The Valkyrie also bows upon greeting Lord Doom. It was society of upper class protocol. She didn't know much of Latveria or of Doom himself but she could tell that Tony didn't like him, the way he brushed past him like that before. But she had no need for opinions, this was an assignment. It mattered not what she thought. She had a job to do.

"You flatter me, Your Majesty." She blushes slightly at Lord Doom.
~"You flatter me, Your Majesty." She blushes slightly at Odin.~

Snapping out of her slight vision, she fully resumes her focus on Doom. "SHIELD are treating me very well. I couldn't ask for anymore job satisfaction of aiding them in helping the people of the world. I'm glad you could make it tonight. Your people so admire you, so I hear." She had to be nice as a mere formality, but what she did know was Latveria was a land of peace. Doom managed to avert wars in his country and remain neutral to the rest of the world politically.

"I will be your escort during your visit here in America. Is there anything you'd like me to prepare for in particular or shall I just read a copy of your itinerary, Sir?" She put on a formal tone worthy of an elite SHIELD agent but she didn't quite look the part yet dressed in a gown, rather than her uniform.

----

Pepper was absolutely stunned by Tony's offer of a prominent job at Stark Tech. She blinks taking it all in before answering. "Y-yes! I'd love to! I m-mean that's if you're sure I'm up to the job?" She wasn't quite sure of herself, could she really put up with his attitude 24/7 or even being that close to him on a purely professional capacity. But she needed a prospective career. This was her big break.

And then the red head spotted Victoria and Doom speaking. "Oh no. She told me she had to be a bodyguard for a VIP she would meet her tonight....looks like it's him...." Pepper didn't like Doom anymore than Tony did. "I wish I could tell her not to do it but it's an official assignment for SHIELD." She looks disheartened. "Tony, would you keep an eye on her for me please? I worry. And you've got that fancy new suit, maybe you could do something if...something goes bad for her. I don't trust Doom."

Clint Barton sat rooted in his seat on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Quinjet, twirling an arrow between his fingers. While some of the other agents were enjoying the limelight and the delicacies of the high life, Hawkeye, along with a few hand-picked agents, were being sent to take down a recently discovered A.I.M. hideout. Beside him sat his second-in-command, his partner in crime, Mockingbird, who is also known as Barbara Morse.

“Even with all the buzz about Cap and that Valkyrie chick, who do they send to deal with some A.I.M. scoundrels? Hawkeye! S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most valuable agent! Heck, I betI could beat either of those two hotshots.” Barbara tilted her head to the side as she glared at her teammate.

“Really? You think you could take Captain America or Valkyrie down? By yourself?”

“Why not? An arrow here, an arrow there, and then I win!” Clint aimed his unloaded bow down the plane’s aisle way and pulled back on the string. Once he had made his point, he slowly released his pull on the bowstring, making sure he did not let go and dry fire his bow.

By the expression on Mockingbird’s face, she was not very convinced. “Really?” She continued to press the issue, trying to make Clint see the error in his overconfidence.

“Well…” Barton stopped spinning the arrow with his fingers and placed a hand over his mouth while thinking about his answer, “Maybe not alone, but with you at my side, we could beat anyone!” Mockingbird rolled her eyes as her coworker bragged about their effectiveness as a team.

“5 minutes until touchdown.” The pilot said over the intercom. Clint pulled his purple mask over his head. He took several deep breaths, calming his nerves, preparing himself for this little raid.

“Ready for this, Bobbi?” Mockingbird only nodded her head, tightening her grip over her battle stave that she was wielding in her hand.

"I've been tailing this 'Thunderball' character for three days now. Guy runs around with the Wrecking Crew, but I doubt they know he's one of these shape-shifting alien Skrulls. A month ago he assumed the identity of a doctor Elliot Franklin, probably to get intel on the gamma tech the military's working on. Now he looks to have got jacked on steroids and throws a ball and chain around. I can see his real face. And tonight, this alien's going down..." Derek thought as he leaped and ran across rooftops keeping up with a car Thunderball had stolen.

Sometime later before ditching the car, Thunderball changed clothes. The 3D Man could see him shifting his form rather than actually changing any clothing. The man looked to have dropped about forty pounds as well to help hide his other alternate identity. Derek moved ahead to the doctor's last residence and was waiting for the Skrull. Upon entering through the door into the open, the alien was caught off guard by a punch from the stronger and faster 3D Man. A couple more punches into it Derek grabbed the alien and threw him through a wall. The home was huge. The doctor had been rich after all, before the whole being abducted and replaced with an alien. 3D Man was usually a hit first ask questions later kinda guy when it came to the aliens he was hunting. As the alien struggled to get up, Derek finally thought to ask some questions. Hopefully the alien was informative like the better villains in James Bond films...

"I know you're called a Skrull. What are you doing on Earth?" 3D Man asked standing back from the floored alien.

"You can't MAKE me talk, human. You don't look like the torturing type." the alien said shifting back into his alien form clad in a ridiculous purple alien suit.

"I'm sure the military can find something to do with you..." Derek began before being interrupted by the alien.

"Wait... YOU'RE the one who defeated Captain Paibok? You may have got lucky against the Power Skrull but every other Skrull you hand over to your brother and his friends in the military..." the alien began as Derek got a shocked look on his face at the mention of his brother Donald, "..yes, we know about your brother, human. Every other Skrull merely shifts into another human and escapes before being completely neutered by your military. The last Skrull you sent away..."

"Goliath..?" 3D Man thought out loud.

"...already back among the human race as a hero this time. Atlas." the alien continued.

"What do you want with Earth?" 3D Man tried again as his brother and a few special military operatives in protective gear hit the scene.

"I'll take my chances with your friends, thank you. We'll be seeing you soon..." the alien continued before being restrained by a knockout gas and a fully automated fold out prison cell that formed around him.

"Did he tell you anything?" Donald asked his younger brother.

"Yeah, the alien I took down last week got away didn't he?" Derek asked with Tri-Force energy emitting more fluidly from his eyes.

"He did, why?" Donald asked.

"The one I just took down said he's already on the move again. As a hero calling himself Atlas." Derek explained.

"I saw that guy in the 'Bugle. Same powers, makes sense. You gonna go after him again?" the older sibling asked while noticing some of the finer things in the good doctor's home.

"That goes without saying. How do they keep getting away from the military?" 3D Man asked with aggravation being clear in his tone.

"Look... we're trying to replicate your 6th sense, but we need you to run more tests..." Donald began reasoning.

"I don't have time for tests, damnit!" Derek said a little louder as the last of the military agents evacuated the scene, "The more time I spend with you studying my powers the more time the aliens have to gain the upper hand.

"You just like being a superhero little brother. You don't have to lie to me." Donald said taking a jab at Derek.

"Can you give me a lift back into the city? I forgot my subway card and I don't have any cash on me?" Derek asked.

"You can run at least seventy miles an hour and you want a ride? In traffic?" Donald asked.

"I don't feel up for running, I just beat up an alien. And your car has a radio and a reclining seat..." 3D Man said grinning and showing off some dimples.

~KL~

"Things shall get naught but better for my people my dear. I will be announcing something soon that will change the face of Latveria! Usher in a new age of prosperity for it's people. You can never do too much for your people, something you will learn no doubt my dear." Doom clasped his hands behind his back, looking over at Tony Stark and the young woman he was dancing with who were both glancing at him. He tipped his head in their direction, acknowledging that he saw them and knew they were talking about it.

They could talk all they wanted for all he cared, they didn't know his intentions. They could judge him all they liked, in the end it was him who had ushered in a new age of prosperity for his people. Crime was non-existent, tensions in the region were gone. He could stand by his record and would not be ashamed of it, occasionally he did things that others would not but the ends justified the means. That did not make the fabled Captain Steve Rogers a villain during the second World War why should he be labelled as one? The answer was obvious and yet, nobody else could see it.

Pitiful.

"In terms of my schedule you should enjoy yourself tonight my dear. This is after all your parents party and very much in your honor." He signaled to the dance floor. "Please, you are the lady of the hour. Do not let me hamper your celebrations. I am sure if anything were to happen you won't be too far away." He turned and then began striding towards Tony Stark and his friend.

