...

WHY MUST I NOW INCLUDE STEVEN UNIVERSE IN EVERYTHING I WRITE NOWADAYS?! IT'S SUCH A GREAT SHOW, THOUGH, SO I GUESS MAYBE THAT'S WHY. SORRY NOT SORRY, GUYS.

ANYWAY, IF ANYONE HAS SEEN THE SHERLOCK SEASON 4 PREMIERE AND WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IT...SEND ME A PM, PLEASE, TO AVOID SPOILING FOR THOSE WHO WERE NOT ABLE TO. BUT SERIOUSLY, GUYS. I WANT-NEED-TO TALK ABOUT IT.

GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!

~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, positioning himself subtly in front of Leo, should anything-oh, frick. A man wearing a breastplate, leather pants, knee-high boots, and a scarlet cape landed heavily on the ramp, angry and stalking forward confidently. Leo bit his lip. There wasn't enough room for everyone to fight inside the Quinjet. What were Don and Mr. Stark thinking, essentially inviting a man that was presumably Thor and probably not friendly into the jet?! Leo fumed inwardly, preparing to fight. At least, until Tony crashed into Don, who went spinning into the bench, and then Steve, who tumbled on top of Leo, crushing him beneath the pair of them.

By the time they got up and untangled themselves, it was too late; Thor had flown off with Loki. Cursing under their breaths, the Starks moved toward the still open ramp.

"And now there's that guy." Tony grumbled.

"Thor, I think? Maybe?" Leo added, grimacing and thanking his plastron for taking a lot of the weight and pressure off his chest. It was only a little sore. Shouldn't be a problem.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked worriedly. Asami frowned.

"Leo said he might be Thor, but I think it's safe to assume he isn't human, at least." She replied, struggling to keep the jet balanced and flying straight.

"That guy's a friendly, then?" Steve asked. If his knowledge of Norse mythology was right, Thor was good, Loki was bad. Right?

Tony scoffs. "Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract is lost." Steve noted the continued path to the ramp and frowns.

"Donatello, Stark, we need a plan of attack!" He calls. They can't just run off half-cocked and without a proper plan. The pair scoff.

"We have a plan, don't we, Don?" Tony snarks, not turning around.

Don nods. "Attack." He provides and before either Leo or Steve can protest, they're both gone. Groaning under his breath, Steve goes and gets a parachute.

"I'd sit this one out, Cap." Natasha advises a little worriedly.

"Don't see-Leo, put that down-how I can." He says before he can stop himself as Leo picked a parachute up in sync with his father. Leo frowns.

"You get to fight Thor and Loki and possibly Tony and Don and I can't?" Steve groans.

"I...fine."

"These guys come from legend. They're basically gods." Natasha notes. She wasn't about to let her nephew of sorts get killed because Steve bit off more than he could chew.

"I'd really advise sitting this one out, both of you." Asami adds, also concerned about her nephew.

"Uh...all due respect, but..." Leo starts.

"There's only one God, ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve finishes, buckling the parachute on and pulling it tight against his chest. Leo does the same and the pair move toward the ramp. Leaping off, Leo immediately regrets this decision, regardless of how much he wanted to help his dad.

Falling sucks!

o0o0o

Don flew in sync with Tony, eyes narrowed and trajectory displayed in front of him based on the angle Thor and Loki departed at. Then, he looked for a good landing spot, judging that Thor would want to deal with Loki somewhere flat and-ah! He pointed at a mountain and Tony nodded, angling toward it. Sure enough, there the pair were, Thor ready to fight and Loki looking smug. Tony slammed into Thor, sending the pair flying as Don followed a little higher. Landing in a clearing, Tony threw Thor into the ground and came to a stop, facing Thor and hoping he wouldn't actually have to fight the god of thunder. Loki, god of mischief and lies, was one thing. The god of thunder, however, was an entirely different matter. Don slid to his father's side and waited for the first move. Tony slid his face-plate up, hoping that seeing a human face might discourage violence. He didn't want Don caught in this mess, but knew he couldn't stop Don from intervening if he tried.

