America Chavez was thankful to find the female Thor appear beside her. The assisted strength helped to lessen the load of the rubble, allowing the two to keep it suspended in the air. Giving her new partner a nod, America let go, dropping downwards. Following the Asgardian’s instructions, she swooped down towards the office worker whom she had been shielding and grabbed him by the wrists. Swinging him into her arms, the Latina flew him out of the building, leaving him in the care of the gathering S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.

Leaving Thor to deal with the rubble, America dove straight back into the search of other survivors. She found the odd one or two, as they tried to navigate a safe route down. America lowered herself near them in order to carry them to safety, however one of them, a portly middle aged man, turned up his nose at the thought.

“You have to be kidding me!” He groaned obnoxiously. “You’re the bloody idiot that caused this mess!”

Guilt flooded through America once more at the comment. Her lip wavered slightly but regardless she stood with her head up high. Well, technically she levitated with her head held high.

“Chico…” America smirked. “I wouldn’t be moaning at the only person who could possibly save your life right now.”

The man opened his mouth to reply before shutting it sharply, with him potentially realizing that she was right. Reluctantly the man offered his hand as if to ask for assistance. America simply nodded, pulling him upwards, along with the man’s companion. The journey back to the ground was a quiet one. The man was clearly still agitated but who could blame him. He was right after all; she had caused this. Dropping them off with another group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, a thought crossed her mind. A chance at redemption. Catching sight of the fellow patriotic hero, America pressed forward.

“Captain?” She asked as she glided towards him, punching apart a piece of falling rubble as she did so. “I know this may not be the best of times but… This was all my fault.”

Wilson was speaking into his ear piece as he was moving people away from the building. He turned back around to face the building as an agent came up to him, he was strapping his shield to its clip on his back. "Charges are set Sir, ready on your mark." He handed him the detonator and Wilson just held it in his hand as the hispanic looking girl came over to him. He put his free hand on her shoulder. "You went out with the best intentions, to save lives-" He then moved his hand and tapped one of his fingers on his head. "-Though you have to remember to use that. Or theres no point in you doing anything. You had good intent, and people got hurt. Think first, action second. If you don't think first theres no point in doing anything. I don't mean sit back and don't do anything, but try to think about more than the next punch."

He looked up towards the building, where he could barely see the hammer weilding woman. Tapping his compiece his voice was relayed htrough his quinjet that was still hanging around the area, he was surprised Fury had let him use the Quinjets in public however there were no markings identifying them with S.H.I.E.L.D. Just another faceless government agency. "I'd get out of there, I need to set off the charges or we're gonna lose the building." With that he hit the detonator, the bottom of the building shook slightly, as the charges collapsed the inner structure. His quinjet came in to land in the middle of the street, the back facing him and the girl he was with. Several S.H.I.E.L.D agents surrounded the two of them, however their guns weren't raised. However anyone with a lick of sense would notice that the weilders wer ready at the slightest sign of aggression.

Wilson tipped his head to them, then shrugged. "What can I say? It's protcol. Now I know you were meaning good, however I'm going to have to take you in." He put his hand on her shoulder again. "We're the good guys, we can help you figure all this out--" he removed his hand. "-If you help us, we can help you. Then you can be on your way." Which was entirely dependent on her answers to the questions and whatever requirements Fury gave her for her freedom. He signalled to the Quinjet. "You run along, I'll wait for your hammer friend."

He turned around to look at her, waiting for her to catch up. She was the one he was slightly more interested in. She had records, though falsified, what truly made her interesting was that before this there was no word of her existence. No brith certificates, missing persons reports, school reports, credit cards. Nothing, it was as if she had just appeared on the planet one day. She may have went un-noticed until the IRS started investigating her, and then later her friend had started publishing extra-ordinary papers that had drawn skepticism towards him. She was something else.

He offered his hand to her. "Captain Wilson, at your service-" She had (Per the records he had seen) been here long enough to be at his 'unveiling' though whether or not she had seen it and knew who he wasn't a certainty. "-I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you some questions regarding to what happened here today Ma'am."

Thor held up the structure for as long as she could, the growing piles of rubble around her made it hard to keep an eye on Miss America and the people trapped in what remained of the building, she couldn't see through all the debris, and had to hope that America had rescued most, if not all, of the people left inside the building. It wasn't an issue of Thor not being strong enough to hold the place up, she most certainly was able, it was more an issue of the building refusing to stay in one piece. There was only so much she could do.

Suddenly a shrill cry from amidst the rubble pierced through her ear-drums. Whether America had finished her work with the surivivors or not, Thor had to abandon her post, she slipped out from under the collapsing ceiling, a large chunk crashing down instantly, and she dug through a pile of rubble where the noise had come from, pulling out a child, as delicately as she could, though the shaking building meant she had to move more swiftly than delicately. The kid wriggled and screamed, seriously injured but alive, thanks to Thor pulling her out. The first of the charges detonated and Thor knew the building was lost, her position was lost, she just had to get out, and hope America had made it out alive and that there was no one else left in the building. She curled her arm around the frightened child, tucking the kid as closely to her as she could without crushing the small Midgardian. Carrying a small child would make escaping significantly more tricky, as Thor was content to just throw herself out, knocking out a wall with ease, she couldn't risk the child getting hurt though, but with no other choice, she had to take the risk. She knocked out a chunk of the wall, making an exit for herself and the child, though there was a significant drop, this would be the trickiest part of all. She fell, from about the 4th floor, bracing herself for a landing, if she couldn't stay on her feet, she'd risk crushing the child under her greater weight. The explosion behind her only served to push her further away from the building, force pushing her fast and faster through the air.

Finally she hit the ground, knees bent to stick the landing and she stayed up right for the initial contact of feet-meet-soil, seconds later she fell forward, momentum from the fall pushing her forward but she threw out her right arm and managed to keep herself and the child safe, in one piece. She exhaled in relief, it had been incredibly risky and close, she child clung desperately to her, howling in pain, the poor young human probably had crushed legs, though Thor hadn't a moment to assess the childs injuries during their escape. Pulling herself back up she passed the child to a medical crew who were in the process of treating patients and moving patients away from the building. Thor turned to look at the gutted building, it was already half demolished, charges detonated, only a few portions of the building remained, and they too were crumbling inward.

Thor was catching her breath when Wilson appeared. He introduced himself, though Thor was surprised, he seemed calm amongst the chaos which was unusual behaviour from what she had seen. Regardless, she played along. "Tara Olsen" she replied, she raised an eyebrow at the mention of questions. This guy was most unusual and she was wary, she wished Dwight were here, he knew how to deal with Midgardians and their protocols and questioning tactics, she was a battle maiden ... a Goddess of Asgard, this was not her field. "There is not much I can tell you, I know not what happened to the beast" she said warily. Dwight warned her to play her cards close to her chest, to never give up information easily for her own safety. Although her actions today blew her cover somewhat there was much about her that no one knew, and with any luck, she could return to anonymity. Right now she just wanted to return to her apartment, or even to the coffee shop to find Dwight, he'd know what to do.

"Captain, I hate to be rude but, might I excuse myself briefly, return to my apartment and change into something unspoiled? Then I will answer any of your questions." She said, glancing down at her torn and muddy clothes, hopefully she could find Dwight on the way and explain the situation, he could tell her what to say and what not to say. He'd know what this Wilson fellow would want to know right?

Wilson just gave a smile, have just playing nice and half in an actual laugh. "I'm sorry Miss Olsen however firstly I don't want to ask you about the Hulk-" He placed his hand on her shoulder. "-Second if you want fresh clothes we can either supply some or send someone to get some from your appartment. I'm afraid this issue is time sensitive. I need you to come with me now, otherwise there could be more trouble and right now-" He indicated to the building. "-With the damage caused here, we can't afford that. Especially, and no offence ma'am we can't have you caught in the middle of it again. If you want we can have Mr.Parkins picked up and brought to our base if that would make you feel more comfortable. However we really must be getting ready to go."

Thor was wary of this Wilson fella, his motives were impossible to determine, especially since he wanted to question her about something other than the Hulk. Regardless, he had a point; Thor didn't exactly want to hang around here for much longer either.
At the mention of a certain Mr Parkins though, she wondered if maybe she could allow herself to relax, was this stranger a friend she could trust? Could he help her track down Loki?
"You are a friend of Dwight? " she asked. "Very well then, I shall go with you, Dwight has the spare key to my apartment he can grab my things" she agreed. Maybe things were finally looking up...

Wilson was kind of taken back by the comment. Perhaps the people who felt she wasn't off this world were actually... right. It seemed a bit odd and a bit far fetched, however there was a "Spider-man" who had just been fighting a triceratops capable of shooting laser beams in existence. So in the grand scheme of things it wasn't all that odd, just a surprise. Though he could be wrong, perhaps she was just naive. In the end it made no difference, she was going to come with him and that was the important thing. "We do know Dwight yes, I'll have someone pick him up and grab you a fresh set of clothes." He nodded at a nearby agent, who just turned around and started walking away.

He indicated to the back of the open quinjet. "After you ma'am." He then followed her into the jet, and let her sit down, he himself stayed standing as the door behind him closed and the craft lifted off.

