A/N: To reiterate from the end of the last chapter: I do not intend to show the lab scene, as the argument between the heroes would just rehash the Avengers canon with minor changes (an additional comment or two from Samson); however, the presence of an extra person will affect the battle, since even a slight repositioning of people in the lab before the attack would change where they all were after the explosion. Good news, though - at this point, we finally diverge from the Avengers movie.

Chapter 5

Elsa stared for a moment at the monstrous creature that had broken through the wall, unable to comprehend what, exactly, she was seeing. As the creature roared and slammed its fists into the floor of the nurses station, she noted absently that, like seemingly everyone she had seen since awakening in this time, the creature also wore men's trousers, tattered though they were. Though any clothing at all suggests that this being is no mere animal; it has taken steps to clothe itself - does that imply that it is intelligent? Or is it simply a monster?

I've been called a monster often enough, even if only in my imagination. Try to ignore your initial reaction and reason with the… person?

"Sir? Please…"

She was interrupted as the creature swung an enormous green fist at one of the equipment carts at the edge of the nurses station, sending the cart and its contents flying towards the edge of the room where the nurse, Diane, was huddled with Olaf.

Diane screamed, tears streaming down her face as she tried to scramble further away from the creature. Any indecisiveness fled her as she saw the nurse cowering; she verified that the suppressant bracers were disabled before raising both arms and sending a stream of ice towards the creature.

Elsa spared a glance for the snowman and nurse. "Olaf! Get Diane out of here!" Olaf muttered an agreement and, grabbing the hand of the stunned nurse, started to retreat to the adjacent hallway.

The creature struggled for a moment under the continuous onslaught of ice, before shaking itself and roaring with obvious rage. Its eyes now fixed on Elsa, it sloughed off the accumulated ice and snow and lunged.

Elsa dove to her left, scraping her shoulder on some of the mounting rubble that littered the room. The creature rushed past before pivoting to face her, far more agile than a beast of its size should be.

This is it; I'm going to die.

The creature growled, staring at her unblinkingly as it drew back its fist. Elsa panicked, raising her hands to put a wall of ice between her and the creature, but it slapped the wall to pieces as if it were no more than the thinnest glass. She hurried backwards, icing the floor beneath the creature's feet to prevent it from running at her. Its footing unsure, the creature roared and leapt at her; she twisted to avoid being crushed beneath its giant foot. Far too close now, the creature leered with triumph in its eyes, and she panicked. Throwing her arms out, she filled the room with solid ice instantly.

She could not move, ice covering her in all directions, but neither could the creature. She could hear the ice straining as the brute pushed against the solid block. A few moments passed and she noted that while the temperature of the ice was not affecting her, the solidity prevented her from breathing. She willed a hole for air to form, a tiny spiral passage from from her spot in the ice to the edge of the room.

The creature strained against her ice, and cracks began forming. She tried sealing the cracks to prevent the creature from breaking free, but the fissures seemed to form faster than she could close them. She prayed it would hold; she could not imagine trying to deal with this creature for much longer. Her heart was thundering in her ears faster than she could ever recall, and she could feel a sleety sweat on her arms and back.

Help cannot be far. If they were holding myself and a giant such as this, they are surely prepared. Though how many men it would take to subdue us both seems unimaginable...

Her momentary reprieve was interrupted by a roar that reverberated through the ice block, and the creature burst free, chunks of ice scattering in all directions. The force of the creature's exertions had succeeded in destroying another wall and knocking several bits of the ceiling loose. She could see a few metal supports remaining, a fragile skeleton supporting what was left of the room's structure.

Her legs and torso were still trapped, partially encased in the ice she had formed around them to seal the creature. Its eyes trained on her as it shook off bits of ice and melting droplets. Elsa tried to will the ice block into non-existence without success. The creature's eyes narrowed and it started to stalk toward her.

If I cannot will it to disappear, then I can make it MOVE. The ice encasing her reformed at her command, and two dozen ice lances flew at the creature, momentarily stunning it. Elsa scurried away, feeling herself coming into contact with one of the remaining walls in the room.