He extended his hand, like the rest of him encased in metal. Eyes turned on them, it wasn't often a monarch offered someone a handshake. "Congratulations on the creation of Stark Tech, Mr.Stark. I was quite impressed by your demonstration." He felt like a fool, offering his hand in greeting.

Tony glanced away for a moment from Pepper's response, giving an almost childish raspberry in the process. Before looking back at the surprised Pepper. “Please Pepper, you're one of the very few people I know who can tolerate me for long periods of time. That seems like a perfectly good place to start in your qualifications.” Tony noted as he went back to dancing with Pepper since that was as good a thing to do on a dance floor as much else. “Heck I even talked to my college James Rhodes about it and even he likes the idea, just come in tomorrow and we can start ironing out details.”

Tony Stark had glanced over just as Pepper Potts also saw that Doom went to Victoria and was speaking to her. Tony shook his head silently to himself, especially after Doom nodded back to them. “Doom, come on man there's better ways to talk to women then making them bodyguards.” Tony muttered to himself, he felt like there shouldn't be a question wither or not there was an ulterior motive to what was happening. Doom just happens to want to be 'bodyguarded' by the hero who has incredible powers? How convenient.

Before Tony though could continue the metal clad attention magnet came up to Stark. Offering his hand in a proper greetings which even threw Tony off a little. Still with people all around seeing this and with full attention on it Tony couldn't use his hate as a crutch and slipped in his hand. It was firm, the kind of handshake you make when you want to show your worth without saying a word. Still Tony kept his cool even as he felt like he might as well be shaking the hand of Satan himself. “Yes thank you, I'm quite proud of what we have going and I think financially speaking its working out well so far.” Thankfully despite some public opinion to the contrary the stock for Stark Tech has gone up since the big press conference and conference presentation. So at least Tony even in the face of someone he despised, could talk about his favorite topic, himself and his awesomeness. “Still I suppose I should apologize for the earlier comment. Certainly could of worded myself better and I'm sorry for the personal insult.

'Also, if you don't want to be called little green riding hood. Take off the stupid hood ya brain dead dictator.' Tony's mind snapped out as he made the professional move outwardly.

Tony for a moment thought back to when he caught Doom speaking to someone he of course recognized. Obadiah Stane, he had barely seen the guy after taking the company CEO title out from under him. He knew Stane was mad about it but figured by now he man would've calmed down. He didn't know officially yet, the guy's hard to pin down for meetings since he does a lot of travel for the company. Still Stark had his curiosity peaked. “So, if you don't mind me asking, I saw you were speaking to Mr. Stane my associate. Now I'm not trying to play nosey susie here but what exactly was he talking to you about? Something good about me I hope.” Tony beamed a smile and shrugged as he asked. Getting laughs from the small crowd around them as he readied himself to gauge Doom's reaction and answer.

There were many things that Loki had considered improbable (He dismissed the notion of the impossible quite a long time ago), but witnessing yet another Asgardian standing on stage, singing her heart out (Unknowingly in a tribute to him) was something that he hadn't tried calculating the odds for; She seemed to be the daughter of the human hosts of the party, which either meant that she was adopted or there were forces at work here that he needed to track down. As strange as it might have sounded, Loki didn't like mysteries that were mysterious to him because mysteries got you killed or screwed over in a major way. Often times both.

Watching as a silent witness as *Insert whatever important title fancies his moment* Doom and the young CEO of Stark Tech fought each other in a battle of wits (A battle that he was currently favoring Doom in coming out on top of) for a few moments, Loki quickly forsook the civilized dick measuring competition to follow the actions of the impossible woman wearing a fetching green dress. She seemed familiar in her way, but different enough that he didn't recognize her as one of the ghosts of his past... Ill at ease but hiding that away under a facade of merriment that he had practiced to an art form over decades if not centuries, Loki approached the singer of honor with a warm smile and a respectful bow.

"Victoria Parrington I presume? Or would this rose prefer to go by a different name?" Loki asked playfully while his mind was operating to understand how another person had come to adopt the powers of Asgard. Between her and the hammer wielding female 'Thor' he had encountered earlier he was starting to believe he was losing his touch at genocide.

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

And the boredom ensues for the Lady of the Hour as Doctor Doom dismisses her for the eve for Tony Stark. Pepper would have to save Tony, so that meant she couldn't bombard her with questions, thank Odin. However, she heard a voice behind her. She assumed it were another hapless suitor to try their hand at wooing her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaRk1C0Zz6E&list=PLB203179CF8ED0E9D&index=4

"Victoria Parrington I presume? Or would this rose prefer to go by a different name?"

She half growls underneath her breath. 'Rose? What is this, Romeo and Juliet?' She thinks before answering with a sigh. “It's The Valkyrie. But Victoria is fine.” She turns around with an unamused expression before really looking at the gentleman in front of her. A dapper one, and the most dapper one in the entire room at that. She literally lost her train of thought and blinks a couple of times at him. She felt strangely nostalgic, excited yet angry...and a little frightened all at the same time.

Phil Coulson spotted them from a hundred meters away and chokes on his drink with wide eyes. He couldn't let her know who Loki really was, she was Asgardian and Loki had caused the Ragnarok apparently. She'd either flip out and try to kill Loki at her party or have a mental breakdown. He scrambled towards them, pushing past everyone in his way frantically. SHIELD had to protect her AND Loki alike.

“I...I....I'm sorry.....I didn't catch your name. Have we met before..?” She recognised him but she'd never met him in her life. Why though, she was falling over her words before this man she had no idea. No man had ever rumbled her confidence before. And she also could not certainly explain why her soul just started to suddenly resonate a golden hue. She looks down at her arms to see a golden wisp surrounding her skin.

Before Loki could even spin her a lie or a false name, and before Phil could get to her in time...a female's voice came from out of nowhere.

“Lovers reunite at last.” A sarcastic twisted smile came from red pursed lips. The voice belonged to a blonde woman. “His name is Loki, darling.” She explained to a confused Valkyrie.

“Loki...the Norse God of Mischief and Lies..?” Victoria assumed. This was no mere coincidence. First she was a Norse angel of death, now a God of Norse mythology was standing before her. She looked at the blonde woman, who she also recognised. Amora, the Enchantress. Trained by only the best – Loki.



“Very good.” She approached them both. “You're remembering quicker than I thought.” She turns to Loki. “Aren't you pleased to see me, Master?” She acted hurt. “You're losing your touch...you don't recognise the only person loyal to you?" She laughs to herself quite smugly but then glares him down. "You PROMISED me Thor in return for helping you conquer Asgard but you lied. Again.” Then turning to Victoria. “And YOU abandoned me. You both betrayed me and now you're going to pay. I'm not letting you be together this time. And there certainly wont be any happy endings today...” Her hands glowing with fiery vengeance. People backing away from the three Asgardians in the room.

“Midgard has made you soft, Loki! Watch as the Apprentice becomes the Master!” The wind picks up around them as Amora conjures 3 giant serpents. One to distract Doom and Iron Man. One to distract Loki. And one to kill The Valkyrie.

“Say goodbye to your mortal family, Goddess of Fidelity!! You'll soon come to realise that Loki was never worth it.” She cackles as one Serpent heads straight for the Parringtons to Victoria's horror. One goes for Pepper Potts and the third goes straight for the innocent people nearby.

Drewvonawesome/Angel Vicky

-8 months before-
-Richards home-

The attic wasn't really the planned location for the entire day, but when you're someone like Reed Richards with the kind of things that were there.  It's hard not too get sucked into an attention grabbing moment that turns into an all day venture.  It wasn't like he had planned on it, a random thought led to a thought about his dad, Nathan Richards, and the memory his dad had designed a blueprint on such a thought.  Reed went up to the attic where all his dad's thing were put, and just started browsing everything.  His dad's collection of ideas, sketches, blueprints, and everything he had on his personal laptop was a treasure trove for a thinker.  He never was one to waste an idea by just keeping it in his mind.  

Susan Storm, Reed's friend of about a year or so since they met at Comic Con in New York, decided she would call round at his house today because he didn't call her this morning. They were so close that they were never off the phone or computer talking to one another. Or even texting a million times a day. Everyone around them says they're like a couple, but maybe Sue and Reed just couldn't see it yet. She rang the doorbell and Reed's mother answered. She informed the smiley bright blonde that he was in the attic, her expression was one of sadness. Sue knew what that meant...Reed's grief and his mom's never had gone away. She was glad she visited, Red was in need of some much needed comfort right now. She ascends the stairs and makes her way up to the attic. There she finds him trawling through memoirs of Nathan Richards. She approaches him meekly and tentatively, without saying a word, places a gentle hand on his shoulder to show she was there for him. As always like a true friend. "Hey, you okay?" She asks and kneels down beside him to see what he was looking at.  

