There were a lot of things the Avengers liked.

Weapons... Alcoholic drinks... Shawarma... Saving the world.

Facing a magic-wielding lunatic was not one of them.

Especially if this lunatic happens to be Dr. Doom, who likes to test run his new spells on unsuspecting superheroes.

Long story short, as told from Tony's point of view; doombot, doombot, boom-boom-boom, (mechanical)ass-kicking, Dr. Doom, green-flash of magic, cursing, blackout.

This sums it up well, or so he thinks.

Tony groaned as he pushed himself into a sitting position with the aid of a concerned looking Thor, who, the genius noted, appeared unharmed except for a shallow cut on his forehead that was not even bleeding.

Being a demi-god is unfair to your companions.

"Are you well, my friend?"

"Yeah. Feeling awesome. Still not sure whether I broke my legs or not, though. Where the hell are we?"

"Not in Doom's castle, that's for sure," rasped out Steve, his hand on his chest.

Judging from the boulder lying beside him, the stone had it worse. Tony grimaced as he put his weight on his left leg; not broken, but still hurting like hell.

Make that being a demi-god or a nearly indestructible super soldier is unfair to your companions.

"Gee. Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Chill, Stark, we know about as much as you do," he heard Barton say as the archer looked at the remains of his bow miserably, before casting it aside. "But if I'm right, we must be in New York."

"What gives the idea?"

"Cause this is the Central Park. Turned into a garbage heap. Or something like that."

One thing was sure; either gothic fashion became a world-wide trend practiced by literally everybody, or this New York was not their New York.

Another clue supporting the latter was that people didn't even dare to look at them as they passed by, and when Natasha wanted to ask a few questions, aman squealed and dropped like some stone, trembling, repeating "please don't kill me" over and over again.

A poster explained it, showing Natasha in battle stance, with a ripped off head in her hand, blood still dripping from it.

Banner turned into a shade of not-Hulk-green.

"Tell me that it's a fake one," he said in a begging tone. The Captain's features set into a grim expression.

Natasha remained silent.

But whether they were in New York or not, superheroes had to eat. They required nourishment, as Thor phrased it.

"Guys, you won't believe it," Tony exclaimed as he set down a tray in front of Barton, "But the guy who served us looked ready to run if necessary. What the hell is going on here? I mean what kind of monsters are we here?"

"The worst, apparently," grumbled Clint as he unwrapped his burger.

"It must be a paralell world," said Natasha, picking her own food like some kind of bird. "The opposite of our own. So if we are the world's greatest heroes home, helping the innocent..."

"We are the greatest villains, only they look at villains here as the heroes," finished Banner. "Otherwise I think we'd be already explaining ourselves at the police station or S.H.I.E.L.D, if things work in a similiar way they do at home. Except, turned upside down."

"But that would mean that here Dr. Doom and company are good guys," pointed out Tony, "Sorry, but I have a hard time believing that."

"It's a twisted mirror world. Basically everything is like in our own reality... Only not. Good turns bad, bad turns good. Basically everything around here is the opposite of our reality, but the basic idea remains," said Thor, munching on a piece of tomato thoughtfully. When he saw that the rest of the team was looking at him, gaping he shrugged. "What? Loki liked talking about these theories. Once he tried to open a portal, but Mother found it out. That was the only time I had ever heard her yelling like that... At him, of all people"

"However that would that means that this world has its own set of us. Then where are they? If we do not count the posters, I mean."

"I'd say in our world causing rucus. If the posters are anything to go by, they aren't the nicest people. What unnerves me that I have yet to see this reality's Thor."

"Uh, I did," raised his hand Tony, "Huge fella with black hair, looking like a death rock star from the 80's, standing next to punk-Clint? That's him."

"Great," Hawkeye groaned, "Just great. That idiot will ruin my image."

"Your image was ruined on the day you choose your codename, Bird Brains," Tony said with a grin and recieved a piece of cheese in his face covered in mayonnaise.

"Oww! It burns my eyes!"

"Keep it down, you two," Natasha hissed as several curious eyes turned on them. The last thing she wanted was more attention.

"All right," said Steve, putting down his glass of water, "We need a plan."

"For what?"

"To get back, for what else?" Tony laid back against the cushioned wall, still wiping the yellowish substance from his face.

"If you have any idea, spill."

"Magic brought us here, right? Then logically we need magic to return." Clint snorted.

"If you have a sorcerer hiding in your sleeve, why didn't you tell us about him yet?"

"I don't, but maybe..."

"Loki," spoke up Thor. The archer's head snapped towards him simultaneously with the engineer's.

"You can't be serious."

"I'm sorry? Please repeat that again. You didn't just say Loki, did you? As in the guy who leveled down New York, threw me through a window and which you found befitting to let loose?"

"We had a deal."

"And look how fantastically that worked out! We wouldn't be here in the first place if we weren't hunting for him and took a wrong turn!"

