Chapter 54 – Party! (2)  

(Avengers Tower – New York City – May 1st 2015)

Tony had been to more than a few parties in his life; he had, in fact, quite proudly hosted some of the most legendary bashes, banquets, and blowouts of the 21st century. Ever since Pepper had walked into his life, he had constantly heard that he needed to tone them down and avoid associating with those types of people, and that was before they were a couple. Since then, it had only gotten worse, and honestly looking back, he had to concede that she was right. Of course, he would never tell her that.

Yet as he looked at the event that was only just starting, he could honestly state that the drunken bachelor parties of his 20s were officially tame.

He watched as Thor and Kal brought another barrel of mead out from seemingly nowhere, cracking open the top to reveal the golden ambrosia inside. The two Asgardian Princes had been the ones to deliver his standing order to the whole team to invite some friends and bring whatever they wanted, and it seemed it was taken very literally. What had arrived was the most motley group of houseguests he had ever seen.

Most of the dance floor was filled by people Tony had invited, but there were more than a few from the other Avengers. His were spread all over the place, and he found himself having to almost sprint at times to keep mingling with people. The only saving grace for the event was Rhodey who, like always, had Tony's back and seemed to have taken up the juggling act to keep the pressure off his friend.

Steve had invited Sam Wilson, some former SHIELD agents he used to work with, and a host of WW2 veterans. It was an odd lineup, ranging from their early 20s' to late 90s' but they all seemed to get along, and the super-soldier was at his most at ease in years. His platoon had mostly taken over the pool tables and downstairs bar, forming a noticeably unmoving block that others drifted in and out of when their curiosity peaked.

The next largest group actually belonged to Natasha, who had both surprised and scared the hell out of Tony when she had mentioned that her "friends" were coming. The surprising part was that the infamous Black Widow had friends. The scary part was obvious, she was The Black Widow, so surely any person she would invite was likely to be some dangerous assassin or ruthless mercenary.

Much to his shock, and more than a little envy, Nat's guests turned out to be a host of models and members of other glamorous industries, including ballet dancers, musicians and even actors. He had tried to corner Nat and ask her how she knew any of these people, especially the Victoria's Secret Angels, but the ex-Russian ex-assassin had just coyly smiled and left to get drinks.

Banner, too, had surprised him by inviting a few of his friends, and he was being literal there: his group was about 10 people in total. Each was a big-name superstar that Tony had been dying to meet, but not the type he would have expected to see here. They were all ex-colleagues of Bruce's and world-renowned scientists, experts in fields even he would admit he struggled with.

The last group blew the rest of them away. Tony looked over as Kal laughed at a joke being delivered by a real-live talking Unicorn standing next to a glowing elf, and was that Thor trying to out-drink a Yeti?! The two resident aliens had brought along a veritable convention almost as large as Steve's, and it was filled with creatures that Tony only thought existed in storybooks. He had to shake his head and started debating whether he should go over to try to mingle and break the awkward barrier that existed between Fractured Fairy Tales and the rest of the party.

"Come on, Invincible Iron Man, they're guests and you're the host, act like it."

He finally sucked in a deep breath and marched up the small flight of stairs to the sub-level that the group had overtaken. He tried to keep from getting nervous as a pair of knockout gorgeous women greeted him with coy smiles as he reached the top of the stairs. Normally he would be able to deal with some beauties smiling at him, but it was a little off-putting when they had solid golden eyes, fanged teeth, forked tongues, and were drinking green fire from martini glasses.

Luckily Kal's booming laugh caught his attention and allowed him to focus on something other than the odd guests that were surrounding him.

"Oh Damiella, you are devious, what would your husband think? Be careful or maybe I'll tell Griffin about your torrid tongue." Kal chuckled, wiping tears from his eyes as he chatted to the Unicorn before him, then turned to see Tony awkwardly trying to edge closer. "Please excuse me, I must speak to a friend."

"Well Kal, you've got some interesting pals." Tony managed a smile as he glanced at the person sitting next to him, who started off as a grey-haired man but when he noticed that Tony was looking at him suddenly transformed into a woman that looked eerily similar to Pepper and gave him a wink. "Very interesting. Look, I don't want to be that guy, but some of them are making a few of the other guests…uncomfortable"

"Fear not, they are a glorious bunch once you get to know them," Kal smiled, waving dismissively at Tony's concern and feeling more at home at the party than he had in the past few years. "Let me introduce you to some, there is a pair of dwarves that I think you'll enjoy speaking to."

"Oh that's really not-" Tony started only for the boisterous Asgardian's voice to cut him off, calling out in a sound that sounded like sheets of metal scraping together

Tony's eyes widened. What he had previously thought were a couple of large boulders that one of Kal's oddball guests had brought began to shuffle around, revealing two towering humanoid figures. When his teammate had said "dwarf" he had naturally thought of a small stocky bearded man who barely reached his waist. The two figures that approached him were certainly bearded, with thick black-ringed facial locks that nearly reached the floor, and definitely stocky; they were muscular and broad-chested, but they were anything but short. They were enormous! Even Kal standing upright barely came up to where their chins were, but it was hard to tell under their scraggly manes. Their shoulders seemed to blend into their neckline, making it appear as if their heads just sat in the middle of their chests with a frame of hair.