"Do not touch me again." Thor growled. Tony held in a smirk with effort.

"Then don't take my stuff." Tony replied, trying not to let his hostility enter his voice.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with." Thor snapped. Don scoffed.

"Loki, Norse god of mischief and lies. Basically, a Norse Hermes. Doesn't seem like much of a problem, to be honest."

"And, uh, Shakespeare in the Park?" Tony added. "Doth mother know you wear-eth her drapes?" He snarked in a derisive, mocking tone, gesturing to Thor dramatically. Thor set his jaw. He'd tried to remain calm, but if these humans continued to irk him, he couldn't promise to stay non-violent.

"This is beyond you, metal man." Don frowned. Sure, there were a few unknow-okay, maybe a little more than a few, but 'beyond you' might be a bit of a stretch. "Loki will face Asgardian justice." Thor added in a 'this is what will happen, come hell or high water' tone. Don narrowed his eyes.

"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then, stay outta the way." Tony replied in the same tone. Don and Tony turned to grab Loki and return him to the Quinjet that was probably landing soon. "Tourist." Tony added as an afterthought.

That did it. Thor had had enough of these demeaning humans who had done nothing but insult him and refuse his help. With one, the smaller, in front, all he had to do was throw Mjolnir into the taller one, and then they'd both fall.

So he did and it worked beautifully. Don swore under his breath as they crashed through a tree and tumbled to a halt in a pile of limbs. Tony set his jaw.

"Okay." He growled. He hadn't really wanted to fight, but the gauntlet had been thrown when Don was hurt.

"That's how he wants to play it." Don added huffily as he disentangled himself and helped his dad up. Tony blasted Thor back and then kicked him through a tree before Don could get a blow in, but Don then flew around and grabbed hold of the cape. "Didn't anyone tell you capes suck?" He snarked, throwing Thor into yet another tree. Which only served to majorly hack the guy off, as the hammer was summoned to Thor's hand. Thunder rolled again and this time, there was more lightening. Coming into the hammer! Before Don could even properly take the sight in, however, the electricity sent the pair stumbling backwards in a wash of crackling and white light. Once it was over, the Starks were relieved to find that they were in one piece and then shocked to find that they're power was increased, thanks to the electricity blast.

"How 'bout that?" Tony asked.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." Don replied casually. "Thanks for the energy boost." Don called. Thor narrowed his eyes even as Tony blasted him back. Tony then flew forward and grabbed Thor when the pair collided mid-air, flying him into the mountain and crunching Thor as far as he could into the stone while Don flew beside his father, not knowing how to help. Then, Thor kicked off the mountain and the two went flying back into the forest. Don flew hurriedly down, narrowly avoiding a collision with the ground and the battling pair before managing to grab Thor's cape and use it to toss Thor several feet backwards. Thor responded by holding out his hand toward the younger Stark, as if to ask for help getting up. Don thought that was odd.

Until the hammer crashed into Don's back, causing him to go flying and tumbling into a tree. Tony turned, enraged, to the prince of Asgard and backhanded him away, causing Mjolnir to go flying away again. These mortals have proven quite vexing. Thor grumbled inwardly as he grappled with the larger armored man. The fight then became hand-to-hand and Thor picked Tony up by the shoulders and slammed him on his back on the ground. Tony flew out of the way of Thor's punch and reciprocated once he'd turned around, a matter of seconds.

"Don't touch my son again." Tony growled as his fist slammed into the floor where Thor's head had just been. Thor let that sink in for a moment, shocked and slightly guilty, but couldn't stop the battle now. Not when he had the offender's arm in his hand, crushing the flimsy Midgardian metal easily. Don was getting up and trying to find a way to help when Tony head-butted the Asgardian. Nonplussed, Thor reciprocated and sent Tony flying.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Don roared, helping his father up before charging again.

"Hey!" A new pair of voices called, but no one of the battling trio paid it any attention.

Or, they wouldn't have, if something didn't clang against all three of them, halting them in their tracks.

