Earth-717: Avengers Vol 1 Chapter 2: Assembling a Team “It's her! Open fire!” Tasha rolled her eyes and let out a groan as the Risk Control troopers trained their weapons on her. Activating her kinetic barriers, Tasha flew upwards from her hiding spot behind a stack of crates and aimed her repulsors forward. There were over a dozen Risk Control troopers inside of the warehouse, and they were all focused on killing Tasha. Tasha, meanwhile, felt like she was just killing time. Tasha blasted two of the troopers with her repulsors before boosting sideways to avoid an armour-piercing shot from a Risk Control sniper. She then aimed and launched a wrist rocket at the sniper, blasting her into fleshy chunks that splattered on the wall. Tasha then flew downwards and kicked one of the Risk Control troopers in the chest before spinning around and punching another one away. Tasha then stood still as the remaining troopers all fired at her, their bullets bouncing harmlessly off of her kinetic barriers. She waited for half a minute, tapping her foot a few times. The Risk Control troopers then stopped firing, looking at her with confusion as she stayed still. Clicking her tongue, Tasha then quickly aimed and fired another wrist rocket, killing all of the remaining troopers with one single attack. Lowering her arm and sighing, Tasha then retracted her face plate as she looked around the room. She activated the scanning feature of her helmet, which quickly fed her data about all of the technology inside the crates. The scan came back negative for any further intel. “Awesome,” said Tasha. “Another empty New York warehouse. Just what I wanted for Christmas.” An alarm indicator sounded off inside Tasha's helmet. She blinked in surprise, since this was the first time since she had started hunting down AIM that she had received a call. “Hello?” “Tasha, it's . .” “Told you not to call me on this line unless it was an emergency, Fury.” “It's an emergency.” Tasha scoffed. “I'll tell you what's an emergency. Going three weeks without getting one good scrap of intel on AIM. I've just been blowing up bargain bin warehouses! I bet even Sunset's accountants don't know about these places, that's how unimportant they are.” Tasha grumbled and kicked the corpse of one of the Risk Control troopers. “So, unless you've got something good for me, I don't know how . .” “Aliens are invading.” Tasha blinked in surprise yet again. “You're jo. .” Tasha paused, taking a second to think. “Right,” she said. “You don't joke about anything.” Tasha then took in a deep breath. “Alright,” she said. “On my way.” Tasha closed her face plate and rocketed into the sky, blasting a hole clean through the roof of the warehouse. * * * * “You're gonna be okay. Okay?” The patient on the stretcher nodded as she was rushed down the hallway. Jane then looked up to see one of the doctors approaching her. “Doctor!” “I'll take it from here,” said the doctor. “Room's ready to go. Good work.” Jane nodded. The woman on the stretcher looked at her as the doctor and another aide moved her into the room. While the woman couldn't speak, her eyes made it clear to Jane that she was thankful. Jane softly smiled as the door to the operating room closed. Taking a deep breath, Jane closed her eyes for a moment before turning around and walking back the way she came. Arriving in the lobby of the hospital, Jane rubbed the back of her neck. She then gave a short wave to the receptionist, who didn't respond because she was looking away from her. Blinking, Jane then noticed that everyone in the lobby was staring at the television screen attached to the wall. She walked closer to get a better look. It was a live news broadcast showing a gigantic alien war mech landing in the water next to the island of Manhattan. After a couple seconds of surprised terror, Jane then pulled out a small stone from her pocket and started to squeeze on it. * * * * “Tend to your family. The Einherjar will ensure that everyone is granted enough supplies.” The dwarf bowed in gratitude at Thor, before ushering his wife and his two sons into one of the hundreds of makeshift tents that littered the fields. Thousands of dwarf civilians and refugees were moving about the camp, trying to reunite with loved ones and recovering from injuries. Dwarf soldiers in full combat armour were stationed around the perimeter of the camp, their ranks bolstered by patrols of Asgardian warriors. The camp was in