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Ch. 1

The Avengers are all lounging around at Stark's Tower one afternoon. It has been a year since the failure invasion in Manhattan. S.H.I.E.L.D had allowed them to part ways and would just call upon them if they need to defend Earth once again. The reconstruction of Manhattan took at least half a year. People grieved for their love ones while the others help putting things back the way things before.

As for the Avengers, Tony remained in New York with Bruce Banner as his new companion who also lives in the Tower. He accepted Tony's offer graciously and allowed himself to indulge with things that he and Tony can understand. They invented things during their break from saving the world. Bruce tries to create cures with the help of Tony while he reciprocate with helping Tony program stuffs.

Steve had also stayed in the Tower since he has not settled yet to another house. Tony gave him a room and built him a gymnasium to perform his exercises. Most of the time him and Tony argues a lot for different things since Tony had mentioned that 'He's from the forties'. Natasha and Clint stayed in the Tower from time to time if they're not on missions. Thor on the other hand had not comeback ever since he brought Loki back to Asgard. They would have thought that the God of Thunder would at least visit them since they were now friends and worked together to save the world from his psychotic brother.

Imagine their surprise when they saw the news that Greenwich was attacked by this things called the Dark Elves. They would have aided Thor, but S.H.I.E.L.D did not informed them of the situation. Perhaps they knew that Thor could have handled it and therefore did not need their assistance. That happened two weeks ago and Thor didn't come back again. They saw the news that Jane, apparently Thor's girlfriend, had been devastated since Thor had gone AWOL after the battle in Greenwich.

"Man, I miss the big guy." Tony said as he gulped his glass of scotch. Clint grunted in agreement.

"Maybe he's busy in Asgard." Bruce supplied. "I wonder…"

"Don't leave us hanging, Bruce." Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

The doctor nodded. "I've done some reading and saw this information about the Realms. Apparently, Midgard or Earth is the center realm from the Yggdrasil. Do you think that the passage lies here in Midgard?"

"Hmm," Tony hummed. "You're saying that in order to get to Asgard, the enemies would travel to Midgard first? That's not a bad idea, Brucie, though very inconvenient."

Steve nodded his approval. "Might be right. No wonder Thor keeps helping us. Must be very hard for him."

"Sir, incoming…"

Jarvis's voice had been cut off and everyone stood on their feet as rainbow lights lighted Tony's floor. They blink the brightness away and drew their weapons when a woman with a long brown hair and brown eyes carrying a sword and dress as a warrior stood in the middle of Tony's living room. Steve's eyes widened for a second at the woman's beauty.

"H-Hi." Steve says dumbly earning him a snicker from Tony.

The woman tilted her head at him and bowed. "I am Sif of Asgard. I came here through Prince Thor's request."

Tony glided towards her and smiled charmingly. "What can we do for you, my lady?"

"I need an audience with Steven Rogers." Tony blink in surprise and yelp when he was pushed aside by Steve.

"Hi." Steve said again. Clint covered his giggle by coughing violently

"Yes, you've said that already. Hello. You must be Steven Rogers?" Sif quirked an eyebrow, amusement glittering her brown eyes.

"Ah, yes."

Sif nodded with a smile. "Thor said that you are the leader of the warriors of Midgard. Firstly, he wanted to send his apology for not visiting your realm this past few months. He had been busy with the sudden invasion in Asgard."

"Asgard's been invaded?" Bruce asks. "Is everything alright? Did Loki…?"

Sif shook her head. "It is not Prince Loki's fault. The All-Mother had died causing the All-Father to enter Odinsleep."

"Odinsleep? Thor and Loki's mother is dead?"

"In Midgardian term it is called comatose I believe." Sif explained. "It is a stage where the All-Father has grown incredibly weak that he need to enter a long time slumber to regain his powers back. Prince Thor has been named King of Asgard therefore cannot come here to visit. The All-Mother has been slaughtered by Malekith, the Dark Elves' former master. But that aside, I was sent here hoping that you warriors can help Thor with his current predicament."

Steve digested every word that came from Sif's mouth and he can see that the others as well. They are willing to help their friend whatever he needs. He squared his shoulders and said, "What can we do to help?"

"May I tell you everything while we are on our way?"

"Our way…to where?" Clint asked.

