Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Marvel Universe or Disney, The Amazing Stan Lee and Joss Whedon, or anyone else involved with the movies or comics are the ones who do. I am not making any profits from this writing, it is all for the purposes of fun and creative writing

Chapter 23

It was a sunny spring afternoon over New York City, everyone going about their day, enjoying lunch, meeting up with friends, making new ones, seeing the sights and sounds of the city that never sleeps.

It had been nearly two years since the Chitauri invasion that had nearly leveled the entire city and about a year since the truth about Loki had been revealed. New Yorkers being who they were had not let this bring them down. Despite the destruction and the grief, they carried on and put their minds to rebuilding their battered city. While a lot of progress had been made, there were still gaping holes in the sky-line and yes, even in the sky-scrapers themselves, and the broken ruins of buildings and roads throughout the Manhattan area. The amount of damage done had been nearly insurmountable in both size and cost, but as time passed, progress was made, even at a snail's pace. It also helped that a certain billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist had made some very, very generous contributions to the rebuilding efforts, and made sure that said contributions were only used as such, for even in the wake of so much disaster, there were some people who would still take advantage of it to line their own pockets.

JARVIS had seemed to take particular joy in back hacking these not so honorable individuals and teaching them quite thoroughly the consequences of trying to steal from both the victims of the invasion, and also Tony Stark himself. That had been a most satisfying endeavor.

Now things were going about business as usual with the hustle and bustle.

In the outdoor dining area of restaurant on the corner of fifty-seventh street and seventh avenue, a waitress smiled as she set down a plate of freshly made fettuccine Alfredo in front of a young man in a suit, the latter smiling and giving her his thanks. The waitress was about to take her leave and get her next order, when suddenly, there was a dull shake of the ground beneath her feet that stopped her dead in her tracks. She turned back to the patron as found that he too was tense in his seat and frowning in confusion.

Before either of them could say anything, another, more powerful jolted passed beneath them, casing a ripple in the glass of water by the customer's hand. A quick look around had these two people seeing that many others were paused as well, some asking what that jolt was while others were looking about in confusion.

Then an almighty rumble shattered the still air, followed by a jarring vibration that seemed to shake the very foundations of the city beneath the miles of steel and concrete. There were shrieks and shouts as several people were knocked to the ground by the sheer force of it all. Then there was the sound of glass shattering as a gigantic metal fist punched through the side of a nearby building, sending debris flying everywhere.

The waitress had enough time to gawk in horror as a behemoth, green robot that reached just past halfway up the tall building it had just punched came lumbering down the street, crushing cars and shattering the pavement. The waitress then found herself being violent yanked by her arm and turned to see the equally terrified look on the customer's face. Without saying a word the man in the suit bolted, yanking the waitress away with him till she was running as fast as she could beside him, the screams and sounds of mass chaos and panic buffeting them.

A moment later a giant metal foot came crashing down on the outdoor dining areas, completely decimating it and the entire front of the restaurant as the giant robot lumbered along wreaking total havoc, its joints groaning and clanking as its three golden eyes darted about, scanning the area. The screams of fleeing civilians and the sirens of approaching law enforcement.

The cops all piled out of their vehicles with their weapons drawn, but all eyes grew wide as the giant robot simply stepped over them without so much as a glance. One of the higher ranking officers quickly shook himself of his shock and took charge of the scene and started barking orders left and right to search the rubble for anyone injured and clear those who had not run away, while he himself shouted into his radio that they had a dire situation and would be needing back-up.

A loud metallic shriek had all of the cops looking behind them back down the path the robot had just come down and every single stomach just dropped as they eyes yet another hulking green colored metal giant lumbering towards them.

Scratch that, they needed more than just the usual back up, they were gonna have to call in the big guns for this one.

A few minutes later and several miles away, looming above the iconic Penn Station which was still under heavy renovation, was the behemoth structure now known as Avengers Tower. While on the outside it gleamed in the afternoon sun via its many planes of clear glass as was the picture of calmness, on the inside it was a whole other matter. The whole of the tower was wailing with multiple alarms going off at once.

A controlled sort of chaos reigned over the many floors of the tower as its inhabitants all rushed to assemble for battle. On his floor of the tower Steve Rogers, who had been sketching the sky-line by the window in his had rushed to his closet when the first alarms sound and hit the button that would activate the false panel in the back behind his regular clothes. It fell away to reveal his iconic red, white, and blue battle suit and shield. Steve quickly grabbed up his suit and shield and started rapidly donning them with well-practiced speed.

In the level a few floors above, Clint was doing the same, rabidly doing up the buckles on his the bracer he wore on his arm, having already donned his signature purple battle outfit. Once the last buckle was done, Clint grabbed up his quiver and secured it to his back before grabbing his still deactivated bow. He grumbled quietly to himself and cursed the threat to the city as he ran out of his room, he had just stepped out of the shower when the alarm had sounded. The archer promised whatever was causing harm to the city at least a couple arrows in some painful places. While Clint grumbled all the way to one of the many elevators, on her floor, in her room, Natasha Romanov, AKA the Black Widow holstered the last of her many guns an adjusted oner of her gauntlets. She looked as cool and collected as ever as she walked, albeit quickly, out of her room ready for battle and pulling out her phone to make some very important calls.

A few floors above these three members of the team, Bruce Banner was tossing away his lab coat in the general direction of the chair he had been occupying, his research left forgotten on the table in the lab he was rabidly exiting, a green tinge already spreading across his skin. Thankfully the good doctor managed to keep himself from loosing control fully to his larger and angrier counterpart, otherwise he would have probably destroyed the lift and gone straight down to the basement level rather than up to join his fellow Avengers.