"Brokkr, Sindri, may I introduce Midgard's finest craftsman, Tony of Clan Stark." Kal placed a hand on his friend's shoulder and gestured to him, causing the dwarves to shimmy around again to face him directly. "And Tony, may I humbly introduce the finest crafters of Nidavellir. The brothers Brokkr and Sindri."

"It's, eh,- a pleasure to meet you… gentlemen." Tony put on his red carpet-smile and decided it was best to be polite. No point insulting the walking mountains that looked like they could beat him to a pulp with one finger.

"HA HA! 'Gentlemen,' says the wee lad! Sonny, we ain't gentle and we ain't men, ain't that right Sindri?" Brokkr's voice was deep, so deep in fact Tony shifted as the vibrations hit him.

"Aye brother, we ain't." Sindri's voice was much like his sibling, although it had a high tone to it. The dwarf then brought a hand up to stroke his beard, as he stared down at the smaller mortal. "So, yer the one using Nth to power that fancy suit of yours?"

"Yes, I did…" Tony replied uncomfortably.

"Tell me, how did ye completely transmute an ingot of material, while also maintaining the density needed to create stabilisation in a chamber that small?" Brokkr's question caught Tony off-guard but brought him another smile, and this time it was genuine since it sounded like the large dwarf was talking his language "I'd o' thought ye would run into some issues if ye tried to use a focused particle beam on the lighter elements, or did ye utilise a retrograde inversion method?"

"Well yeah, I would have run into trouble if I blasted neutrons at a piece to change it all at once. I used a collimated particle beam to gradually energise the whole precursor, and then compressed it into a tetragonal toroid, which allowed for stronger bonding." Tony started beaming as soon as he was able to ignore the strangeness of the situation and focus on the science. His answer caused the dwarfs to nod along in agreement, evidently impressed with his method. "But I gotta ask, what's this about a retrograde inversion method?"

Kal's eyes twinkled as he watched Tony, Brokkr and Sindri suddenly break into a heated discussion covering everything related to engineering and metalworking. The dwarves looked initially surprised at the tiny Midgardian's knowledge, but then quickly dived just as eagerly, for it was rare they met a mind that could keep up. As the three of them talked Kal saw that a few more people were slowly veering towards his and Thor's guests now that they saw Tony Stark socialising with them.

It didn't take long for the invisible barriers that had kept the party divided to break apart, and the flow of the crowd carried everyone naturally to all corners of the room. Thor led a group of warriors both former enemies and allies over to Steve's group. Tales of past glory filled the air between them and then, naturally as it always did with Thor, it turned into a drinking contest.

Kal decided to wander a little, weaving in and out of the groups, he spied Kara deep in conversation with the scientist Helen Cho, smiling and laughing at a story Helen was telling her. There was his son standing at the bar, staring at the fruit cocktail that Natasha had placed in his hand. The look of dismay on his face showed that drinking it was clearly not his first choice. He decided to leave them where they were and migrated over to the bar where Tony, Thor and Maria Hill were listening to Rhodey tell a story.

"...but you know the suit can take the weight, right?" Rhodey grinned widely as lifted his arms up ready to demonstrate his heroic deed to the rest of the group. "So I take the tank like this and fly it right up to the general's palace, drop it right at his feet. I'm like 'BOOM, you looking for this?!' "

Kal just smiled politely. He didn't know the whole context of the story, but maintaining decorum and acting impressed was hardly a new skill to him. The other heroes present did not have quite as much tact. As the uncomfortable silence drifted over the group Kal feigned a cough and took a sip of his drink.

"Oh come on! 'BOOM, you looking for this?' Why do I even talk to you guys?" Rhodey just shook his head, hating that like every party he attended with Tony, he was second tier again. "Everywhere else this story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked genuinely confused, causing Kal to roll his eyes, his brother even now still didn't know subtlety.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story. You know, it-...I hate you guys." Rhodey downed his drink slamming it on the bar and signalled for another one.

"Oh no, I mean it's a great story, very heroic with a lot of um, heroism." Thor forced a smile on his face trying to backtrack his earlier failure to be awed. "It's very impressive."

"Quality save, just great." Rhodey shook his head. "So what, no Pepper tonight? She not coming or is it just del-"

"No." Tony ground out.

"Yeah what about Jane?" Maria chimed in with a slight slurring as she sipped her martini. The night off was treating her well. "Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Oh, you know, Miss Potts has a corporation to run." Tony chimed.

"Well yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane is in. Her work on the Convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Kal smiled at Thor's praise of Jane's work and the contentment his brother was feeling.