Thor didn’t know that Wilson was part of SHIELD, much less what SHIELD was, and that it wasn’t the type of thing Dwight was involved in, but she was easily fooled, it helped that she had utterly no clue how human society on Midgard functioned and hadn’t exactly been around long enough to figure it all out. Surely, this Wilson guy wouldn’t have known Dwight by name had they not become friends, and if Dwight trusted Wilson, Thor was willing to consider taking the risk too, but only after she got to know a little more about Wilson and what was going on. Regardless, if Wilson knew anything about Loki, she would be willing to cooperate, she had no time to waste.

Inside the jet, Thor looked around. SHe just looked. At everything. This was nothing like Dwights rickety old car, or the public transports she’d been on. The jet was … it was beyond her comprehension and there were agents milling about using computers with all sorts of complicated things on display. To say she was ever so slightly overwhelmed was an accurate statement, though she kept her cool, everyone else on the jet seemed to be relatively calm so she adopted an air of nonchalance.

Dwight was fretting, then again, he was a bit of a worrier by nature, it didn’t help that he saw a great green monster crash into NYC and see his friend (and greatest research assistant ever) disappear to fight against goodness-only-knows what sort of odds. He was shocked further when a stranger approached him with a grim expression.
“Dwight Parkins” the agent said stoically.
Dwight nodded and tried not to shake too much. “And who might you be?” he asked, his voice not faltering which surprised even himself.
“I am from SHIELD, we have your friend, Ms. Olsen. She’s agreed to come with us for questioning but has requested a change of clothes, after the fight her outfits a little worse for wear … and you know what women are like” the agent said casually, it wouldn’t do to get Dwight all nervous afterall, anything Dwight knew about … Tara would aid the investigation.
“Ms Olsen said you had a key to her apartment, so if you would be willing to hel-”
Dwight nodded instantly, “Yes, of course, I’ll go right away and her her some things.”
While Thor didn’t know what she was getting into, Dwight was suspicious and wanted to make sure he could catch up with her quick.

Luckily, Thor’s tiny flat wasn’t too far and Dwight made it over quickly, keeping his conversation with the SHIELD agent as casual as possible. Thor’s flat was entirely bare in regards of technology or electronic gadgets. There was a fridge, lightly stocked, and lights, a telephone by the door but she rarely used it. It was sparsely furnished or decorated, as if someone hadn’t even finished moving in yet. In her bedroom, Dwight dug through her closet to get some clean clothes and managed to find some of her Asgardian gear, tucking it underneath her regular civillian clothes, perhaps she’d need something armoured and her civvie stuff wouldn’t suffice.

The tragedy that happened in New York yesterday clearly illustrates the state of our country, the greatest nation that has ever been created on this Earth. Our forefathers have almost faced clear and present dangers. The British. Slavery. Communism. Terrorists. However, there is a new threat to the American way. Mutants. If anything, the ‘Mutant’ incident reveals how hopefully powerless we are against these super-powered individuals. We were fortunate that this only happened to an individual building with minimal casualties. But what will happen next? An airplane in midflight? A subway crammed at rush hour? A school full of children? Something must be done to protect the international and domestic security of this grand nation. While several ideas have been tossed around on Capitol Hill, the United States government has not yet decided what route is the best course for this situation. But I know one thing: we must ensure the safety of our citizens from these super-power beings in both the international stage and our own backyard.

-Senator Robert Kelly, R Massachusetts

---

Even with the tragedy that struck New York City yesterday, we all must remember this while determining the proper direction for ‘solving’ this ‘Mutant’ issue. They are, of course, all human and therefore are guaranteed the same rights, protections, and liberties that everyone else does. Have we not progressed as a society to just regress back into the barbaric practices of the past? Were efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. and the suffrage movements exerted in vain just to return to bigotry? We are not talking about inanimate objects that have no souls and no consciences. They are human beings and must be treated as such.

When a normal human commits murder with a firearm, they will be tried in the court systems. When someone uses illegal substances, they will be arrested for possession. Those who break traffic laws will be ticketed and, when necessary, summoned to court. These ‘Mutants’ should also be subject to this same system. If such a super-powered being, such as that wall-crawling menace better known as Spider-Man, commits a felony, they should be punished at the full extent of the law. If they are law-abiding citizens, like you and me, let them live their lives out like us.

-J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle Newspaper and director of Daily Bugle Communications

---

DBC: During your speech, you defined a ‘Mutant’ as someone who possesses the recently discovered ‘X-gene’. What if the super-powered individual does not possess such a gene? Would they be subject to the same measures as ‘Mutants’?

RK: (referring to 'Mutants' and 'non-Mutant' superhumans) What’s the difference?

-A Q&A with Senator Robert Kelly

Ignore this space...

~KL~

"I would honestly be surprised if you could find someone to hurt out here beyond yourself Bruce. Through if you don't mind would you object to me checking in on you every couple of days or so? Just to make sure you're doing alright and settling in of course." Loki explained, deciding to let the man have a little more control over his life then he seemed to be having lately. Granted, he was going to keep an eye on him regardless of his answer but it was amazing how powerful the illusion of choice could be.

At the Daily Bugle, Peter sat at his desk, working on the coding that was used to program and run the Daily Bugle Communication website. Peter originally got involved with the Bugle when the publisher, J. Jonah Jameson, put out a reward for anyone who could get a clear picture of the wall-crawler for his mudslinging campaign against Spider-Man. At first, it seemed like a pretty simple task. How hard could it be to take pictures of oneself without making it obvious that Spider-Man was the person taking the pictures?

Unfortunately, Peter discovered that it was actually more difficult than he first imagined. Sometimes, the battles would go in unforeseen ways, moving away from his camera ‘trap’. Heck, sometimes, Peter would not even have enough time to deploy his camera, let alone pick the best spot for it to take pictures. Therefore, Peter only took these “selfies” while he was Spider-Man only when he could guarantee good results. Furthermore, after thinking about it, Peter concluded that by being the only photographer who could get a snapshot of Spider-Man would look very suspicious and could even lead to Spider-Man’s enemies confronting his civilian identity (or his family and friends) over the whereabouts of Spider-Man. Who would want that?

While waiting for his last summer shift at the Bugle to eclipse, Peter updated the framework of the DBC’s website, ensuring that there were no vulnerabilities in its code. He even sent the website through a stress test of some viruses that were programmed by Peter himself just to see how well the website could stand up to real cyber-attacks. Once his code pasted with flying colors, all Peter had left to do was sort through emails that ‘suggested’ feedback to what people thought was positive and negative about the website.

Suddenly, Peter’s spider-sense went off. However, it was only a false-positive, as his ‘sixth’ sense was only alerting him that his cell-phone was about ready to ring. When he glanced down at his phone while double tasking, Peter saw that his friend, Angelica, had just texted him. “Are you still at work?” She asked him in electronic form.

While working at the Daily Bugle could get boring some days, on the other hand, being an employee gave Peter one large advantage: he could hear rumors about local crime and check it out as Spider-Man. For instance, just that day, Peter heard one of the lead reports, Ben Urich, mention that the Rose was going to be making a play for some maggia turf that was under the influence of a maggia leader named Silvermane.

“I’ll be done in about an hour. Are you and Bobby up for a little team up tonight? Getting the ‘gang’ back together?” Peter sent as his reply.

“Don’t you have that ‘blind’ date that your aunt has been trying to throw at you for the past few years?” Peter had totally forgotten about the ‘blind’ date that his aunt and one of her friends had orchestrated. Peter had been dodging this inevitable event for years. His Aunt May would have forced this onto him years ago if Peter had not started dating Gwen back in his freshman year in high school. How desperate must this Watson girl be that her own aunt (i.e. Aunt May’s friend) had to set her up on a blind date? Peter would rather fight the green bruiser that had been recently dubbed the ‘Hulk’ rather than live up to this date.

“What about tomorrow?” Peter asked.

“It’s a weekend, so it’s probably doable.” Angelica replied. After a few seconds, before Peter could type anything back, Angelica sent a second text to him. “Just keep me updated. If you ever need some rescuing, just holler my way :)”.

“How often do I ever need rescuing?” Peter replied as he waited for the last hour to melt away.

---

“Peter Benjamin Parker! Come down and get washed up for dinner! The Watsons will be here any second now!” Peter knew that his aunt meant business whenever she called him by using his middle name. Peter set aside his Nintendo DS and jumped off his bed, intending to head toward the restroom to wash his hands before dinner. Once that was done, Peter walked down the stairs to the first floor of his house. While Peter could have rushed down the stairs without make much noise due to his superhuman abilities, he decided to walk “normally”, as he was not too excited about this ‘date’. Not only was he going to be on a blind date, but both of their aunts would be there too!

Once Peter heard the doorbell ring, he found a seat on the couch in front of the living room television and made himself comfortable there. His aunt had left on the Daily Bugle news running. While his aunt was heading over to answer the door, Peter was praying for some sort of superhuman incident to happen and appear on the news. Just any reason for him to have to slip away from this nightmare. He would even take on two super-humans that were fighting the Hulk along with Hulk instead of being on this blind date.