And finally, up in the penthouse of the tower Tony Stark burst through the doors of the private elevator he had taken from his workshop before they were fully opne, making a hurried B-line towards the glass doors that led out onto his patio and more importantly, his landing pad. The billionaire nearly crashed through said glass door as the warm air buffeted him. There was a charge in the air and as Tony took a moment to gaze down at the city, his dark brown eyes narrowing as they caught sight of the tell-tale black smoke that was rising in the distance between the tall buildings, the distant sound of wailing sirens also caught his ear. With his whole morphing into a look of muted anger and determination spreading across his face. Turning his gave to the curved walkway that let to his landing pad, Tony started walking and as he did the seemingly unassuming walkway quickly came to life as several robotic arms that spun in perfect synchronization.

As he passed, the many machines arms expertly fastened the various pieces of armor onto Tony's body so that by the end of it he stood on the circular landing pad with the Iron Man suit fully assembled and the back piece flaring but with the face plate up. Tony glared at the chaos in the distance and tilting his head, making his neck pop before the HUD clamped down into place with a soft clank. The eyes flared white with light and the ark reactor flared as everything came into alignment. Flexing his fingers, Tony spoke as the many screens came on time before his eyes.

" You with me JARVIS?" A few seconds later the posh British voice sounded.

" Of course sir, all systems are functioning at optimum levels. Standing by."

The sound of approaching feet had Iron Man turning in time to see the rest of the team arriving out onto the patio area. Iron Man stepped forward as held up his hand in greeting as Captain America walked towards him.

" Hey Spangles."

" Hey Tony, you better fly ahead and see what we're dealing with, the rest of us'll follow when the Quinjet gets here." Iron Man nodded and turned, he was about to take off when the Captain spoke.

" And Tony?"

" Yeah?"

" Do not engage whatever it is, try to distract it, and be careful." Tony grinned beneath his HUD as his jet propulsion systems came online with a loud roar. He looked at Steve over his shoulder, and the supersoldier could almost see the cocksure look beneath the mask as Tony took of with parting words.

" Since when am I not?" Then he was jetting off towards the threat, a red and gold blur through the sky.

" How bout never?" Clint said flatly, earning a chuckle from Bruce who had grown just a little more green on the elevator ride up. Natasha rolled her eyes but there was a warmth behind them, while Captain America allowed himself a small smile before he grew serious once more and made his way back to the rest of his team. His blue eyes turned to the Black Widow.

" What's the ETA on our ride?" Natasha stood infallible as ever, but she did let the mildest hint of dissatisfaction mar her tone.

" Two minutes and counting." The Captain's cowl could not hide his unhappiness at this answer, but he gave the red-head a curt nod before he turned to Banner, who was taking deep calming breaths and looking a bit shaky.

" You gonna be able to keep the Other Guy back for a few minutes longer Bruce?" Bruce sent Steve a shaky, humorless smile as he nodded while Clint placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, looking a bit nervous himself.

" He wants out badly, but I'm holding him. Can't make any promises though." The Captain nodded grimly and turned hard eyes to the skies as he and the others waited.

Meanwhile, back at the epicenter of the chaos that had raised the alarm, things had rapidly gotten worse. The gargantuan robots were now stomping about, crushing cars beneath their feet and hurling others straight into building, all while terrified civilians scrambled for cover. Police officers took cover behind their cruisers and fired their guns at the metallic destroyer, but there bullets did not even reach their metal hides, there was some kind of green forcefield around the bots, something no one had ever seen before.

The roar of jet engines had several cops and civilians alike looking up in time to see a gold and red blur pull up and hover over the scene of mass destruction.

" Well, that's new." Tony said flatly behind his HUD as he gazed at the two giant robots currently pummeling there way through Manhattan. JARVIS of course was cool and collected as ever.

" Shall I commence running scans sir?" Tony narrowed his eyes as he noticed how large the bodies of the two destroyer bots were, and what looked suspiciously like the seam of two doors at their fronts.

" Scan em head to toe JARVIS, something about how round they are around the the middle's giving me a bad feeling."

" Right away sir." While JARVIS ran all the scans the suit was capable of, Tony hovered at a safe distance and tapped into the com-link with his fellow Avengers.

" Uh Guys, you coming?" There was a crackled over the line and then Steve's voice came through.

" Yeah Tony, we just got on the jet, we'll be there ASAP. What are we dealing with?" Tony gave a small huff that was equal parts relief and frustration.

" We got two giant walking metal cans currently smashing there way towards Times Square, I've got JARVIS running scans but here's a visual." With that there the right eye of the Iron Man suit turned red as Tony used the camera feature in said eye, he didn't record but kept the camera trained on the two juggernauts as he linked up with the Quinjet and sent the live feed to his fast approaching team mates.

Said teammates were all gathered in the belly of the Quinjet with their eyes fixed on the large screen hanging on one side of the ship, while two SHEILD agents piloted the airship expertly around the edge of Manhattan before maneuvering into the city towards Time Square. The feed from Tony came in and they finally saw for themselves the two ginormous robots that seemed Hell-bent on destroying Manhattan.

" Geez, those things are huge!" Clint's eyes were wide as he stared at the footage. Steve scowled behind his cowl.

" I'd like to know who sent them." Natasha stood calm as ever, with the barest frown marring her brow as she spoke.