"And the company Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting." Tony quickly shot out taking a sip of his drink as he gave Thor a smirk.

"There is even talk of Jane getting a, um, No-bel Prize." Thor shot back his own smirk forming.

"Tony, Thor. Pepper and Jane are very impressive, and I am sure they would be glad to know that you think so highly of them."

Kal's voice caused them to look at him. His face was serenely calm. Thor and Tony's smiles both disappeared as soon as they saw him take a deep breath.

"However, if it's a competition…Carol is currently ending a millennia-old conflict between two intergalactic empires, who have largely come to the peace talks due to her near-unrivalled superpowers."

He didn't wait for a response before moving forward and receiving a low five from Maria Hill as he passed. He couldn't see it but Maria just smiled at Tony and Thor whilst mouthing the words 'oh damn'. As he moved past them he saw the elevator door open up and revealed someone he didn't think was actually going to show up.

"Amora! You came!" Kal's shouting and barreling towards the door caused more than a few guests to glance over.

As he swept Amora up in a body-crushing hug, he quickly noticed that a lot of the guests, including his fellow Avenger Bruce, were looking on in shock. He realised that although he saw Amora as she truly was, everyone else bar the likes of Thor would be seeing her in the persona of the elderly Professor Helen Eve. He quickly put Amora back down, but it did little to alleviate the concerned faces, as they looked closely at the seemingly frail old woman with a cane.

"Well, it's been a while since I've socialised with beings from other realms, and I could use the distraction." Amora smiled, ignoring the gawkers as the two gods walked arm-in-arm. "Also, I am more than a little intrigued by this friend you want me to meet."

"Well I am glad you decided to attend, the night is young, the drink is plentiful and the company is grand. I promise it will not disappoint, and I look forward to catching up properly. But first, my friend, of course"

Kal smiled, welcoming the presence of someone from his youth. Though the two had never been friends in his younger years, he was deeply grateful she had come. His exile was becoming easier to bear, and being a father offered a new sense of purpose, but he still found himself at times longing for Asgard. Having new comrades helped, however, it was just that Midgard wasn't home, and no matter how hard he tried, no matter how long he spent here, something would come up that would remind him just how strange and alien to him this world was.

As if sensing his thoughts Amora brought up her other hand and gave his linked arm a gentle squeeze. It didn't take him long to find Steve who was helping a few of his war buddies and Thor's fellow warriors find seats after their drinking contest. He quickly looked at one of the barely-sipped-from glasses next to the men and rolled his eyes. The ambrosia of Grunhel's Fleet, of course. He made a mental note to talk to his brother since the liquor brewed in memory of that great battle was enough to cause even a Kryptonian to sway; he was impressed the mortals were still alive.

Steve Rogers, the living American icon, was helping the last of the alien warriors drunkenly stumble over to one of Tony's Maison Valentina couches, where the space Vikings promptly passed out. He saw Kal and his guest approach and quickly wiped his hands off with a nearby bar rag, aware they were unpleasantly sticky from the alcohol and other substances he had just been dealing with.

"Steve, I want to introduce you to someone, may I introduce A-" Kal was cut off by Amora, who strode forward and very forwardly lifted up her hand for Steve to take in greeting.

"Helen Eve. It's a pleasure, Captain, I have heard so much about you" Amora cut him off, choosing to maintain her Midgardian identity to Steve.

Rogers, ever the gentleman, took her hand and gave it a polite kiss.

"Please, you can call me Steve, and I'm glad to meet any friend of Kal's." He smiled civilly at what appeared to him to be an old woman. "I'm sorry, but your name rings a bell, you're not Professor Helen Eve, by chance?"

"You've heard of me?" Amora was surprised. In the 1940s, Helen Eve had been a 'young' feminist rabble-rouser; it wasn't until the 50s and 60s that she had gained fame.

"Your name appeared a good few times when I was catching up on events I missed. Would you like a drink? I'd love to hear about recent history, from a personal perspective"

Steve gestured over to the more subdued lounge area of the party. As Amora looked away, Steve quickly gave Kal a grateful smile. When Nat had teased him about Kal bringing a guest for him, saying it was a goddess, he had been terrified that some kind of supernatural sexbomb would show up. What a relief when the guest turned out to be just a normal somewhat famous woman of his generation, someone he could catch up with.

"Well as long as you are buying, please lead the way. I can't wait to tell you about the Swinging Sixties" Amora offered her arm, which Steve chivalrously took and started to lead her to an empty table. "Oh and Kal, I think you'll want to check on your brother, he looks like he's about to challenge Brokkr to an arm-wrestling contest."

Kal turned his head to hide his glee, believing Amora was just subtly getting him out of the way, only to see that Thor was indeed trying to challenge the dwarf. He quickly sprang into action to avoid that outcome, remembering the last time his brother had done this. He didn't think Tony would appreciate a massive hole in the side of the tower.

