounced off.

"Murderer"

Left, right, left, right…Thor's face grew bloodier with each blow...

"Monster"

Kratos awoke from his rage, his fists bloodied. His face bloodied. Everything Bloodied. He and Thor were deep into a hole in the concrete. Thor was unconscious but alive. Kratos raised himself off of the wounded Asgardian. Tired and wounded himself, he limped as he dragged Thor back to the Tower.

The other Avengers were still busy helping the police with crowd control, trying to keep people away as the two fought it out. Tony flew down to meet the two gods, a look of confusion and shock as they approached the entrance to the Tower. Kratos dropped Thor before Iron Man's feet, Thor's limp body hitting the floor with a thump.

"The Asgardian needs medical attention. Perhaps your machines can help HIM, if no one ELSE under your care." Kratos jeered.