Chapter 27 - Chapter 22 The Casket of Ancient Winters

Chapter 22

The Casket of Ancient Winters

The great white ice plains of Norway, stretched for miles in all directions. The pure white powdered snow made it easy to spot the two dog sled teams as they made their way across the frozen tundra. The teams consisted of four people, two per sled, one musher and one passenger. The mushers urged their respective dog teams onward as the canines charged forward, the heat of their breath, turning to mist upon contact with the freezing temperatures.

As the teams glided across the frozen fields, the passenger on the lead sled team, a man who was completely covered from head to toe in winter gear a large dark grey trench coat with a light grey fur hood, dark winter boots along with a red scarf wrapped around his neck and face. A pair of tinted goggled covered his eyes, making his face completely obscured. A pair of mismatched gloves on each hand, a black one on the left and a white one on the right. He looked ahead as the sleds crossed the frozen tundra to a cluster of mountains located on the far side, apparently their destination.

After a while the sled teams stopped a few yards from the base of the nearest mountain and dismounted their respective sleds. All but two of the dogs where left behind to rest after a long trek. As they approached the mountains, the atmosphere of the area began to change putting the team slightly on edge, as if the mountain itself was trying to warn them not to approach. Even the sled dogs could feel the unsettling atmosphere of the area as they raised their heads and howled into sky, as if signaling what's to come.

Regardless of the strange sensations, the man in the trench coat, the team leader, marched forward, completely unfazed by the area. The other three members of the team hesitantly followed. They walked for a few minutes before coming over a rise, revealing a large frozen lake that separated them from the mountain. Fortunately for them, there appeared to be a bridge, constructed entirely out of ice, that snaked its way across the Icey water to what appeared to be a cave in the mountains base.

*There it is!* One of the guides said in Norwegian, to the trench coat Man as he pointed to the far side of the lake.

The team then proceeded to cross the ice bridge to the other side. Once there, they followed a path that lead to the mouth of the cave. However, the entrance was blocked by a large metal gate, with padlocked chains locking it shut. The gate was clearly constructed in ancient times, due to the centuries of ice and rust that had accumulated on the metal over the many years.

The shrouded man approached the gate and reached out his hand to the chains that bound it shut. But as his hand got within a few inches of the metal lock, Ice instantly began to form on his fingers and then started to spread like an infection until his hand was completely covered in frost. The cloaked man gasped in pain and his pulled his hand back, cradling it in his other hand. But once his affected limb was away from the enchanted metal, the frost disappeared and the hand returned to normal.

The cloaked man flexed his hand as if to check if there was any damage. He then turned to one of the men on his team and the man nodded as if reading his employers mind. He lifted his foot up and delivered a powerful kick to the ancient chains. Thanks to the ravages of time, the metal easily shattered upon impact, without any frost forming on the man's leg at all. With the way now cleared, the team proceeded to enter the cave.

As the team walked through the cavern, the deeper they entered the tunnels, the darker it became. So much so that three of the men had to pull out torches in order to light their way. But the cloaked man didn't use a torch as he walked ahead of the group, apparently having no problem navigating the darkness, despite having such heavy goggles on.

The eeriness that the men felt outside the mountain, only increased once they were fully inside the natural formation. The two men near the back of the team began to move nervously as they pointed their torches around the darkness. Only for their light to fall upon a horrific sight.

A frozen corps, standing before them. The two men gasped in fear as they shone their lights over the area and saw that there were actually dozens of frozen bodies of men, each wearing cloths and armor, notably worn by Vikings. Each body was frozen in a standing position, making them all look like a frozen zombie horde. From the expressions on their faces it appeared these frozen Vikings where fleeing from something as their dead icy faces all had fear etched into them.

The sight of a Frozen Viking horde was all that was needed for the two men to scream and run for their lives in fear. Leaving the cloaked man and his guide remaining in the cave. They then pressed on, the lead man unfazed, while the guide hesitantly followed.

It only took a few more moments before the pair finally entered into a large cavern, apparently in the center of the mountain. There the two noticed a faint light glowing from a platform situated ahead of them. As their eyes adjusted, they saw that the platform was resting in the hand of a giant made entirely of ice. The hand appeared to be clutching some unknown item in its hands, where the light was emanating from some kind of alter.

Hesitantly the remaining guide walked towards the alter and saw a stone chest was atop of the alter. He then put both his hands atop of the chest and pushed against it, with all his strength. After a few sharp shoves, the ice atop of the chest started to crack and with one more mighty heave, the chest lid finally budged and the lid slid back.

But the moment the lid slid open, even by just an inch, a wave of cold air erupted from the chest. The moment the air made contact with the man's hand, ice rapidly formed on the limb and swiftly spread across his body like a wave over a rock. The ice spread so quickly that the man couldn't even let out a scream in terror as his body turning into an ice sculpture. His face expressing his final moments of fear and pain.

This unnatural phenomenon however did not affect the Shrouded Man in the least, as he simply walked up to the frozen guide and pushed his frozen corpse to the side without a hint of remorse. The body shattered upon impact with the ground as the Cloaked Man kept his eyes on the chest before him. He then waved his hand to the side and the chest lid immediately flew off the chest without him having to touch it at all.

With the interior of the chest now exposed, a bright light burst from within the chest as golden streams of light flowed out of the chest. The Shrouded Man reached inside the chest and clasps his hand around the item that was contained within the chest, causing the golden streams to start flowing around the man's arm as the sheer power of the item was so intense that his hood and scarf where blown off his head, revealing his long flowing hair underneath it.

"Finally." The Man said in a chilling voice as he held up what was contained within the chest. A small golden casket, with red patches on each side and a skull like design on the clasp.

In the city of New York, despite the weekly criminal activity, supervillain attacks or massive world ending threats, the citizens usually rested easily with the numerous heroes that defend them from those dangers. But there is arguable on thing that can bring all beings to their knees. A Heat Wave.

The scorching temperatures hit the concrete jungle with a blazing fury. Causing many citizens to either stay inside or seek other ways to cool off. Many of which took this as an opportunity to go to the beach or public pools in order to escape the rising temperatures. But unfortunately for some, regardless of the weather, many still had jobs they needed to do and were forced to drag themselves to their offices or other employment duties. In times like this, the people wished a supervillain would attack, or at least hope this weather was being caused by one, that way the heroes could put a stop to it. Unfortunately, it seemed the only culprit for this discomfort was Mother Nature herself.

And that's one being the Avengers couldn't defeat. So, like every other person in the city, they took their own steps to beat the heat. Hank Pym was keeping it cool the same way he did most things, staying in his nice air-conditioned lab working on his latest experiment with his new lab assistant Ultron-5. The robot had become the mansions newest resident after the Kang Invasion, constantly by Hanks side helping him with his experiments any chance it got.

Other Avengers were staying cool the way most normal people would, by spending it by the mansions refrigerated pool. Wasp, Hawkeye and Hulk all took the opportunity to chill out and relax in the cool waters in the burning sun. Though Wasp and Hawkeye where taking a break from the water to relax in the deck chairs seated by the pool with a table situated between then that had two ice cold drinks and a JARVIS terminal on it. Hulk was still swimming casually in the water, not even bothering to put on swimwear.

Wasp was wearing a yellow bikini that perfectly showed off her well-toned curvy body and flawless skin. She also wore a pair of rose lensed, heart shaped sunglasses as she had her chair in a reclined position as she took advantage of one of the suns other advantages, working on her tan as she lay on her stomach comfortably.

But her peaceful day was suddenly interrupted when the JARVIS terminal suddenly activated and started talking to them. Course Janet was in such a relaxed state she hardly register what the A.I was saying as she lay on her side and picked up her drink and took a few sips from the straw as the A.I spoke to her again.

"Perhaps you miss heard me I said Stark Tower is under attack right now." JARVIS informed.

However Janet didn't seem to be phased by the news as she casually set her drink down on the table.

"Is Iron Man there?" She calmly asked, rolling over to her back and raising her chairs back support until it was in an upright position.

"Yes, as are Thor, Ben and the Black Panther." The A.I responded.

"Who are they fighting?" Hawkeye casually asked from his own deck chair. The archer was currently wearing a pair of purple swimming trunks. In this state, it was obvious to everyone that saw him that the Worlds Greatest Marksman spent way too much time in his suit. His pasty white chest, legs and left arm, only put more emphasis on his tanned neck and upper right arm as they were the only parts of Clint's body that weren't covered by his suit.

"The Radioactive man." JARVIS answered the Archers question. Much like his female companion, Clint was equally, perhaps even more carefree about the AI's red alert.

Janet groaned as she stretched her arms and placed her hands behind her head.

"Agh, can't they fight here? By the pool?" She asked in an annoyed tone.

"What's the threat level?" Clint asked, slightly curious. Dude might be projecting a lazy attitude at the moment, but if the situation was that serious the Archer was willing to leap into action without hesitation.

"Threat level 2." The A.I responded.

Upon hearing that, the Archer immediately relaxed. "I'm sure they got it covered, JARVIS.

Tell Stark that Jan and I will cover the mansion. In case it's a trick."

Clint then yawned in his relaxed state as he casually added. "And mention that he is out of ice."

"WHAT?!" Iron Man screamed upon hearing the news relayed to him from the A.I.

Currently he and the other heroes were in the sub levels of Stark Tower. Close to where the Arc Reactor that powered the entire building is kept. Naturally a self-sustaining energy source as powerful as this one would be a very enticing target for a thief. But really what criminal would be crazy enough to try and rob Iron Man? That question was answered today with the arrival of the latest villain.

The walls of the Arc Reactors housing facility exploded as Thor and Eatle were thrown through it. The hole the two powerhouses left in their wake allowed an easy access point for the Villain that blasted them through it, to enter the facility unrestricted. He was a tall muscular man wearing a black suit of armor that covered his upper body and head, with a V shaped yellow visor for the eyes. A yellow star shaped symbol is present on his chest, his arms and upper legs are exposed with torn fabric that revealed muscular green glowing skin. This is the Nuclear villain known as Radioactive Man.