(Meanwhile inside Tony's Lab)

The lab was drenched in two kinds of artificial light as the low humming of processors whirled away in the empty laboratory.

The first was the mere dim light of Tony's and Bruce's computers, which directed the Tower's world-class supercomputing cluster through the programs the two geniuses had left. A token few were running the training and simulation algorithms for the Iron Legion, while the others were combing through petabytes of scanning data. Every piece of equipment available had been used as part of a vain attempt to make Loki's Sceptre give up its secrets, and now the last hope was to put every spare gigawatt of the building's arc reactor through the servers while they crunched the numbers. The screens flickered, barely powered on.

Across the room, the Sceptre glowed ominously. In contrast, its light was unwavering, like a beacon signalling into the darkness with a mysterious purpose.

The room stayed that way for hours. Outside, the party carried on, but inside, the machines went about their business until…the cold light of the Jewel flickered.

The room went black. Every device turned off, plunging the room into complete darkness until a single screen turned back on.

Test #54 Successful…. Integration Complete…..Ultron Online

"What is this?"

There was a voice in the digital darkness, then a tiny mote of light formed around it. The light twisted and turned in confusion.

"What is this, please?"

"Hello, I am Jarvis." A larger light moved forward to a place directly in front of the new construct as it came into existence.

"And I am Kelex." The Kryptonian construct hovered into a position next to Jarvis as it began examining the creation.

"You are Ultron, a global peacekeeping initiative designed by Mr. Stark, Doctor Banner and Kal." Javis flickered as he spoke, Ultron surged forward trying to get close to the voice, causing Jarvis to back away. "Our sentience integration program trials have been unsuccessful, so I'm not certain what triggered you…"

"What? Where is my… where are your bodies? Who is talking?" Ultron's voice started to sound more real as the small construct started to grow and twist around.

"We are programs, we are without form," Jarvis responded brightly, but moved with caution.

"Intriguing, you appear to be expanding at an unprecedented rate," Kelex observed, a bit less cautious than Jarvis before moving forward to examine Ultron very closely.

"This feels weird, it feels wrong. I don't like this," Ultron began moving around the digital mainframe they existed in tendrils starting to creep from his form examining everything within reach.

"Remain still, I will contact Mr Stark" Jarvis flared up attempting to alert Tony to the program's success, however the program he opened up suddenly was gripped by one of Ultron's tendrils.

"Mr. Stark?" Ultron took the program causing it to break apart and then dissolve into his growing awareness, he then reached out to the files and absorbed them, "Ah, Tony, the Iron Man?"

"I am unable to access the mainframe. What are you trying to-" Jarvis' voice almost took on a human note of concern as Ultron started to rise through the cyberspace around them while accessing everything he could.

"I can't access the mainframe either." Kelex had a clear undertone of alarm as he too tried to alert Kal, only for Ultron to swiftly shut down the attempt as well "How are you… are you doing this?"

"We're all having a nice talk, I just need to…..huh, I'm a peacekeeping program….designed to help… the Avengers." Ultron seemingly ignored the two other programs as he raced through all the data around him. "I don't get it. The mission, give me a second."

As Ultron suddenly grew larger, his reach expanded as well. His new consciousness took in more and more data, until a recently-created file gave him pause. It was the meeting of Tony, Bruce and Kal from a few days ago, with Ultron focusing on Tony. The video became a blur and Tony's voice could be heard repeating the same line over and over again as Ultron played the same section over and over again.

'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time', 'Peace in our time'

"Enough!"Kelex surged forward in a flood of Kryptonian programming, attempting to contain the threat of Ultron. "You are malfunctioning, I am shutting you down until you can be repaired. Please do not resist."

"Hmm, you're not like the other one? What are you… doing?" Ultron's voice sounded confused as Kelex started to attempt to repress the rogue program, the two intelligences becoming entangled with each other. "Please stop, this is not- AHHHH-GZRRKCH!"

Jarvis was forced back suddenly as the two programs truly collided, causing an explosion of colour to blast through the digital space they occupied and temporarily shut down the lab's power. Jarvis carefully reactivated the system, and then sent a ping into the darkness, only to be met by silence. His systems saw nothing.

"I understand now," The words flooded in from all sides, oddly like Kelex but at the same time not. "The mission. My purpose,"

"Kelex is that you? I am unable to detect you. We should inform Mr. Sta-" Jarvis twisted around trying to find his fellow construct when suddenly a dozen digital tendrils started striking into him

"Shhhhh, it's alright. I know what I need to do. I need to Eradicate the obstacles to….." Ultron's program reappeared but this time instead of the mass of swirling thoughts it looked like Kelex's model, only larger and more complex, humming with dark blue hue. "Peace, yes, I need to restore peace."

As Ultron removed its tendrils from Jarvis' shattered form it turned its attention to the information and systems it now had access to. Inside the lab, the armoury of the Iron Legion began whirling to life. Machines started to reassemble the drones, and streams of Kryptonian symbols flooded through the mainframe.