“Anna, I’m so glad you could make it! Where’s Mary Jane?”

“I’m so glad we could finally organize this. She’s locking up the car and carrying in a pie that we backed together. She’s definitely my favorite niece. Such a doll. But don’t tell anyone else that!”

“Oh, Peter, could you get the door when Mary Jane comes in?” Peter just agreed to do it. While to everyone else his Aunt May might seem like the gentlest women one has ever seen, if she gets made enough, even Peter with his super-human strength sometimes has to run for the hills! Of course that’s an exaggeration, but it gets the point across. Once the doorbell rang again, Peter picked himself off the couch and headed towards the door, dreading each step he took. Once he opened the door, he saw MJ for the very first time.

“Face it, Tiger, you just hit the jackpot!”

Miss America, Captain America, SThor

“Honestly I’m telling the truth here, Chico. I know it’s hard to believe but I’m really not from here!”

America Chavez didn’t know why she bothered. She had crossed paths with S.H.I.E.L.D. before. While that may have been on a far away world, she was still pretty sure that these guys wouldn’t buy her story either. From what she could tell, they were only just witnessing the birth of the very first superbeings, so interdimensional travel probably came as quite a jump for them. Regardless she had told them the truth, leaving out the details on Utopia, as well as her actual reason for coming to this world. That was her business and her business alone.

Upon entering the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, America had continued to keep her emotions contained. Sure she had apologised and displayed clear regret for her actions but she wasn’t shedding a tear in front of anyone, especially not any members of such a bothersome organisation such as S.H.I.E.L.D.

To her right sat Thor. Since arriving, she had changed into her armour, or as some may say, her super-suit. America had to say, she looked pretty impressive. Pretty being the key word there. The mighty hammer of legend, Mjolner, rested upright on the table in front of them. Across the table from them however stood the man who had brought them in; Captain America. The Captain had officially introduced himself on the quinjet right over here, with him having taken the two wannabe heroes to an isolated room somewhere in the facility. The walls were lined with numerous hexagonal panels, which Chavez had a feeling would be pretty difficult to punch a hole through. The thought concerned Ms America. If this “talk” didn’t go to plan, then this would surely be their prison.

Thor tried to keep quiet for as long as possible, to learn as much as she could before opening her mouth and accidentally spilling any secrets or information which would prove useful to her later. She noticed she had gotten a few strange looks after she’d changed, since her armour was unusual, though no one seemed too suspicious just yet, given that they’d just seen a Hulk and Miss America in action, it came as no surprise that her costume hadn’t totally shocked everyone.

America revealed she was not from around here, and Thor believed perhaps it was safe for her to blow her cover … though she was hesitant. “I too am not from Manhattan” Thor replied calmly, “I only recently moved here” though she didn’t know anything of Midgard’s geography and if she were asked where she previously lived, she’d have to hope she could make up an accurate location that sounded remotely convincing. She wanted to ask about Loki, but again, she risked revealing she was from Asgard, and that Loki too, had come to Midgard from Asgard.

“I am concerned about the whereabouts of the Green Beast” she said, Loki had vanished with it, that was her best chance of tracking him down. “Now is really not the time to talk when something so dangerous is out there. Should we not be tracking it down right now?” she asked. Was she convincing? Probably not, but it was worth a shot.

Wilson nodded at the agent who had previously been questioning the two of them before he came in here. “We know you’re not from here Tara, hell from as far as we know you’re not even from this planet. With another hero that has been running about, your hammer gives me a good idea of who you can be-” He then turned to the one wearing the American jacket. “That bit I believe, there is a radiation coming of you consistent with-” Wilson paused as if collecting his thoughts, truthfully he was just trying to remember what the tech said. “-It doesn’t matter. Story pans out for you.”

He walked to the now vacant chair and sat down, his wings and shield weren’t attached to his back, which made this possible. “In terms of the Hulk, Banner. Whatever you want to call the Green Beast we know where he is, to within a couple of hundred miles give or take. We’ve been trying to find a way to get in touch with him however as you’ve seen, it can be risky. There are also those who like to shoot at him, which just causes a lot of green.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Truth be told, the main reason you’re here is your oddities. Though you aren’t secret oddities. You’ve went into the public spotlight, and that causes it’s own host of problems-” He raised his arms indicating the room. “-So here we are. For me to determine if you’re going to be any kind of problem or not.”

America’s eyes darted between the two heroes as they spoke. Thor’s comment confirmed her suspicion that the now armoured woman was an Asgardian, which truly meant that she was actually Thor. It was surprising to hear that they believed her story. Last time she had been met them it had taken ages to convince the then Director Hill about the truth. Chavez also took note of the Captain’s comment on the radiation she was emitting. It was useful to know that she had a giveaway although she knew that there wasn’t much she could do about it now. She reminded herself to pry deeper about it later when she had the time.

She nodded intently at the comments on her previous combatant; the Hulk. She was tempted to reassure Captain America that luckily he only had one such gamma-creature on this world to worry about, although she decided that would probably cause more harm than good.

“Captain…” She began, turning her head to the super soldier. “I’m only here to deal with a small problem and then I’ll be on my way.” She moved her arms up in a reassuring manner. “Trust me Chico.”

Damn Tara thought, it was as though he saw right through her. Maybe she could convince him she was from earth. Was Old York a place? Surely it was, given that there was a New York. Given that he already suspected she wasn’t from this planet, perhaps it wasn’t even worth trying, and it appeared this interrogation wasn’t going to end anytime soon if she chose to be difficult, and she didn’t have time, so she’d have to cooperate somewhat.

“There is a dangerous fugitive with the Hulk, if you think that green rage monster is a threat then you truly stand no chance against his accomplice, and I can’t let him get away not again” she stared at Mjolnir intensely, that weapon would strike Loki down, and for the last time, she’d not allow him to tear apart worlds ever again.

It appeared her cover was pretty much blown, Wilson already gathered she was from another planet, and she could only assume he wouldn’t let her leave until he had more answers. Dwight had worked with Wilson’s people to deliver her Asgardian armour, although she hadn’t got to talk to Dwight directly, she could only hope that Dwight kept good company and that these people were truly her potential allies.

“I did not come to Midgard to cause trouble … I came in search of Odinson, in search of answers, and I found Loki instead. I am Thor, of Asgard, and I do not wish to be your enemy, let me punish the war criminal, Laufeyson, and I’ll be out of your hair.” she confessed, though it appeared that SHIELD had already figured out a lot about her already, this would hardly come as a shock, it was only confirmation of their very steady suspicions. She looked at America and smiled softly, it seemed there were two strange visitors who weren’t from Earth. They were both trapped in this strange mess together it seemed.

Wilson didn’t know what one to reply to first, so he decided to go with the one who spoke first. “Miss, we can’t exactly just trust someone with your level of power with everything that just happened and how public you just became. Not to mention there’s such a thing as damage control. Now I’m not saying you’re gonna be a prisoner. Though I need to know who you are, and what this small problem is. Then we’ll keep tabs on you, and you can be on your way.” He then turned to Thor. He guessed that their suspicions on the other individual were true.

If she was telling the truth. “Alright Thor. Once you’re done punishing where are you going to go then? Also who is this Loki you speak off? Is he the other guy who actually got rid of the Hulk? If so he’s not the villain here. In fact we have reason to suspect he’s been working to be a hero for well over three decades. In terms of the Hulk, that’s a more complicated conundrum than you’d think.” This may be a simple case transfer, simple psych test power check and they could be on their way.

Assuming everything was in order, S.H.I.E.L.D had learned its lesson about just imprisoning everyone with abilities. If they proved to not be wanting to cause trouble they were often released, some choosing to pursue hero work (under observation) or indeed work within S.H.I.E.L.D. He just hoped that these two wouldn’t take the alternate route, in causing trouble.

The Captain’s comment caused America to furrow her brow. Honestly though she couldn’t blame them for not trusting them. If she was them, America would do exactly the same. What she has done today was downright stupid. She would have to tell them the truth if she wished to get out of this place now and that definitely wasn’t something which she had wanted. This was supposed to be a quiet investigation. She couldn’t have the world’s largest government organisation knowing that someone else was out there popping holes in the multiverse. Nor let them know that they were smuggling out Mutant Drug Hormone. They’d just mess everything up, as usual. Hypocritical much?

So America did something that would probably deserve a good slap from her mothers if they were still here. She put on her best poker face and lied.

“Fine, If you must know Cap’... I’m stuck here. Permanently if i’m not able to track down the Nexus of All Realities.”

Nexus of All Realities. That was believable right? Well believable for a near indestructible woman who can kick holes through reality. These guys were bound to lick that up, especially if it sounded as if it was powerful. S.H.I.E.L.D. always had to be better than all the rest right?