" Whoever it is, he has the funds and the knowledge to make robots on a large scale." Bruce for his part averted his gaze, his eyes having turned a striking green upon see the damage that was being done, the Hulk was roaring with rage within him and clawing to get out, but Bruce still fought to keep control over his other half, because if he were to transform here, he'd bring the whole airship down with his friends in it.

But all eyes turned back to the screen when they heard the sounds of alarmed shouts and a curse from Tony himself. They all watched, through Tony's point of view as one of the robots turned away from the property it was destroying and leveling its three golden eyes right on Ironman. There was a moment of tense silence and then Tony was shooting out of the way as a flattened car came hurtling right at him. Iron Man shot a missile at the still airborne vehicle and blew it up midair so that it fell to the abandoned streets below in several pieces, thus reducing the damage. But Tony's relief was short lived as the robot that had just tried to take him out sent another car flying his way.

Tony caught the flying vehicle this time and lowered it to the ground safely. After he yelled at the cops to clear the area he spoke into the comm-link.

" Guys, just get here!" Then the line and the video feed went out.

With gritted teeth, Clint scrambled over to the cockpit and all but yanked one of the pilots out of his seat, taking over.

" I know a shortcut." He said curtly as his only explanation. A few seconds later the other pilot found himself relieved with only a silent look from the Black Widow, who took over as co-pilot.

The Captain, Banner, and the two SHIELD agents all hung on to anything within reach as the Quinjet picked up additional speed while Clint and Natasha expertly piloted it between the buildings, till at last they turned a corner and beheld the giant metal monsters for themselves. Clint's frown deepened as he noticed that the robot that had attacked Iron Man was continuing its assault, this time revealing a new weapon on its shoulder.

" Great, those things have machine guns." Indeed, at the moment Iron Man was expertly maneuvering through the air, narrowly dodging the numerous bullets that were being fired his way. Ironman landed on the street and tried firing a few shots back, Tony letting out a frustrated snarl when he saw that his shots were being deflected off of a forcefield of some kind.

" JARVIS, what can you tell me?!" Tony dodged another car.

" As you have just seen sir, there is a forcefield around both robots that is making them impervious to attack, it has also interfered with my scans. What I can tell you is that both robots are heavily armed with the usual weapons, guns missiles, but there also appears to be some kind of energy signature coming from the very belly of each bot." That certainly did not bode well.

" Alright thanks JARVIS, stand by."

" Of course sir." Then the loud roar of jet-engines caught Tony's ears.

Ironman looked up and felt a small surge of relief when the Quinjet pulled up above him. Before the back door was fully opened on the jet, and already half transformed Bruce shot out and landed hard on the street bellow, his clothes tearing and falling away as the Hulk fully took over. With a loud roar the green behemoth stepped in front of Ironman and stood as a barrier between Tony and the bullets the robot was still firing. Tony grinned up at Hulk, while Hulk grinned back.

" Hey big guy."

" Hi metal man." They shared a smile before the Hulk turned back to face the giant robot firing at them and growled in rage. Tony just thanks his lucky stars that his friends were finally here, not that he'd ever say it out loud mind you.

After Hulk's timely arrival the rest of the team touched down, Captain America leaping out and landing with his shield in hand, Hawkeye and Black Widow using repelling lines to safely exit the hovering Quinjet. Once the rest of the Avengers had all touched down, the Captain provided cover with his shield as he and the two assassins ran as fast as they could and joined Ironman behind the Hulk, who was looking all kinds of irritated at all the bullets that were bouncing off of his green skin. All eyes went to Ironman, noting the few dents and grazes that already marred his suit. It was the Captain who spoke first.

" You alright?" Ironman nodded.

" Yeah, but those things have got some kind of forcefield around them to where we can't hit them." The rest of the Avengers nodded grimly. Then the Hulk looked back at the bots and pointed as he spoke in his signature dialect.

" Look, bad bots walking away!" All eyes turned in the directing the big green hand was pointing and it was confirmed that the two giant bots were indeed lumbering away from them. With the danger of incoming bullets effectively ceased for the moment anyway, Captain America turned to his fellow Avengers.

" Those two are gonna reach Times Square at any moment, Tony, you fly ahead and take Clint with you and put him at a good vantage point. We need to see if there's any way to get past their shields, the rest of us will follow after them."

The two Avengers in question both nodded before Ironman gripped Clint tightly and raise the archer into the air as he took flight and jetted off towards Times Square. With a roar, the Hulk took of running towards Times Square himself.

" Hulk smash metal bots!" Steve and Natasha quickly ran after the green behemoth.

" No Hulk, you'll probably bounce right of at this point." Hulk just grumbled and sent Cap a scathing look over his shoulder.

" Then Hulk keep smashing till he get through." With a growl the green behemoth lumbered onward.

" At least he had the right attitude." Natasha said flatly the three of them made the way on foot, the Hulk an effective bulldozer clearing away any large debris that would have obstructed the Captain and Black Widow.

A few minutes later found Times Square in total chaos as people fled left and right, debris falling all around them.

" We just can't get through!" Clint screamed into his com as he hastily climbed down from where he had been perched moments ago, shooting some of his exploding arrows at one of the robots to no avail. Down below the other Avengers were doing there best to distract and hold the robots at bay in order to allow the many civilians still in the square a chance to escape. Ironman's missiles did slow them down a bit, but the forcefield simply would not budge.

Several miles away, from where he stood glowering at the many screens that were showing the chaos that was happening in the city, Nick Fury grumbled in displeasure. Agent Maria Hill walked up to him with the latest report.