Reed was too distracted and entranced by what he was looking through to even notice Susan was there and much less getting closer and closer until she was right next to him with a soft hand onto his shoulder.  Reed's head jumped up startled before turning over to Susan Realizing it was her and giving a warm smile.  "Hey Sue!  Oh no its nothing I'm just looking through all this."  Reed gestured at the multitude of paper and notebooks surrounding him.  He chuckled slightly hoping to ease the worry in her voice and face.  Though he knew why it was there, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable place for him right now mentally to be looking through all of his dad's things like this.  It always worried his mom the most, as she saw it as him refusing to let go of the past.  Reed didn't quite see it like that, but deep down he wasn't sure completely himself.  "No some of this stuff is just fascinating.  Why what time is it?"  Reed asked realizing he hasn't paid the slightest bit of attention to his watch or smart phone.

Sue looks at her white metallic watch with a large circular face surrounded by rhinestones that looked expensive. And it was, a gift from her father. Though she'd much rather spend time with him than spend his money. "It's nearly 3.30pm." She then looks up at him from the floor and rests her head against her knee. "I got worried when you didn't reply my texts."

Reed glanced at his smart phone realizing both the time and the texts he didn't even see.  "Oh man I thought it was eight in the morning still.  I'm sorry."  Reed meekly said as he put his smart phone back into his jeans pocket.  She patted her head, letting his fingers run through her rich blond hair.  "Hey least you came over, I do always really appreciate when you come over like this."  He went to put away the notebook he was reading at the moment when something slipped out of its pages.  A large folded up piece of paper, one side blue and the other white with numbers on it.  As it tumbled out and onto Susan's lap.

Sue smiles warmly as he runs his fingers through her locks, she felt a warm fuzzy feeling as he did so. But not like when Johnny did the same, it was a different kind of feeling. She catches the blueprint in her hands and upon inspecting it her eyes widen. "Reed. This looks like some sort of temporal rift device....is this what your dad was working on??" She asks him with shock.  

"What?  Let me see..."  Reed gently took the blueprint from her hands and after blowing away and wiping dust off of a nearby old large piece of luggage laid the blueprint out.  He looked at it stunned for a moment, what was this?  Did his dad not tell him about it?  "Oh my God it is!"  Reed glanced around at all the scribbles and notes on it point out various parts.  "The main module here looks like a main power source, runs off of a pretty hefty amount too."  Reed examined some of the smaller notes more carefully.  "Negative zone?  Whats a negative zone?"  Reed's mind started to get working as too the phrase, but most importantly where he heard it before.  Suddenly it clicked, and Reed frantically started looking through the old documents and notes he was looking at earlier.

Sue watches him with concern as she gets up from the floor. "Reed..." She didn't know what to do, she'd never seen him this frantic before. "Reed...Reed.......REED!" She finally puts her foot down and grabs both his hands. "Calm. Down." She looked right into his eyes, her nose almost touching his. "Breathe." 

Reed was in his own little world trying to find the right thing he was looking for.  Not as much frantic as much focused as he finally found the small notebook.  "Yeah no I'm..."  Suddenly though he felt himself close to Susan, almost unbearably close as Susan was telling him to calm down.  Every word she said left a little bit of heat just grazing his cheek.  Reed felt strongly some kind of feeling he couldn't quite put into words.  But he just quietly nodded to Susan before letting himself be out of her grips.  Almost needing a moment before he regained his thought pattern.  "Right uh..."  Reed just muttered before seeing the book.  "Oh, right!  No I recognized the phrase 'negative zone' but just didn't realize what it meant."  Picking the book back up he placed it onto the blueprint and flipped it open to a particular part. 

 "He talked about a negative zone but without the proper context I didn't get what he was talking about."  Reed started into, his mind scrambling together all the pieces of the puzzle.  It was something he liked to think he inherited from both of his parents, as he could just solve anything seemingly with just focus and time.  "The negative zone is a possible temporal dimension.  Almost a counter reality to ours, what this though talks about is the idea of creating something that uses this counter reality to seemingly teleport something or someone at a speed beyond light.  Essentially creating teleportation as its known conceptually."  Reed's voice and expression were turning to joy with each word as he turned to Susan.  "Sue!  We should take this to your father and work on it!  Could you imagine the possibilities if it worked?"

Susan wasn't so sure about it as Reed was though. "I don't know about this Reed. Imagine if it all went wrong..." She holds herself with her arms at her elbows and leans on one leg. "It sounds like something the government scientists would love to get hold of, and imagine if it got into the wrong hands!" She was the morality behind the science. "I'm all for scientific advancement but...I'm really scared, Reed." She tells him openly, she'd never lost confidence in science before, but that was when she KNEW what she was doing. She gazed glumly at the floor for a moment. 

Reed was still too deep into the project to even realize Susan's concerns until he looked over and saw her staring down at the floor in worry.  Reed paused for a moment before reaching over and gently placing a hand onto her shoulder.  "Hey hey if this does work I can put patents on it and not let anyone use the technology unless I say so.  Besides that can happen with any scientific advance."  Reed snuggled up closer to Susan and placed a hand of his onto one of her's.  "Being afraid is okay, but what if this does succeed?  Come on lets just get his advice and if any thing starts to go wrong with it we can call it off.  Lets just at least try okay?"  Reed asked giving her shoulder a soft rub.

Sue's eyes twinkled as she looks up at Reed. He somehow always knew how to convince her of anything. Or was that just because she had a soft spot for the brainiac. She relents and nods, smiling slightly, firmly holding onto his hand for reassurance. "Okay. Let's go see my Dad." 

Unbeknownst to Thor, Stark wasn't home, and everything was going down at Parrington estate. Still, there would be plenty of action tomorrow, although Thor was impatient if anything. She arrived at Stark Towers relatively uninterrupted, traffic had been worse than usual around New York which was a mere annoyance, but she made it to Stark towers without Fury calling in the cavalry to get in her way. Little did she know she was being tailed by a small team of agents, though she did suspect Fury would pull a move like that anyway.

Stark towers was tall, and shiny. Clearly, this Tony Stark kid on the TV wasn't all mouth and no trousers. Thor cared little for business empires on Midgard, but the grandeur of Stark towers clearly showed that Stark was a significant person. That was good, if he was living in a hovel, Thor doubted he'd be of much use.

She pounded on the door but there was no response, a security guard made his way down to deal with the commotion.
"What in blazes are you doing lady? Theres a doorbell yknow and no ones here."
"I come seeking he who calls himself Stark." she answered. "It is most urgent."
"Well he ain't here, he'll be back tomorrow. I'm sure if you leave your details he can arrange a meeting"
"This cannot wait you must tell me where he is"

Before Thor could continue to grill the security guard, the SHIELD agents sent to pursue her stepped in, perfect timing too, because if she couldn't get to Stark soon, she'd likely break in and teach herself how to use satellites (more than likely breaking them before achieving any kind of success).
"Step down Thor, we don't mean any harm." the agent warned, hand hovering at his side incase he'd need to grab his sidearm.
Thor turned to face the team of special agents, Mjolnir clasped in her hand.
"If you truly mean me no harm, you'll stay out of my way. Fury has sent you has he not? To stop me, because he believes Loki is to become Midgards mighty guardian? Your protector?"
The agents looked amongst themselves, trying to formulate a response, Fury had sent them, but it was likely she didn't want to hear that answer, even though she knew it was the truth.
"Aye, your silence only confirms it. What, pray-tell, has he command you do to me? Kill me? Capture me?"
"He sent us to talk." came the response.
"I have no use for his words, nor yours, unless those words reveal where Laufeyson is hiding."
"Why have you come to Stark Towers, he's obviously not here." the Agent tried distraction tactics.
"I've no need to answer to you, nor Fury."