"Yes about that, Prince Thor had said that you would escort me to the North Pacific Ocean."

"What? Why?"

"Can we just please? I am in a hurry." Sif said in an exasperated tone.

Tony shrugged and instructed Jarvis to prep the Quinjet. The others suited up while Sif and Bruce were left in the living room. The former pacing back and forth while the latter just watched her with curiosity. When they were called, Bruce lead the way and escorted her to the Quinjet. Sif raised an eyebrow, "Is this a form of transportation?"

"Yep." Bruce gave a small smile.

Sif hummed and jumped inside. Bruce soon followed and sat to an empty chair while Sif took the empty spot next to Steve causing the good captain to blush which didn't go unnoticed by Tony. The latter gave him a thumbs-up and a wide grin. Clint took the wheel and everyone expectantly stared at Sif.

"Story time!" Tony quipped.

"I – what?"" Sif asked, confused.

Steve coughs and glared at Tony. "He meant to say is that you might wanna start telling us what's happened?"

"Oh. Yes, of course." Sif nodded and placed her double edge sword on her side and sat comfortably. "Allow me to start from the beginning. As I was informed by my brother, Lady Jane had disappeared during her excursion in trying to find anything that can help her find Thor. Upon her disappearance which was explained by Lady Jane, she had acquired the power of the Aether accidentally."

"Aether?" Natasha asked.

"A force of ancient and catastrophic power. Long before we were born, there were Dark Elves who roamed the nine realms freely. Malekith, their leader, has been defeated by Thor's grandfather. They had sealed the Aether where no one could find it. The Aether seeks host bodies in order to draw strength from their life force. The All-Father was genuinely surprised when he found out that the Aether was found and was residing inside Lady Jane's body. Thor wanted it removed but the All-Father didn't allow him so. He'd rather watch the mortal die than to let the Aether free."

"The Dark Elves had sense the awakening of the Aether therefore invaded Asgard. Queen Frigga hid the girl and fought Malekith but she met her demise. The All-Father wouldn't allow Thor and the mortal to leave. He came up with the plan to ask for Loki's help."

"Why Loki? Is he not in prison?" Steve questioned.

Sif nodded. "He is actually. But you see, Loki, despite being the most conniving, malicious, vile, Aesir I've known, his brilliance is astonishing. The only transportation we used to jump from realm to the others is through the Bifrost. But Loki, he somehow found a way to enter different realms without the use of it. On that account, Thor had ask for his assistance to rid of the Aether and get vengeance for killing their mother. During their fight in Svartalfheim, Thor explained that he could not defeat this Algrim and he was being pounded on the floor. Loki had come in time to kill it. He struck the monster with a spear, sparing Thor's life. The monster pulled Loki against him and was also struck with the spear. This spear has poison coated in it thus why the healers of Asgard cannot heal the prince." Sif sighed after explaining the story.

The others remained silent, pondering what to say next. Loki, their megalomaniac enemy had saved his brother? Resulting of Thor being alive and saving Earth from its apparent destruction.Again. Loki had played the role of a hero. Of course everyone was still bitter of what happened a year ago. Clint having been brainwashed and was ask to kill his comrades and threatening Natasha. Tony's grudge when the god threw him out of his window. Everyone has their own grudges and yet they knew that Loki had just saved Thor. That being the case makes him a bit of a good person. Was Thor right then? That his brother still has some good inside him?

Tony break the silence by asking, "So, why exactly are we going to the North Pacific Ocean? Are we going to swim? Cos I didn't bring my swimming trunks."

Sif blinks. "We are not going to dive if that is what you are implying. I am going to ask Jormungadr to have some of his blood to cure Loki."

Bruce stood up, eyes wide. "Wait, wait! Jormungadr?! I've read about him. He's real?"

"Yes, he is. You doubt me?"

Bruce shook his head. "No, ma'am. I'm just shock. Is it true? How big he is?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, we're not following."

"Jormungadr is the World Serpent." Sif smiled.

Steve reeled back in shock. "World Serpent? What…how big is this serpent?"

Sif hummed thoughtfully unaware of Tony and Bruce's sparkling curious eyes. "Why it covers the whole water body of Midgard, of course. Jormungadr has to bite off his tail since he quite is ginormous."