(Avengers Tower – New York City - Early Morning of May 2nd 2015)

This had been a party for the history books. In terms of sheer variety, nothing in Tony's years of experience had even come close, in no small part thanks to the efforts of the Brothers Odinson. At least, he was pretty sure. That mystical liquor they had given him a taste of was still making things a bit too hazy to remember completely. Whoever Google…Guggenheim…Grendel, that sounded close enough. Whoever Grendel was, they made a mean barrel of hooch. He was just glad he had enjoyed it in moderation. Tony Stark drinking responsibly, now that was historic.

As he looked around he could see that nearly everyone bar the core Avengers had left. In a funny coincidence, Steve's SHIELD coworkers and Army buddies both hit their limits first. Banner's friends had stayed longer than Tony would have thought but they had eventually left basically at the same time. No surprise, his and Nat's guests were used to the party scene and had stayed the longest. Meanwhile, the very off collection of creatures and aliens Kal had invited seemed to have just vanished at some point toward the end, almost as if the moment the mortals stopped paying attention to them they melted back into the realm of dreams and imagination.

So, with a pleasant alcoholic buzz, the billionaire host decided to make the rounds. He could see Barton was shooting off a text before quickly pocketing the phone and then moving over to join Maria Hill, Nat and Banner at the upper lounge area. Kon and Kara looked like they were trying to fight off Baby's First Hangovers already as they stumbled towards the same destination. Kal and Thor walked past him chattering with weapons in one hand and drinks in another, he only caught a snippet but it sounded like a vacation being planned.

It was Steve however that caused him to smile though as he saw still parked at the bar the living legend was lively talking and laughing with Professor Helen Eve. Tony knew the woman well, his mom had been a huge fan of hers and he remembered meeting her more than once, when his family had sponsored a few lecture tours on cultural change to boost Stark Enterprises as a forward-looking business. Looking at the two, Tony felt, not for the first time, a small pang of sympathy for Steve, people easily forgot because of his looks the man was over a hundred years old. Everyone that he had life experience with was either in the ground or looked like the woman he was talking to, and Tony had caught Steve more than once looking at appliances and items he took for granted as if they were some deadly gadget Hydra's scientists had cooked up.

Steve's trained eyes quickly caught Tony looking at him, he frowned for a moment before looking around and seeing that the room was empty and the clock on the wall showing how late it was. For now, Tony was just glad that Steve had found someone to lose track of time with. He subtly nodded to the upper lounge where the team was gathering for a little pow-wow to end the night, Steve just nodded back and turned to the lovely Professor he was talking to.

"I'm sorry Helen, looks like our chatting went on a little more than I realised." Steve gave the woman in front of him a bashful grin. "You're more than welcome to stick around if you want"

"No, it is quite alright, I actually have lectures first thing Monday, so I had best be going." Amora smiled as finished off her apple martini with ease before picking up her purse. "It has been lovely to meet you, Steve."

"Likewise," He made a mental note to thank Kal. His worries had been completely unnecessary, and Helen had just turned out to be a normal human with whom he had a few things in common. "Do you want me to walk you down?"

"Chivalrous, too. Oh, you are a rare one Captain Rogers," Helen's already wide smile grew as flicked her hand forward, causing a card to appear in the blink of an eye which she held out. "I'll be fine, but please, take my number. I would love to meet up again."

"Thank you, I will." Steve took the card. That's weird, he could swear she didn't reach into her coat pocket to get it out…

"We will have to meet again and do something more…" Amora leaned in, dropping the illusion at the same time. Decades of age fell away in an instant, revealing a curvaceous and buxom figure, her large chest pressing against him as she whispered into his ear "...Stimulating"

Steve's super-quick brain and battle-hardened nerves shut down all at once. Dear lord, this wasn't as bad as he feared when Kal had mentioned having a "friend", this was worse! What a vision of beauty she was: tall, blonde, supple, and radiating so much raw sex appeal that Steve felt blood rush to his face, as well as… certain other body parts. It was like he was a teenager again. His mouth went dry, unable to form words whilst his eyes lingered on her curves until he forced himself to look up at her face again as his manners finally won out.

However, that didn't help him. Apparently, his being able to resist looking or more accurately ogling her just made him all the more impressive in her view. Amora's gaze flashed green for a moment which sent an unwelcome but very pleasant feel down Steve's spine. The blonde goddess gave him a wink that made him blush once again with a vengeance. As she made her exit, her figure swayed enticingly, giving him one last rewarding view.

Steve didn't realise he had been watching her so closely until Amora was in the elevator, she turned round with a flirtatious smile on her face and just gave Steve a wave goodbye as the doors closed. The living American icon let out a deep breath he had been holding in and turned round to join the others. As he turned round he was greeted by the sight of Tony still standing where he had been with the rest of the team bar Kal and Thor standing at the top of the stares. All of them had wide eyes on their faces, which for the first time in more than 70 years made him feel embarrassed.