One of the Agents, during the conversation, managed to sneak around, positioning himself behind Thor's back while the other agents attempted to talk her down. Armed with a stun gun and sedatives, he hoped the element of surprise would be advantage enough to take down the Thunder God. He sprung forward, years of special training ended in a fraction of a second when Thor spun around, hammer-arm at the ready, and easily batted the agent aside, sending him crashing into a parked car leaving a sizeable dent. He wasn't killed by the swift blow, but he was certainly badly injured and instantly KO'd. It would take months to recover from the hit.

"Who shall be next?"Thor shouted at the remaining agents, a burning anger in her eyes. Nothing and no one was allowed to stand in her way when it came to finding and eliminating Loki.
The agents, who'd raised their weapons in the moment Thor swung her hammer, immediately began lowering them.
"Go tend to your wounded. I have no need for further bloodshed this day, unless 'tis the blood of that wretched traitor Loki." Thor said coldly.

The agents scrambled to help their fallen comrade, whose lungs had been punctured by his crushed ribs and his head had taken quite a smack when it crashed into the car. He was gasping and gurgling as they called in for backup. Thor skulked off into the darkness.

There would be no more bloodshed tonight ... but tomorrow she would have Stark, and he would find Loki, and she would get revenge.

Dwight was shocked ... he couldn't believe his ears when Fury, who'd sent agents to bring him in for questioning regarding Thor's movements, revealed the destruction Thor had caused. Fury quickly surmised that THor was operating alone and that Dwight genuinely had no idea what she was doing or where she was going.

It hurt. Dwight felt betrayed, but ... his logical brain kicked in and he told himself that she'd snuck off to protect him ... He was her friend, she'd said as much, and she was trying to protect him from Loki. But as Fury revealed Thor's path of destruction, the wrecked police car, destroyed museum doors and security, injured cops and now the seriously injured SHIELD agent, he feared for her, for himself. Had he bought into the legends too much? Was it the fabled God of Lies who should be trusted and not Thor?

He'd been unbelievably loyal to Thor, and she'd shown him nothing only kindness, yet she had wrought such destruction. But it was all to track down Loki, she'd not harmed a soul in her quest to find answers, to find Odinson, it was only since she saw Loki she became dangerous. Perhaps Loki had cast a spell on her that had made her become unhinged ... he was a trickster after all.

"I can talk to her. Director Fury, let me help. She'll listen to me." Dwight pleaded.
Perhaps if he could talk her down ... she'd explain, he's be right that she meant well. He'd fix this.
"Son, she's beyond reason. She claims she wants justice for her homeland, but this isn't the behaviour of a benevolent Goddess dealing justice to a fugitive, this is much more. She wants revenge. Not even you can talk her down. You've seen what she done to one of our agents." Fury said sternly.
Dwight was a good man, Fury wasn't going to have him throw his life away because he was enamoured with a vengeful Goddess.
"She could have killed that agent. If she was truly that callous she'd have killed him, she has Mjolnir and Goddess-tier strength, to her, that was barely a tap, if she wanted him dead she could have pounded him into slush without breaking a sweat. She overreacted, yes, but you haven't seen what she's seen. The last thing she saw during Ragnarok was a clone of her greatest ally, Odinson, turning on her, and Loki, wreaking havok. She's probably having PTSD, she truly thinks he'll destroy Midgard. She's trying to help us."
"You think you're like her, that you understand her. Doctor, you aren't an Asgardian, you're a researcher, and you need to remember whose side your on. Humanities. The Earth."


~And thus ends Thor's rampage for one day. Stay tuned for part two. Whack-a-mole Whack-a-Loki~

If there was one thing Loki hated, it was serpents... even those that walked around on two legs and were relatively pleasing to the eye. Granted the appearance of Amora, the so called 'Enchantress' was something of a surprise, considering the few days he was half expecting one of the waiters to remove some kind of rubber mask and revel themselves to be Odin back from the dead and seeking revenge any moment now. In fact, all Amora's little tangent earned her from the god of Mischief and Lies was a roll of his eyes. "Oh please, for someone who's only real abilities lay in manipulating and screwing people you of all people can't take offense when it happens to you. And you were so eager to be used once I dangled the one self centered bastard who was too focused on playing with his hammer to even give you a first glance in front of you..."

And then there were snakes.

For a brief but eternal moment of primal terror, Loki felt his eyes burning as another shot of venom was spat into his eyes. Some pains you could get used to be ever newly spat drop of snake venom unleashed a fresh moment of torment that would last for almost an eternity before the next eternity of agonizing pain arrived. Fight or Flight kicked in and for less then a second the lever was jammed somewhere in-between. It wouldn't take much to flee... a quick teleport and he would be in Ireland, where there weren't any snakes and he would never have to deal with the fanged demons ever again. Had he been almost a hundred years younger he would have said to Hel with the humans they'll be fine and hit the trail without a second thought.

But now... now if he left he would be letting people down. Abandoning these people because he was afraid would be spitting in the face of whatever power that be that had deemed him worthy of a second chance... and worst of all he wouldn't be able to look himself in his reflection ever again.

Rejecting flight, Loki jammed the lever towards fight. He could freak out over this later.

Looking around the room, he quickly spied what appeared to be a sword of some kind mounted on the wall. It didn't take much to teleport it over to his waiting hand. Closer inspection reveled it to be a poor weapon of choice, designed more for decoration than for actual combat in mind; It would most likely shatter the moment he tried to stab it into something. Placing his hand on the blade, he focused just enough to make it glow with an arcane light; Still not the grandest weapon ever made, but magic would temporally make up for its short comings so it could serve his purpose.

Now properly armed, Loki turned to face one of his personal demons.

He ignored the serpent that was heading towards Doom and Stark; While he didn't know Doom personally, from what little he had seen at this party suggested that he would step up to deal with the snake if only to improve his own image. It was time to see if that armor was worth it.

He ignored the one aiming for the hosts of the party; Victoria the Valkyrie wielded the power of an Asgardian and from what he had overheard at the party she could hold her own rather well with it and he doubted she would let her parents die without fighting through Hel itself first. She wouldn't need his support just yet... And he honestly had some things to think about.

His eyes were focused on the third and final snake; The one that was aiming for humans who couldn't defend themselves against it. Even as it reared itself backwards in order to launch its first devastating strike, one of Loki's hands were up and a ball of flame shot out surprisingly fast, cutting the snake off from its lunge by flying right in front of its mouth, barely missing burning off the tip of its forked tongue, but throwing off its senses for a moment.

The snake turned towards its new challenger, clearly mad as it moved with a surprising turn of speed towards the sword wielding Loki. Loki himself did not move, letting the serpent rear its head back in order to strike out at him with fang and venom before the fireball completed its round about arc and collided with the back of the serpents head, exploding with a great deal of concussive force that knocked the surprised snake forwards... where an enchanted blade was waiting for it, piercing through its lower jaw, sliding through its mouth and cutting apart its brain before cleanly exiting its skull. Twisting and jerking the blade a few times to make sure that its brain was diced completely, Loki pulled the sword out and let the snake drop to the ground before stamping on its head and reducing it to a gory paste.

Turning towards Amora, Loki seemed somewhat amused. "You know, I'm honestly not surprised that this was your plan. You always had trouble coming up with something that didn't involve getting it into bed on your own; Maybe you should sleep with an artist next time so 'your' next plan will at least be some what creative."

"I believe it is your job to ask him what he was saying about you, not to ask me about it. Though I can assure you he didn't say anything against you." This was when there was the shouting. Some people couldn't just handle their alcohol. Then snakes appeared, big snakes. One fo them diving towards the Parringtons, one towards civillians and one towards himself and Tony Stark.

He just sighed, the snake diving straight for the boy. Easy pickings without his suit. Doom opened his palm, and after a brief incantation (Under his breath, he wanted them to think the armour did it after all) his hand became electrified. Taking a step forward he placed his palm onto the scales of the snake giving it a shock, it merely pulled back off him and lunged for him. Raising his arm he took he braced himself to take the blow. His armour holding though the physical impact was still quite impressive. He turned his face to look at Stark.

"You do look rather dapper Mr.Stark however I am led to believe that you do have something a little more utalitarian with you this evening?" A tail whipped round and caught him in the stomach, sending him back into a nearby wall. Grunting he pulled himself out of the wall. "Something more suited to the current situation." He pressed a button on his wrist controls, sending a signal back to the Latvarian Embassy. While usually he would never use such measures, this was one of the times he could get away with it and make a good impression doing so.