The Atomic Bad Guy marched towards the downed Norse God and Alien Shapeshifter. Just then Iron Man landed right in front of the advancing villain and blasted him with a pair of repulsor beams. As he continued his barrage, he turned to his fellow teammates.

"Remind me to hurt Hawkeye when we're done here." Iron Man said in a frustrated tone.

"Yeah get in line." Eatle responded as he and Thor got to their feet.

"You ok?" Iron Man proceeded to ask the pair.

"I will be better once we smite this villain." Thor answered.

Just then Radioactive Man raised his arms and charged up a green beam of radioactive energy and fired the beam at the heroes. Iron Man and Thor quickly took to the air while Eatle dived out of the way and rolled across the ground.

In that moment, Black Panther leaped up from behind the Atomic Villain and landed on his shoulders, intending to slash at him with his claws. But Radioactive Man was able to shake him off, forcing the Cat Themed Hero to jump off the Criminal and proceed to avoid several atomic rays that the villain was firing at him.

It was during that confusion that Eatle took an opportunity to fire his own green beam of energy from his horn at the Radiation Villain. The energy blast hit its mark but was quickly shrugged off by the Atomic Villain. It was quickly starting to dawn on the Alien Avengers that perhaps Eatle wasn't the best form to fight against this particular opponent. In his defense, he was immediately bombarded with radioactive energy the moment he showed up and, in a panic, selected the first alien that popped up on the Ultimatrix's dial. But now that his initial panic from radiation poisoning has passed, he logically concluded that he needed a different alien in order to defeat this opponent.

Reaching up and taping the Ultimatrix dial, Eatle transformed into a blue, phantom like alien. "BIG CHILL!"

The Ice Moth Alien immediately ran over to Radioactive Man and unleashed a powerful wave of freezing vapor at the Radiation Villain, blanketing him in a layer of ice. However due to the insane levels of heat the Villain was giving off. The ice quickly started to steam and shatter as Radioactive Man proceeded to blast a beam of radiation at the Alien Hero. But Big Chill simply went intangible and the beam past harmlessly through him.

While Black Panther and Big Chill continued to engage with the Atomic Villain, Thor and Iron Man regrouped in the air above them.

"Who is he?" The Asgardian Prince asked.

"Radioactive man. He was a Chinese scientist named Chen Lu. Apparently, he dosed himself with insane levels of radiation. Trying to get super powers. He was in the Cube when the breakout happened. Shield took him down last time." Iron Man explained to the Asgardian, reading off the files that his Head's Up Display was showing him.

Upon hearing the explanation that Iron Man had made, Thor narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Yet again your mortal science creates monsters. Truly, man's technology cause nothing but harm." He spoke with pure malice in his tone.

"Wow, that's kind of harsh." Iron Man responded in a dry tone. Recently the Genius Billionaire and Prince of Thunder have been butting heads over their respective ideals. The classic Science vs Magic deal, with Iron Man believing magic is science he doesn't understand yet, and Thor believing technology is a dangerous force that causes nothing but trouble. It was an argument that was causing quite a bit of tension between the two and a massive headache for everyone around them.

Thor descended towards the Atomic Villain, his mighty hammer raised above his head as he charged it with lightning and prepared to strike his opponent with full force. But Radioactive Man saw him coming and immediately blasted the Asgardian away with a powerful nuclear blast. He was then struck by a series of repulsor blasts from Iron Man, with the Armored Hero blasting a continuous beam from his palms. But the Atomic Villain was able to pivot his body, causing the beams to strike the ground. Resulting in a cloud of debris to be kicked up, obscuring the Villain from sight. This proved problematic for the Iron Avenger as his sensors couldn't detect his target as he flew by. And before his sensors could adjust to the new conditions Radioactive Man emerged from the dust cloud and punched Iron Man in the face with a powerful nuclear fist. Sending the Armored Hero flying back and skidding across the floor.

As he got into a sitting position, Black Panther ran up to him to check on his condition. A groan from the Armored Billionaire seemed to indicate that he was ok.

"I'm starting to think Wasp and Hawkeye are the smart ones." Iron Man quipped.

"I did not realize there was any question." Black Panther retorted with his own joke. Seems the Wakandan Kings friendship with Hawkeye was starting to affect him. The Cat Themed Hero was slowly becoming more witty in the field and less formal.

Iron Man rolled his eyes under his helmet at the Kings response. "You ok? This guy is putting out a ton of juice."

"My suit is designed to with stand radiation." Black Panther simply stated.

"Of course it is, what was I thinking?" Came Iron Mans response, seems the one thing that annoyed the Armor wearing Hero more than Magic, was being reminded that someone had more advanced technology than him. And being reminded of that only increased his ire.

But before he could come up with a smart comeback, he noticed Radioactive Man aiming his arm at the pair. Iron Man and Black Panther immediately dodged out of the way as another green beam of nuclear energy struck the ground where they were moments ago. This momentary distraction was enough to allow Big Chill to swoop down and punch the Nuclear Villain with an ice-covered fist. The blow momentarily stunned him, but not for long. Radioactive Man swung his own fist at the Moth Alien, but Big Chill was able to catch the large fist in his own hand. The Atomic Villain tried the same move again with his other fist, but the Alien Avenger caught that one too.

For a moment the two opponents where locked in a power struggle. Despite his lean frame, Big Chill was actually impressively strong, this is due to his species requiring to process metals of any kind to be used as building material to be used to construct nests for their offspring, as such his race is conditioned to acquire it by any means, whether through tearing it apart or drinking molten metal outright. This along with his species natural resistance to extreme temperatures meant that the temperatures that Radioactive Man was currently giving off, did not bother the Ice Alien in the least. But unfortunately, the force behind a surprise energy attack was another story all together as Radioactive Man blasted a powerful beam from both his hands that send Big Chill flying back, landing on the floor near the Arc Reactor.

Radioactive Man then proceeded to march across the platform towards the Reactor, when Thor landed on the other end, blocking his path, his hammer crackling with electricity as he stood tall.

"I have had enough villain." The Thunderer declared. "I do not know why you have come here. And I do not care. For now you will feel the power of Thor!"

With that mighty battle cry, the Thunder God hurled his hammer directly at the Atomic Villain. But Radioactive Man stood his ground and fired a Radiation beam at the incoming mystic weapon. The green energy flowed over the hammer and suddenly, the godly weapon froze in its tracks. Mere inches from the Villains palm, as if someone just hit pause on the hammer. Mjolnir then dropped to the ground with a loud clang as the Villain casually strolled past it.

"Odin's beard! how?" Thor gasped in utter stock, his eyes the size of dinner plates as he could not comprehend what he just witnessed. Mjolnir, one of the most powerful weapons in the Nine Realms, bested by a mortal with no mystical ability.

The Asgardian was so stunned that he did not notice the Nuclear Villain marching towards him, until Iron Man landed in front of him.

"Yeah, focused radiation can Rip the inertia from an object in motion." The Iron Avenger explained, as he aimed him arm at the approaching villain.

Upon hearing that explanation, Big Chill raised an eyebrow, curiously. "Really? Huh. I'll have to remember that for later." He thought to himself, making a mental note.

The Armored Scientist proceeded to fire a missile from his gauntlet, which then split up into several mini-charges that attached themselves to Radioactive Man before detonating in a powerful explosion, creating a large smokescreen. With the threat apparently neutralized, Iron Man lowered his arm and turned to the Asgardian Prince.

"You should try more physics, less fantasy." He stated smugly.

But it seemed Karma heard him as a green arm suddenly shot out of the smoke and grabbed Iron Man by the helmet and lifted him off the ground before tossing him away.

"Try not to chock on your metal foot, Stark." Big Chill quipped with a smirk on his face.

The Iron Avenger just managed to catch himself with his thrusters and fly off. With the villains back turned, Big Chill seized this opportunity and placed his hand on the floor and a stream of ice flowed out of his hand, snaking its way across the floor until it passed Thor. The Ice then spread out to cover the entire pathway behind Radioactive Mans feet.

Once the Ice path was complete, Black Panther performed a flying kick to the Nuclear Villains face, causing him to stumble back, step on the ice floor and proceeded to slide into the reach of the God of Thunder. Thor grabbed the Nuclear Villain and lifted him off the ground and tossed him away. Unfortunately the Asgardian was not aware of his surroundings and he accidently tossed Radioactive Man right into the Arc Reactor.

The Atomic Villain disappeared into the Reactors energy, causing the energy to fluctuate as bolts of energy burst out of the Reactor in all directions. The Avengers all regrouped and looked on with nervous expressions as Radioactive Man floated out of the top of the Reactor, energy flowing into him like a sponge.

Iron Man took a break from his shock to glare at his Asgardian teammate. "That's why he came here. To the ARC reactor he is absorbing the output."

"With that much energy he could well be unstoppable." Black Panther added. Causing Thor to bow his head in guilt.

Without hesitation, Iron Man flew over to a terminal located near the Arc Reactor and started typing some commands into the terminal at a rapid pace.

"Ok, time to send Dr. Chen Lu here back to China." The Armored Billionaire quipped as the Arc Reactor began to hum with energy as he typed.

"What is Iron Man doing?" Thor asked curiously.

"He is creating a localized meltdown." Black Panther explained. "It will sink the reactor and Radioactive man deep into the earth."

Upon hearing that, both Thor and Big Chills eyes widened in shock. putting that much radiation into the ground, no matter how deep, would cause an untold amount of environmental problems.

Glancing over to the side, Thor noticed a series of pipes located in the wall behind the Arc Reactor. He quickly deduced that they were cooling pipes. Designed to keep energy sources from overheating, most likely filled with water

"Nay!" Thor said as he called his hammer to his hand and it started to crackle with lightning and he raised he drew his hammer back.

Seeing what the Thunderer was about to do out of the corner of his eye, Iron Man quickly turned around and held out his hand in a pleading gesture. "Thor, wait!"