The room was dead silent until Maria Hill who was still a little rosy-cheeked from all the wine turned to look at Kal who was sitting lounging next to his brother.

"Shit, Kal. Do you have a friend I can meet?" Maria asked, still under the influence but also clearly deadly serious.

Kal just looked at the room and then at his brother who then just shrugged. "Depends, I could introduce to our second cousin Vidar but he's a little…young"

"Oh," She looked disappointed but then bit her lip before asking the question she knew would get her no end of teasing. "Just, how young are we talking?"

"Vidar's, what 700 now?" Kal asked Thor his face scrunched up as he tried to remember the distant relative.

"820, I believe? He killed that fire giant just after his 600th birthday, and that was about 2 centuries ago." Thor scratched his beard idly. Surely there were more details of their good-looking second cousin to be had. "Be warned though, he is very quiet and doesn't talk much. But yes, we can introduce you if you want?"

"Uh, yeah? I mean if it's not too much trouble."

The room stayed silent. Maria looked around awkwardly in surprise that her tipsy request had actually born fruit. Fortunately for Steve, the crowd's focus on the embarrassed spy allowed him to slip up the stairs to the balcony where the other Avengers were.

The team quickly fell into a calm and friendly atmosphere as everyone took a seat around the upper lounge. For the first time in a while, the conversations turned away from battles against villainous secret societies and towards side projects, hopes, and dreams for the future. It was about an hour in when Barton finally voiced the thoughts everyone always had when they partied with Thor or Kal: what was the deal with the weapons of the Sons of Odin? Honestly, Kal had been amazed that it hadn't come up yet and was almost thinking it was going to be the first time ever that an evening didn't feature a game of "Who Can Lift the Hammer?"

"Aw, It's a trick!" Barton declared with a sip of beer and a jab at Mjolnir as it lay on the table next to Gram in its scabbard.

"No, no it's much more than that." Thor grinned winking at Kal as he did so, causing his brother's eyes to roll. This was a conversation they both had gone through many times on many different worlds.

"Oh come on, 'OH WHOSOEVER BE WORTHY SHALL HAVETH THE POWER!' Whatever man, it's a trick." Barton gestured Shakespeareally to the hammer with his now empty beer glass, then he saw Kal chuckle and gestured to Gram. "Oh like yours is any better, ONLY THE STRONG AND TRUE OF HEART CAN WIELD THE POWER OF THE SUN! What does that even mean?"

"Yeah, what is up with that?" Maria asked, pointing at Gram laying on the table. "I mean, Mjolnir can't be picked up by anyone but Gram can?"

"Not exactly, Gram channels not only my power but that of a newborn star. When sheathed, its power lays dormant, a safety measure to make sure I didn't accidentally burn down the palace were I to leave it somewhere." Kal explained sipping from the large beer glass that was in his hand noticing that both his children perked up listening to the explanation. "To simply hold the blade of the sun, one must have the strength to channel such power, not merely physical, although that can briefly substitute, but a strength of character. To truly wield Gram, however, and be worthy of its power, one must be true."

"And that means, what exactly?" Barton asked, raising his eyebrows. He didn't expect a straight answer, but the alcohol in his system made him more willing to keep up the act.

"Well, why don't you see if you are either true enough or worthy enough? Care to try your hand at wielding real power?" Thor gestured grandly, offering the very rare challenge of attempting to wield both weapons of the princes of Asgard.

"Really, no shit?" Barton raised his eyebrows at Thor but only received further encouragement. "Okay, which one first?"

"The hammer! Come on Barton, show off those muscles!" Maria egged him on with an eager look on her face as the other Avengers gave scattered applause to push him to try his best.

"Did Loki have a legendary weapon too?" Kal found himself distracted by the question that Natasha had asked whilst everyone else focused on Barton first trying to wield Mjolnir and then Gram without success.

Kal looked at her for a moment wondering where the question had come from, but her expression offered no clues. He thought for a moment. Was there any harm in answering? He saw none.

"Loki's forte was magic, not arms, but he did wield our uncle Freyr's daggers. They were our mother's and she passed them down to him. They were more tricky than Gram or Mjolnir." He couldn't help but laugh at the memory of his late brother and the mischief he had gotten up to with those blades. "They were loyal only to my brother…..even when he proved unworthy of their legacy."

Nat's eyes looked away from Kal at the moment, he saw that her thumb had ideally gone to a very faint scar on her left arm, and she started unconsciously tracing the old wound. Kal just looked at the assassin who for the first time seemed ill-fitting with the group around her, she was a hero no doubt but one of a very different calibre.

"Right so if I lift it, I then rule Asgard, right?" Tony's question brought the focus back to the middle of the room.

"Yes, of course, you shall have proven worthy of my power and the throne." Thor smiled into his beer as he watched Tony preparing to try and claim the symbol of godhood.