" Sir, the Avengers are clearing the area but they can't seem to penetrate the barrier, its unlike anything we've ever scene." Fury turned his grim eye to the brunette and nodded.

" Raise the alarm and tell our fighters to be ready, if worse come to worse we are gonna rain down everything we got on those two tin cans." Hill nodded curtly and walked off to send word for the agents to assemble.

Fury turned back to the screens and crossed his arms. All he could do at the moment was wait and hope that Earth's mightiest heroes would come through somehow, before he'd have to unleash those under his command in SHEILD.

Back at Time Square, Ironman sent two more missiles flying, both aimed at a robot each. The explosions were jarring as the missiles hit, sending the Robots stumbling backwards but unfortunately not damaging them at all, the forcefield shimmering green as it repelled the fire. Clint sprinted over the rumble and debris as he joined up with the rest of the Avengers. Hulk roared as he flung a flattened car at one of the robots, roaring angrily when it just bounced off ineffectively. Ironman landed in their midsts and they all aimed their weapons, ready to let loose another missile, and arrow, bullets, a shield, and a piece of a building that had been broken off respectively.

They were all about to let loose their joint attack when with a flash of the same green light, a figure materialized on top of the heads of one of the juggernauts, who both paused in their destruction. He stood wearing a billowing green hood with gold clasped over a scowling metal mask and armor. He gazed down at the Avengers with disinterest as he spoke. The Avengers instantly recognized him as none other that Victor Von Doom, they had faced him down in his native Latveria not too long ago, in seamed the evil genius had regrouped and was now on the attack on their turf.

" Surprise surprise Avengers." Doom drawled behind his mask. Not impressed in the least, Ironman strode forward and called out to the newly arrived supervillain.

" So you came all the way to the USA for another asswhupping? Kinky!" Behind him Cap rolled his eyes but there was a definitely quirk to his lip, while Hulk grinned, Hawkeye chuckled, and Black Widow remained as neutral as ever, though her steely determination softened for a moment when they looked at the back of Tony's head before hardening and glaring back up at Doom.

" Insolent Dog, you will pay for disrespecting Doom!" Before Tony could make another sharp remark, they all watched as Doom raised his gauntlet and pressed a button. There was a metallic whirring sound that came from the two robots, and then the bodies of both were bursting open, confirming Tony's earlier suspicions as the doors gave way and an entire hoard of menacing Doom-Bots piled out like ants from a hill.

Hulk let out an ear-shattering roar as he rushed forward, fists already flying as he met the incoming wave of Doom-bots. Steve sent his shield flying, please to see that these bots did not have the same forcefield as the two man attackers, most likely Doom wanted to protect his principle weapons and was sending out the drones to just turn things into one giant free for all.

The Avengers all held their own, smashing, bashing, shooting, and blowing up many of the Doom-bots that were converging on them. But they were still outnumbered and they still had to deal with the two juggernauts. But while the battle raged down below over Times Square, no one noticed the dark clouds that were rapidly gathering over the city.

It was after he had just punched out a Doom-bot that Captain America turned his gaze to the two giant robots and felt his heart stop for a moment. The doors through which the many small bots had piled out of where still open at the front of the giant bodies, only now there was an ominous glow radiating from them both, swirling and seeming to gather more and more energy with each passing second. It did not take the Captain long to realize what this was.

A pair of rather large cannons within the bodies of the robots that were being readied to fire, right at them. From his perch atop one of his monstrous metal beasts, Dr. Doom chuckled as he watched the realization dawn on Captain America's face. It matters not that the look quickly morphed into one of determination, in just a few moments the cannons would be ready and the Avengers would no longer be a nuisance in the way of his grand plans for the world.

The Avengers kept fighting despite the imminent threat, Tony shooting both weapons from is arsenal and his own repulsors at the two juggernauts, trying to break through the shields. The Hulk hurled himself at one of the bots only to bounce of the forcefield with an enraged there was an ominous hiss as Doom's cannons spun faster and glowed the brightest.

" Farewell Avengers." Doom drawled, raising his hand to the gauntlet with glee behind his mask, ready to simply press the button and blow the Avengers and most likely a good chunk of Manhattan to kingdom come.

But just as his finger hovered over the button, a loud, eardrum shattering clap of thunder suddenly sounded through the already charged air. The next thing Doom, the Avengers, and the people huddling about while baring witness to the battle, the skies about the city, filled with dark, charcoal black clouds that had gathered out of nowhere seemed to almost shatter and a bright, roaring beam of prism-like light shot down from the heavens and straight into Time Square.

Every Avenger, from Captain America to the Hulk all felt their hearts slam to a stop as recognition dawned on them, but the shock quickly turned to downright glee, for it was clear that some other worldly backup had just arrived. As the blinding, prism-like light continued to ripple and illuminate the area, something went flying out of the beam, it was a projectile of some kind, glowing white and careening straight at Dr. Doom. Doom activated his own personal shield, not to concerned as the projectile came flying at him. But his nonchalance was quickly replaced with a cry of shocked pain as the projectile, a gleaming silver throwing knife, clearly not of Midgard, cut clean through his shield and buried itself into the forearm he wore his control gauntlet on. Before Doom could pull it out, the knife bubbled and promptly melted right into the gauntlet and Doom's flesh beneath his armor, burning him like a powerful acid.

Doom screamed and gripped his damaged arm, falling to his knees atop the head of his robot. The two behemoth robots let out metallic shrieks as their twin cannons and started to stumble as their cannons, which had been poised to fire, were now thankfully powering down due to the damage done to the gauntlet that had been controlling them. A telling flicker of green around the two destroyer doom-bots was also clear indication that the forcefield that had served the biggest bane to the Avengers in this battle was weakened, if not completely dead.