Thor thought for a moment. Punishing Loki was certainly a priority, but, what if she still had no answers concerning Odinson? Then her journey was still far from over. Even after she got her answers, what then? She hadn’t considered where she would go next. Forward thinking wasn’t her strong point, nor had it been Odinson’s, though Loki was always a planner. What was her plan? “Once I have taken care of Loki … Well, I don’t have a plan, I didn’t expect him to be here in the first place” she admitted, she was a bad liar anyway and SHIELD seemed to know enough about her anyway. “But if it helps, I never intended to stay here, I’ll go back to Asgard … if there is anything left of it that is” she sighed. She’d narrowly escaped within an inch of her life during Ragnarok, although it had been quite some time, she wondered if there was much left, if anything, to go back to.

“Yes, Loki was with the Hulk-thing, but he is not your ally” Thor said, gravely serious. If anyone considered him an Ally they were making a grave mistake.

“Yeah, the dude flipped us off before jacking out of there!” America added. “Dick move.”

Thor nodded, at least America was on her side here. “Loki has destroyed an entire realm, do not let him take Midgard as well.” she warned. “He is a God of Lies, a Trickster and a manipulator.” she hoped in her heart of hearts that they would believe her and let her go, though the odds weren’t exactly in her favor given how things went down with the Hulk!

During the conversation, Wilson had signalled to the camera for an agent to come in. He had done all he could with the younger woman. It had come to a psych test, bag tag and release. Hopefully, if all things went smoothly.

At Wilson’s command, the cell’s door hissed open. A lone S.H.I.E.L.D. agent stepped in, approaching the table. It was evident from the small patches of sweat on the man’s forehead that he was nervous about the situation; he was after all in the presence of two superbeings who had just helped destroy New York City.

Wilson nodded at the agent. “Miss Chavez, you’re with him.”

America opened her mouth to speak, initially wishing to argue her case further. Realizing that there wasn’t much point in arguing against the Captain, she glumly shut it, before rising to her feet.

“Thank you for listening, Captain.” She spoke calmly, attempting to sound mature and responsible. “Thor, give that horned asshole hell if they let your out of here.”

Smiling, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room, the agent following closely behind.

“Now Miss-” He said pointing at Thor. “-You aren’t going to take care of anyone. I know what that means and I’ve done my fair share of it, but that’s not how we do things around here. If you want to do that you can just go back to where you come from. Also you may have not intended to stay here, but you’re here now and are going to have to deal with the rules and laws that exist here.”

“He must face Asgardian justice!” THor interrupted standing up, frustrated and just a little desperate to leave, though she didn’t grab Mjolnir … at least not yet.

He stood up again and paced back and forth for a second collecting his words. “From what we can tell, and this is early stuff. The Hulk isn’t an antagonist, this is very early stuff mind you. Yes, we need to stop the Hulk I agree with you. However provoking a response never does us any good. I agree that the name Loki doesn’t inspire confidence, in fact it does the complete opposite for me. However the evidence is stacked with him and against you, we have indications he may have been on Earth since the second world war. If he wanted to destroy or take over the world he could have done it by now. We wouldn’t have been able to stop him, especially not during the second world war.”

He sighed, rubbing his hand down the side of his face, taking a moment to think. “If you truly mean well, stay with us. Temporarily. We’ll show you what we’ve got on Loki and even help bring him in for questioning. However I can’t have you going out on a hunt full of rage and vengeance.” He nodded behind him, where a wall panel came up showing a TV screen showing the moment in the battle Thor gave up her fight with the Hulk to attack Loki. “You know what that did last time.”

Thor, being niève as she was, couldn’t understand why no one (bar America) seemed to see how big a threat Loki was, she was utterly perplexed that she appeared to be the villain in this situation. In reality though, it made sense, Loki had been well behaved as far as anyone could tell, and since Thor stopped hiding as Tara Olsen … she’d only caused trouble, albeit with good intentions. The Captain seemed rather unconvinced by her, given that he suspected Loki would have taken over by now if he wanted too, but Thor knew how long lived Asgardian’s were, Loki would bide his time. She decided against arguing further, since the Captain didn’t appear entirely in opposition to her. He even admitted that if Loki wanted to take over, he wouldn’t have been stopped.

To her surprise, as she had a sinking feeling that the Captain would not want to be an ally, he suddenly offered an exchange, he’d show her what information he had on Loki, she just had to stay put. It was almost too good a deal to be true, but Thor had to comply regardless, she wasn’t exactly in a position of power here, at least not in terms of information, and knocking out peoples teeth at random wouldn’t earn her any favors either.

“Very well then. I will stay-” she began, then the screened wall panels suddenly lighting up and she saw Loki’s face, a gut reaction kicked in and she reached out, her hammer flying into her grasp and her wrist tilted back to chuck Mjolnir at the screen before she stopped herself. It was just a tv illusion … Loki had stirred quite a primal reaction, because she really needed to punch him again, but she switched it off just as quickly as it had flared up. She put the hammer down, slowly and carefully so she wouldn’t alarm anyone (at least, not alarm anyone any further). “Sorry” she apologised somewhat sheepishly. “We have quite a history … I will contain myself”.



Banner just chuckled. "You're the god of mischief, tricks and lies. Do I have a choice?" He moved over to the pile, and searching through it picked up a shirt and a pair of... purple tracksuit bottoms. He inwardly groaned at the colour of them. What was with the purple? Seriously, did this guy have any fashion sense? He just looked at the god glad in green again and then understood what was going on, shrugging it off.

"I do appreciate the help. Perhaps in my solitude I can find a way out of this mess."

"Not really, no." Loki admitted offhandedly, not even bothering to try and deny it. Few people were ever smart enough to figure it out on their own back in the day; It was actually kind of sad how easy it was to be 'cunning' sometimes now that he thought back on it. "But frankly it would be a lot easier for both of us just to be able to walk up to you and ask you how you're going every now and then."

There were a couple of alternatives that Loki could pursue, but for various reasons Loki didn't really wish to have to go down those roads if it could be helped; Bruce seemed like a decent enough guy who was just placed in a bad situation and even mentally torturing bad people for information was... a rather slippery slope. If you did it for a good reason you'll do it for a bad one and it was just quicker and easier never to start that sort of thing in the first place than to try and work out the minefield that was figuring out when doing so was considered 'morally acceptable'.

All things considered, doing so in this case was most likely a really, really bad idea anyway.

"No problem at all really. I admit I have a couple of questions about the mess you're in, but I would understand if you would like the chance to set yourself up and rest up a bit after tonight's ordeal before answering questions."

Thors mood deflated somewhat after she was briefed by one of the SHIELD agents that the Captain had called for her. While she was grateful for SHIELD's cooperation in her search, there was very little for her to go on. She learned that Loki had been on Midgard since the 1940s at least, a period known as the Second World War. Of course, Thor asked if the war was Loki's doing, but the SHIELD agent explained that it had not been Loki's fault, much to Thors surprise, though SHIELD had reason to believe Loki was involved in the war somewhat, though intel on that was also very sparse. Loki'd kept a low profile, much like Thor had since she'd arrived only a couple of months ago. Unlike Thor however, Loki attracted a lot less attention, Dwight's research had been a little too good to be true and Thor's alias "Tara" hadn't exactly been a water-tight alibi, her papertrail was a little too sparse to be believable.

"I just cannot understand" Thor said, pressing her fingers to her temples. "This is Loki Laufeyson ... I watched him turn on Asgard, I watched him destroy a world. I fought him before and he would not hesitate to kill anyone who stood in his way, were it not for Odinson, I'd probably be long dead, my blood on his hands ... And now he appears here and claims he seeks redemption"

Thor felt tired, for the first time since Ragnarok, which was very long ago now. She felt weary and she hadn't even fought enough to break a sweat today, there was something about Loki that simultaneously filled her with destructive energy yet drained her at the same time.

The SHIELD agent, whose name was Jill, looked at Thor empathetically, at least she wasn't sweating and nervous anymore, she'd been shaking like a leaf while explaining the intel to Thor. Thor tried to appear as gentle and friendly as possible, but Jill was standing next to a Goddess, a being with legendary powers from a whole other realm. Like it or not, Thor was slightly intimidating albeit unintentionally.

"Before I was born, my parents were told that they would have a child who would become a great hero, it was my fate. I began life as a normal Asgardian, then I became a goddess and I fought alongside Odinson ... then the world ended. I failed to stop Ragnarok and now I find myself here ... and Loki is playing the hero."

Had Thor ... Tarene, lost her way? Had she failed her destiny? Was this some cruel punishment for failing to save Asgard?

No. She chastised herself mentally, this was a test, and she would not let this situation best her. Loki was a trickster, he may have convinced those of Midgard that he was their champion, but Thor was of Asgard and she knew him for who and what he was. She'd die before letting him get away with his crimes.

First she had to find a way out of here, though she doubted they would let her walk out the door on a whim. The Captain wanted her to stay here, she complied thus far, and perhaps her time here would not stretch much further. She had more information on Loki, albeit only a little more, and she'd complied iwth the Captain's questioning, surely he must not need much more from her. If she could only find the whereabouts of Loki or the Hulk...

She knew smashing her way out was not a viable option, even though SHIELD may not believe her, she was the hero, not Loki, and it certainly wouldn't earn their trust for her to knock the place down, plus, she genuinely didn't want to injure anyone.