one of the forested provinces of Nidavellir, the homeworld of the Dwarves. Many of the incredibly tall and rocky mountains that the realm was famous for could be seen in the distance. This was a refugee camp for one of the settlements in the province that had been completely destroyed by troll invaders. Thor walked past several of the tents before he found Sif, who was wearing her full battle armour and holding her sword. She smirked upon seeing the God of Thunder approach her. “The Mighty Thor,” she said. “Champion of the dwarves.” Thor chuckled. “Have I any reason to treat them ill?” “I would say not, given that they will likely sing songs about how you saved them for the rest of their days.” Thor and Sif continued their conversation as they started to walk together towards the edge of the camp. “We haven't saved them yet,” said Thor. “Ulik's forces will return. The raids will continue.” “I've no doubt of that,” replied Sif. “But we will match the trolls in kind. They've never defeated us before, and they will not now.” “Won't stop them from trying. I . .” Thor stopped in his tracks and went silent. He then looked up into the sky. Sif turned to him and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?” “The Calling Stone.” “What? What Calling Stone?” Thor turned back to Sif. “The Calling Stone I gave Jane Foster when I returned her to Midgard. She has used it. She calls for aid.” Sif inhaled. “Thor, I don't . .” “I must go to her. Immediately. I told her to only use it if she were in danger. She needs my help.” “Thor, we have been charged a task by Odin. The Dwarves need our help! King Eitri cannot fight this war alone.” “He won't have to,” said Thor. “I will go to Jane and help her. You and the Einherjar will stay with the Dwarves. Who better to leave them with than the God of War?” “Thor . .” “Sif, please. I cannot abandon her.” Sif frowned for a moment, and made a gesture as if she were going to protest again. But she stayed silent, and after a few seconds, she nodded and took a step back. Thor then held his hammer up to the sky. “Heimdall! Portal!” A brilliant beam of white light shot down from the clouds, striking Thor directly. Within seconds, he was gone, and Sif just looked into the sky as Thor was teleported across the cosmos. * * * * Jane looked down at the stone in her hand as she squeezed it. It started to glow red in her hand. After another minute, a loud cracking noise was heard, and everyone turned to look outside. The white light from Bifrost's beam dissipated after a second, and then Thor could be seen standing in the parking lot next to the hospital. Stuffing the Calling Stone back in her pocket, Jane then rushed out through the hospital doors and ran towards him. “Jane, what is . .” Jane grabbed Thor's hand and tried to tug him into the hospital, but her meagre strength made it impossible to move him. Luckily for her, he started walking with her as she led him inside. “Look at this!” Once they were in the lobby, Jane pointed at the television screen. Thor watched it for a moment before he realized what was happening. “Can you help?” asked Jane. “Where is this happening?” “New York.” “I will take care of it.” Thor started to turn away before Jane piped up again. “Hey!” Thor stopped, and Jane then jumped up and quickly kissed him on the cheek. She then awkwardly smiled and put her hands in her pockets. “For, uh . you know, for luck, or whatever. Now go save the world for me, okay?” Thor and Jane shared a smile for several seconds. He then turned away and marched out of the hospital. Spinning his hammer for a moment, Thor then launched himself into the sky, with Jane watching as he soared off to a new adventure. * * * * “I got this one, Cap.” Carol flew into the sky without hesitation, and Steve could only watch in amazement as she started to fire yellow energy blasts from her hands at the Pariah. The blasts did not seem to have any impact against the machine's armour, but it still turned to aim its laser at her. Firing a gigantic red beam, the Pariah barely missed Carol, who flew sideways to dodge the attack. A Quinjet then flew in overhead, moving towards Steve. The voice of Melinda May filtered in through the earpiece that SHIELD had given him. “We're getting you out of here, Cap.” “What about Carol?” asked Steve. “She needs help!” “Help's on the way, but my orders are to get you back to the helicarrier.” The Quinjet landed next to him and lowered its ramp.