I cannot contain the creature. I must subdue it, and I alone am not strong enough. She slashed down with both of her hands, focusing on the form of the guard she had originally created to defend her ice castle, the giant Marshmallow. A new snowman formed between her and the green hulk, equivalent in size. The new Marshmallow roared and swung at the creature, though it seemed to do little more than anger it.

It is distracted at least. Now, I need to get as far away from the creature as I can. Marshmallow and the green giant stood between her and the exit, trading blows. Marshmallow did nothing to harm or impede the creature, but conversely every hit from the creature was similarly ineffective; any damage Marshmallow sustained immediately reformed with fresh ice and snow.

The two giants grappled onto each other and crashed through the only other remaining wall Elsa could see, tumbling down as they did so. Elsa moved forward to observe their fight, now from a relatively safe distance. With the wall to her left completely destroyed, she now overlooked a room at least forty fathoms high and containing a variety of metal equipment whose purpose she could not say. Given their size and vaguely avian form, she assumed that these were some mode of flying transport, as absurd as the idea seemed. A far cry from da Vinci's flying machines, but…

Her thoughts were interrupted as one of the machines went flying, not under its own power but thrown by the green creature. Marshmallow, shaken by the impact, could do little to retaliate, and the green creature charged. The creature leapt on Marshmallow and began to repeatedly pummel the snowman, reducing it to little more than slush on the ground.

Where one fails… Elsa threw her hands out once more, and with no small amount of concentration raised a half dozen snowmen the size of Marshmallow in the larger room below. They rushed the green creature and together drove it through the far wall of the room, tumbling further still and out of her line of sight. Elsa glimpsed what could only be sunlight streaming through the new opening in far wall, though at her current angle she could not see out the new hole in the side of the room directly.

Excitement fading, Elsa took a deep breath to avoid completely panicking. What was that creature? What manner of facility is this that contains myself and something like… like that? Another deep breath. I should probably follow at a distance. Assuming I am correct and we are on a ship, I do not know if this facility is moored near a town at the moment and I should ensure that my snowmen do not inadvertently drive the beast towards some innocent person's home. Another deep breath. It has… also been some time since I have seen the sun. Fresh air would be good for my health, again assuming that the creature and my snowmen have breached the hull. For that matter, I should probably fix any hull damage with ice for now, if only to ensure that I have not aided the green creature in affecting the seaworthiness of this place, as it may be the only home I have for the moment.

An almost casual hand wave and a set of ice stairs leading to the room below appeared at her feet. She approached the hull breach slowly, listening for any signs of fighting. Odd. I hear a considerable amount of wind, but no water lapping at the hull. A few steps closer to the breach. Odder still, I can see sky but no water. How tall is this vessel? A few steps closer. Is that… is that a cloud?!

Time seemed to stop as she approached the edge of the hull breach. Her breath quickened and her eyes unfocused as she took in the open sky outside of the hole torn in the wall. She chanced a look down and then rapidly backed away from the hole, falling to her knees and succumbing to the panic that had been at the edge of her mind since the green creature first burst through the wall. She belatedly noticed the ice thickening beneath her legs as she stared out at the distant horizon.

A few minutes earlier

Debris littered the corridor around him. Most of the other former occupants of the laboratory were nowhere to be seen; the only other two visible among the wreckage that was once the laboratory were the man of iron, this Stark Howardson, and the super soldier, Captain Rogers. Both seemed capable in the forest, and will be useful allies if Loki is attempting to escape.

All three were moving within moments, sprinting down the hallway deeper into the ship. A klaxon blared, and the man of iron valiantly attempted to sprint ahead of the other two.

"Find engine three - I'll meet you there." Stark shouted over his shoulder as the three of them rounded the corner.

"I must find my brother. This madness is of his design, I am sure." He turned to take the next left, towards the detention block, but a strong grip on his right arm stalled his motion.