There were smiles all around, until Clint frowned in realization.

" Hey guys, since when does Thor throw knives?" This naturally had the others pausing because it was true, the only thing Thor was know for throwing was Mjolnir. What just happened to Doom was definitely not the Thunderer's style.

The light of the Bifrost finally faded, and the Avengers got the answer to the questions that had been raised. The prism of light faded, revealing not one familiar figure, but four. Besides the all to familiar figure of Thor with his blond hair loose and his red cape billowing as he twirled Mjolnir by the handle in his hand, dressed in his full silver armor, beside him, standing tall and with his green cape billowing about him as the afternoon sun glinted off the golden horns of his helmet he wore over his own long, wavy black locks was Loki. And finally, flanking both princes were Njord and Jarl, the both of them still in regular wolf form, but with their neck hairs raised and a snarl on their great jaws. Both princes of Asgard were glaring daggers at the two malfunctioning giant robots, Loki gripping another glowing silver throwing knife in his hand.

Thor turned to his fellow Avengers, the glare turning into a edgy smile.

" I hope you do not mind, my brother and I decided to drop in the moment Heimdall informed us that you were all facing imminent death." Beside Thor, Loki grinned brightly and held up his hand in greet while Njord and Jarl both wagged their tails and gave the flabbergasted Avengers their own wolf grins. But before any of the Avengers could respond, Doom's pained and maddened voice sounded through the air.

" DESTROY EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!"

As one the remaining Doom-bots converged on the newly expanded group of heroes who quickly got back on the defensive, Njord and Jarl roaring as they transformed into their ice forms. Loki threw the knife he had been holding at a bot that was careening towards Clint, shattering the fiendish bot's face and melting it in the process, the thing fell harmlessly before Hawkeye's feet. The archer turned to Loki and grinned brightly as he grabbed an arrow from his quiver and sent it flying at another doom-bot.

" Thanks man! Welcome to Midgard!" Loki let out a laugh as he straight on punched a doom-bot through its chest, shattering the metal and wires .

" Don't mention it, good to see you Bartonson!" Clint let out a small laugh of his own at the sheer preposterousness of his and Loki's cordial greeting amidst the chaos of fighting off killer robots in the middle of Time Square.

" Good to have you back sparky, glad you brought the brother and the mutts along!" Ironman called over his shoulder as he blew apart two Doom-bots. Thor laughed as he smashed Mjolnir into a bot and sent it flying into a couple of its fellows.

" They'd have killed me if I didn't!"

Steve grunted as he slammed his shield across the face of a bot that had lunged at him. But there was no reprieve and three more bots descended on him. While he bested the two directing facing him, he could not turn in time. But when no searing pain or metal claw tore into him as he was expecting, Captain America whirled around and came face to face with a Doom-bot that was frozen completely solid just inches from striking him with his claws. A low rumble behind the robot-cicle had Steve grinning as he saw who had saved his life.

Njord, in all his beautiful, icy glory, looking pretty pleased with himself. With a low growl the wolf swiped out with one of his massive paws and obliterated the frozen bot into a billion pieces.

" Thanks bud!" Steve shouted, Njord barking before they both got back to bashing their way through the bots, Njord sticking close to Steve, keeping a watchful eye.

Natasha was shooting her way through the Doom-bots that were converging on her, but them there was a giant green hand slapping away four bots at once while an icy-blue jumped past her and snapped its jaws, tearing apart bots left and right. Natasha allowed herself a small smile as she was flanked on one side by the Hulk and Jarl the Icewolf on the other.

Loki snarled as he swung the wicked looking mace he had conjured moments ago, decapitating a Doom-bot with great satisfaction. As he turned to assess the situation, his eyes went to the two behemoth Doom-bot, and he felt his eyes harden as he spotted Doom kneeling on the head of the one he had been standing on, an open panel on the robot's head open before him. The masked imbecile was trying to salvage his efforts. Gritting his teeth, Loki turned and spotted his brother just as the Thunderer fried a bot to a crisp with his lightening. Loki willed his magic forward, transforming the mace in his hands into a gleaming double-bladed staff and started making his way through the melee to Thor.

Tony having taken flight paused in the repulsor bursts he was firing to watch Loki literally cutting his way through the chaos with his tricked out staff. It was like watching an apex predator, Loki being the ever calm and calculating as he cut through bot after bot with expert spins and jabs of his chosen weapon. Tony quickly caught himself in his mid-air admiring and refocused himself in taking care of the bots that remained, there number rapidly dwindling thanks to the combined efforts of the Avengers. Well the Avengers, one Avenger's badass baby brother, and their two behemoth lupine pets who had beamed down with said Avenger.

Tony shook his head as he blasted a few more bots.

" Man I gotta stop being so technical."

Loki snarled as he sliced a bot in half across the middle and finally reached Thor. Grabbing Thor's armor covered arm when it was raised in mid-swing, Loki yelled when he had Thor's full attention.

" Brother look!" Loki pointed at Doom, where the metal armored man was doing something to the bot he was standing atop.

" We must stop whatever it is he's doing!" Thor nodded mutely and then his eyes caught sight of Ironman where they genius was hovering above the chaotic battle scene. Thor quickly turned to Loki and gripped his shoulder.

" Be careful brother." Loki smiled in turn.