"Stand down, Don." Leo ordered calmly, despite still feeling slightly queasy from all that free-falling. Don frowned. Really?

"Leo, you can not just come in here and order me around, older brother or not." Leo cocked a brow and subtly (not really) looked at his father for guidance.

"That's enough." Steve growled, leaping off the trunk the pair had landed on (Leo following quickly) and facing Thor. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"Let's all just calm down so we can talk and come to an agreement." Leo added placatingly, as the Norse god still looked highly testy and tense.

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor exclaimed. These mortals, at least, Thor muses inwardly, still tense, are trying to understand.

"Okay. So are we, so let's just-"

"Then prove it." Steve interjected and Leo let him. After all, Steve was infinitely better at negotiation, due to the fact that this was Leo's first attempt. "Put that hammer down."

"Then we'll put our weapons down and talk rationally." Leo added, hands up in surrender.

"Yeah, no." Tony advised. "Bad call. He loves his hammer." Unfortunately, this only pushed Thor back over the violent edge he'd been teetering on since Cap's arrival and as Don was directly behind his father, the pair ended up tangled on the ground feet back.

"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Thor roared, not thinking straight, too vexed and annoyed by the misunderstanding and the lack of actual communication between these costumed Midgaurdians and himself. So he decided that if they wished a fight, he'd give them the fight of their lives.

That is, until he actually smashed the hammer into the shield the newcomer carried. This triggered a shockwave, but when the dust settled and all was clear again, Thor was amazed and a little awestruck to find that not only had the man managed to grab the younger, hooded figure, protecting him (the voice was clearly male) against his chest even when thrown back, but...Mjolnir had failed to shatter and obliterate the object it had collided with. It had never failed before. Never. Everyone slowly gathered and there was a stunned, exhausted silence for several moments.

"Are we done here?" Steve breathed. Don approached Leo, suddenly regretting not taking his older brother's advise when he had the chance.

"I should have listened to you. I'm sorry." Leo barely held in a snarky comment, just thankful that it was all over and that he was making some kind of progress on his relationship with his estranged siblings.

"I shouldn't have tried to automatically take charge. I'm sorry." Don chuckled.

"No need. It was a much better alternative. Again, should have listened."

"We're all good. Now, we got a god to round up."

=#=#=#=#=

"...So...they're...living gemstones?" Raph asked, reaching for a handful of popcorn.

"Yep!" Mikey chirped over the theme song of his favorite show, Steven Universe. He'd gotten into it only because he wanted to know what the hype was about. It had well earned it, in Mikey's opinion. And now he wanted to show his older brother to pass the time and because it was amazing and everyone should watch it. If you asked Mikey, that is. "I love it, and I think you will, too."

"Hey, can you two try and keep quiet?" Dr. Banner asked politely, fiddling with a screen and other instruments. The trio were in Banner's lab, Raph not wanting his dad to be alone and wanting to hang with his little brother, who had been nothing but happy, energetic and bubbly to him since Raph and Banner had arrived. It was adorable to Raph and he suddenly realized that he quite enjoyed his little brother's company, despite the fact that they'd only just met and hardly knew each other.

"Sorry, Dr. Banner." Mikey apologized and started the first episode. Soon enough, they were starting episode five-or was it ten?- and Raph was actually starting to like it. Not only was it mindless enough that he could zone out and not miss much of the story or plot, but there were veiled hints at what was to come, Raph could tell. Some things were just too bizarre to not realize that it was foreshadowing. He hoped they could get to the obvious real plot soon, but also knew that that was improbability, considering that the first season was fifty-one episodes long. Raph settled in for another long session after a break to get more popcorn and water for the fifth time. This wouldn't end soon, and he could deal with that.

That is, until his dad and Mikey tensed, paling and tensing.

"Dad?" Raph asked, before catching sight of the god that was evidently behind this. He was not quite as...intimidating as Raph had expected. Just...unsettling. One could never be sure of what he was gonna do.

"So...that's Loki, huh?"