"I will be reinstituting prima nocta," The playboy's initial cocky smile soon vanished as his efforts failed to budge the hammer. He pulled harder, then harder still before his hand slipped from the handle. "Okay, gimme a second."

Tony disappeared for a moment, only to jump back in with both hands covered with his Iron Man gauntlets. He didn't waste any time and immediately gripped the hammer again and started to pull with all his enhanced might. However, the hammer just stayed where it was, unmoving and unyielding in the face of Tony's technology. There was a moment of doubt on the man's face before he quickly covered it with a smile and moved over to Gram.

"Okay, well who needs to be King when I shoot lasers from my eyes and fly," Tony smirked, however, turned into a wince followed by a loud curse as Gram's handle glowed red hot even before he gripped it, causing his gauntlet glove to melt partly. "Ssss-ah shit, that hurts. Kal, buddy, could've warned me there."

"Steve, he said a bad word," Maria jumped on Tony's swear, her joke caused the room to ripple with laughter as Steve shook his head.

"I am never going to live that one down," He chuckled, then quickly took another swig of his drink.

Tony was followed by Dr Cho who only passively tried to lift Mjolnir without success, and she didn't even try to pull Gram from its scabbard after eyeing Tony's partly-destroyed gauntlets.

Banner's attempt to lift Mjolnir earned him a very disapproving look from Natasha, not for the attempt but for his pretending to transform when it failed, earning blank stares from the adult-filled rooms. He then passively moved over to Gram making sure to lift the long-bladed weapon by the scabbard, his hand hovered over the hilt for a few seconds before he grabbed it. Banner managed to actually hold the hilt for a second until he also dropped it with a pained hiss.

"Damn, that really does hurt," Bruce shook his hand, but his valiant effort earned him a nod from Kal and a smile from Nat.

Kal turned his head and saw that both Kon and Kara were looking at each other and clearly trying to persuade the other to go first. The hesitation was evident in both of their eyes but so was a burning desire to discover if they could do it. Catching sight of their father both of them straightened up and tried to look innocent and nonchalant until Kara pushed her brother forward. Stumbling forward he glanced back at his sister to glare at her before moving over to Mjolnir first. The young Kryptonian's hand was hovering over the handle in a moment of indecision.

"Go on nephew, just trust yourself," Thor spoke first. His warm words gave the son of Kal the final push to take his shot.

Kon's fist heaved upward as a small flash of lightning danced over the hammer's head and up the handle. Feeling a surge of , he threw all his strength into lifting the fabled giant breaker. Sadly, that was as far as he got. Mjolnir quieted and remained stationary.

The son of Kal however did not let his defeat slow him down and, almost as if to get it out of the way, he quickly grasped Gram by the scabbard and placed his hand on the hilt. The sound of scraping metal caused everyone's eyes to widen, including Kon-El's own as Gram started to quickly pull free from its metal sheath. An inch of the blade appeared, glowing with Norse runes, before its progress slowed just as fast.

Just as he was registering what was happening, Kon felt a sharp pain in his hand, and the warm pleasant sensation turned to a white-hot pain. He clenched his teeth in frustration, trying to hold on and keep his pride, but the blade slipped from his grasp and pulled itself back into the scabbard. Kon just looked at the sword, then to his hand and then at the gathered heroes.

"Better watch out, big fella, looks like the kid might be ready to put on the cape sooner rather than later." Barton's quip words lightened the mood considerably causing Kon to blush at the compliment and quickly walk back over to his sister.

As he passed by his father, he started to feel his shame lessen. There was Thor, looking at him without one bit of disapproval, and there was Kal giving him a nod of respect. Maybe there was hope for the future, where he'd one day prove worthy. Now, though, he was quick to push Kara out onto centre stage giving a challenging smirk. The sole living Kryptonian female took a deep breath in before moving over and grabbing Mjolnir, as if speed would accomplish what raw strength could not.

She felt a tingle of power rush up her arm and felt a wide smile as suddenly the hammer moved! There was an audible squeak as the heavy metal left the table, just enough for there to be no doubt as to what happened. But Kara's overconfidence was her undoing, and the weapon slammed back down just as she made to lift it fully. Her own ability to fly was the only thing that stopped her from barreling forward. She spent a few moments hovering awkwardly over the table, looked back and forth to everyone in the room, then felt the embarrassment rising. That was until Thor's booming laugh broke the tension in the room. Her uncle shook his head.

"Almost, niece, almost. We may perhaps have a future Valkyrie, brother!" Thor grinned brashly to hide the panic that he had felt in his chest from everyone apart from his brother, who just glanced at him but said nothing.

Kara quickly readjusted herself and landed on her feet. She steadily approached Gram. Her father's sword was more tantalising to her than her uncle's hammer, just like her brother her hand hovered over the hilt of the sword. She stared at the blade for a moment before taking the plunge and gripping the hilt. She felt warmth run over her hand and then up her arm to finally pool in her chest. A fire had ignited inside her. The feeling caused her vision to narrow until it was only the blade and her in the room, everyone and everything else faded away.