But his cries fell on deaf ears as Thor unleashed a powerful blast of Mystical lightning from his hammer at the pipes. Causing them to burst and unleashing a torrent of water that came crashing into the room. The wave immediately washed away Radioactive Man, while Iron Man flew away before the water could hit him. Black Panther tried to run away, but even his enhanced speed could not outrun the approaching tide. Lucky for him, Big Chill swooped down and picked him up as he and Thor flew above the rushing water as it flooded the entire lower levels of Stark Industries.

Meanwhile, back in the caves of Norway, the hounds of the sled teams rested inside the dark caverns, the fates of their mushers unknown. But the dogs sensed something strange as they all raised their heads and started growling at one area of the cave, as if they could tell something was there.

Suddenly a bright light illuminated the darkness of the cave, which quickly formed a magical portal, from which Enchantress and the Executioner emerged from. The Asgardian Witch narrowed her eyes at the growling hounds, as the converged on the pair.

"Call off your hounds, Elf." Enchantress ordered to the darkness, completely unimpressed by the dogs threats.

Just then the shadows of the caves started to move. As if gaining a life of its own. The darkness swept across the ground and took the form of a dark figure, shrouded in shadows.

"Were you sent to check on me, Enchantress?" The shadow asked in a chilling voice, as it calmly slithered past the Asgardians before standing with the hounds. "I am hurt It is if The Master does not trust me."

His tone did not share the emotions his words were describing as the shadow seemed to mock his guests, as he waves has hand and the snarling hound stopped their growls and obediently moved away from the Asgardian Villains. The Witch only glared at the shadow will ill intent

"My Master is no fool, Malekith. Your own people do not trust you. Or did not before their untimely demise." The Enchantress responded in malice. Her clear distain for the being known as Malekith was clearly shown in her harsh mention of his fallen race.

"But you would be wise to trust in his power and to fear it. For just as He released you from the Realm of the dead. He can send you back. Show it to me." Enchantress finished before holding out her hand.

"Of course, my lady." Malekith responded in a calm tone, his white teeth practically glowing in contrasts to his dark form. The Dark Elf reached into his sleeve and pulled out the small box that he had taken from the chest.

"As requested The Casket of Ancient Winters." He said as he created a magical sphere around the chest, that started to levitate towards the Enchantress.

Upon seeing the box, the Enchantresses eyes widened with glee as she reached out her hand towards the approaching Casket with greedy intent. But before her hands could touch the small chest, it suddenly retreated from her presence and flew back into Malekith's awaiting hand.

"But what am I thinking? The Master would be disappointed in me if I did not make sure this was the true casket." The Elf said in a gleefully sinister tone.

Enchantresses eyes widened as she realized what he was foreshadowing.

"No! Skurge!" She yelled in fear as the Asgardian Brute immediately charged forward, his axe raised to its zenith as he swung it at the Dark Elf's head.

However, before he could make contact, Malekith grasped onto the Caskets lid and opened the box. Immediately a blast of frosty wind, burst from the box like a hurricane, flowing over the Executioner, immediate freezing him solid. The magical winter winds did not stop there as the Caskets power rushed past the Frozen Brute and flowed over the Enchantress as well, freezing her body in a state of shock.

Seeing the power of the Casket first hand, the Dark Elf's evil grin grew larger. "You were right not to trust me, of course." He said as he held the Casket of Ancient Winters above his head and opened it to its fullest capacity. Immediately the full power Winter, erupted from within the Casket and blasted up, breaking through the roof of the caverns and into the sky, where its power started to form a massive storm that proceeded to spread over the world.

"Now it begins."

Back in New York City, citizens where starting to gather around a large hole that was suddenly blown into the sidewalk. This hole was formed as a result of the large explosion caused by a reaction of supercooled water against a highly unstable Nuclear Villain. While there did not seem to be any danger of the air being contaminated, that did not help improve the mood of one particular Armor Wearing Billionaire.

"I had it under control." Iron Man angrily said at Thor as he, along with the other Avengers stood in the now flooded sub levels of Stark Industries. An unconscious Radioactive Man floated nearby in the water.

"And now there is a million gallons of contaminated water in my basement." The Iron Avenger stated as he kicked some of the water away with his metallic boot in frustration.

Thor however was not amused by the Armored Heroes antics as he stomped over to Iron Man, an angry expression present on his face.

"And you would have poisoned Midgard itself by sending Radioactive Man into the ground." The Thunderer responded accusingly.

"What are you…" Iron Man started to say before Thor cut him off.

"You're love of science makes you forget the very realm you are trying to protect. You pay more head to your machines then you heart, Tony Stark. I…"

Suddenly Thor froze and started to tremble where he stood. He then staggered back and clutched his head as he started to breath heavily. Big Chill and Black Panther quickly ran up to their Asgardian teammate. Even Iron Man forgot all about their current argument and quickly started scanning him for any abnormalities.

"Thor, you ok?" Big Chill asked.

"Nay." Thor groaned in response. He shook his head to try and clear it as he opened his eyes, which were displaying signed of shock and fear. "I felt… I felt magic. Ancient magic. Something has happened."

The Thunderer then looked up to the heavens, the other heroes following his example. Much to their surprise, they saw storm clouds forming over the city. With the weather being as it is, the last thing anyone expected today was a storm. And yet there they were, large, dark, angry looking storm clouds, that just appeared out of nowhere. The Heroes all looked at each with concerned looks. Something definitely was not right.

Back at Avengers Mansion, the poolside Avengers were still enjoying their relaxing time in the suns warm embrace. When suddenly they noticed the harsh light of the day began to diminish and the air suddenly had a slight chill to it.

Wasp immediately reached up and lifted her sunglasses as she looked up at the dark clouds and Hawkeye blinked open one eye in annoyance, both due to the lack of sun and by the fact that he had a feeling his lazy afternoon just got interrupted.

The two heroes sat up and looked up at the dark clouds forming above them, although Hulk didn't seem to notice anything as he continued to swim in the pool. Wasp then noticed something floating down from the clouds, too slow to be rain, and they appeared to be white flakes. She curiously stuck her tongue out and let one of the flakes land on it. The cold sensation, followed by the instant liquifying of the flake all but confirmed what the Size Change Heroine suspected it was. Snow.

Before she could even marvel at the sight of snow in the middle of the hottest day in New York history, she was immediately bombarded with a massive blast of winter wind, carrying snow and ice with it as the storm swept over the city and in a matter of minutes, New York was covered in a thick layer of snow. But not just snow, lakes, pipelines, even the rivers surrounding the island where freezing over at an alarming speed. Temperatures where dropping so rapidly that people who were previously trying to beat the heat, were now madly trying to put on layers, turn up thermostats and even light fires in a desperate effort to stay warm.

The sudden change in weather certainly caught the Poolside Heroes off guard as even before they could think about going inside, Janet and Clint where both buried up to their heads in snow. By the time their minds caught up to the fact that they were buried in snow, their bodies immediately jumped into action as they both burst from the powdered ice and clutched their barely covered bodies as they shivered.

"Cold!" Janet squeaked as she rubbed her arms, now, for the first time ever, regretting wearing a bikini. "Am I crazy? Or was it a hundred degrees a minute ago?" She asked rhetorically.

"Look on the bright side." Clint responded, his teeth chattering in the cold air.

Janet immediately looked over to the shirtless archer with a raised eyebrow.

"Like?" She asked skeptically.

Clint stopped and thought for a moment. But quickly abandoned the effort. "I got nothing. I hate the cold. We need to move the team to the West Coast."

The two half naked heroes removed themselves from their snowy blankets and looked over the side of the mansions roof to get a better view of the area. From what they could see, the whole city was experiencing this sudden winter wonderland. Which considering the previous heatwave, could be counted as a blessing in disguise. However that train of thought immediately derailed by the sound of rumbling coming from below.

Janet and Clint looked down to the street and saw the ice cracking in several areas along the frozen roads. Suddenly the ice burst and a massive arm made of blue ice, burst from the ground, reaching to the sky. The arm had three sharp looking claws on its hand as the ice continued to break apart revealing what that arm is attached to. A giant, lizard like Ice Creature. With a long, crocodile like snout, a pair of cold pale eyes on its head and icy frills along its back. The Ice Creature stood up on two legs and let out a defining roar. Soon other Ice Creatures starting bursting from the ice along side the first. Each letting out their own horrible roar.

"We should probably get dressed." Clint stated as he and Janet watched the magic Ice Beast continue to multiply.

"Good thinking." Janet agreed as they both quickly turned around and sprinted back inside to suit up.

However, in their haste, they failed to notice that with the sudden temperature drop caused the water to flash freeze, the Hulk was now trapped inside the now frozen pool with a very surprised look on his face.

Meanwhile in Stark Tower, Iron Man, Thor, Black Panther and Ben had gathered in Tony's office to escape the unusual weather. Tony and Black Panther had removed their respective headgear and were currently looking at holographic image of Earth. Thor was standing by the window looking out over the snow covered city while Ben was sitting in the corner trying to figure out what caused this sudden change in the weather. Currently chasing down one possible cause.

"I'm telling you, Ben it's not me." Bobby Drake aka Iceman stated on his end of the phone as Ben listened on his. When it came to pranks or vandalism involving frost or ice, Ben could only think of one person that is usually behind it.

"You better be sure, Bobby." Ben said over the phone.

"I am. Dude, I am." Came the Ice Mutants response. "Look man, you've seen what I can do. There's no way I could cause something like this. And if I did, do you know what Kitty would do to me?"

"Ok ok I see your point. Just had to check. This things got everyone up in arms. Any chance Storm can do something about it?" Ben asked.

"She said she tried. But according to her, this weather isn't natural. The power causing it is too strong for even her power to command." Bobby stated.

This caused the Alien Teen to grow even more concerned. He'd seen the Weather Manipulating Mutant in action. She was no pushover when it came to controlling the weather. If something was overriding her control, that did not look good at all.