"Still," said Steve, "With Dr. Strange's location currently unknown and since I think we agree on that none of us wants to go to Doom this day again, he is our best shot."

Looking for Loki had been a pain.

Sometimes literally.

More often than not they found another... Villain whom they had to beat up in order to gain some information.

Problem was? They didn't go down without a fight here either and some of them were cockier than Stark. Yet after a week full of hunting, interrogation, screaming and running away of passerby pedestrians they had finally found Loki's lair.

"It doesn't exactly look like a hiding place he would choose," said Tony, his head slightly sideways. Rogers sighed.

"That's the point. Who would look for him here?"

"Yes, but in a cave under emo Disneyland?"

"We should get going," spoke up Natasha, "I don't want to spend here a minute more than necessary."

And in they went.

The tunnel was filled by fluorescent green light from a source neither of them could and was small enough that even Natasha and Tony had to bow their heads.

"Seriously, that guy is only an inch smaller than Thor. Why would he dig them this small?"

"My brother is a talented shapeshifter, Tony," said the Thunderer trying his best not to hit his head - and failing over and over again. "Surely he must have turned into something that can walk these paths easier than us."

"Fun-tastic. Anything else you have yet to tell us about Mr. Mischief?"

"Nothing that comes to my mind."

"You two be quiet," hissed Steve from the front, "For all we know he might already know we are coming, and if he doesn't, let's not make his job easier!"

So they continued on in silence. Until Natasha let out a surprised gasp when something took hold of her ankle and yanked her up into the air.

The tendrail let go of her, albeit not willingly, when Clint's arrow hissed through the air, shot out from a bow he "borrowed" from a scared-to-death owner of a weapon store, then changed course aiming for the archer now, only to be seared by Tony's repulsors. (Which had been, by the way, a pain to repair without the needed equipments.)

Thor looked desperate if anything when smacking the plants over and over again proved to be futile, since he knew well that the lightining he summoned would bring down the whole corridor. Not the desired effect.

And then some invisible power pushed them from behind and they landed in a bigger, brightly lighted cave in the most unelegant way. Yet the tendrails were still hell bent on attacking.

"What sort of madness possessed you," said a smooth voice they all knew too well, "That you would attack a bear in its own cave, again? Did you learn nothing the last time?"

"Brother!" Thor rasped out, fighting with a brownish root of something that wrapped itself around his neck, for the moment being ignoring the fact that this Loki was in fact not his brother, "Stop this! We come in peace"

Loki gave him a puzzled look, as if trying to decide whether he really didn't have any malicious intent or was simply an idiot.

"Peace. Armed like that."

"Wait!" yelled Tony as he heard the metal on his legs starting to give in to the plant's pressure, "Stop! We're good! Really! I swear by everything that is holy, we're good guys!"

"I remember the last time you tried that. How much of a fool do you think I am?" asked the Trickster in a bitter tone.

"Errr... Do you honestly want me to answer that?" the tendrail smacked him across the jaw again.

And then Clint screamed as his bow was jerked from his hand, he himself lifted into the air, followed by a cursing Natasha, and a not cursing Cap, his shield half-embed into the ground, looking like a sad puppy, if that's possible in case of shields.

"Brother!" Thor yelled wrestling against thicker tendrails that held Bruce in captivity. "Please, listen to us! We are in dire need of your help!"

And then two plants took hold of him from behind, yanking him backwards in the same time as a poison ivy wrapped itself around the Iron Man suit.

"Dire need you say. I was in dire need of your help when hanging from the Bifrost!"

"I remember you telling me that he is a good guy here!" Tony said after rolling next to Banner, who tiredly smiled.

"Yes, Tony. Because you yourself didn't blow up a spacewhale."

"That's different!"

"Not really."

"Loki, please, just listen to us," Natasha rasped out, her face as red as her hair due to the blood rushing into her head.

And the plants stopped.

So as it turned out please is a magic word. They could have spared so much energy if anybody other than Thor would have said it just once when dealing with him in the past.

Or not. It might have just made him angrier if the "reflections of a person" theory of Banner is true.

Loki's eyes narrowed.

"You have thirty seconds to explain."

"We came for another Earth."

"Not kidding, by the way" Tony added, but Natasha ignored him.

"A mirror world of this one, where those who are good here bad there. We were fighting Doom when he sent us here. We were looking for another sorcerer who could sent us back."

"And you thought I can." Loki's voice was filled with disbelief. Man, but this fella had a strange mixture of inferiority and superiority plus god complex.

"We did."

"Just how desperate are you?"

"To come to the one to whom we actually can thank the forming of our team for help? Quite desperate."

The spies and the soldier were dropped unceremonously to the ground. Banner stood up dusting himself.

"Thank you. It was starting to become rather uncomfortable and the Hulk wished to express his disagreement with it."

Loki's face turned paler than before, but he didn't loosen his positure.

"Don't thank to me for anything yet."

This had been sitting here for a few months now...