Loki sat perched on the stairs, listening to the Other drone on to his master. He was growing anxious, wanting to sweep through the Earth and take it over completely. The Earth fascinated him in a menagerie of ways. Its diverse life and various cultures. If he did not find the humans so savage, he would admire them. They were so weak and feeble in comparison to his divine magnificence. He felt confident that he could enslave the Earth even without the Tesseract. Were it not for the Avengers, his last attempt would have been victorious.

"Come forth," the Other said. Loki rose from his seat and approached the master. He knelt before the throne he sat upon.

"The Tesseract has been located," the Other told him. "It has returned to Earth."

"Thor," Loki scowled. At some point, the Asgardian must have stolen it away from his home and hidden it on the blue planet.

"How have you allowed the Tesseract to slip through your fingers?" the Other chided. "Are you not the ruler?"

"Thor has grown increasingly paranoid," Loki said. "I believe he suspects."

"This puts our plan in jeopardy," the Other said.

"Have faith in me," Loki pleaded. "Double the forces given to me last time. It can be done. I have grown stronger since our last attempt."

"You expect us to try the same plan again?" the Other asked. "You're insane." He quickly turned to meet his master who merely nodded at him. "But-" His master held up his hand. The Other slowly turned to Loki. "Very well. My master has decreed that you shall have your army. But failure, this time, will not be an option." A large grin stretched across Loki's face.

"Oh thank you," he said graciously. "With your aid, the Earth shall be mine and the universe yours. If you will excuse me, I must plan." As Loki made his way down the winding stairs, the Other turned to his master.

"I do not understand," he said. "After his failure last time, you would trust him again?" His master merely grinned.

"He will undoubtedly be beaten, but not before more death and destruction occurs," he said. "When the time comes, I will accompany him to Earth. I wish to test myself against these Avengers."

The lush tropical jungle of the Philippines stretched on for miles, mostly undisturbed by man and nature. It almost seemed to be a completely other world. A prehistoric relic from millennia passed. Fitting enough, it hid secrets as old as it was.

Back in 1999, a large quarry had collapsed. A few dozen miners were killed when the land gave way. Coincidentally, a nuclear power plant located in the town of Janjira, Japan collapsed. The town was evacuated and then placed under an indefinite quarantine that extends even to this day. The official reason given was that an earthquake occurred, but records of seismic activity for that day were never released to the public. They were supposedly lost in the incident.

Supposedly.

With the Janjira area completely abandoned of all human life save for authorized personnel, research could be done in these areas. Both Janjira and the Philippine quarry were under ownership of a joint Japanese-American military organization known as Monarch. They specialized in studying the effects of nuclear radiation on the Earth and its wildlife. Monarch was considered the little sister of SHIELD. The two did not have much in common. SHIELD was more dedicated to weapon research and espionage, while Monarch was more focused on environmental endeavors. However, the discovery back in 1999 suddenly made them bedfellows.

The quarry's collapse had unearthed something absolutely remarkable to Monarch. Perfectly preserved and intact was an enormous skeleton. It was unlike anything ever seen in the fossil record. It had been left in the quarry for all those years, with Monarch establishing a base around the skeleton. The project leader did not wish for the skeleton to be damaged in any way, seeing as how it was so enormous. Top scientists from both Monarch and SHIELD were brought in, but the results were all the same. There was absolutely no other creature like it in existence. The only universal conclusion they could all come to was that it was some sort of dinosaur. Attached to the skeleton were two fleshy pods, perfectly preserved. They seemed to resemble chrysalises from butterflies, only bulbous and colored like rusty dark red. Research into what these things were continued for years. 2014 had come upon them all, and nothing had been learned on what these things were.

A young British woman was sitting at a desk in a makeshift tent, typing up files to be distributed to Monarch and SHIELD command. She wore blue jeans and had a purple collared shirt with a grey blazer over it. She had two small gold earrings, and her long brown hair was done up in a ponytail. Her messy bangs covered her forehead. A faint thumping reached her ears, the noise steadily growing louder. Her brown eyes darted to the sky and saw a helicopter inbound for their location. It was sleek and colored black. SHIELD standard issue.