"Ok then. We're gonna try to figure things out from our end." Ben stated.

"We'll do the same." Bobby replied.

"Good luck. Tell Laura and Petra I said Hi."

"I will. And you tell Wasp I said Sup and give her my number." Bobby remarked in a cheeky tone.

"You sure you wanna be playing with that fire, Ice Boy?" Ben quipped back with a smirk.

"For a girl as hot as her? Absolutely." Iceman responded cockily.

Ben rolled his eyes from the comment. "Go step outside and cool your head. I'll let you know when we save the world."

"Not if the X Men save if first." The Ice Teen declared before hanging up.

The Alien Teen smirked as he hung up his phone and put it back in his pocket before walking over to join T'Challa and Thor, who were now looking at a live video feed of the Earth from one of Tony's satellites. The feed showed that the entire Earth was covered in raging storm clouds. Looking at how suddenly this cold weather appeared out of nowhere, Ben couldn't help but be reminded of the Highbreed weather towers back in his world. Those tall spires rapidly cooling the area so they could walk around comfortably. The Teen Hero felt a little nostalgic thinking about them and almost hoped that this was the cause. But he quickly shook that train of thought away, this was no weather tower that was causing this storm. This was something else.

"In all the Nine Realms. Only one thing I know of could cause this. The Casket of Ancient Winters." Thor announced in a serious tone.

"Well, thanks for clearing that up." Tony casually remarked as returned his attention back to the monitor and tried to scan for any abnormalities that would provide a clue into what caused all this.

"The Casket is an ancient Asgardian artefact that contains the infinite cold of Nifelheim. The realm of the dishonoured dead." Thor continued to explain, walking over to the two scientists. "My father Odin hid it long ago. But only he knew where."

"Earth seems a likely location." T'Challa stated as he studied his own set of data.

"You speak wisely, T'Challa." Thor agreed. "Midgard is beneath notice to most Asgardians.

This storm will rage for all eternity unless we can find the casket and close it."

"Ya know for a place that's beneath a lot of peoples notice. There seem to be a lot of Gods, Monsters and Aliens that like to hid their stuff here." Ben pointed out in a light hearted tone. "I mean, not much of a secret hiding spot if everyone is hiding their stuff here."

The Young Heroes attempt to lighten the mood, did not seem to bode well with the other Avengers. As Tony turned his attention back to the Asgaridan Prince.

"Ok, so I may not know what the heck "magic" is." The Armored scientist said in a condescending tone, putting air quotes in for magic. "But I learned to trace its signature. Except for instance when the entire planet is covered in it. So, this is your thing. How do we find it?"

Thor looked down with look of dread on his face. "I… Do not know. Legend tells that only the dead could find it."

"Oh, that's just great." Tony responded exasperated.

"I'm not really one for Grave Robbing. So maybe we could come up with another idea?" Ben chimed in.

"JARVIS, display all weather satellite data for the last hour." T'Challa ordered the A.I as he analyzed the data of the global storm. The A.I responded to the Wakandan King and immediately started to display the information he requested.

"I already looked, T'Challa, there's no pattern." Tony stated offhandedly as he continued to focus on Thunder God. "And you, Thor You always complain about technology and science creating monsters, and now some magic box from imagination land has frozen the planet."

In that moment, Ben couldn't help but slap his forehead in annoyance. Where they really about to get back into this now? Right when the world is under threat.

As if reading the Young Hero's mind, the Asgardian Prince narrowed his eyes and he stomped over to the Armored Billionaire

"Do you really wish to take this path? How many times have we faced danger created in a lab?" Thor angrily responded pointing an accusing finger at his technological rival.

"I don't know." Tony responded in a snarky tone. "But I remember your little blond, Enchantress, taking down the whole team, twice."

Ben rolled his eyes from the exchange. Where's Captain America when you need him. One inspirational speech from him and those two would forget their pointless argument and be halfway to finding the source of this disaster. But the Teen Hero didn't really know what the right thing to say is at this moment.

"And who was the guy with the axe? Another Asgardian? Oh, right! I remember now.

He was going to chop of my head!" Tony continued his rant.

"Amora and Skurge will be dealt with." Thor responded.

"Oh, so you are on a first name basis with them." The Billionaire snapped back rapidly. "Nice. You should form your own team. 'The crazy magic people'"

This argument was starting to get out of hand, from his position Ben could see Thor's fists tightening from Tony's continuous taunts. It seemed that at any moment another weather disaster would soon impact the city, or more accurately one specific part of the city. He was in the process of stepping in to try and diffuse the situation when…

"The casket is in Norway."

All three heroes turned to T'Challa, who was now facing them with the screen behind him highlighting the area in Norway by a targeting box, a cheeky grin on the Wakandan Kings face.

In response, Tony raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Come again?"

"You should try more chaos theory, less failure." T'Challa stated smugly before tossing the remote to Tony, who was so shocked that he almost didn't catch the incoming device.

Ben couldn't help but chuckle at the expressions that Tony and Thor were giving T'Challa. Had they not been so entertaining, he'd probably have the same expression.

"Excuse me, gentleman." JARVIS's voice suddenly spoke up, catching the groups attention. "There appears to be trouble inside the city."

Tony raised an eyebrow in response. "What kind of trouble?"

The situation within the city was growing worse by the second. Ice Creatures continued to pop out from the frozen ground like daisies in a field, all while citizens ran for their lives as the vicious beasts swiped or snapped at them with icy teeth and claws. Unfortunately, one unlucky soul was snatched up by one of the Beasts claws and lifted him off the ground, screaming as he struggled in vein to escape the white fangs of that lined the Ice Creatures jaws inched closer and closer to him.

Fortunately for him, he lived in New York City. Home to Earths Mightiest Heroes as in that moment, Captain America came zooming down a snowy hill, using his shield as a snowboard. The Super Soldier then used a bump in the road as a ramp to launch himself into the air, where he proceeded to flip his shield from beneath his feet to his arms as he rammed into the arm of the Beast that was grasping the innocent man. The Bystander landed on the snowy ground hard, but that didn't stop him from immediately getting to his feet and sprinting as fast as he could away from the area.

The Ice Beast turned to face the Super Soldier, who then threw his shield at the beast. The indestructible disk easily sliced through the Ice Creature, bisecting it as it fell to the ground and shattered to pieces. The shield then ricochet off a building and made its way back to Captain Americas hand.

But just before the patriotic shield could reach its owner, an Ice Creatures hand burst from the ground in between them and caught the shield. Captain Americas eyes widened in shock as two more Ice Monsters sprung up behind him snarling with evil intent. The Super Soldier quickly reacted as one of the creatures reached out to grab him. Standing on his hands, Captain America proceeded to kick both legs out and shatter the creatures icy hands. He then used his powerful arms to lunch himself up, narrowly avoiding the second creatures jaws as he momentum allowed him to slid down the snowy bank where the Ice Creature that had stolen his shield stood. The Sentinel of Liberty then slid through the Creatures legs, grabbing his shield in the process, ripping it from the Beasts hand. While this initially surprised the Beast, it quickly pursued the Star Spangled Hero, followed by the other two.

With most of the roads covered in thick layers of snow, Captain America knew his movements would be more sluggish and restrictive. He needed more solid ground if he were to successfully fight these Monsters. Noticing the top of a light post sticking out of a snowbank ahead of him, Captain America quickly dashed towards it and leaped on top of it. With his feet now on solid ground, the Super Soldier turned to face his opponents. The closest Ice Creature bared down on him, its mouth wide open preparing to chomp down on him. But Captain America hurled his shield into the Beasts mouth, where the indestructible disc, smashed right through the back of the Creatures head, leaving a large visible hole.

As the Ice Creature started to fall back. Captain America jumped up and grabbed the Ice Beasts lower jaw and used the monsters falling momentum to catapult himself over the creature and catch his shield as he landed on the ground. The Super Soldier turned to face the remaining Creatures as the handless one he injured charged at him. But before it could reach striking distance, a large ball of fire suddenly descended form the sky, striking the Ice Creature in the back. The intensity of the heat was so powerful that the Ice Monster was reduced to a steaming puddle in seconds.

The Super Soldier looked to the sky, expecting to see Ben as Heatblast arrive to support him. But instead he saw a glowing fire trail in the form of skywriting, forming the sentence "U owe me 1", with the writer being the blazing form of the Human Torch of the Fantastic Four. The Hot Headed member saluted the Super Soldier from the air as he flew off to blast more Ice Creatures.

Captain America waved a thank you in response and the Fire Hero flew off, when suddenly more Ice Creatures burst out of the ground around him. Caught off guard, the Super Soldier was unable to react in time to raise his shield as an Icey claw reached out towards him.

"It's Clobberin Time!" A deep gruff voice, suddenly called out as out of the corner of the Super Soldier's eyes, a large orange blur descended from the sky and slammed into the Ice Beast reaching for Captain America, knocking it over and shattering it to pieces, kicking up a cloud of powdered snow.

Once the cloud dissipated, Captain America got a full view of his second savior. The 6 foot tall, orange rocky form of the Thing of the Fantastic Four. The hulking rock brute proceeded to punch out another Ice Beasts leg, reducing it to shards with one punch and then caught another's hand as it reached for him. The Thing then easily tore the appendage from the Creatures body. The monster only had a brief moment to look surprised before the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing, knocked its block off with its own arm. Once he'd checked that the area was now clear of any more beast, The Thing brushed his hands together, his stone hands sounding like pebbles rolling over each other as he did so.

"Gettin slow in your old age, Ay Cap?" Thing asked in a humorous tone, with a very distinct Brooklyn Accent. But then gave the Super Soldier a formal salute, which Captain America graciously returned.

"Appreciate the Assistance, Airman Grimm." Captain America responded, addressing the Rock Hero by his former rank.

"Hehe. Been a while since I've been called that. Most people don't even know about my life before this." He commented, showing his rocky hand for emphasis.

"I read your files, Son. It's an honor to fight alongside a fellow soldier." The Sentinel of Liberty said with respect. Holding out his hand.