Tony Stark was about to press Doom on the matter since he wasn't exactly that impressed with Doom's incredible vague response. He knew he had to find Stane and get an answer from him. Still the thought process for Stark's business was in need of taking the backseat since HOLY SHIT GIANT SERPENTS! The three of them had showed up and Stark could only think the new lady near Victoria was to blame for it. Things had picked up in a hurry when some guy he never noticed before was wielding a sword and getting medieval on one of the serpents. Jesus Victoria's new friends are weird.

Still Stark had business to attend too, as Doom pointed out after sending out some electricity from his suit... at least thats what it looked like, Stark wasn't sure what the science of it was but didn't have a second to really mull it over. Watching the dictator get smacked hard by the snake did get a smirk out of Stark who turned to Pepper. “Just get out of here Pepper, I'll send you a text when everything cools down.” Finally Tony turned and ran to the valet who to his credit quickly got the suitcase and had it out for Tony. Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a small wad of 100s. “Here keep the change, excellent service!” Stark called back as he had the suit open up. To get back in from the portable state called for having the front open up, hop into it and let the suit close around him.

“Alright testings over, lets see what this bad boy can do.” Tony Stark had fear, excitement, and pure adrenaline coursing through him. The suit had been tested and tested again in all kinds of different ways but now it was purely go time. Iron Man leapt up to the sky and with his hand and feet thrusters kicked in. Giving him flight upwards as the serpent eyed him and was about to come in on him. “Snakes, why does it always have to be snakes?” Iron Man said aloud just because he had to let the reference get out. When the serpent came in on him Iron Man quickly reached out and grasped the top and bottom of his mouth. Letting his thrusters put energy in to not let it get too close to the guests.

The serpent struggled in Iron Man's grip to get him to let go but Iron Man held on and was waiting for the right moment. Finally as the serpent pulled back on his head Iron Man zoomed in grasping the serpent's neck. Plunging some fingers into the serpent's neck it hissed wildly in pain as Iron Man struggled with his strength to get the right leverage. Finally with full power Iron Man was able to grip in, and with a rip that could only be described as 'disturbing' Iron Man ripped the serpent's head clean off its body. Tossing aside the body to have it come crashing down away from everyone Iron Man stayed up in the air to casually toss aside the serpent's head. “Man, my first real test with the suit and I ripped a snake's head off. This suit is so metal...”

Amora laughs as she watched Loki. “Loki…helping mortals?” At his remark she growls and throws a fireball of her own toward him. “You really are pitiful, Laufeyson!”

Victoria seems to glide across the floor toward the Parringtons as her wings sprout forth in a brilliant burst of light. Her traditional Asgardian armour is conjured from her subconscious; that resembled the female Elite warriors of Asgard, similar to that of Lady Sif’s. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51b3dc8ee4b051b96ceb10de/51ce6099e4b0d911b4489b79/523b2c74e4b0ac8ae993ad5f/1379621608617/thor-the-dark-world-character-posters-for-lady-sif-and-jane-foster-preview.jpg?format=1000w
She hadn’t quite got the hang of controlling her newly acquired power of transmutations yet. After all who was there who could teach her?

Her trusty blade Dragonfang appears in one hand and silver shield in the other. She blocks a full charge by the serpent with her shield but is propelled back and slams into the wall, leaving a huge cracked dent. “Get out of here!” She screams at her parents as they nod and ran away from the serpent. SHIELD agents running everywhere to get civilians to safety and out of the way of the onslaught. Their job was to make sure they couldn’t be used as hostages against the heroes.

Although some people could not help but watch The Valkyrie stare down the giant serpent. It spat venom at her, she sidesteps and watches it burn through the floor. She turns back to the monster. With gritted teeth she awaits its next charge. And as it did so, she jumps upward and brings her blade down at its neck, her wings holding her in the air as Dragonfang sliced its head clean off. She lands and Amora cackles, weaving her arms mystically.

“I can do this ALL day sister!” The giant serpent's head grew back and lunged again at Valkyrie, who managed to dodge its head butt but gets caught by its recoiling tail swipe, smacking her across the room, sliding to a stop along the floor.

As did the two serpents that Loki and Stark dispatched - they too regenerated fully. “We need to cut off the source of power!!” Victoria yells over to Loki, Doom and Stark as she wrestled with the serpent, she was on her back and the serpent had its weight on her. She was strong to hold him off but the serpent grew larger and larger thanks to Amora's magic, she could hear her laughing. The serpent breaks through her arm muscles, grabs her body in its serrated teeth, even slicing through her Asgardian rock hard flesh . It hurls her bloodied body into the air; she smashes through the roof of the mansion and lands with a large thud on top of the building. Her serpent kept growing, until its head smashed through the roof too. Its tail smashing through the side of the building.

SHIELD agents were desperately trying to fire at Amora but she had a shield that protected her. The serpents thick scales shrugged off every bullet.

The Valkyrie lay limply on the slate tiles but then slowly pushes herself up; she could see blood trickling down her arms and covering her sword and it began to resonate, as if reacting to the blood. She absolutely refused to give up. But the serpent fired up a huge venom spit just for her, and she couldn’t move away fast enough despite her healing injuries, they were not healing fast enough. She looks into the serpents eyes and for the first time she felt paralysed by fear. She’d seen this one before…. A very, very long time ago.

Doom went back after the snake, in a jump followed through with a punch. He made sure to keep himself on a knee longer than necessary, he was showing himself capable though he didn't want to show all his power. To do so now would be foolish. That was when, as the snake was growing a wall, far away from any civilians, burst open. Three doom bots in slightly different renditions of his armour walked through the hole. Scanning the room their faces locked upon Doom himself. He just hit another combination of buttons on his wrist control and they got two work. Two of them moved in to finish off the snake that he had been attacking while the third moved to shield civilians, occasionally letting a blast of energy loose against debris.

Doom just cast a smirk at Stark, though it was obviously not visible. Though the boy was smart he was nowhere near the intellect of Doom. As the fight on the roof was reaching a new stage, he climbed onto the back of the snake, as it was about to strike who he could only assume was Valkyrie on the roof. Muttering an incantation under his breath he charged energy in his hands, and stuck them straight through the scaley hide of the snake, grabbing onto its spine and yanking it back out, breaking it causing the snake to rear up, throwing Doom off. Steam coming off his armour due to the excertion. He panted a little bit, he had not had time to perfect that spell. Such an act tired him greatly, as sense begin to return to him his hands and arms that had been engulfed by the spell began to burn.

He hit another button on his wrist as the two doom bots finished with their snake, instructing them to move against the third. This was a fight they'd win, and he'd reap the rewards.



Wilson jumped backwards through a group of thick leaves, he was thankful that most of these species went extinct years ago. Arms down to his side he pulled out two SMGs, full auto letting loose a hail of bullets back through the treeline. Sliding in the thick mud after the the jump he continued to look at where he came from. There was a snap to his right, and he fired up his wings shooting into the air just as a Velicoraptor came jumping down on where he was. No doubt where there was one there were others. Was that not what part of the warning on Jurassic Park had been? That's if they were even the same animal the ones here were smaller, and had feathers. Obviously the person who made the movie had no real life experience.

Who'd have thought it?

Shooting above the treeline he scanned the horizon. Which was where he saw the AA site, there were individuals walking around in bright yellow suits. A.I.M. Of course A.I.M would have something to do with it, though were they the ones that took the "Tourists" out or were they just A.I.M in disguise. Though he supposed that wasn't important, an A.I.M base in the savage land. That was important.

He tapped his earpiece. "Fury, this is Wilson do you copy.-" Nothing but static. "S.H.I.E.L.D do you copy?""This is S.H.I.E.L.D. Copying you two by five Captain." He just nodded, he could hear what they were saying, just. At least it wasn't broken up, just hard to figure out what they were saying. "It looks like A.I.M have some kind of base here. I'm going to take a closer look then take out the AA to bring in the troops. How copy?""Solid copy Captain, good luck."

He just sighed, this was going to be an... interesting day. As he swooped below the leave cover of the trees he could see the heads of one of the Raptors. Yeah, interesting day.