" As if these walking metal men could fell me, but I will, and I'll look out for the other. Now hurry!" Thor swung Mjolnir and hurled himself into the air, making a B-line for Ironman while Loki got back to the battle, there were still many bots left that needed to he felled. Within minutes Loki found himself fighting along side Hulk, Jarl, and the Black Widow. Upon seeing Loki, the big green rage monster sending a savage grin down at him, clearly happy to see the second Prince of Asgard. Loki returned the grin before he executed a graceful spinning move with his staff and cut down four bots in the span of a few seconds, coming to stop before Natasha herself. With a cheeky grin Loki bowed to the red-head and went further, taking her hand and planting a kiss on it as he spoke.

" Pleasure to see you again my lady." Natasha barely kept the grin from spreading across her own face at Loki's mischievous antics, instead allowing a small quirk of her own lips as she spoke.

" Good seeing you too your highness." To this Loki just let out a snort.

" Please, enough with the formality, I'm just plain Loki with you lot." Then Loki gave her a final grin and went back to gleefully slicing his way through the green colored Doom-bots, Jarl joining up with him as wolf and Prince wreaked havoc on the enemy robots.

" Since when is there anything plain about you?" Natasha said under her breath before she went back to riddling bots with bullets.

Up in the air, Thor pulled up along side Tony and spoke as he pointed Mjolnir towards the bot Doom was on.

" Friend Tony, the one who controls these metal men, he's trying to do something with the giant one he stands on. I shall take him out, you see if you can do something about the giant metal can!" Tony nodded.

" You got it Point Break." Then as one, Ironman and Thor went hurtling towards the giant bots.

From where he was kneeling before the manual control panel of his creation, Doom grinned beneath his mask. He would get the canons online, or have his bots self-destruct, either way he would safely teleport away back to Latveria before the blast. He had just about gotten the sequence done for the cannons when he saw two very pissed off Avengers barreling right at him. Without a moment to loose, Doom switched tactics and instead hit the button for self-destruct, the timer counting down from 30 seconds before the giant carrier bot and it's twin would blow Time Square to dust, taking the Avengers with it.

No sooner had Doom done this, he was being full-body tackled off of his creation by a snarling Thor while Ironman landed on the bot and knelt before the open panel to assess the situation. Tony's eyes widened behind his hood as he realized what the rapidly diminishing numbers meant. Tony quickly spoke into the link.

" Cap, Doom's rigged these two to self-destruct, the bastards made it so it can't be undone, we've got two minutes!" Steve's concerned voice rapidly came through the line.

" Can you do anything else?!" Tony was grim beneath his HUD as he growled.

" Metal-gear had it so that after he hit the button the wires that connected the panel to the main computer got fried, the timer's started and theres no way to stop it!"

" There's gotta be something!" Clint shouted through the com.

Down bellow the last bot fell in a mangled heap by the Hulk's feet as everyone gathered before the two giant bots. When Loki caught sight of the grim look of the Captain's face, he immediately grew concerned.

" What's going on?" All eyes turned to Loki, Steve answering the prince's inquiry while Njord and Jarl growled low behind them, glaring at the two carrier doom-bots.

" The guy that made these bots, he's rigged those two to explode where they stand, and Tony's saying that there's nothing he can do to stop it. This whole part of the city's gonna get wiped out." Loki's eyes widened at the revelation and he looked up at where he could see Ironman kneeling before the panel, a stricken look spreading across his face.

" But surely there has to be something we can do, we cannot let this city fall?!" Just then all eyes looked up in time to see a blur of red and green come barreling at them. With a disgusted yell, Thor landed before his brother and their friends, slamming Doom hard into the pavement, causing it to crack from the force before he yanked the metal clad psychopath up onto he's knees. Clint rapidly informed Thor of the dire situation, and the Thunderer then turned furious eyes on Doom, who he had by the scruff of his neck.

" Speak you wretched dog!" Doom just started chuckling, and that almost had the Hulk lunged forward while the others glared. Still laughing, Doom spoke.

" You are all going to burn with your precious city, Doom wins in the end. You cannot quench Doom's fire." The metal man then started cackling like the deranged lunatic he was.

But while the others stood angry, Tony's voice coming over the line that they had a minute and a half left and to just clear our, Loki frowned as he mulled over Doom's choice of words, then his green eyes flickered to the bright orange cores of both robots. Then a slow, grim smiled spread across Loki's face as he gazed down at Doom in disgust.

" Quench Doom's fire you say, well, you're own inflated ego proves to be your downfall you silly little sentient tinman." Thor and the other Avengers all frowned at Loki in confusion, Doom doing the same as Loki suddenly looked behind him at Njord and Jarl, the three of them sharing a look. Then as one, they all barreled forward, the two wolves gracefully jumping over the Midgardians while Loki nearly bowed Thor over as he ran past.

" Brother!" Thor called, watching as Loki, Njord, and Jarl ran towards the soon to explode robots. When the trio were just a few feet away, Loki's fair alabaster skin quickly melted away, leaving only the glacial cerulean blue of his Jotun heritage. Njord and Jarl both vibrated with gathering energy as Loki raised his own hands and summoned his seidr to the forefront. On his right hand the three oval jewels of the Norns' ring started to glow brightly, amplifying Loki's magic.