Thing looked down and smiled, gently taking the Captains hand in his massive hand and shaking it.

"The honors all mine, Cap." Thing responded. Suddenly the roars of more Ice Beasts echoed through the frozen streets, followed by the screams of terrified civilians. The two military heroes shared a look and gave each other a serious nod and ran off to defend the people.

Meanwhile, back at Avengers Mansion, Ice Beasts continued to spring from the ground like Ants from an Ant Hill. Which ironically due to the freezing cold, Ants where no longer active. Having entered the diapause state to survive the cold weather, leaving Ant Man without his most trusted allies. Fortunately, the Size Changing Hero did not only rely on his invertebrate friends in a fight. Currently the Scientist was outside the mansion, crouched behind a snowbank as he watched a group of Ice Beasts march by him towards the gates. Once they were in position he then emerged from his hiding spot.

"Now!" He yelled as he waved his arms to signal his Ally.

From his position on the roof Ultron saw his creators signal and immediately started firing beams of energy from his mouth at the advancing monsters. Each blast vaporized its target instantly. But for every one the robot destroyed, more Ice Beast continued to rise from the ground. Ant Man had to abandon his vantage point as the Creatures started to rise just behind him. He quickly activated his Pym particles and grew to Giant Man, where he promptly started to smash the Beasts left and right. But their numbers proved to much as he soon found himself being over whelmed.

The other Avengers were not going so well. On the other side of the Mansion, Hawkeye targeted another group of Ice Monsters and fired a flare arrow. The magnesium flames in the arrow, quickly melted the frosty body of the Ice Beast. However, by destroying one, he had given away his position and attracted the attention of the others as they all turned their savage eyes towards him.

The Archer immediately regretted his actions as the Beasts charged him. Hawkeye quickly drew another flare arrow and fired it into the closest Ice Creatures mouth, but the others quickly closed in on him, forcing the Archer to move. With his range advantage gone, Hawkeye was forced to resort to close combat and pulled out two more flare arrows and jammed them into two of the Beasts as he easily slipped by them. Yet as he ran past their melting bodies, one of the Beasts claws managed to catch the strap of Hawkeyes quiver and cut it, causing the high tech mini arsenal to fall from his back. But due to his adrenaline rush from the danger, he failed to notice the sudden decrease in weight, until he turned to face the monsters only to reach for an arrow and grab nothing but air.

Hawkeye adopted a look of shock as the Ice Beasts lunged at him. But before they got in snapping distance, Wasp flew in at high speeds and fired her stingers at the Monsters jaw, shattering it to pieces. The Size changing Heroine, proceeded to easily maneuver between the other monsters claws and fired several more stinger blasts, destroying those limbs as well.

"They're everywhere!" Wasp screamed as she flew back to Hawkeye, who had managed to reclaim his quiver and reattach it. "Hawkeye, we need to find the others. We need…"

She was suddenly interrupted when Hulk suddenly landed in front of them with a loud crash and a very angry look on his face.

The Archer and Insect Heroine ginned with relief at the sight of their big green gun, as Hawkeye walked up to the green goliath. "Hey, big guy. Just the…"

But his words were cut off when Hulk suddenly turned around and glared at the Purple Archer and proceeded to grab him by his upper body and pull him close to his face, grunting in anger.

"You left Hulk in the pool! It froze!" The Gamma Hero growled in annoyance.

The sudden realization of their mistake was clear on both Hawkeye and Wasps face as they both had nervous smiles on their faces. The former even more nervous due to the Worlds Strongest Being having his whole body in a vice grip.

"Oh, yeah I forgot you were in there." Wasp said in a nervous tone.

Suddenly, and lucky for the two heroes, an Ice Creatures clawed hand reached forth and grabbed Hulk by the head and sharply pulled him back, forcing him to release the Archer from his grip. The Ice Beast swarmed over the Gamma Hero like ants on a sugar cube, but Hulk simply swung his massive fist and destroyed the entire group with one powerful blow. The Hulk then unleashed a powerful battle roar causing Wasp to cover hear ears.

After the ringing had calmed down, Wasp was able to hear the ringing of her ID card in her glove pocket. The Size Changer pulled out the card and activated the communicator and Tony's face appeared on the screen.

"Iron Man to all Avengers. We got a bead on what's causing this. Thor, Panther, Ben and I are going to deal with it." The Armored Billionaire informed the remaining team members, before signing off.

After conveying his message, the away team quickly loaded up into the Quinjet and blasted off towards Norway at high speeds. All the Avengers, with the exception of Thor, were all outfitted with winter gear in preparation for the cold they are about to face. Iron Man wore his Mark 14 Artic Armor, a primarily blue armored suit with silver in the upper arms, legs and faceplate. The arc reactor chest piece featured a red hexagon design.

Black Panther wore a modified version of his Panther suit. While his gloves, boots and mask where all still their traditional black colour, the rest of his suit was light grey, with a silver belt around his waist.

Finally Ben is wearing a green thick winter coat, with a fur lined hood, white strips that mirrored the pattern on his regular jacket, minus the 10 on the front. Instead a white number 10 that has the Ultimatrix symbol as the center of the 0, is positioned on the back. He also had green winter pants along with black boots and gloves. The Jacket was a gift, personally made for him by Janet, who appeared to have taken it upon herself to design and create a whole line of hero outfits for him.

Thor simply wore his usual clothes, as being an Asgardian God meant that a little weather like this is nothing for him.

And of course, with the world at stake, billions of people counting on them, absolutely no idea who or what they're about to face and Iron Man and Thor still think it's the right time to continue their argument.

"I'm just saying it's ironic." Iron Man smugly commented. "All the complaining about technology, and now an eternal Asgardian super winter is threatening to destroy all life on earth. You have irony, right? In Asgard?"

In response the Asgardian Prince gave the Armored Billionaire a glare that was colder than the winds that were beating against their ship. It was at that point Ben was on the verge of snapping. Fate of the entire world at stake and they still think their little argument is a priority. Even back in his immature day, Ben knew to get serious when the world was at stake.

Suddenly the Quinjet started to shake and alarms started to blare on the control panels.

"External temperatures are dropping exponentially." Black Panther reported from his seat as he looked at his monitor. "The engines are seizing."

Sure enough, outside the Quinjet the engines quickly blew out and ice started to rapidly form around the metal.

"Indeed, we do have irony." Thor responded in his own smug tone, as he glanced over at Iron Man. "Just as you are having some right now."

"I hate magic!" Tony bitterly stated as he tried to activate the anti-freeze systems within the jet, but they were unresponsive. Even the flaps on the wings where freezing up, meaning he couldn't even guide the jet in for a controlled crash.

Reacting quickly, Ben activated the Ultimatrix and turned the dial until he found the alien he needed. He then slammed down the dial and transformed in a Flash of green light.

"LOADSTAR!"

The Alien Avenger quickly got out of his seat and pointed both pincer hands to either side of the Quinjet. Magnetic waves started to pulse from the appendages as the Transformed Teen started to slightly levitate within the interior of the aircraft. Slowly but surely the vehicles rapid decent started to decrease, as Loadstar projected his magnetic field around the Quinjet allowing him to slowly lower them to the ground. As they neared the white frozen fields beneath them, Iron Man tried to lower the landing gear. But much like the engines and a majority of the external surface, has been frozen shut due to the extreme low temperatures. So Loadstar had to focus his magnetic abilities to force the landing gear doors to open and deploy as he set the aircraft down.

Once the jet was safely secured, Loadstar dropped to his feet and lowered his arms, slightly hunching over in fatigue due to the extended use of his power. While he was well adept at using his magnokinesis to attract, repel or manipulate metallic objects. He usually only performs these actions, one at a time. Using his powers in a complex series of actions like that, is something he's not used to. Thus performing them does put a strain on him, at least until his body can adjust to it.

"Good work, Ben. That was quick thinking." Black Panther complemented the Young Hero.

"It was nothing." Loadstar replied, though his tone did convey the level of strain he exerted upon himself.

"Yeah good job kid." Iron Man said offhandedly. "But before you change back. The loading ramp is frozen over as well. Mind using some alien elbow grease to open it up?"

Loadstar sighed in response, but did so none the less. He then transformed back to Ben and the team exited the Quinjet and headed towards the location they where tracking.

Once outside, Ben immediately regretted turning back to normal. Despite his fashionable winter wear, the temperature outside practically made the clothes useless as the frozen winds immediately caused the teen to lose all feeling in his face, with his hands and feet soon to follow. Within seconds the Alien Hero was shivering as he griped his arms and frantically rubbed them to try and warm them up as best he could.

For the older heroes, the cold didn't seem to bother them at all. Iron Man and Panthers suits seemed to be keeping them warm while Thor's natural Asgardian physiology seemed to make him immune to the cold. This made the teen envious of his fellow heroes and wished his gear was outfitted the same way theirs were. He had to resist the temptation of using his Ultimatrix to turn into an alien that could handle these temperatures, as he had a feeling he would need all the power he could get to fight whoever's causing this storm. Therefore the Alien Avenger had to Man Up and tough it out, until they could reach the mountain they were heading for.

They soon arrived at the entrance to a cave at the base of the mountain, with a broken iron gate at the mouth. This was a clear indication to the Avengers that they were at the right location. As they proceeded to walk into the caverns, Thor raised his hammer and lightning started to crackle around it, providing light for them to see. He then took the opportunity to… Oh like you don't already know.

"All I am saying is if your jet cannot handle a little cold weather…" The Asgardian Prince started to say to the Armored Billionaire, before said Billionaire cut him off.

"It can handle it." Iron Man quickly snapped back.

"Avengers." Black Panther suddenly spoke up, both to alert them to what he is seeing and to shut them up before they got back into their argument.

They had arrived at the main cavern within the mountain. Before them, the alter where the Casket of Ancient Winters was at the top of the alter, wide open with the magical winds pouring out of it. The power of the small chest, gave off enough light to allow the Avengers to make out certain details of the room, so Thor didn't need to light their path anymore.