Banner had spent most of the first day setting up. Loki had kitted him out, he had a small tower with a solar panel to put up connected to a rechargable battery so he wouldn't run out of light or heat if he ran out of materials for a fire. It was hot though, naturally. Didn't help that the transition was instant so his body hadn't had a chance to get used to the climate change yet. Though that was solved by a constant intake of water. Food wasn't an issue either, he didn't want to kill anything though Loki had dealt with that eventuality too with plenty off canned goods and if it came to it there was a hunting knife amongst the goods. He had packed the gun up and buried it nearby for if he really needed it, though he'd rather not have it lying around.

After that he had set up the radio, it was just some silly talk show. No music ever came on, just talk talk talk. However in complete solitude it was nice to know that there was still a world out there, come on Banner you've only been out here a day. He looked at his garden, well. What he hoped would be his garden. The irrigation was still a point of debate, he didn't have the tools for a proper bore hole and he needed some more materials. Though he'd ask Loki next time he came by. A bore hole was the way forward, it would keep him self sufficient too.

Then he could begin on trying to make equipment, try to fix himself. Or at the least, to try and make the world better in his isolation.

The burning around Loki's eyes was starting to get worse; It was a phantom pain and he knew that it was nothing more then the shadows of an awful memory from a time long ago but despite him logically knowing that it still gods damn felt like there was venom in his eyes! He didn't so much catch the fireball as he slapped it towards the giant snake that was now growing through the roof. No point wasting a good fireball after all.

As the snake started to regenerate itself Loki decided on a much different, somewhat simpler tactic then before; He stuck it in an illusion of Antarctica. No targets to vent its aggression on and the cold blood in its veins losing the heat from the environment that it required in order to move. If the mind truly believed that it was currently in a body that was standing exposed in the freezing cold, then the body would quickly follow. Besides, snakes weren't that intelligent to begin with.

Now free to focus on the queen bitch herself, Loki threw his sword at her with a surprising degree of skill... and unlike the bullets that had been fired before, this one actually managed to pierce the shield right up to the hilt, where it stuck. "Seriously, this is what I'm talking about Amora! When it doesn't work the first time your plan B is to do the exact same thing again, only bigger. Considering your infatuation with Thor it isn't surprising that you never learned that it isn't the size that counts,- Loki clicked his fingers, the enchanted blade of the sword currently piercing her shield glowing brightly with magic before exploding into magically charged shrapnel that really only had one way to go. "- it's how you use it."

The giant serpent shrieks as his back was torn open by Doom, the venom spit that was for Victoria, was then aimed outward into the sky thanks to Victor's attack causing it to jerk backward. Thankfully the venom landed on parts of the roof that covered the people below and Valkyrie was saved from being heavily burnt.

As Amora’s shield shatters and the shrapnel was about to impale her, she used a teleportation spell and vanished. Although, her voice remained in the Ether. “This isn’t over Laufeyson!!” Her voice yells to a fade. The giant serpent looks around its Antarctic surroundings with confusion as Valkyrie notices the creature beginning to fade away into nothingness. As did the third serpent that the Doom Bots were about to dispatch, there was no need now so they could power down.

Her body sparkles golden as her torn flesh begins to repair itself. Placing one bare thigh beneath her, she vaults herself up by slamming her sword into the roof to lean against. Her wings still operable ,open widely and flap allowing her to glide down to the ground. She turns to look at the crumbled building; the left outside wall completely gives way and smashes to the ground. Her mother, in the distance, points from a SHIELD rescue car and then faints. Her father turns around to looks at his troublesome daughter across the way, shaking his head.

Victoria narrows her eyes. An outsider in her own family. That’s how she’d always felt. She turns her back on them, and walks away toward Tony, Loki and Doom. She was no longer part of the normal way of life; her home lay only with SHIELD now.

As she approached Loki something weird took a hold of her. As she was about to thank them for saving her parents, their guests and innocent people, her eyes turn golden.

“Your eyes. They burn.” Her voice changing to a lighter and sympathetic tone looks upon Loki with a warm, caring smile. And, as if by instinct she knew what to do. With the wave of her hand in front of Loki’s face, her spirit healing energy drifted into his eyes, stopping the phantom burn that had been brought on by the nostalgia of a very painful memory.

Turning to Doom she smiles with relief to see he was at least unharmed. She wouldn’t have made a very good bodyguard if he wasn’t. “I’m glad you’re all okay. Thank you for saving my life, Lord Doom - and you too Tony.” She addressed the metallic clad duo, not forgetting the newly emerged Iron Man. She was also relieved that Pepper made it out safely and there were no casualties.

“And thanks to you also - Loki…was it? Very impressive.” Victoria asks the redeemed hero, her eyes returning to a bright blue. “I’m not really sure who that was…or why she wanted to kill us.” She stood there pensively in her battle worn silver armour, the blood and cuts completely gone. “In fact, I’m not really sure about anything anymore...” She looks down at her sword, feeling some sort of magical energy within it. Her blood had reacted to the blade, awakening its true power of absorption. Maybe she was lacking confidence in her abilities. But what she did know, was her mission to continue to escort Doom here in the USA. Although, it looked like he was more than capable of protecting himself, and with the added security of his sentinels. What use was she to him? She pondered – could it be that he didn't really need protecting all along? Then...what DID he want of her?

In the distance, Agent Coulson was reporting everything about the Valkyrie’s Asgardian properties to Director Fury. And the potential threat that the Lady Thor may present to her, as she had been hunting down Loki so furiously. They wondered what else the Goddess of Thunder was up to.

Drewvonawesome / Angelvicky.

8 months prior
-The morning after-
-Future Foundation HQ, Baxter Building-

Susan followed her father into the elevator. Johnny tagged behind, seemingly bored. "So what I'm saying is, this project could speed up scientific advancements in humans being finally able to travel light speeds without aging and even come home again. If Reed's father was working on this, he might have had a profound basis, on which the theory he was working on actually seems plausible." Sue rambled on and on until her father sighs as the elevator door beeps open at top floor. "Fine. I'll hear Reed's proposal and see if he's worth the money." He leaves the elevator and stops, turning to Sue. "This lad is not your boyfriend is he?" He asks outright, Sue blushes. "Nn-no Dad. He's not." Frank frowns. "Shame." He then strides towsrd his office to await Reed and Ben. Sue is left blinking with some thought. Johnny leans in. "He's a loser." Sue smacks him across the arm. "Loooooosseeeeerr." Johhny emphasises and wanders off around the office.

The large blond haired young man sat next to Reed as Reed nervously fiddled with his hands and the blueprint refolded into a square. "Sure hope you're okay for this Reed, you look like you're one step from vomiting since I picked you up." Ben noted pulling out his new Stark Tech phone, loading up a game on it so he wouldn't be bored trying to figure out the science talk Reed was no doubt about to drown the room in.

"Its okay... just a little worried is all." Reed stammered a bit leaning back in his chair. Having dressed for the occasion in something nice, simple collar shirt with freshly pressed pants. "After all just talking to Susan's dad. Who is like world renown and stuff, over something that could make or break me completely before I'm even legally able to drink." Reed's eye twitched just a little. "Yeah no problem. It's great, awesome...."

Before Reed could start hyperventilating though in came Dr. Franklin Storm. Susan was nearby along with her young brother Johnny. "Hi, heard plenty about you. I'm Franklin Storm." The doctor held out a hand which Reed shook ethuitastically. "Oh no its an honor sir. I'm a big fan of your work in temporal gravititional theories. It was a fasinating piece." Reed stopped himself and took a breath. "Sorry just a bit nervous."

"Its alright Reed, normally I wouldn't really give my time on heresy but Susan was completely sold on the idea. Plus your father and I go back years. So I am very interested in the idea. I'm sorry about what happened to him by the way. Real shame the science world had to lose such a brillant man." Dr. Franklin Storm's word in a strange way caused Reed to start to focus. This was his father he was talking about. Reed calmed his frantic, panicked brain down and got to the business at hand.