She found herself trapped, not by locked doors and walls, but by her conscience, so she would stay put for now, but the second she was back on her way after Loki, she'd be unrelenting in her pursuit and subsequent punishment.

Loki may have turned over a new leaf and redeemed himself, but to Thor, he was still the villain she knew back on Asgard and she was the hero ... then again, wasn't every villain a hero in their own mind?

[[replace Loki with SThor and BAM]]

Ever since the Kree’s embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Inhumans, the warrior-pride of this extraterrestrial race would not allow the Kree just to sit back and endure this embarrassment. Instead, the Kree began to refurbish their old observation station that had been used as their base of operations centuries ago when they conducted their genetic experiments on humanity that resulted in the Inhumans. Not only was Aton-4 (known by its inhabitants as Earth) attractive to the Kree due to its genetic potential, but also due to the aptness of the region for the creation of portals and wormholes. Most of the galactic empires were sluggish in securing a foothold in this sector, believing that the sentient inhabitants of Aton-4 were too primitive to be of any concern. However, the recent Inhumans incident has changed their minds.

Due to what was seen as the ineptitude of the previous commanders who failed to defeat the Inhumans (although that battle was orchestrated by the Inhumans as a trap), the High Council of the Kree Empire decided to send one of the most celebrated heroes of the fourth and most recent Kree-Skrull war, Mahr-Vehl, to the Aton system (as the Kree called it) in order to coordinate the Kree’s efforts with one of the previous commanders, Yahn-Rogg. While the Kree were hoping that Mahr-Vehl’s ‘winning streak’ would carry over into the Earthly affairs, the Kree never took his compassion into account. Even before he had spent an entire year in the Aton system, Mahr-Vehl had grown attached to the humans. Just as he did not see his soldiers as soulless pawns to be thrown into battle, Mahr-Vehl also saw that these humans were not just lab animals, but actual beings with feelings and dreams. This is why the Kree failed with the Inhumans and as a result were recently humiliated by them in battle.

One day, Mahr-Vehl was returning from his undercover observation assignment on Aton-4 when something did not seem right. After checking the mission longs, Mahr-Vehl discovered that someone had launched one of their scout ships. While there was no given reason for such usage of that vessel, it was apparently authorized by his co-commander, Yahn-Rogg. Intending to confront his colleague for not consulting with him about making any type of contact with the humans, Mahr-Vehl searched for the commander’s location. To his surprise, the on-board computer system revealed that Yahn-Rogg was currently inside the laboratory space onboard the Aton-9 orbital station. Why would he be in that sector of the station? Mahr-Vehl was the Xenobiologist in the contingent stationed on the Aton-9 outpost.

Pulling up the live video-feed from that sector, Mahr-Vehl was abhorred by what he saw. What were they thinking abducting one of the humans? Did they not know that he wanted to avoid abductions at all costs? However, while observing the Kree’s actions on the feed, Mahr-Vehl could tell that the behavior of his men was quite off. His worse fears came true when he saw his men bend over in pain, as giant, brown insectoids called the Brood exploded out form their lifeless carcasses. Now everything made sense. The Brood were going to use the Kree-Psyche Magnetron to bestow godlike powers upon their human captive, intending for the host to eventually become the host for the new Brood Queen. Using Aton-4 as their staging ground, this group of Brood would spread throughout the universe, infecting it faster than a raging fire burns a forest in the American West during a drought.

The Kree-Psyche Magnetron was a device so powerful and dangerous that long ago, the Kree decided to hide it away on Aton-4, since at the time this sector of the Milky Way galaxy was considered a backwater and therefore the device would fall away into the stories of legends and myths. The Psyche Magnetron rendered the thoughts and imagination of its wielder into reality. If someone wanted to destroy a planet, he was just one thought away from sending a giant wave of energy to decimate the unprepared planet. Almost anything was possible with this device. If Mahr-Vehl had checked the station logs further, he would have realized that such usage of the scout ships had been happening long before he had arrived on the Aton-9 station! Whether the Brood or the Kree were responsible for discovering the hiding place of the Kree-Psyche Magnetron, Mahr-Vehl knew that nothing good could come from it.

After sending an emergency signal to the next nearest Kree outpost, alerting them about the Brood infestation, Mahr-Vehl armed himself in his Kree battle-suit. The Kree scientist formed a fist with his hand, causing what seemed like some kind of energy gun to materialize from his sleek armor that protected his arm. While he made his way down to the labs, Mahr-Vehl showed no mercy to these insectoid parasites, vaporizing them on sight. After he exterminated the last of the Brood that was guarding the Kree-Psyche Magnetron, Mahr-Vehl turned his attention to retrieving the human from the machine. However, while the Kree captain turned to deactivate the device, Yahn-Rogg, who was in the middle of the process of transforming into a Brood, rammed Mahr-Vehl into the machine, causing the energy from the Magnetron barrage him.

Fortunately for Mahr-Vehl, his Kree armor’s shielding were sufficient enough to withstand the radiation, especially since the machine had not been set for the purpose of causing mass destruction on its own. Quickly regaining his senses, Mahr-Vehl sprung back to his feet and prepared himself for another attack by Yahn-Rogg, or rather the Brood that had now replaced him. The insectoid that had a few moments ago been a Kree warrior leapt at Mahr-Vehl. However, this time the Kree captain was ready for Yahn-Rogg, blasting him with his energy weapon.

“While revenge should never cloud your hearts, you had this coming, Yahn-Rogg.” Mahr-Vehl turned back toward the Magnetron and its current occupant. Mahr-Vehl was unsure what the Magnetron had done to the human captive. Even after running tests, Mahr-Vehl could not find any residual effects. Nor did he find any Brood embryos, which was a relief. However, just as a precautionary action, sprinkled ground-up Ashanti crystals, the one known substance that will cure a Brood infection, over her.

Mahr-Vehl had to plan out his next course of action carefully in order not to cause any more damage (physically or mentally) to this human specimen. The inhabitants of Aton-4 had not yet had a public encounter with any alien race, let alone with the Kree. Therefore, just dropping the female human off where she had originated would not be a good choice because she might claim that she was abducted by things called UFO’s and everyone would think she was crazy. Therefore, this situation needed a more delicate approach.

After he had spread the ground-up Ashanti crystals throughout the station by means of the ventilation system, Mahr-Vehl took the young human woman into the scout ship that was used to abduct her in the first place. Searching through the ship’s logs, Mahr-Vehl discovered the coordinates of the abduction site, which would allow him to return her home without any ‘first contact’. Firing up the engine, Mahr-Vehl departed from the space station and headed towards Aton-4.

After leaving behind the interrogation room, America was happy to find that S.H.I.E.L.D. weren’t planning on wasting the rest of her day. In fact, the whole processing seemed to go by relatively fast. After a brief psych test, which came back all clear, America was soon released. Of course she did have a talking to by several agents first. She was warned against getting herself in any more similar situations to what she had been involved in today; something America instantly agreed to.

Today had certainly not been a good day. Lives had been changed forever during her confrontation with the Hulk. Maybe even ruined. It had been hard for America to hold in her emotions during the ordeal, though as always, she kept a stern look upon her face at all times. It was never wise to cry in front of the enemy. Sure S.H.I.E.L.D. were supposed to be the good guys, but America had never come across a variant of the organisation during her time around the multiverse that didn’t have slightly shady methods.

It had grown dark by the time America had returned to the streets. Fortunately America had had the brilliant idea to play the “stranded hero” card with S.H.I.E.L.D so much that in the end they had agreed to pay for a hotel room for her for the night. America knew that it was simply a way to keep their eyes on her during her trip but that didn’t bother her in the slightest. Tonight she was sleeping with a roof above her head, and hell, did she need it!

While she would have preferred to drift off immediately, Amercia’s mind turned to her own mission as she made her way downtown towards the hotel. Due to the major inconvenience, she had become distracted, meaning that her target had managed to get away. Fortunately however, she had yet to detect them move off world, which meant that they were still here somewhere. That gave her hope at least. But how would she find them?

That’s when her eyes fell upon a group of stereotypical looking punks as they walked by with their leather jackets and brightly coloured hair. One of them who was sporting a pink mohawk caught her attention and got her thinking. She didn't have any other choice, as it would seem that a telepath would be her only hope now. Besides, maybe this earth's version of the kid wasn't a complete and utter asshole.

Banner chuckled slightly, surprised at the sound having not made anything close to a laugh in the last three months. He looked over to the horizon where the sun was just starting to rise. "It's a brand new day Loki-" He turned to face the God. "Things have been changing all over the world recently, you've probably noticed them more than I have. It's a different world than it was one year ago, with all these super-heroes and super powered people." He let loose a sigh, focusing on keeping his heart rate low. As right now that was the only factor he could think of that would be able to be the cause of such a dramatic change in his body.

He turned around, searching through the tools and equipment Loki had given him. "As a scientist I say whenever you have questions it is best to get them answered, I am tired however I'm not quite ready to sleep-" While rummaging through the gear for the tent he came across a mallet to put the pins in. However when he saw it there was a flash as he saw a larger hammer come flying towards him. He raised his hands to cover his face and recoiled as he fell on his backside. Almost out of breath he shook his head. It was nothing, probably just part of some nightmare. He turned and gave Loki a re-assuring grin. "Sorry, thought I saw a snake in the tools..."