"I'll take care of Loki. You head outside with Stark and keep this ship in the air," Rogers commanded. Thor began a retort but Rogers continued, "You can fly, and if this ship goes down, a lot of people could die."

He speaks truth. Thor nodded and began chasing after the man of iron. He caught sight of him as he flew down the narrow hallway, now clad in his metal suit. Stark stopped short of Thor and tossed a tiny object at him.

"Earpiece for you, caped crusader. Stay in touch." He spun and rocketed towards a more damaged section of the ship where he flew out a hole left by the destruction.

A leap and Thor, too, flew beyond the confines of the ship and into the open air. From here, the damage was plainly evident; in his eyes, Loki's schemes had already damaged the behemoth beyond repair. He fumbled with the tiny human device, which seemed to be designed to fit the ear. Based on his limited experience with Midgardian technology, he assumed it was communication equipment of some kind.

"Can the vessel be evacuated?" Thor shouted at the device, amplifying his voice to pierce the wind, to make himself audible no matter how the human technology worked.

"Clipping the mic there, big guy; talk normally. Probably not, but if they're smart they have a contingency plan for this. Let's see if we can make that plan unnecessary.

"Right there: engine three. I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris."

Thor followed the man of iron towards the obviously damaged engine and attempted replying in a less boisterous voice, "I know little of the technology of Midgard. If we need to clear debris and restart an engine, I would fain not attempt to bring your cooling systems online. Heavy lifting is more straightforward, though I do not believe even I could keep this vessel aloft for long with strength alone."

A small drone launched from the man of iron's wrist. "Follow the bot. I need you to get to the engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position."

The man of iron launched himself into the enormous cooling system while Thor followed the drone to a small control panel near a badly damaged walkway.

"These relays, they are supposed to convey energy and disconnect if there is an unusual surge? I believe they are all sound. How goes it on your side?"

"I've cleared some of the debris, but even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"If a clean start is all you require, I may be more suited to this task than you. A surge of power could restart the engine, or do I misunderstand these systems?"

"Those relays you just checked would trip if you hit this system with lightning. No, keep on that control unit, and once it gets going reverse polarity long enough to disengage the system so I can get out."

"The red lever, yes? Just give the word." Thor jumped across the expanse to the controls on the opposite side of the ruined walkway.

A few moments passed as Thor waited for further word from the man of iron, and a pair of soldiers ducked out from the corridor at the end of the walkway, immediately firing on Thor's position. The first shot went wide, and Thor leapt over the second shot, throwing Mjölnir in an arc to strike both shooters.

Stark called in before Mjölnir was even back in Thor's hand. "Throw the switch, Point Break."

I dearly hope that this works, or the son of Howard will be thrashed about by the giant blade. They have a strange way of maintaining flight; these humans might as well build ornithopters for how oddly inefficient this vessel seems to be.

Almost immediately, Stark called again. "Well, that went as well as could be expected. Good timing, too. It looks like we just lost Engine One."

"Shall we make haste with fixing it as well?"

"No need. I don't see any physical damage, so they should be able to restart it without our help. I think that…"

Stark did not finish his thought, and just before Thor attempted to check to ensure that the human communicator had not malfunctioned, Stark began again, though obviously not directed at him.

"Fury!? You're aware that Engine three and four are starting to ice over? And that the deck is a few seconds away from full-on ice rink?"

Thor did not hear a response. Some sort of communication by varied radiation that the humans use, and I'm sure there are aspects of it that I do not understand. He flew beyond the edge of the hull and upwards into the sky to catch a glimpse of the issue. What could so panic the son of Howard so?

Then he saw the ice. Before his eyes it was thickening and spreading, looking as though it was only a few moments from encasing the entire helicarrier. Two of the engines already appeared to be struggling under the additional weight, and the spreading ice showed no signs of melting under the light of the sun.

This cannot be natural.

"Pikachu, you still with me? If you still want to solve a problem by throwing lightning at it, today might be your lucky day. Join me above Engine four."

Thor spotted the man of iron standing on the deck looking over at one of the ice-covered blades.