"Well Mr. Storm, first off this is Ben, his just here because I needed a ride." "Sup?" "Now getting onto the matter." Dr. Storm led Reed into his office with the others in tow. "Recently I was going through my father's old research. A lot of different things but this was by far the most interesting and I may suggest well thought out concept I found." Unfolding the blueprint Reed found a spot on Mr. Storm's desk and placed it down gently. Pulling out the small notebook from his back pocket with more on it. "Essentially the idea goes that by harnessing a possible counter dimension that exists. Which he called the 'negative zone'. It would be possible for things or people to be able to essentially use it to use it almost like opening a door from one end of it to another. Leading to an almost teleportation if you will. I'm not 100 percent sure about the finer points of it but if this works in theory you could use this to essentially go from New York to Japan in less time then it would take to log on to buy plane tickets!" Reed had practiced that speech all of the night before. So letting it all flow out was practically effortless as he pointed out details on the blueprint and letting Mr Storm see the notebook. "The power source for now is going to be an issue, and outside of any possible setback I think we could achieve a working prototype by the end of the year."

Ben, even in all his confusion of what exactly Reed talked about. Leaned over his friend's shoulder as he glanced at everything. The practical talk about it though he understood, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew Reed had something important for all this, having not been shown yet personally. This though, this was huge. "Wow, that is a thing alright." Ben noted a bit stunned by the idea.

Johnny stood there for a few moments. Susan gleefully listened to everything, like a moth to a flame, she was so hooked on science right now. "Woah......" Johnny's mind was blown. "Think of all the chicks we'd get Ben. If we made this thing a reality." Susan frowns at him. "THAT'S what you took from that?!" Dr Storm leaned back in his chair. "Hmmmm....very interesting. Alright, I'll give you kids a shot. I think Harvey Elder might be interested in this as well. Hold on let me call him in." As Franklin Storm went to make the phone call Ben quietly gave Johnny a thumbs up at the idea. Reed glancing back, "Ben, don't encourage him." He muttered before he watched Dr. Storm reached over to the phone. "Miss Lumpkins could you have Dr. Elder meet me up in my office please? Thank you."

Reed's eyes lit up at he realized after a moment that not only was this thing actually happening now, but THE Dr. Harvey Elder was possibly going to be involved too? Reed beamed a smile as he felt elated, all he could hope for, a chance to prove himself to the scientific community at large, that he belonged.

Susan looks at her Father with big eyes. "Harvey's going to be in on this too?" The two had practically grown up together as their fathers were best friends. Johnny facepalms. "Not another neeeerd." Sue kicks him under the table. "Ow..." He replies monotoned. "Harvey has a great mind. He'll compliment the team well. He's practically family!" She always thought of him as the older brother she never had - protective of her. And although their parents wanted Susan to be with Harvey romantically, he never felt that way about her, Susan likewise, now Reed however...

Reed glanced over at Susan a little hurt as she mentions Harvey being family. While he was thrilled to meet him he was a little saddened she never said anything about having known him before. It made him feel even a little... jealous? Soon though the feelings passed as the young English doctor walked in. He was around the foursome's age, about the same height as Reed. Slightly wavy brown hair that came to his chin and a natural charm to him that made Reed wonder if Johnny hated him only because he was a 'nerd' or something more.

"Dr. Elder this is Reed Richards, his the one who brought the project in today." Reed and Harvey shook hands with smiles. "Its great to finally meet the man Susan raves about. I was greatly influenced by your father's work, I'm very sorry to hear what had happened to him." Harvey told Reed who grimaced a bit at the mention of Nathan Richards. "Its okay, I'm over what happened..." Reed stated.

He wasn't.

"Still though its going to be great having you on this project. I've always been captivated by your research work." Reed pointed out, having spent many a nights reading Harvey's work. Ben chuckled a little to himself, enjoying Reed talk to a scientist with the same almost childlike glee as most other people would a celebrity or famous athlete.

Johnny stares at the both. "Just. Get a room." He remarks. Harvey shot him a look that he was about to kick him. Johnny brings both his legs upto his chest off the floor so that he couldnt get kicked anymore. "Johnny, be nice." His Father retorts at him, Johnny frowns. Sue folds her arms and raises an eyebrow at him, agreeing. "Now Harvey. I was hoping you would join me and Sue for dinner tonight." A feable attempt at getting the kids hooked up together. Sue narrows her eyes slightly at Franklin. "Dad...I have work to do." Trying to get out of it. Harvey scratches the back of his head. "Um. Sure Dr Storm." "How many times, its Franklin." Johnny glances at Ben, who was glancing at Reed, who was glancing at Harvey.

The moment he brought up dinner with the three of them Reed kept his head down a little trying to not get involved in it. It was a painful sight as Reed just had to accept what he was seeing, all while not accepting any part of it. "Uh I guess we can all come back tomorrow and start planning out how we're going to go about this yeah?" Reed asked meekly aloud. Ben looked over at Johnny who by seeing Reed like this even seemed to feel bad about it. "Man this is going to be a long project..." Ben told Johnny sighing.

"Dont worry buddy. We'll have so much fun it'll be a blast and you wont WANT it to end! Hehe." He puts a thumbs up to the rest of the team.

Doom stood up, dusting himself off. The Doom bots walked towards him as the snakes disappeared, he tapped another series of commands on his wrist pad - which really wasn't necessary he could control them without it it was more for sake of appearances. He dusted himself off as his Doom bots walked away too help in removing rubble encase there were people below it, though obviously with their sensors they found the few trapped people they were with ease moving the rubble with minimal effort. He noted the quizzical look after Valkyrie thanked him, and still holding himself as if injured he spoke ensuring that he sounded tired.

"It is never wise to attack comrades of Doom or Latveria. I am glad I could be off assistance-" He paused, he flashed a spark from his right hand and chest simultaneously. Stark would no doubt see through the subterfuge however to call him out on it would be an unwise move. "-However I am afraid I expended my limited power reserves. This suit unlike Mr.Starks isn't designed for prolonged combat." He signaled the Doom bots over once they completed their sweep off the building.

"I must retire to my own building for this evening and rest while the suit is allowed to recharge." He looked straight at Valkyrie. "If you would escort me? My Doom bots are sophisticated however I am afraid if something were to hit me they would reciprocate, they are on strict programming so that they cannot hurt civillians." Another half truth.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall...who will shatter you today..?

Charles Xavier Institute for the Gifted. Year 2012.
Jean's bedroom. 8am.

Shades of Grey

It had been a couple of months since she’d been back at the institute for gifted youngsters. Jean made herself ready for the busy day ahead, quietly humming a sad song as she brushed her long red wavy locks with one brush in hand, her other holding her hair in place and looking into a floating hand mirror. Although she had made her peace with Scott's romance with Lee Forrester, she still found herself feeling lonely.

And suddenly out of nowhere, a flashback. Her childhood friend Angie screaming. Car tyres screeching to a halt. Jean drops the brush and the mirror shatters on the floor as she holds her hands to her head.


“Ungh!” It was like a stab to the mind. A brief reminder that she'd never really gotten over the trauma. She opens her eyes and sighs at the mirror, tilting her head to look at it. With a flick of her fingers, all of the glass pieces float upward and she moves them across the air and drops them into the bin. She stands up and brushes down her signature red pencil skirt dress and pops her matching red blazer over it

“Right then, ready Jeanie?” She asks herself in the tall standing mirror and checks each side and nods. She pulls down her blazer lightly and steps toward her bedroom exit in red heeled shoes. As she shuts the door behind her, she looks down the hall to see all the mutant pupils scrambling to get ready for their classes. Today Jean was covering Hank's class as he prepared his speech for tonight's university fundraiser with Harvard, Princeton and Yale professors, to which he was the guest of honour, along with Jean.

Class flows rather smoothly, the kids enjoying Jean's quirky take on the sciences rather than Hank's drole ramblings. Jean takes out an ordinary cardboard box. “Now I was shown this when I was at school. It's pretty neat.” She cuts a hole in one side of the box. She then points the hole toward a tower of foam cups. “This is called a Vortex Canon.” She then smacks each side of the box and the cup tower falls down. “Just the power of compressed air.” The kids were awed and clapped. She then gave them a box each to play with, along with smoke machines so that they could see a circle of puffed smoke shoot out.

Each pupil had a different colour of smoke. It wasn't long before a rainbow of smoke exploded out of the science lab, shocking a poor Ororo Munroe into a complete fright as she walked past. Jean emerges laughing her head off to get out of there and let the kids play. Storm chuckles as Jean brushes off the coloured smoke out of her red curls. “Kids.” The two laugh as they hear the commotion. “Coffee?” Jean offers Ororo as the break bell rang. “God yes!”