"Sensei!" she called, hoping her voice would pick up over the thumping of the propellers. A middle aged Japanese man came running out of the cavern. He wore a black jacket over his buttoned white collared shirt and had the pants to match said jacket. A Monarch ID card was hanging on his neck. A thin beard dotted the edges of his face. He removed his glasses and cleansed them of the dirt that obscured them. The helicopter doors slid open, and two people stepped out. One man and one woman.

The woman wore a tight form fitting black jumpsuit. Sitting on her hips were two holsters with pistols filling them up. On her wrists were some sort of gauntlets. She had green eyes and short wavy red hair. The man had a black bodysuit but had a thick black jacket over his. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. The two of them approached the two scientists.

"Doctor Serizawa?" the woman asked. The Japanese man nodded. "Doctor Graham?"

"Oh," she piped. "Y-yes. That's me. Vivienne Graham."

"I'm Natasha Romanoff," the woman said. "This is my partner, Clint Barton. We've been sent to provide you with escort to Janjira. You're being reassigned."

"Reassigned?" Serizawa asked. "But what about my project here?"

"Nick Fury says he'll take good care of it for you until you get back," Natasha said.

"Where's Agent Coulson?" Vivienne asked. "We usually deal with him in situations like these. This just seems a bit too…. domestic for your lot. Um, no offence."

"He's awaiting you at Janjira," Clint said. "He's a little preoccupied." A puzzled expression found itself on Serizawa's face.

"Preoccupied?" he repeated. "What's happening there?"

"All Nick Fury said was that the MUTO is acting up, and that you would know what that means," Natasha said. Serizawa and Vivienne exchanged worried looks. Clint caught them, and his brow furrowed.

"Very well," Serizawa said. "Vivienne, gather what you absolutely need. We're leaving."

"Yes, Sensei," she said, rushing to her tent. She scrambled to gather as many papers as she could, sliding them into a folder and trying to avoid crumpling any. Vivienne placed the file in a briefcase sitting on the desk, hoping she had everything. She rushed quickly to the chopper. Serizawa helped her up and slid over to give her room. Natasha and Clint climbed into the chopper and slid the doors shut. Kicking up clouds of dust, the black helicopter lifted up from the quarry and turned in the direction of Janjira.

"You guys mind if I ask you some things?" Clint asked.

"Not at all," Serizawa said with a smile. "I enjoy talking about my work. When I can."

"What's this MUTO thing? Fury didn't tell us anything." Vivienne and Serizawa looked at each other. "Classified, huh?"

"I'm afraid so," Serizawa lamented.

"I gotcha," he said. "Can you at least say what you're doing so far out here?" Vivienne's eyes lit up in anticipation. She looked over at Serizawa who nodded with a smile.

"It's the greatest find of the century," she said excitedly. "It's a skeleton. An enormous skeleton unlike anything witnessed before in Earth's history."

"What is it?" Natasha asked, her interest piqued.

"That, we're not entirely sure of," Vivienne admitted. "Although, the general consensus is that it is some sort of dinosaur."

"What makes this dinosaur so special?" Clint asked.

"It's a large carnivorous species," Vivienne explained. "The largest animal ever found."

"How big, exactly?" Natasha asked.

"Well, the longest dinosaur specimen on record was Amphicoelias, which could be from about 130 to 200 feet long," Serizawa stated. "This skeleton is about 247 feet long." Clint let out a huff, impressed with what he heard.

"Exactly how is this connected to this MUTO thing Nick Fury mentioned?" Natasha asked. Serizawa and Vivienne looked down. Clint frowned, the casual manner now replaced with uneasy tension. Natasha turned her head and gazed out the window. She watched as the ocean seemed to pass by them. She was slightly irritated. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was not knowing the situation at hand. A thought then graced her head, causing a small smile to purse her luscious lips. There was somebody who could help her find out.