"I've pulled the helicarrier schematics. This thing has a set of de-icing coils all around the engines and under the deck - it's just resistive heat generation, so if you hit that point," He pointed to an exposed rod sticking out of one of the damaged sections of the hull, "we might be able to keep this thing from turning into a giant ice cube long enough for them to land in the ocean."

"You are certain? This ice seems unnaturally formed and may persist still."

"No one's throwing out any better ideas, and your lightning isn't exactly natural either is it?"

Thor said nothing else and held Mjölnir aloft, summoning a stream of lightning and directing it to ground against the exposed metal indicated by Stark. The spread of the ice slowed, and in an odd lattice pattern began melting on the deck and around the engines, though not from the sides of the hull.

Stark looked at him for a few moments before speaking through his suit, rather than the communication devices as before. "I think you fried the radio. How long can you keep this up?"

"As long as is necessary, but if the source of the ice cannot be located, I fear I can at best hold it at bay."

"Fury seems to know something. He's being as forthcoming as usual, though. I'm going to spot check all of the engines one more time; the last thing I want is for us to have spent all that effort fixing their broken engine only for us to crash anyway due to something like one of the intakes icing over."

She had no idea how long she remained there, kneeling on the metallic floor and staring out of the gaping hole in the hull of the ship. The flying ship.

She had been told that shipwright technology had improved, but she could not believe this and it was immediately in front of her.

This… this is madness. What purpose does a flying ship serve, and what changes must have been wrought on the world to produce such things. I cannot even judge the distance - are we thousands of fathoms in the air? Tens of thousands? Has this ship sailed a league into the sky itself? Are we higher than any mountain?

Is… is this how they keep powerful beings imprisoned? By holding us so far above the earth that escape is beyond even the most powerful? Not even that green creature could survive a fall from this height.

A whirring noise eclipsed the sound of the wind whipping past the hull, breaking her free from her stupor. A smaller flying craft hovered into view and turned to position itself just beyond the hole. It appeared to be the size of a moderately large carriage, with a blurred spinning blade or blades on top keeping it aloft.

This looks more like what I recall from da Vinci's fantastical drawings, but…

Wait… is that Loki?!

The aforementioned god opened a door on the flying machine's carriage. He leaned out across the short expanse between the carriage and the hole in the hull, seemingly at ease with the open air below him.

He extended his hand, his piercing stare never leaving her face. His voice was as oily and menacing as their last meeting, though it cut through the noise of the wind and flying machine with ease.

"Your Majesty, I believe we have a conversation to finish, and… estranged family to visit."

Anna. There was no decision to make. She did not question how or why he was here, or what his ultimate intentions were. Here was an opportunity to find out if Anna was at peace, if she found any happiness in the afterlife.

She took his hand and stepped across the expanse into the flying carriage.

A/N: I'm back! It's been a while. Hope you haven't given up on this story; I know I haven't, even if it has been too long.

On the future of Ice Sorceress - I've only just started on the next chapter, but as it doesn't have any combat in it, it should go much faster than this one did. I am apparently very bad at writing action scenes. From my outline, there are three more chapters in this arc of the story; I have ideas for a future story arc, but nothing approaching an outline or even more than a few plot points. Given the MCU canon is ongoing, there is always the potential to continue, but I don't want to write a story that is just the plot of a movie with Elsa added.

On other projects - I'm working on a few other stories in the background, though given the issues I've had finishing stories in the past, I probably won't post anything until I'm at least halfway done with them. I'm a few chapters into two other stories, one of which is a crossover between two relatively "finished" universes (so unlike, say, the MCU or RWBY I probably can't have the story invalidated by future canon).

On Elsa's power level - For the purposes of this story I believe that with sufficient training, Elsa could have comparable abilities to Iceman, and Iceman has successfully frozen the Hulk so solid that he was unable to break out. With regards to the main Marvel comic universe, Iceman often shows up in the list of most powerful mutants. Elsa will not reach that point in this story, but when sufficiently motivated or panicked she can certainly stand toe-to-toe with any of the Avengers individually.