Then with twin roars Njord and Jarl raised their head high and opened their great jaws wide, unleashing bluish-white beams of magic as the glowing cores of the two carrier Doom-bots. With a loud snarl, Loki let loose his own magic, concentrating it to both of his hands with were aimed at the cores as well. There was a loud hiss from both robots, and steam rose from inside their open bellies as the ice-beams made contact. As Loki and his fellow ice wielders rapidly froze the two bots from the inside out, from where he knelt atop one of the bots, Tony felt his eyes widen as the timer on the self-destruct screen started slowing down, growing more sluggish with each number that passed until finally, the entire screen froze over, a thin sheen of frost over the timer, which had come to a stop at twenty-one seconds to detonation. Tony grinned in utter relief, letting out a breathless laugh as he spoke the first word that came to mind now that they were effectively NOT gonna be blown to Hell.

" Jackpot."

Down below, Doom watched as his two creations were effectively frozen from the inside out by two giant ice dogs and a horn-wearing Smurf.

" No, what is he doing?!" Doom hissed in rage. Thor growled low as he glared down at Doom.

" Putting a stop to your madness, now shut your trap."

The other Avengers did not spare Doom even the barest glance, all of them having their eyes fixed to the sight of Loki and the two ice-wolves effectively averting what would have surely been a fiery and destructive death for them all.

Tony's relieved and slight breathless voice came over the line.

" The timers stopped and the bots are frozen over, I take it Loki and the pups have something to do with this?" Steve grinned as Loki, Njord, and Jarl finally ceased their icy assault on the carrier Doom-bots. Reaching for his com, Steve spoke.

" You would be correct Tony, Loki, Njord, and Jarl just unleashed Antarctica into the cannons of both bots." Tony's chuckle filled the line.

Where he stood, Loki lowered his arms and willed his Aesir form back into place, while Njord and Jarl both seemed to sigh as they glowed with iridescent light and shifted back into their normal wolf forms, both of them shaking out their pure white fur and barking happily at their handy-work.

There was a calmness to the air now, as Tony took flight and landed down on the street a few feet away from Loki and the wolves. Popping his faceplate, Tony grinned as he walked up to a smiling Loki. Loki held out his hand for a shake, but instead found himself in a full on metallic embrace.

" I'm buying all three of you as much Shawarma as you can eat." Loki let out a loud belly laugh as he returned Tony's impromptu hug, hearing the chuckles from their fellow Avengers in the distance.

After that, things had descended into a different sort of chaos, with SHIELD converging on the scene with a veritable army of agents and clean-up crew. In that time Loki and Thor each transformed out of their battle armor and into the less formal attire they usually wore. Doom was carted off once he was cuffed rather roughly, all the while cursing them all to high Hell, in both english and what they all assumed was Latverian. The Hulk calmed down back into Bruce, and Loki had once more used his seidr and repaired the slightly embarrassed scientist's shredded trousers and conjured him a fresh shirt and shoes. Bruce had been truly grateful. Njord and Jarl had descended on Clint, nearly knocking the exhausted archer over as they showered him with affection. Steve and Loki had clasped hand and exchanged warm greetings. Thor had enthusiastically embraced each of his fellow Avengers, the most comical being when he picked Clint clear off the ground a spun him around, much to the Archers mortification.

There had been a small snag when a ground of heavily armed Shield Tactical Agents came forward and said that they had instructions to escort Loki and Thor to Shield HQ. Bruce had nearly Hulked out again right then and there, but thankfully Bruce had been able to fight the rage monster back, while also making it loud and clear that if the agents so much as touched a single hair on either Thor or Loki's head, he'd drop the reigns and let the other guy out without a fight. The other Avengers knew full well that it was not really Thor that garnered this kind of reaction from SHIELD and all gathered around Loki, Njord, and Jarl as a clear message of just who's side they were on.

Natasha had been the one to tell these agents, calm and collectedly as ever, to call in the Quinjet, and that they would ALL go to HQ for the mandatory debriefing or not at all. The agents had wisely followed the Black Widows instructions.

Now here they all were, sitting around the shining table of the giant circular conference room of the newly rebuilt helicarrier. The behemoth flying structure was currently cloaked as it hovered above New York City, now coming to life with the setting of the sun and already buzzing with the tales of what had transpired in Time Square, mainly the timely intervention of two Asgardian brothers and their pet wolves. The clean up process was ongoing, SHIELD having a bit of difficulty with transporting away the two giant frozen Doom-Bots. But for the most part, the damage had been mostly to property.

But now, the Avengers all sat tensely as they watched Nick Fury and Loki Odinson finally meet each other for what was technically the first time for the latter. Thor sat with a restraining hand on both Njord and Jarl each. When they had first arrived to the Quinjet, Loki walked with Thor and their friends, taking all the many eyes that immediately zeroed in on him as he passed by to the conference room with stride, even smiling back warmly at a few agents and other staff. It was immediately clear that everyone in attendance were jarred by this new and in fact true version of Loki. He was just so different from the lie that many of them had remembered seeing two years ago as Menkos had been led to his holding cell under heavy guard, a monstrous caricature. Now the stares were mostly curious, and much to Loki's quiet astonishment, he could even now see that a few were actually secretly admiring. They had all piled into the conference room, where Director Fury stood waiting, clad in his usual all black ensemble. It was Loki who finally broke the stalemate, standing tall and regal in the face of Fury's hard, unreadable, one-eyed stare that had cowed many other men and women.

" I am pleased to finally meet you, Nick Fury of Midgard." Loki then extended his hand to the director. Fury's dark eye dropped to the hand offered to him before he looked back up to meet Loki's striking green eyes, being reminded himself that this was not the sunken eyed madman he had faced off against just two years earlier. It was one thing to see the projection of what had happened, to analyze their own footage of Menkos' lie, but it was a whole other thing to see the real Loki standing before him now, looking so healthy and peaceful despite the sheer stress of the day and the potentially disastrous situation he was now in.