“Fundraiser tonight.” Storm turns to Jean as they stand leaning on the balcony. Jean nods and looks down into her cup of Java. “You know who's going to be there, don't you?” Storm asks her. Jean looks at Ororo as if knowing. “Sinister.” Jean utters his name. “I cant believe he gets so much funding just to experiment on mutants.” Ororo complains. “Makes me so mad!”

Jean nods in agreement. “It's the Friends of Humanity. They want him to find a “cure” for the X gene.” she explains and Storm laughs. “How absurd. There IS no cure.” Jean turns around and leans the small of her back against the railing. “Treating it like it's a disease that needs an antidote.”

In the forecourt below, Lee and Scott could be heard laughing as they walked through the gates hand in hand, they'd spent the weekend somewhere no doubt. Jean looks over her shoulder, somewhat glaring. “You alright, Jean?” Her best friend asks with concern. Jean winces and sighs. “Yeah. Break's over.” She heads on inside, leaving Storm behind with a worried expression. Just then the Professor's wheelchair electronics are heard approaching. “Charles. I'm concerned for Jean. This morning I heard smashed glass and a groan coming from her room....” Charles nods. “I felt it. A psychic blast. They're getting stronger again. It's not been this bad since she first came here.”

“I think she's hurting deep down.” Storm began to walk alongside the Professor. “Yes, I believe so. When Jean's heart breaks, so to does her mind. Fragile. Like glass. Don't worry Ororo, I will talk with her. I'm planning a trip Muir Island, I think she should accompany me. It might take her mind off things her for a while....”

---

Later that night, Beast and Jean made their way into a very fancy mansion in higher Belleville. A Sebastian Shaw was its owner, and he was throwing the fundraiser for the most elite colleges. Only he most renowned professors and scholars attended. VIP Dr Hank McCoy was much admired for his work in bio-chemistry and the study of the X-gene. Closely followed by the up and coming, newly published Dr Jean Grey. Hank in his bow tie and Jean adorned a long red satin gown You couldn't miss the huge blue fuzzball. And Jean, looked almost like a supermodel with her astounding figure. She had her arm firmly linked with Hank's, she felt safer that way with all the men ogling her. She spotted Warren's father in the midst of the suits and boots of elderly and middle aged men.

They mingled for a while until everyone in the room fell silent and turns to watch a tall, pale, vampiric looking man enter. Adorned in a long purple tux coat, he was still very intimidating. “Sinister.” Hank mumbles under his breath. Everyone knew his work. But what they did not know was his insane obsession with creating the ultimate mutant. Jean narrows her eyes at him and did her best to avoid him for now. That was until Hank had to leave her side for the spotlight.

Jean was on edge, uneasy. Not only did she feel Sinister's eyes burning through the back of her head, there was the gentleman who was hosting, who had not stopped staring at her all evening. Suddenly she felt all alone. Her heart rate and respiration increasing with each second. She chugged a glass of wine down to calm her nerves.

Sebastian Shaw finally made his way over to the lady in red. “Good evening Dr Grey. I knew your father well, we went to college together. He is quite a remarkable historian. An expert in his field.”

“H-How do you know my father from university?” Jean was confused, this man looked in his 30's but he talked as if he went way back with her father who was now in his 60's.

“Surprised my dear? My mutant ability allows me to absorb energy and heal. I don't look at all my age. But with that, comes wisdom don't you think?” His egotistic nature coming across quite strongly. Jean remained unimpressed, looking around, hoping Hank would hurry up with his speech already. “I see.” Shaw offers her a champagne flute. “I hear you're quite the rising star in the field of genetics.” He swirls his bourbon liquid in his short glass. “Although, I do hope that Harvard will allow you to keep your Doctorate.” He mused as she was taken in by his manipulation. “WHAT?!” This was the first she'd heard. Shaw acts shocked. “Oops. You didn't know yet? Me and my big mouth.”

That was it, Jean was angry, she couldn't tell if he was lying but why would he. She spots the Harvard university headmaster and storms right over to him, causing quite a commotion. “Principal! When were you going to tell me my Doctorate was in question?” She demanded to know, fuming with her hands on her curved hips. The principal was taken aback, he gently took Jean to one side. “I'm really sorry Jean...some of the Executives are doubting your credibility since we found out that you are a mut-....telepath. Some of us feel you may have..used your powers to cheat your way through Harvard.”

Jean couldn't believe it, all her hard work, for nothing? She never once read anyone's mind without their permission, let alone her tutor's during tests or class work. She did her own research and wrote every word herself. But instead of exploding here at the party, she needed some air. Her eyes well up with water and she bursts out of the conservatory doors in floods of tears. The day started badly, but only got worse.

Shaw smiles to himself. “First we break her into tiny pieces. Then we remake her in our image.” He tells Selene, a member of the Inner Circle.

Outside the Shaw mansion:

“Poor, poor Jean Grey…” Came a dark sarcastic voice behind Jean. Jean turns around wiping away her tears. “Save it Sinister!” She warns him as she backed away from him.

“Do not despair. I come with glad tidings…” His grimace showing his pointed teeth as he laughs menacingly. “I’ve come to offer you the position of Chief of Genetics with my team on Genosha.”

Jean raises an eyebrow at him, sincerely doubting it. “You mean experiment on mutants more like...”

Sinister walks towards Jean, with each step he took, she took one back. “You put it so harshlyyy.”

“Save it Sinister! Not interested.” Jean holds her hand up at him and storms off down towards the mansion's gate, never feeling this angry before. Sinister narrowed his eyes as he watched her leave...

Iron Man had to make sure the suit's external speakers weren't letting out the flood of curse words he let out watching the serpent he ripped the head off of not only regrow a head but grow larger in front of him. In the distance he caught sight of three Doom looking robots flying in for assistance. Which added to Tony's mind file under 'Why does Doom need an escort?'. Suddenly though his distraction ended up hurting him as the serpent struck down. Wrapping its strong mouth around his entire upper half. The serpent pressed down, and Tony could hear his suit just squeak from the pressure. He had to struggle to get an arm moved from facing out of the serpent's mouth to inside.

Once he could move his arms a bit more he fought hard to not get a first hand education in a magical serpent's internal organs. Using one arm to grasp the side of the mouth to prevent himself from getting swallowed Tony moved a hand down the serpent's throat with a pulse laser generating in the palm. “Eat this bitch...” Tony snarled to himself as the fire caused the serpent to let out a horrifying hissing howl as Iron Man was freed.

Jetting himself out to avoid getting chomped on again Iron Man circled back around and with a bit of finesse grabbed the serpent's head, swinging it around and tying a knot in its body. He pulled hard, hoping either to choke the serpent out for good, or repeat his head removal surgery trick. Though before either could happen the serpent seemingly faded from not only his grasp but reality itself. Leaving Iron Man confused and looking around wondering if he was tripping on something hard at the moment. Finally he gently landed back on the party scene where things certainly looked a lot less fancy and festive. Thankfully Victoria was fine, though she seemed rattled in ways Tony hoped she could shake off.

As he came up next to Doom Tony let the suit's helmet slide off as she thanked him. “Hey if you can't rely on a friend with a multi-million dollar battle suit who can you trust?” He joked, even though he wondered to himself if this was indeed the time or the place for such a thing. The guy with the sword was there, as was Doom who looked like he had suit issues. At least that's what it seemed like he had, Tony glanced over and mulled the details suspiciously as something about it didn't seem right. Still he figured if nothing else he'll get answers another time. Dealing with Doom shouldn't be his concern right now.

He talked to the Parringtons and let them know he was willing to help pay for any damages. Their families were very long time friends, so it was the least Tony could do. Tony didn't give himself a chance to talk to Victoria and make sure she was alright. He kicked himself for it later, feeling like a dick for ignoring her when she was clearing having issues. The brief moment Tony looked for Stane it was clear Stane ditched when everything went to Hell. Thankfully though Pepper did likewise, but she sent a text to Tony asking if he was alright. Tony smiled looking at his smartphone before putting it away and jetting off in the Iron Man suit.

“Jarvis send a text to Pepper Potts please, 'I'm fine, the suit handled great. Just make sure you're at work tomorrow 9 am sharp. PS Doom is still a dick. L O L, okay thanks bye.' Send.”