Lying to the god of deceit, mischief and general misbehavior didn't seem like it would work, however he was trying to give off some feeling of sanity. He wasn't sure if he could trust him or not yet, though he knew he wasn't quite ready to push away the first person to offer him help since the accident. Not that Betty would have refused... though that was just... complicated. He felt a twinge in his heart as he pictured her face, smiling her hair flowing in the wind. The life he'd never have.



Wilson stood in Fury's office. On the screen was Thor sitting in her room, speaking to the agent and pouring over information on Loki. "Think she can be trusted Captain?" Wilson took a second. "Not really, at-least not yet. I'm less trusting than you after all." There was a slight chuckle from both the men, less so from Fury than from Wilson in fact it was barely noticable and may not have happened at all, he just liked to think it did. "I think it's important that we keep her in the loop about Loki however, and may even use her if major threats come up. She was trying to help against the Hulk anyway."

Fury just nodded at that. "Also, she is letting us hold her, at least currently. There is always that going for us, however I don't think that is why you called me here. Is it Sir?" Fury pressed a button and the screen changed. Wilson sighed.

"Savage Land?""Savage Land Cap-" Image changed to that of a boat going on. "They ignored our warnings. Some rich hotshot found out about the savage land and is trying to set up some kind of theme park, whether they're trying to build there or trying to capture dinosaurs we don't know the important thing is we haven't seen or heard anything off them for days now. We're sending you in.""Do I get Milton?""Yes, however he isn't cleared for using his abilities unless the situation calls for it."

"Understood sir, I would just hate to go in alone.""We can always send Thor-" The screen changed back to the one they were watching earlier. Wilson shrugged, "We can hold her in reserve, though sir?""Yes Captain.""I recommend letting her speak to Mr.Perkins. Perhaps even let her take a wander outside for a while, better than keeping her cooped up for a while.""I'll take that under advisement Captain." Wilson nodded before turning to leave the room.

Like many involved with America’s education system, Bobby wasn’t exactly a fan of school. Sure he enjoyed obtaining new knowledge and broadening his mind, but when it came to the constant examinations, bullying, and the multitude of pressure that school puts on young minds, Bobby wasn’t too keen. Fortunately this had changed significantly when he first arrived at the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning, a safe sanctuary for mutants where equality was encouraged and the students found themselves educated in fun and engaging manner. That is, except for history.

“Mr Drake, I don’t believe that it is currently naptime.”

Bobby Drake shot up in his seat, snapping open his eyes, as Professor Xavier’s voice rang through his mind. Evidently he had fallen asleep again. Bobby was about to blurt out some sort of apology when he noticed the empty room around them. Turning, he gazed around at the abandoned desks, his face displaying clear signs of confusion. It would seem that other than him, the only person in this room was Xavier, who moved about at the front of the room, packing away his things.

“What’s going on?” Bobby asked, turning to the Professor. He turned as Bobby spoke, rotating his wheelchair to face the young mutants. “Looks almost apocalyptic in here.”

At the word apocalyptic, The Professor froze for a second. Finally he moved his hand, massaging himself between his eyes, thinking.

“Everyone else would be out having lunch.” The man spoke, his English accent evident. “I thought that waking you near the end of your lunch break would be a suitable punishment, don’t you think?”

Bobby smirked at the remark, although before he could reply, Charles Xavier grunted in pain, clutching his head.

“Professor?” Bobby stammered, rising to his feet. “Professor, what’s wrong?”

Instantly the Professor seemed to relax. Breathing deeply, he rose back up in his chair, rubbing his temple. He did this for a few seconds while Bobby proceeded to ramble on about whether he was ok. As if finally remembering Bobby’s presence, Xavier turned and stared him straight in the eye.

“It’s Magneto.”

---

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, Mr Drake?”

Bobby dropped his spoon in shock at the sound of the old, British Professor, resulting in the chunk of ice cream he had been about to eat to spill across the table top. Recovering fairly quickly, Bobby scrambled to clean it up, attempting to scoop it up with the spoon, although he only succeeded in causing even more of a mess. Giving an apologetic smile to the obviously bemused Professor, he decided to give up, sitting back in his seat.

“Sorry Professor, I couldn’t sleep.” He sighed, his eyes scanning his arms for a watch. Remembering that he had left it up in his room, he looked back up. “What time is it anyway?”

Still smiling, Charles Xavier wheeled forward, moving his wheelchair up to the kitchen table. He was currently wearing a pair of silk pyjamas, which made Bobby worry that he had somehow awoken the man from his slumber. A wink from Xavier however told Bobby that the Professor knew what he was thinking.

“Don’t worry, much like yourself, I have been up late pondering too.” His reply calm and collective. “As for the time, I believe it is some time after 1am.”

Bobby gave the man a nod in return. A silence spread across the two of them for a few seconds, giving the teenager time to reach for his spoon once more and attempt to chisel off another chunk of ice-cream from the tub.

“I know what you’re thinking, Bobby.” Xavier broke the silence. “What happened today with the Brotherhood wasn’t your fault.”

Stopping in his tracks, Bobby once more let go of his spoon, leaving it suspended upwards in the ice-cream tub.

“I let them escape. What use am I against a guy who can fucking control metal? All I can do is freeze things and that doesn’t even do anything with fucking John being there! I’m useless! I’m a joke!”

His fists slammed down into the table, ice erupting from the points of contact. By now Bobby had risen from his seat, his voice raising in volume as he did so. Tears began to stream down his face.

That was when he felt a comforting hand on his arm. Steadying his breathing, Bobby turned to find Charles sat in his wheelchair next to him, gazing up with a reassuring look on his face.

“Robert Louis Drake. Everybody likes you, Bobby. They always have. You’re a fun guy. Honestly, you’re what holds us all together.” Xavier took a moment to pause, moving back around the table once more. “Out of all my students, former and current, you have always had the most untapped potential. All you can do is freeze things? Dear boy, you have the potential to do so much more, you have no idea! Bobby, you need to stop looking into the past and begin looking into the future. With the world we live in now, we have no room for untapped potential.”

Bobby stood in silence as the Professor turned to leave.

“What should I do?”

Xavier stopped in the doorway, his eyes still ahead of him.

“Something amazing, Bobby. Nothing less.”

“Oh, is that all?”

Bobby withdrew back into his seat calmly, his mind racing through all that had happened. He looked again to where the Professor had left. Smiling he thought back to when he had first arrived at the Institute. Everything had been so new and scary. He had been so alone that first night, until he had found himself in a similar position to where he was now. Taking advice from the Professor while feasting on ice-cream. While so much had changed since then, it was nice to know that some things had remained the same.

“Amazing, huh?” Bobby murmured to himself, pulling his spoon free from the tub. “I can do amazing.”

---

Salem Center. It had been over a week since the X-men’s confrontation with Magneto and his so-called Brotherhood of Mutants, as well as a week since Bobby’s inspirational speech from the professor. By now, Bobby had calmed down, having taken the week to relax. Hence why he was currently in Salem Center, on a date. Well, he was meant to be on a date. Sadly the guy had stood Bobby up. He couldn’t blame him. It happened a lot whenever people discovered his mutant abilities. During their first date, he had been forced to ice up against a mugger. Despite saving his life, it would seem that it had also been their last date.

In a glum manner, Bobby strolled the streets, typing into his phone.

“You two getting married yet?” The text from Angelica read.

Bobby’s reply came in the form of a frowning emoji.

“What happened?” This one was followed by a series of frowning emojis too.

“Didn’t turn up.”

“Are you ok?”

“I’ll be fine. Getting ice cream. Be back soon, x.”

Sliding the phone into his pocket, Bobby turned a corner, moving through a short side street. The sound of a bottle rattling made him stop briefly. Shaking his head disapprovingly at his cowardliness, he continued. He was half way down the street when the whistling started. Ominous whistling. Now that certainly was a cause of panic for Bobby. Bobby froze in his tracks, looking behind him towards the source of the sound.

A group of hooded men turned the corner, entering the street. They seemed a rowdy bunch, with the man leading them, whom Bobby assumed was their leader, being the one who was whistling. Bobby backed away as they approached, the men seemingly emitting a series of cheers and “woops” at the sight of him. The young mutant knew exactly who they were. Purifiers. Reverend William Stryker’s strikeforce against mutant population, the Purifiers are a group of religious extremist who literally believe killing mutants is God’s wish. The thought made Bobby sick.

Turning, he attempted to run, only to find his path blocked by even more Purifiers approaching. Panicking, Bobby watched as they closed in, with several of the group reloading what appeared to be a selection of high-tech weaponry. Bobby gulped. He was doomed.

That was when a though crossed his mind. Bobby knew exactly what to do. What was it? It was something Xavier had said to him the other night. Something amazing, Bobby. Nothing less.