Fury then blinked and it seemed to break the tension that had crackled through the room. Fury reached out and gripped the offered hand firmly, noting the quiet strength behind the deceptively delicate looking long fingers as he spoke.

" Pleased to finally meet the real you as well Mr. Odinson, and thank you for the aid you provided us today." Loki smiled at these words, and it was then that Fury let go of any lingering trepidation towards Loki. This was not the insane and malicious grin of the impostor he had faced off against in the glass cage they had held Menkos in. This was the grin of the real Loki, and it totally lit up his face. Loki's eyes turned to the people who were sitting on either side of the table, his smiling widening at them before he turned back to Fury.

" It was a joint effort really." He said simply, a look of shyness spreading across his face as he and Fury let go of each others hands, while the Avengers all smiled at the praise, Thor practically beaming with pride. Fury kept his face carefully neutral, but some of the hardness left his dark eye as he gazed at Loki.

" Damn it if I don't like this kid already." The Director thought to himself before he gestured for Loki to take a seat so that they could all get done with the debriefing.

About an hour later, a Quinjet flew through the air over Manhattan, cruising at a moderate speed since there wasn't really any need for rushing. Natasha and Clint sat at the helm, two SHIELD Agents sitting behind them ready to take over when they reached Avengers Tower. Further inside the ship, the other Avengers, including Tony who had opted not to fly on his own and had his suit neatly folded back into a briefcase in his lap, were all strapped into their seats. They had left HQ, before Loki could charm the whole place further and also before Fury could go through with shooting Jarl in the face when the ice-wolf had tried to steal his left shoe. Always the left one.

As he sat with Njord resting his head over his knee, Thor turned his head when he caught the distinct sound of his brother snickering quietly as he ran his hand over Jarl's velvety head. Feeling the corner of his own lip turn up at his brother's quiet mirth.

" Brother, why are you laughing?" Around them Steve, Bruce, and Tony all turned to eye the brothers, wondering the same. Loki bit back another chuckle as he turned to meet Thor's warm, expectant gaze.

" I-It's nothing really brother, I just got struck with a sudden thought." Tony's lips turned upwards at this while Steve, Thor, and Bruce looked on curiously, the last man looking ready to fall asleep at any second.

" Care to share with the rest of the class?" This time Loki did not hold back his chuckle as he spoke.

" Well Friend Tony it's just that... I have just met your Director Fury, and I couldn't help but think that it was like Father and Heimdall had a baby together. I always knew they were close as any King would be with the kingdoms gatekeeper, but I never thought they'd be that close."

Loki's words were met with absolute silence, even Loki falling silent and secretly praying he didn't just put his foot in his mouth. Then as one, everyone around him save for the two auxiliary pilots and the two large ice-wolves all burst into laughter. Thor threw his head back and guffawed to his heart's content, reaching out and pulling an equally laughing Loki to him in a one armed hug. Steve chuckled heartily as he leaned back in his seat and covered his eyes with a gloved hand.

" Oh my God that is priceless!" Tony said, his arms going around his stomach cause he was in so much pain from his laughter.

Bruce was actually giggling as he crossed his arms over his chest, the tension that was always marring his face melting away temporarily into a carefree kind of happiness that came with hearing an awesome joke.

" He's got a point though." Clint said as he chuckled quietly behind the controls of the jet. Beside him Natasha was oddly silent, so Clint turned his eyes to her. His concern quickly faded into a bright grin as he eyed the way Natasha was carefully looking off to the control on her side, keeping her face hidden. But there was a telltale shaking to her shoulders that was all the proof Hawkeye needed that the Black Widow had indeed gotten Loki's visual.

Yup, things were going to be interesting since Thor and Loki would be staying with them for a few days here on Midgard. With that in mind, Clint and Natasha expertly piloted the Quinjet to top of Avengers tower, where the helipad was. After they had all disembarked, everyone had gone their separate ways to freshen up, Thor and Loki sharing the former's rooms on the level a floors down from Bruce's living quarters. Everyone changed out of their battle gear and into regular clothes, with the exception of Thor and Loki who hadn't brought anything with them. It was no matter really as everyone reconvened in Tony's penthouse.

The billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist kept his word to Loki, Njord, and Jarl and ordered a massive amount of Shawarma. Needless to say, Loki, Njord, and Jarl had taken an instant liking to the dish and gone at it with the best, leaving many of the mortals and even Thor himself gapping in awe.

But while Loki was enjoying his first literal taste of New York with his brother and those whom he had come to care for greatly, billions of miles away in a place between the realms known only as the void, a hulking, unhappy figure sat upon his throne over a hunk of cold, uncaring rock. He sat with massive structure to his body and a cold, purplish hue to his skin. His eyes were the color of pale bluish ice, and filled only with the vilest of malice as he stared out at the desolate sky, a broken moon floating in the distance before him. As he gazed out at the skies, a smirk turned up the corner of this abominable creature's purple lips as he spoke.

" It seems I underestimated you little runt of Asgard, but no matter. You, and those pesky little warriors of Midgard will make quite a lovely gift for my beautiful lady."

With a small chuckle, Thanos, the Mad Titan, ruler of the Chitauri and master of Menkos sat back in his throne and lounged lazily, a deranged glint in his eye.

" My beautiful Lady Death." He said with a besotted sigh.

The End

Thank you all so much for sticking by me as I wrote this. I love you all.