Out of the corner of his eye, Thor notice something gleaming in the low light as he lowered his hammer and ceased generating lightning. Turning to get a better view of the object, his expression quickly turned to surprise when he saw the frozen Enchantress and Executioner, in their icy prisons.

"Amora!" He gasped. The other heroes followed the Thunder Gods gasp and where equally surprised. Granted those two where enemies and tried to kill them in the past, but that just meant they were aware of how formidable the pair usually are. So seeing them in this state makes the heroes wonder who could've done this to them.

"Greetings, Thunderer." A chilling voice called out from the alter above them. Looking up the Avengers could see that there was, some kind of Ice Throne situated behind the open Casket. And sitting upon it was a being, roughly humanoid, wearing some kind of red leather armor, with gold trims around the shoulders, upper chest, collar and wrist. Due to the light being cast from the Casket, only half of the beings body could be seen. But the heroes could make out half a black star shaped symbol on his chest and half of the beings face, which was as black as the night sky, perfectly contrasting his pearl white hair that flowed behind his head and cascaded down his shoulders, just parting to reveal his black pointed ear and yellow eye, which was slit like a Cats.

"Fancy meeting you here." The being casually remarked as he leaned back in his throne.

Thor narrowed his eyes in anger as he glared as the being. "Malekith!" He snarled through clenched teeth.

"Ok, I'll bite What's a Malekith?" Iron Man asked in his usual quippy demeanor.

"I-I'm g-g-gonna go out on a l-limb and g-guess, B-Bad guy?" Ben questioned in his own quippy attitude, but in his freezing state, he was barely able to get the words out.

"Malekith the Accursed, the Master of the Hounds. A Dark Elf from the realm of Svartalfheim." Thor answered, his words dripping with venom, as if every word about this being left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Yeah, that didn't really clear it up." Iron Man stated in a snarky tone.

But it seemed Thor was in no mood for Starks usual banter as he marched towards the Dark Elf, gripping his hammer tightly.

"You and your people were destroyed by the Frost Giants. How did you come here?" He asked in a demanding tone.

"I walk in both worlds now, Odin-son." Malekith answered mischievously. "The living. And the dead."

The Dark Elf then leaned forward in his Throne and allowed the other half of his body to come into the light. Showing that while one side of the Dark Elf was black, wearing a red a gold leather armor with a black star on the chest, the other half of his body had Icey Blue skin, wearing black and gold leather armor with a white star on the chest. As if two Elves where perfectly cut in half up the middle and then the two halves where stuck together.

"W-Wow. L-Looks like s-s-someone forgot t-to turn, when they were s-sun bathing." Ben Joked. Even when shivering and on the verge of hypothermia, the Teen Hero couldn't resist a good jab at a villain when the opportunity presents itself.

But it seems the God of Thunder was not in a joking mood as he grabbed Mjolnir by the strap and started spinning the mighty weapon as rage burned in his eyes. "Then I shall send you back where you belong, Elf!"

But before the Thunderer could perform his attack on the Magic Villain, the winds flowing out of the Casket of Ancient Winters, suddenly changed direction. As the mystic winds curled around like a snake and shot towards Thor. Before the Prince of Thunder could react, the Frozen winds, flowed over him, freezing him solid within seconds.

"Thor!" Iron Man called out in shock as he gazed at the Icey statue that is their teammate.

Ben was so surprised by how easily the power of the Casket managed to take down one of the Avengers heavy hitters, he momentarily forgot all about cold that was eating away at him.

"What do you want, Malekith? Why have you released this winter upon the Earth?" Black Panther questioned the Dark Elf.

"I had heard that Thor had turned his back on his father, choosing this mortal realm over Asgard. I too wish to make my home here. I will bring my people back to the land of the living. In Midgard. In fact, it has already begun. The casket's power will destroy you pathetic mortals. And I will cut off Midgard from the nine realms. This land will become a new paradise for the dark Elves. Ruled by me." Malekith monologed maliciously, his evil grin growing larger and larger with each declaration. He was so wrapped up in his speech, that he almost lost focus. But he quickly regained his composure and looked down at the heroes, both literally and metaphorically, as he started to walk down the stairs of the pedestal until he reached the base.

Suddenly the sound of growling echoed in the caves behind the remaining heroes. The three turned around to see a pack of sled dogs emerge from the shadows. At first the heroes weren't the least bit intimidated by the hounds. Judging from their appearance, they appeared to be Siberian Husky's, a strong breed but not really a threat to a group of superheroes. Nevertheless that quickly changed when the Dogs growls suddenly grew deeper and more threatening. The Hounds then began to change, their bodies growing larger, growing more muscular. Their teeth grew longer and sharper and their fur turned dark grey with black mains around their neck. The Avengers stepped back in surprise as the sled dog team had now transformed into a vicious pack or giant Dire Wolves.

"But sadly, you will not be here to see it." Malekith stated as the growling wolves closed in on the team. Malekith then extended his hand and in response, the Casket of Ancient Winters, send another wave of mystic winds at them, intending to freeze them, just as he'd done to the others.

Iron Man quickly rushed in front of Ben and Panther and crossed his arms as if trying to shield them. The Frozen winds washed wildly over them, obscuring them from view. Malekith grinned devilishly at the sight of his victims falling to his power. But that over confidence, quickly evaporated, much like the ice that attempted to imprison the remaining Avengers as Iron Man had surrounded them in a red, thermal energy shield that easily burned away the ice that threatened them.

"Chilly, is that all you got?" The Armored Avenger mocked.

Malekith's eyes narrowed in anger. "My hounds, tear them apart!"

Upon hearing their masters command, the Dire Wolves immediately lunged at the Heroes. Black Panther swiftly jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding a wolf as it landed where he was previously standing. Ben instantaneously activated his watch and slammed down the dial. In a flash of green light, Ben transformed into a large lizard like creature, resembling a blue Iguana, it had small spikes around his face. It had three dorsal fins reaching down it's back and white gills on the sides of his head. It wore white pants and a black open-front shirt with white cuffs. It wore the Ultimatrix symbol on its chest.

"ARCTIGUANA!" The Alien yelled in a raspy chilling voice, as cold mist flowed out of his mouth. Straightaway the Teen Hero felt a relief from the cold.

The Frost Lizard Alien then turned just in time to meet a Dire Wolf that was lunging at him and managed to raise his front limbs to catch the Beast, before its claws or teeth could latch on to him. The force of the large wolfs impact did cause Arctiguana to slide back a few feet as he continued to grapple with the beast.

"That Master of the Hounds, title is starting to make sense now." The Alien Avenger quipped as he managed to toss the Dire Wolf to the side and proceeded to open his mouth and fire a beam of cryo-energy from it, instantly freezing the Beast in a large block of ice.

"Yeah, to bad he's not the Master of, Argh!" Iron Man yelped as a Dire Wolf tackled him to the ground. The Armored Hero barely managed to raise his gauntlets up to keep the Beast jaws from biting his suit.

Meanwhile Black Panther ran away from another Dire Wolf that was chasing him into an ice wall in an attempt to trap him. But the Cat themed Hero, simply scaled up the wall and pushed off it, performing an acrobatic leap over the Dire Wolf. The Savage Beast tried to leap up and bite the Wakandan King, but just missed him. Panther landed gracefully on the snow behind the Wolf, only just noticing a second Dire Wolf charging for him. He managed to evade the creature, just as the first Wolf turned around and ran after its prey. Seeing that both Beasts where coming at him from opposite sides, Black Panther readied himself for the right moment. And just as he could feel the hot breath of the Wolves on his suit, Black Panther leaped straight into the air, causing the Dire Wolfs to slam right into each other at full force, knocking themselves out instantly.

The Wakandan King landed just a few feet away from Malekith as the Dark Elf stared down his opponent with a mischievous grin. Black Panther unsheathed his claws and slashed right at the Evil Mystic. But Malekith suddenly dissipates into black mist as Panthers claws pass harmlessly through it. The Mist then flows around the Cat Themed Hero and reforms into Malekith right behind him.

"Panther, watch out!" Iron Man tried to warn the Wakandan King as he wrestled with his wolf, while Arctiguana dealt with two more Wolves.

However his warning came just too late as Black Panther turned to see Malekith's body warp into a horrific version of himself that let out a blood curdling scream as it enveloped Black Panther, surrounding him in a dark shadow.

Meanwhile back in the city. The heroes were holding their ground. Ice Creatures continued to rise, but with the Avengers and other Heroes of the city now coordinated, they were effectively holding the line and even managing to beat the creatures back, destroying them just as quickly as they could form. For a moment, it seemed the heroes finally managed to claim the advantage.

But it seems the small flame of hope was not strong enough to withstand the freezing winds of the storm. Captain America was perched on top of one of the Ice Beasts and raised his shield to smash it like all the others. When suddenly the Beast started to glow faintly and a dark mass started to form in its chest, growing larger and larger until a pair of glowing circles appeared within the dark mass. The Ice Beast started to shake wildly as its body started to crack all on its own, before finally crumbling to pieces.

The Super Soldier was surprised as he fell to the ground. Looking around he saw other Creatures where literally falling apart. Suddenly from the broken husks of the Ice Beasts, black clouds of mist emerged and swirled around the Heroes head until the black clouds began to take shape. Forming a pair of long thin arms, a broad muscular body and finally a head with a pair of glowing yellow eyes, with a grinning fanged mouth glowing the same colour and a pair of pointed elf ears.

All around the city, every ice Creature began this metamorphosis, shedding their Icy exoskeletons for these black, elf like forms. At Avengers Mansion, the Dark Elves advanced on the heroes, without their ice shells weighing them down, the creatures were now much faster, as Wasp had to quickly fly out of ones reach as it took a very close swipe at her.

Hawkeye pulled back one of his arrows and fired at the closes Dark Elf. But the Arrow simply passed through it like it wasn't even there. The Purple Archer gasped in surprise as he quickly jumped out of the way as the creature lunged at him. Despite the creatures apparent semi solid state, Hawkeye did not want to risk any form of contact with these creatures.