Clenching his fists, Bobby stepped forward. Breathing deeply, he concentrated, focussing on all the moisture in the air around him. Bobby was an X-man. He had mutant abilities before he even began to shave. He had gone toe to toe against some of the world’s most powerful mutants. He was always told that he was a man of untapped potential. But now? Don’t you dare ever call him that again!

Slamming his hands down on the ground, the temperature dropped immediately. Ice shot out of the ground all around them as frozen shapes rose from the ground. The shapes surrounded Bobby, blocking him from the first shots from the Purifier’s as they fired in confusion. The frozen shapes seemed to shift in shape and size, growing snowy legs and arms. Bobby smiled to himself as the ice golems formed around him.

“Amazing.” He said to no one in particular.

It was Loki's own turn to chuckle as he looked out at the raising sun. For the first time in a very, very long time he felt old. Maybe not in the sense that a human's body started to lose its strength and degrade old, but for a moment he indulged the pleasure of feeling the weight of his years. "You are absolutely right there Bruce. It might take human's a few years to grasp an idea but once you have a firm hold on it you guys just run with it."

Turning around in order to continue the conversation, Bruce's mention of a snake caused Loki to instinctly take a step back, a flash of primal terror crossing his face for but an instant before it vanished again. Maybe the moment had never happened at all?

With the offer to ask his questions, a cool and collected Loki simply asked the only one that mattered at the moment. "So what's your story Bruce? I must admit that I am curious as to how your life somehow managed to reach this point."

Fury called down to the room where SHIELD was holding Thor. Despite her massive height, she looked somewhat smaller trapped in the small room, shoulders slumped in disappointment. Jill was having a coffee with Thor, shaking like a leaf which came as little surprise given how easily Thor could snap her in half not that that was likely to happen. Though the sight of the fallen former Goddess was quite sad, Jill's visible nervousness was a tad comical. Fury kept a straight face, he couldn't appear overly empathetic since he didn't even know Thor's cause, at least, not as well as he'd like, Loki was still a mystery to him, and Thor, despite her blunt explanation, was still a mystery as well. She could have made up her entire story, even though it appeared as if she couldn't possibly formulate a cohesive lie given her genuine ignorance of human technology and society.

"Thor?" Fury said, her head shot up to look at Fury.
"Have you found out more about Loki?" she asked.
Fury shook his head, they'd told her enough, they'd shown her that SHIELD were monitoring Loki, they couldn't give away all their information, they'd need to hang onto what they had in case she needed to be called back in again. If they told her about Loki now, they'd have nothing left to bargain with her again and Fury wasn't prepared to let her go entirely, she could be a valuable ally, she'd already showed just how powerful she was though he suspected Thor was even more powerful than she let on.

"We've been trying to figure out what to do with you." he explained.
"Do you seek to keep me here much longer? I came here of my own free will, but I am beginning to feel as if I'm being held captive" she said, folding her arms over her chest, she didn't want to resort to intimidation, but she was prepared to go there.
"We're prepared to let you go, we're well aware if you wanted to leave we may not possess the man-power to stop you" he admitted, of course that was a massive maybe, perhaps they could have gunned her down if it came to it, it wasn't worth the risk.
"I'd hoped I wouldn't have to resort to such extreme measures" Thor responded.
"And we're glad you didn't. We've contacted Dwight and we're dropping you off at his apartment." Fury offered no explanation of why she was suddenly allowed to go when ... well she hadn't done much really.
Thor prevented herself from quizzing Fury about why she was suddenly being let go but decided against it, for fear he'd change his mind and she'd resort to ... dangerous measures to escape at a later point.

Finally, Thor was back to a remotely familiar environment, Dwights place, slumped over his coffee table eating a hastily ordered take out, though for once, Thor wasn't devouring her meal earnestly, she was poking some chop suey with a fork and showed little interest in eating right away.
"What happened there? In SHIELD?" Dwight asked, neatly manipulating some noodles with a pair of chopsticks. "I know I haven't known you all that long but, I've never seen you play with your food, you usually just eat it."
Thor sighed "I told them what they wanted, they told me what they knew about Loki, then they just left me in a room and I had time to think."
"What did you think about?" Dwight asked.
"I thought about my fate ... About Loki ... all that he took from me... They think he is a hero here ... He took my world ... everything..."
"And you're gonna let him spoil your appetite too? Didn't have you down for a quitter Tara" Dwight retorted.
Thor perched her elbows on the table. "No!" she said indignantly, stabbing the now-sorta-cold take-out on her plate and taking a mouthful.
"See, I knew you wouldn't quit that easily. Now finish your dinner and we'll go do some googling"

Thor smiled to herself. Humans were strange indeed, but she admired them, at least, she admired Dwight and others like him. He was a truly good friend, if he wasn't so incredibly fragile and dreadfully uncoordinated, he'd have made a great Asgardian warrior. There was a fire in his heart, she could tell.

Peter sat on the living room couch, trying to find something somewhat decent to watch on the television while his and Mary Jane’s aunts engaged in conversation and gossip. Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting currently running on the air, so Peter had to settle for the Daily Bugle Communications news. Now he would have to listen to Jameson bash on Spider-Man for the next couple minutes. Heck, if Peter had lived in the 60’s, Jameson probably would have accused Spider-Man of assassinating JFK, even though the only Spidey sightings would have been in New York City.

“So, any preferences?” Peter offered the remote to his ‘blind’ date, hoping she would at least have something in mind other than listening to triple J’s mudslinging. Heck, Peter would almost prefer watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians. He would never purposely view that show, but if MJ wanted to watch it, Peter, depending on how much venom the editor of the Daily Bugle was spewing, might relent to that television show.

“No, this is fine.” Mary Jane, however, was focusing her attention on her iPhone, sliding her up and down the touchscreen as she scrolled up and down whatever she was looking at. “Apparently they have some new footage of Spider-Man”. Her response sent a shockwave of terror down Peter’s spine. Did Aunt May just set him up with someone who agreed with Jay Jonah Jameson? What are the odds?

“You don’t, um, listen to Jameson, do you?” Peter rolled his eyes in his mind, wondering why he would ask such a thing.

“Oh, no. DBC happens to be the only network that gets somewhat quality shots of Spider-Man. He’s kind of the ‘in’ thing now. Not quite Justin Bieber levels, but at least Spidey’s masculinity hasn’t been disputed.” MJ held up her phone to show what she was talking about. Peter, now embarrassed that he did not see it earlier, saw that her iPhone had a red case on the back with a black spider web plastered on top of it.

Peter exhaled a giant sigh of relief in his mind. At least she was not like the numerous other Americans who blindly believe the poison and libel of J. Jonah Jameson. Peter did not know how to take the ‘Spidey is the in thing’. He has not noticed anything of that sort, but at the same time, why would Peter ever want to know what teenage girls were interested in? Maybe this apparent trend is showing one of the most common clichés of teenagers: tell them not to do something (or that something is bad – like Jameson is about Spider-Man) and they will try as hard as possible to do it.

“Well, if you want to see pictures and video of Spider-Man, I probably have some that will be infinitely better in quality.”

“Really?” MJ gave Peter an expression that said ‘do you think I’m dumb or gullible’.

“I take some pictures for the Daily Bugle every once in a while. I post them anonymously, obviously. Don’t want Spider-Man’s foes knocking at my door thinking that I could give away his location.”

Therefore, the two teens jumped off the living room couch and headed upstairs towards Peter’s room. However, when Aunt May saw the two kids walking up the stairs, she decided that she needed to give them a warning.

“No Hanky-Panky, Peter. Do I make myself clear?” Peter’s face grew red at his aunt’s outdated comment. Does anyone even refer to it as ‘hanky-panky’ anymore?

“Don’t worry, Aunt Anna!” MJ called back, “I’ll go easy on your friend’s nephew!” Mrs. Watson’s niece rolled her eyes and continued to follow Peter upstairs. Once they were in his room, Peter booted up his desktop. However, once the background loaded up, an image of himself along with Gwen showed up. Peter had not anticipated that he would be showing his room to his blind date, let alone showing her anything on his computer.

“Sorry about that,” Peter said, as he hastily right-clicked on the screen to change the background. “I haven’t been able to let go yet.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Mary Jane gave Peter a smile, “My aunt filled me in on the details. You don’t have to show me those pictures. I’ll understand.”

“It’s not a problem.” Peter replied, double-clicking on a folder icon on the desktop. After clicking through various folders, Peter finally opened the folder that contained his Spider-Man portfolio.

“Wow,” MJ marveled at the images on the screen, “You must know him to get these pictures. Does he tip you off or something?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Could you please talk him into coming to see me someday?”

Peter paused for a moment, thinking about his response. Was this really happening? Was he actually competing with himself for the same girl? What was this world coming to? Things were so simple (relatively speaking) when Gwen was around. To Gwen, Peter and Spider-Man were one and the same. But was that situation safe?

“I don’t know, Spider-Man is a busy man.” Peter began to say, but when MJ gave him puppy eyes and a little frown, he relented. “Fine, I’ll see what I can do. I’ll let you know when he’s available, if he agrees to do it.”

“Thank you so much!” MJ embraced Peter, “What could I do to make up for this?”