Steve's eyes widened even more. "Can you portray just how big? Height wise."

"The tower."

"That's big!" Bruce squeaked.

Sif smirked. "Five times of its size."

Tony fell out of his chair. "Jesus Christ! A fucking colossal snake!" he gasped.

Bruce breathed heavily. "Oh my god! How is it alive?!"

"Loki had put Jormungadr to eternal sleep. If it awakens, Loki would descend here in Midgard to put him back to sleep again. He is not supposed to be that big. Jormungadr was a gift to Thor from Loki. Thor has this obsessive streak in him to pick up stray snakes and keep it in his room. Loki has the ability to talk to snakes and he would complain that it wants to go back to the wilderness and not trapped in a cage. Loki then transformed one of Thor's snake to a rather large one and freed the others. One day, Amora, a wench in Asgard, came and warned Thor that during the Ragnarok, the snake would devour him. Loki had heard of it and threw the snake here in Midgard and gave it a duty to save the sea creatures of Midgard. Thor was devastated at first but Loki gave him another gift and forgotten Jormungadr."

Tony whistled. "Loki's a parselmouth! That's so cool!" Bruce nodded as well, eyes sparkling.

"What the hell is a Ragnarok?" Clint asked from the pilot's seat.

"In Midgardian's term it is called Armageddon."

"Oh."

"We're here!" Clint shouted.

"Can you open the entrance?" Sif stood up and picked up her double edge sword. Clint shrugged and pushed the button opening the Quinjet.

Steve, Bruce and Tony squawk in surprise when Sif jumped towards the open water. Bruce hyperventilated while Tony paced inside the Quinjet.

"Holy shit! There are like thousands of sharks in there!" Tony yelped. "Or maybe even more unknown creatures! What if she dies?! Thor's gonna kill us!"

"Calm down, Tony." Steve nervously said.

Clint followed Tony's pacing. "This is bad! That woman's crazy!"

"Calm down you bunch of wuss! She might have a plan. She doesn't look like a crazy person unlike Thor and Loki." Natasha snapped.

Several minutes passed by and they waited for the Asgardian to emerged. Natasha also started fidgeting when it passed fifteen minutes when the result was still the same. Suddenly, they saw the water tremble forming small waves until it got bigger by the second. Clint had to go back to the pilot's seat to put the jet into a higher place.

"Fuck, Tsunami!" Tony shouted and ran away from the entrance.

Clint cursed under his breath and lifted the jet again. "Dude, that is not a normal size tsunami!"

Bruce gasped loudly and pointed something from outside the Quinjet. Natasha followed his gaze and stumbled back in shock. Steve and Tony reeled back at what they saw. Sif was sitting atop of a serpent's head with her spear struck on its head.

"Holy shit!" Clint screamed.

"Get my camera!" Tony roared. When no one listened to him he kneeled and looked around to find his phone.

Their eyes widened when they saw the serpent's eyes. It was wide open albeit glossy. They moved shakily and shivered in fear at the height of the serpent.

"S-Sif!" Steve called.

"Steven! Toss me some vial if you please! Make haste before Jormungadr fell back into the water!" Sif screamed at him.

Steve nodded shakily and asked Bruce for help. He looked back and stifled an annoyed groan when he saw Tony taking pictures of the serpent while posing with it as well. Clint soon joined and both started doing different poses. Natasha both slapped the back of their heads. That stopped them from taking photographs. Bruce retrieved a large vial and carefully tossed it to Sif. They watched with trepidation as Sif collected the blood that the spear of hers had struck. Sif smiled and pulled her spear just in time Jormungadr fell back into the water causing another round of big waves. Sif jumped onto the Quinjet's roof and landed gracefully in front of Steve.

"Thank you, Steven."

"Ehh, you're welcome?" He squeaked. Tony smirked and snap a picture of a blushing Steve Rogers.

"We need to go to Asgard, quickly."

"We?" Clint asked.

"Yes. Thor wanted me to bring you to Asgard as well. That is of course if you want to."

"You kidding me? I wanna go! Anyone who declines will be thrown out of the Quinjet." Tony piped up.

Bruce smiled. "I think everyone would love to go."

"Very well." Sif smiled. "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!"

A/N: Hello. Leave some reviews? Hehe.