With their attacks now having no effect on them, the Dark Elves numbers quickly grew until the Heroes where completely outnumbered and surrounded. Wasp, Hawkeye and Hulk stood back to back, with the former two firing Stingers and trick arrows respectively. With Hawkeye shifting through his different trick arrows in the hopes that one of them could have an effect on the creatures.

Hulk roared and sent a powerful right hook at the closest Dark Elf, but the giant green fist passed right through the Creature as it turned into black mist that flowed around the Hulk, before turning into black tendrils that wrapped around the Gamma Hero and dragged him away from the others.

"Hulk!" Wasp screamed in panic as she continued to pointlessly fire her stingers, despite knowing that they have no effect on the Dark Elves. But all she could think of doing was fighting, regardless of the effect on the enemy.

Hawkeye fired another arrow at the Shadow Creatures that exploded in a blinding flash of light. But even that had no effect as another Dark Elf appeared behind him and stuck him in the back, sending him flying and landing on the ground hard. The Archer managed to turn onto his back only to see two Dark Elves bear down on him as they reach out and place their hands on him. Upon contact with him, ice started to spread from the creatures hands, flowing over the World's Greatest Marksman's body like a stream of water.

Seeing her teammate and friend in danger, Wasps eyes widened in fear.

"Hawkeye!" She screamed as she dodged another attack from the Dark Elves. She continued to blast at them with everything she had. Cause as far as she knew, Wasp was the only Hero left standing to defend this city.

Meanwhile, in the caves of Norway. Black Panther was facing a threat the likes of which he had never encountered before. Currently the Wakandan King was standing in a black void, unsure of what to expect. Suddenly a light shone beneath his feet and Panther looked down to see he was standing on the pupil of a giant blue eye. Suddenly several grey tendrils emerged from the eye all around Black Panther. The Cat Themed Hero only had a moment to process what was happening to him before the tendrils stabbed themselves into his body, completely ignoring the Vibranium weave that is supposed to protect him. Black Panther screamed in pain as the tendrils impaled him.

From the outside, all Iron Man could see was a swirling vortex of black smoke. But he could hear the screams of Black Panther as clear as day.

"Panther!" Iron Man yelled from his position under the Dire Wolfs snapping jaws. The Iron Avenger charged up his repulsors and fired a pair of red, thermal repulsor rays from his palms, blasting the Beast away with a yelp. He then stood up and prepared to fire a thermal unibeam at Thor, in an attempt to free him. But another Dire Wolf tackled him from the side and knocked him down.

Iron Man groaned in pain as he once again tried to fight off the vicious Beast that's trying to maul him. Out of the corner of his gaze, Iron Man noticed Arctiguana flash freeze two more Dire Wolves with his ice beams.

"Ben! Free Thor! He's the only one who'll know how to stop this guy!" Iron Man called out as he punched his Dire Wolf in the face.

Arctiguana turned to face Thor and quickly glanced at Iron Man and nodded, indicating he received and understood the order. He reached up and tapped the Ultimatrix symbol and transformed. "HEATBLAST!"

The Fire Alien swiftly dashed over to the frozen Prince of Thunder and pointed his hands at the Thorcicle and unleashed a blazing torrent of fire upon it. Knowing full well how durable the Asgardian Thunder god is, Heatblast pulled no punches with his firepower as he quickly turned the ice prison into steam in seconds. The now freed Prince of Thunder, wearily stumbled on his feet, but Heatblast quickly rushed over to support his teammate.

"Thor. Thor. Come on buddy, talk to me. We need you, Half n Half Elrond over there is kicking our butts. We could use an edge." Heatblast conveyed to the dreary Asgardian.

Thor took a deep breath and shook his head to clear it. "Metal is bane to the Dark Elves. Iron is his weakness."

From within his dark vortex of pain, Black Panthers heightened senses allowed him to hear the Asgardians Princes words as he grunted in pain and proceeded to pull out a Vibranium dagger that proceeded to glow with power. He then sliced the blade across the dark void, lucky for him that tactic actually worked as a startled yelp cried out from the void as the Inky Mist withdrew and released Black Panther from its grip allowing the Wakandan King to fall to his knees in relief as the pain that was ravaging his body finally ceased.

"Vibranium… Seems to work as well." Black Panther weakly panted.

The Black Mist flowed over to a far section of the cave and reformed into Malekith, who was clutching his side, were Black Panther had managed to slash him. The Dark Elf angrily turned and faced the Panther Hero, his eyes burning with hatred.

"You dare? A mortal thinks he can hurt Malekith the accursed? A mere man?" He roared in outrage.

"How about an Iron Man?" The Armored Avenger suddenly called out as he flew down to the Dark Elf and proceeded to tackle him off the ground and carry him right into the Mystic Winds what where flowing out of the Casket of Ancient Winters. Iron Man held the Dark Elf in a chock hold, putting as much contact with his armor on the Dark Elf as possible.

The mere contact of the metal on the Elf's skin caused it to burn and steam. But despite the armor having a reaction to the Dark Elf's physiology, Malekith gave a pained chuckle and put on an amused grin.

"Your armor. Has very little iron in it." Malekith stated, despite the fact that his voice had a slight pained tone in it.

Malekith then proceeded to break the hold Iron Man had on him and grabbed the Armored Avenger by the wrist and tossed him out of the vortex, into the ice walls.

In that moment Thor glared at the Magic Villain as he stood to his full height. "You forget your place, Dark Elf. Let me remind you with whom you are dealing."

On that note, Thor raise his mighty hammer above his head and lightning started to crackle all around it. Outside the mountain, in the swirling clouds above, thunder crashed and a massive bolt of lightning shot down from the heavens, through the opening where the Magic Winds were escaping and struck Malekith dead on. The entire cavern lit up from the power of that bolt, causing Heatblast to shield his eyes from the intensity.

As the light died down, the Heroes where meet by the evil cackle of Malekith as his black smoke swirled around the Mystic winds and reformed in the midst of it, completely unharmed.

"Your hammer may wield magic. But I am magic. I am beyond life and death now. And with the power of the casket. Nothing can stop me!" Malekith boasted as his eyes started to glow white as the power grew. The Casket seemed to respond to him as its output of magical winter winds, grew more intense.

Iron Man and Heatblast tried to fight back against the Dark Elf with thermal repulsors and intense flames, respectively. But no matter how hard the heroes pushed their attacks against the Villain, the power of the Casket proved to be too much for them.

"This isn't working." Iron Man stated as he turned to Thor in desperation. "How do we stop this guy?"

The Asgardian Prince paused for a moment with a crestfallen look as he tried to think of something that could defeat their opponent.

"…I do not know." He Finally admitted.

This was certainly alarming for the Heroes. None of them could come up with any solution they could use to defeat this guy. The only thing that managed to slightly work was Iron Mans armor, but since the alloy it's made of is not pure Iron, it barely had any effect on him. It was during this moment that Heatblast really wished that he had a metal making alien. He had one that could make chemical gases that could cause amnesia, but didn't have an alien that could produce metal elements or compounds.

It then dawned on the Young Hero that in a very rare moment, he did not have the perfect Alien to fight this particular villain. A magical shapeshifting Elf who's only weakness is Iron. The only Alien he could think of that would be able to stand up to him was probably Terraspin, but that's only useful to defend against magic, he wouldn't be able to harm him at all. And none of his other bio-mechanical aliens have iron in them. NRG's suit is made of an advanced metallic compound that's not made of Earthly materials, Echo Echo's suit is made of silicon and Clockworks mechanical body is comprised of copper. As hard as he thought, there wasn't a single alien in his current arsenal that could have any effect on the Villain in front of him.

Malekith then raised his arms and the mystic winds of the Casket suddenly spread out and filled the entire room, blowing all the heroes away. The temperature within the caves, decreased dramatically, beyond the levels they where before. So much so that the thermal power and anti-freeze systems in Iron Mans Artic Armor where actually being overwhelmed and ice started to form on his suit. The Armored Hero desperately tried to put up a thermal shield to protect him, but all the suit could muster was a small circular energy shield, which could not stand up to the freezing temperatures as the shield quickly faded and Iron Man lowered his arm, now too cold to have the strength to keep it up.

Black Panthers protection didn't fair any better as he was reduced to huddling down in a corner as frost covered his suit while he shivered uncontrollably.

Even Heatblast's flames were starting to dim from the cold. Despite his species home planet being a Star and his own core body temperature being hotter than the surface of the sun. The mystical nature of this winter was stripping the very heat from his body, slowly causing his flames to grow dimmer and dimmer. He couldn't even risk transforming into another alien. If by chance he turned into the wrong alien or turned back to human, he doubt a human body would last more than a few seconds before completely freezing to death. As such all he could think to do was try to keep his flames alive, for as long as possible.

"In, Wakanda. Science and Mysticism work together, to accomplish things neither could do alone." Black Panther weakly said aloud. Before his strength abandoned him and he passed out.

Upon hearing the Wakandan King's wise words, Iron Man raised his head. Either the hypothermia had finally set in and he was losing his mind, or that actually made sense. The gears in the Genius Billionaires head quickly shifted into gear and an idea instantly formed into his head. Iron Man turned to Thor, who was struggling with the cold and slumped to his knees.

"Your lightning!" Iron Man shouted at the Prince of Thunder.

"It is no use, he is too strong now." Thor weakly grunted in response. The sound of dread and hopelessness present in his voice.

But that level of despair had not yet reached the stubborn mind of the Iron Avenger.

"My armour, it weakens him." Iron Man stated, the sparks of ingenuity instantly igniting the flames of creativity in every fiber of the Armored Billionaires being. "We can do this! On my mark, hit me with everything you got."

The God of Thunder pondered the Armored Avengers plan, and while it initially sounded very far-fetched in the immortals mind. But if his time among the Mortals of this realm has taught him anything, is that they have a way of accomplishing what was initially thought to be impossible. Thor locked his eyes with Iron Man and nodded his head, determination burning in his eyes.