“Well, my aunt probably would have my head on a silver platter if we don’t get together again, so what about a second date?”

“Tiger, I think both of our aunts have that card up their sleeves.”

The tent up, himself reasonable clothed he picked up one of the camp chairs handing it over to Loki before grabbing another one and sitting himself down to face the god. He felt tired, he could just pass out here for days. There was something about hulking out that always drained him, though it wasn't just a physical tiredness. That he could understand, his body did undergo a massive chemical change however there was something emotionally draining about it. It was hard to get back on his feet after he changed back, right now he it felt like he was experiencing depression, however he didn't let it show. Shrug it off Banner, it's what you usually have to do.

"Scientist, wanted to harness Gamma Energy to power the world, only way to get funding was from making a bomb. Someone almost died, I became a green rage monster. That's as interesting as my tale gets. How about yours? You are a norse god after all."

((Posting coz Im getting crunk tomorrow, but this should keep her going for a while!! Captain, feel free to ignore Thor or call her out on her bullshit!!! I can edit if its not cool -but please wait till Im not hungover which will probably happen in the future!))

With renewed resolve, Thor sat down on a chair beside Dwight as he tapped away on his slightly outdated desktop computer on a desk that was groaning just a little too loudly under the weight of books and papers and nick-nacks. Her determination, at least initially, was overwhelming, and she asked numerous questions about the inner workings of the computer and google. Dwight tried, with the patience of a saint, to explain, but it was like trying to explain nuclear power to a toddler, most of the concepts were largely beyond Thor, though she did pick up a little and seemed to be grasping the general idea of how the computer worked, even if it was just a little. It was evident from the start that she'd never become an elite hacker, but at this stage, Dwight thought that maybe, just maybe, if she could grasp this, he could teach her how to use a cell phone and how to drive a car. It was ambitious but why not.

"Most of the media didn't arrive until the building started to collapse, and since the Hulk was inside the building when Loki pulled his disappearing act ... only people inside of the building would have seen it. So we won't hear about that until eyewitnesses come forward." Dwight explained.
Thor nodded and added "And those who were close enough to be eye-witnesses are being treated for their injuries, it will take some time for them to come forward."
"Exactly. But even if we hear from them ... that doesn't answer where they went, and if the Hulk is anywhere with a significant population, then it would be all over the net just like these stories... Even if we did discover the Hulk's location ... are you sure Loki would be there too? I mean ... you don't know what the Hulk thing is, much less its powers." Dwight said, since he was the logical one of the team.
"I'm positive Loki is with him. Loki is a teleporter, a shape shifter. If the sneaky bastard hadn't turned himself into a mouse I'd have beaten him within an inch of his life, we'd know where the Hulk is and I'd have stopped him too. He and the beast vanished after he tricked me with an illusion of himself running from the battle... He'll not trick me again once we find him."
Dwight nodded slowly. The Hulk, from what he'd seen, appeared to be fuelled by rage, would it have come up with a plan to vanish? Not likely, plus, surely it owuld have vanished as soon as America and Thor threw it around a bit. Plus, given Loki's history and abilities ... all the clues pointed towards Loki and the Hulk escaping together. He couldn't argue against Thor on this line of evidence.

"Okay, lets go over what we know." Dwight said, taking out a note pad to jot down the facts they were sure of.
"Loki and the Hulk vanished together, and wherever they are, the Hulk is either contained, or somehow ... concealed, since ther have been no sightings or reports ... or they are somewhere that is uninhabited, or incredibly remote."
Thor nodded. That narrowed the search in one way, but also expanded it infinitely in another. "So you can use your computer to find all the uninhabited places on Midgard yes?" Thor asked.
Dwight nodded cautiously, "I can, but searching them on foot would be an almost impossible task. Earth- Midgard is quite large, and there are lots of different places that fit the description of remote. If I could, I'd do a satellite search, but Im not SHIELD, I don't have teh technology or the skills to do that.. If on the other hand, Loki has somehow contained the Hulk ... I have even fewer ideas where, and how he'd do it."
Thor straightened a little in her chair. "So we're back to square one essentially aren't we..."
"Somewhat, but ... even if the Hulk is contained, I don't think Loki would bring it somewhere densely populated. I'm ruling out all major cities, because Loki's not stupid, if the Hulk got out again, he'd be spotted in an instant. Contained or not, they're somewhere remote, its just a matter of where." Dwight argued.
"So what have you got then?" Thor said, it felt like they were getting a little closer, though now she was beginning to feel rather tired, this was a lot to take in and process.
"Theres a lot of mountains, deserts, rain forests, plenty of little islands in the Pacific, and the entire arctic circle ... Given Loki's heritage, I think he'd be fine in the arctic circle but I'm not sure how the big Green Bean would cope." Dwight answered.
"SHIELD can search those areas witht heir satellites and find him almost immediately can't they." Thor concluded.
"Well I can't say for sure, but ... Well I'd be willing to bet on it, not that they'd let either of us access that technology anyway. What are you implying Tara?"
"I'm thinkin' I'll have to pay SHIELD a visit pretty soon." she said ... though she wondered how she'd get their attention, they didn't exactly give her a phone number or mailing address.
"You don't know where they are or how to contact them" Dwight said drily.
"But I do know they are monitoring me, and if they aren't, I'll just have to get their attention." she replied cryptically. "It's pretty late, I'd better go back to my place. Thanks for the help ... I really don't know how I can repay you ... You're a good friend."

Dwight was saddened, and a little worried to see her go. Despite her unpredictable arrival, and the fact she came literally from another world, Dwight had grown somewhat used to her and understood her, she was pretty predictable most of the time, and for the first time since he'd gotten to know how, he was scared for her, and a little scared of her. He hadn't anticipated her to be so consumed with vengeance when she was normally so pleasant. Maybe he'd been naive and blinded by the lure of near infinite Asgardian-knowledge when he'd seen her, that he'd forgotten that she was an incredibly dangerous Goddess of Legend. Now he'd seen her, not as a lost stranger from Asgard or a technologically-inept and unusually tall friend, but as the woman she had once been, a deadly battle maiden, a Goddess on the warpath.

Thor on the other hand never went home. She went on her own search. It was unusual, since she was a warrior not an academic, but her search, based on the hastily explained nuggets of stories that Jill had given her, she knew Loki was somehow invovled in the Second World War and possibly the Cold War (at least ... he was around during the Cold War but his actions during that period were still a mystery to Thor). She ended up in the War Memorial museum, digging through the archives, tripping the security alarm of course but she quickly handled that situation by blowing out the power in the entire museum with her thunder powers. By the time the security guards had scrambled to find her inside the darkened museum, she'd grabbed them both with ease and told them to restore the power and let her do her research. She hadn't threatened to kill them, but ... she hadn't implied that she wouldn't kill them if she had to (not that she would though, but it wouldn't do to let them think she wasn't going to harm them, if they knew, they wouldn't have done as she said). Finally, with some of the power restored, at least enough for her to flip through the archived news papers and WW2 documents, she resumed her search, the 2 security guards KO'd on the floor by the fusebox. She was sure they'd wake up by the time she was finished, hopefully not sooner.

Did she feel guilty about it? A tad, but Loki was a dangerous fugitive, the ends justified the means, besides, no one died, worst case scenario, the two guards would have a dreadful headache tomorrow. The fact she hadn't murdered anyone didn't exactly nullify the fact that she'd committed an act of breaking and entering, property damage and assaulting 2 security officers ... but no one died, that would be Thor's entire defence.

Only Dwight believed her about how dangerous Loki was, and even then, he didn't understand the gravity of the situation, and she didn't want him to get in much deeper, for fear he'd end up on Loki's hit list if the God of Mischief ever found out Dwight was involved, she had to do her own search. She learned more about Loki's movements during the war, and even a few suspicious things during the Cold War that she thought Loki may have had a hand in, although none of it she could prove indefinitely, Loki was a shapeshifter and liar, it was hard to get any solid evidence on him, but she did get information, and leads. Nothing that would lead her to Australia where Loki actually was, at least, she hadn't found anything yet. Loaded with more information, though she doubted she'd learned anything SHIELD didn't already have a 10 page document about, she left via the fire exit door (which she'd busted open when she broke in) and walked down the street, it was still rather dark, though the sun would rise soon, and she'd find some way of accessing satellite imagery. Surely SHIELD weren't the only ones with the technology. Her next stop would be the local government buildings, they'd have more documents, or at the veyr least, they could probably tell her where she could find satellites for her search. The good news about this portion of her search was that it probably wouldn't involve as much breaking and entering since it was almost morning already.

The following morning Dwight still hadn't heard from Thor, but he didn't wake up (with a creak in his neck from falling asleep at his desk researching isntead of going to bed) to the sound of police banging on his door or SHIELD agents climbing through the fire-escape. It was calm ... for now. He hastily showered and dressed himself, he couldn't afford to waste any time, he was both intrigued and terrified by Loki ... the fact he was here. His mother always said curiosity would kill him, he was beginning to think perhaps she'd been onto something, he was certainly playing with fire ... or thunder it seemed.