Tapping into his reserve power supply, Iron Man activated his thrusters and blasted towards the Dark Elf like a homing missile. The Iron Avenger slammed into Malekith at full force and quickly maneuvered himself behind the villain and put him in another chock hold, grasping the Magical Being by the face with his armored glove. Malekith hissed in pain as the metal reacted to the Dark Elf's skin, causing it to steam.

Wasting no time, Thor grasped his hammer and lightning started to crackle around it.

"For Midgard!" Thor roared with conviction and pointed Mjolnir at his opponent and unleashed a powerful bolt of lightning at him.

The mystical bolt of electricity struck the Armored Avenger and Dark Elf dead on. The metal of the armor easily conducting the electrical energy of the lightning, magnifying it power and increasing the metals effectiveness as Malekith let out a scream of absolute agony as a white burst of energy illuminated the room, causing Thor to shield his eyes and Iron Man to be blasted to the ground, landing in a heap in the snowy ground.

Once the light died down, Thor, Iron Man and Heatblast all boar witness to the shriveled grey husk of Malekith the Accursed, his face frozen in the pained expression as his body then crumpled to dust that was swept away in the Winter winds of the Casket.

Even though the threat of Malekith was finally neutralized, the Casket of Ancient Winters was still open, unleashing its eternal winter upon the globe and with their energy spent during their final attack. Neither Thor or Iron Man had the strength left to close it. And with Black Panther out cold, there left only one Avenger left to do it.

Groggily Heatblast pushed himself to his feet. His flames flickering dimly in the cold wind, but the Young Hero fought through the fatigue. If Thor and Iron Man could give everything that had, even briefly let go of their petty argument, for one final push to save the world. Then he can make sure they stick around to make sure they remember that lesson.

The cold was overpowering him but he did not care. He knew what would happen if he did not close the casket. He'd seen what dangers a world with only cold surrounding it would do courtesy of the Highbreed. There were people who could die because of it. He was determined to push forward and give it all he's got. Because if he doesn't, many will be lost. He may be a candle compared to this winter, but as long as his fire and willpower burns brightly for the sake of others, he will NOT be extinguished.

Focusing every ounce of strength he had in his weakened body, Heatblast roared and the flames around his head, erupted like a blazing geyser and the Alien Hero blasted flames from his hands and feet and rocketed into the air, towards the Casket like a meteor entering the atmosphere. The magical frozen winds of the Casket, beat against the Fire Alien, sizzling and steaming against his flaming body as he forced his way through the pounding winds. He pushed and pushed with all his might growing closer to the mystical casket, despite the Ancient Frozen winds hammering away at his flaming barrier.

Thrusting his hand forward the Alien Avenger let out a determined yell as his hand made contact with the Caskets lid and he pushed it shut. The lid closed on the box with a small metallic click and it, along with Heatblast, dropped to the ground with a thud, the Alien Teens strength completely spent as he turned back into Ben in a flash of light.

The Casket of Ancient Winter glowed with mystical energy, before unleashing a pulse of magic that rippled throughout the cave, out of the mountain and across the entire world.

With the magic of the Casket finally sealed. The storm clouds that were formed under its power, instantly dissipated. Bright golden rays of sunlight shot through the disappearing clouds greeting the Earth with a warm embrace.

Back in the city, all seemed to be lost for Earths Mightiest Heroes. Every one of them had been overrun by the Dark Elves and turned into frozen statues leaving Wasp as the only Hero left standing. But even her luck had to run out eventually as a Dark Elf managed to grab her in its clawed hand. The Size Changing Heroine desperately struggled against the monster grip. But she was too weak and cold to put up much of a fight.

The Dark Elves grinned with sinister glee as they prepared to add her to their frozen collection, when suddenly a bright light started to shine behind them, followed by a strange warming sensation.

The Dark Elves turned to see, much to their horror, the glorious golden glowing sun, burning through the cloud layer that was shielding them from its intense power. The Dark Elves screamed in pain as their body started to evaporate like the clouds that protected them. The magic of the Casket, seemed to have been affecting the snow as well, as much like the clouds and Dark Elves, the white winter powder, quickly evaporated and disappeared as warmth returned to the world.

All around, people and heroes that were imprisoned in icy shells where instantly freed once the sun had returned. Groggily Hawkeye groaned as he blinked his eyes open and was briefly blinded by the sun's rays before sitting up and looking around to see Hulk and Wasp in similar sitting positions.

"What, what happened?" The Archer asked confused.

"I beat everybody and you guys totally missed it." Wasp responded boastfully. Despite her fatigued state. She just couldn't resist toying with her friends. She then leaned back and let out a deep sigh of relief and stretched her arm up as if reaching for the sky. "Welcome back, Sun!"

Back in Norway, the temperature within the cave had returned to reasonable weather. Granted it was still cold in that part of the world, but no were near as cold as when the Casket of Ancient Winter was open. This cold temperature was much more comfortable as Bens winter clothes actually worked in these conditions.

The other heroes where recovering well from the battle. While still tired, the threat of freezing to death, made things a lot easier for them. Thor held out his hand to Iron Man, which the Armored Billionaire graciously accepted as the Asgardian God pulled him to his feet.

"I… Thank you, Tony Stark. Would not have defeated Malekith without you." Thor said with earnest gratitude.

"Hey, no problem." Iron Man casually responded, appearing to egotistically make it sound as if he was doing the Thunder Deity a favor, by working with him. When he suddenly looked at Thor with a serious expression.

"My, uh. Tech was nothing against him." He admitted to the Thunderer, surprising Ben, who was being helped to his feet by Black Panther, after the later had awakened from his Arctic Catnap.

While they were helping each other, Iron Man and Thor continued to awkwardly apologies to each other.

"…I needed. Uh…" The Armored Avenger tried to say, but Thor interrupted him, by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Together, we…." Thor tried to say in an equally awkward tone.

"AHCHOOO!"

Both Genius Mortal and Thunder God, were distracted by a loud sneeze courtesy of Ben Tennyson, as Black Panther supported the Teen as he tried to sniff with his now blocked nose.

"Oh, for the love of, will you to just say you're sorry and shake hands already?" The Nasally Teen stated exasperated. "The world almost ended and you two still can't just let your egos go? "

Seeing the Young Avenger finally loose his cool after being quiet for so long, Black Panther could not help but chuckle, while Ben let out another sneeze. Due to being exposed to freezing temperatures for longer than either of the high tech geniuses, the Alien Shapeshifter had now come down with a cold.

Thor and Iron Man both had looks of embarrassment on their faces, Iron Man's was hidden by his faceplate, but both of them could agree that the Teen Hero had a point. Their fight over what method was better is irrelevant as they've shown that both magic and science can work very well together. Both heroes then raised their hands and shock them, physically declaring a mutual trust and respect between them

But before either of them could verbally confirm it, a giant axe suddenly shot from the darkness and struck Thor in the chest, knocking him down hard. The attack was so sudden, none of the other Avengers could react in time as green rings of mystical energy surrounded them, causing their bodies to become paralyzed as they dropped to their knees.

The Heroes all turned to see the approaching forms of the Enchantress and Executioner, now freed from their icy prisons.

"Whoops, guess we forgot about her." Iron Man stated.

"Argh, ya had to kill the moment. We were just making some Pro.. Pro… AHCHOO!" Ben sneezed loudly.

Getting over his daze, Thor raised his head to glare at Enchantress as she casually walked over to where the Casket of Ancient Winters had landed and picked up the small box in her hands, while Executioner retrieved his axe.

"Amora. What are you doing here? Tell me you are not in league with, Malekith!" Thor demanded as he struggled against his restraints. But as usual with Enchantresses restraints, everything below his neck just wouldn't respond.

Enchantress looked down at the Prince of Thunder and slowly leaned down and caressed his cheek with her hand, affectionately. "It will all be over soon." She said in her usually seductive voice.

She then rose and walked over to Executioner, before conjuring and ring of green magic energy that proceeded to teleport the pair to parts unknown.

Once the Witch and Asgardian Brute had vanished, her spell broke and the Heroes where freed. Ben almost faceplanted in the snow, but Black Panther managed to catch him. He was more tired than he initially thought.

Thor however, immediately jumped to his feet and rushed forward a few paces before twirling his hammer in front of him, building up his lightning. With a mighty yell, Thor pointed his hammer in front of him and a bolt of mystical energy shot forth from the hammer and turned into a swirling portal.

"What are you doing?" Iron Man asked.

"I am opening a portal to Asgard." Thor explained, in a stern tone. "The Enchantress must pay for this affront."

With that the Prince of Thunder strolled towards his portal. However, just as he was about to enter the mystic doorway. The portal started to sparkle and mystical energy started to crackle around the gateway. Thor paused for a moment and gazed upon the strange display. Suddenly a bolt of Magic Energy burst from the portal, striking the Asgardian God right in the chest, sending him flying back as the portal instantly shut.

The Avengers immediately rushed to their godly ally with concerned looks on their faces.

"Are you all right?" Black Panther asked

"What happened?" Iron Man questioned.

"AHCHOO!" Ben sneezed.

Thor groaned as he got to a sitting position and straightened his helmet.

"I have been locked out of Asgard by a power far greater than my own." He explained with a pained expression. He then looked up at his teammates with wide eyes as the realization finally dawned on him.

"I… I cannot go home."

And there it is. The first chapter of 2019. A good welcome to the New Year, and an appropriate chapter for anyone where it's currently snowing.

Special shoutout to Just Q for all the help you gave me improve this chapter. And to everyone else who supported me this whole time. And also a shoutout request for Masamune X23, this guys helped me, Ultimate10 and a bunch of others with our stories, so if any of you have time, go check out the work he's doing and give him some love as well.

Up next a fan favourite character is showing up. Not gonna say from which franchise to keep things interesting. XD

Until next time, CaptainRex75 out!