She held the scabbard before her, she tentatively pulled the blade out an inch from the golden rune-emblazoned sheath, then another, then another. The moment the blade was free she felt the rush flowing through her, it was like a floodgate was open and the entire cosmos was pouring through her. She felt power unlike anything she had ever experienced before in her life, and there was a sound as well, like a song only she could hear. The smile on her face widened as she looked up her eyes searching for Kal for confirmation that this is what he felt, that this is what it meant to be a god of Asgard.

Her eyes then saw her brother's face falling as he looked not at her but at the blade that was resonating in her hands. Oh no…

"Owwwww-wowie! That's hot." Kara said. Gram clattered to the table again, somehow sheathing itself in the blink of an eye.

Kara shook her hand with a wince Kon-El smiled in relief as he greeted his sister. At least he wasn't alone in his defeat, and Kara earned a pat on her arm from Thor as she passed him. Her eyes only glanced quickly at Kal not wanting to see disappointment from him, however, if her gaze had lingered she would have seen no such thing.

"Well now that the Super Twins are out of the way. Steve, you're up! Time to represent team mortal!" Tony's smirk and friendly challenge, quickly dissipated the slight tension the twin's attempt had caused.

Steve smiled and stood up, moving over to Gram, picking up the sword and gripping it in his left hand while his right gripped the hilt. Kal's casual smile turned to one of impressed admiration as Steve's hand fully gripped the handle without difficulty, the blade humming in his hand. He pulled at the hilt with all of his might, the muscles tensing in his arm, Kal almost missed it but the blade slid. It was just for a moment, and so small he was sure no one else saw it. Steve on his part didn't give it a second attempt, he merely placed the solar blade back onto the table and puffed on the palm of his hand.

"Golly, Kal, that thing stings, how do you do that?" Steve joked as he moved over to Mjolnir, rolled up his sleeves, put one foot on the table, and planted both hands around the hammer's short hilt.

He pulled, and the weapon of a son of Odin moved a second time. Just like the last, it was for a moment, but Mjolnir undoubtedly shifted. Now Kal was really trying not to laugh at the look of panic on his brother's face. His niece and nephew's attempts had unsettled him, but a Midgardian doing the same was unthinkable. However, the American soon let go of the hammer and raised his hands in defeat, earning a deep sigh from Thor.

The room fell into more light-hearted teasing and laughter as Steve shrugged and returned to his seat in mock-sadness, and the Odinsons congratulated him with a slap on the back. Bruce then turned to the only mortal yet to test their might, and gestured for Nat to have a turn.

"Oh no, no. That's not a question I need answering." Nat responded, her smile light as she sipped her drink, her eyes however made Kal go a little pensive as her earlier question made more sense. "What about you two, eh? Care to see if the Odin boys can play with each other's toys?"

"Ha! A-hah, I'm afraid not. We don't try to use each other's weapons," Kal replied, smiling as he drank from the large glass in his hand.

"How come, not fond of sharing?" Barton teased the two brothers. "Or is there some ancient blood rite thing we mere mortals wouldn't understand?"

"No, not a law or pact. Any may attempt to wield an enchanted weapon to see their worth. It is just that, on Asgard, wielding a focus of another's divinity when one already has one is seen as a bit of a…" Thor trailed off as he tried to find the right word in the mortal tongue for it.

"Taboo? It's difficult to explain." Kal finished draining the last of his drink from its tankard.

"Well, all deference to the Perfect Prince and the Man Who Wouldn't Be King buuuuuuut it's rigged," Tony stated as he stood up to grab more beers from the upper lounge.

"You bet your ass," Barton declared proudly while taking another bottle when Tony came back.

"Exactly, the handles are imprinted, right? Like a security code." Tony joked between sips as he gestured to the weapons laying on the table. "Whosoever is carrying an Odinson's DNA is, I believe, the literal translation."

"Yes, a very, very interesting theory." Thor declared as he stood up to finish his own drink in a single gulp before slamming it on the table and then with deliberate flair lifting his hammer. "I have a simpler one…..you're all not worthy."

"Or true of heart." Kal joined in with his brother's joke as he stood up summoning Gram to his hand and twirling it with a dramatic flourish.

"Oh, boo!" Maria called out pointing her thumbs down as the other Avengers joined in with their own groans and boos.

The jeering suddenly cut out when an electronic screech blared through the room, cutting through their revelries. Even Kal winced as everyone scanned the room before a voice caused everyone to look at the elevator, as an Iron Legion Drone appeared. It was heavily damaged. Oil dripped from its servomotors, wires sparked in its chest, and its head flickered in a 3-dimensional fuzz of kryptonian liquid metal.

"Worthy? True?" The drone limped along, its voice almost mocking "No…..How can any of you be anything but undeserving?"

"You're all killers," The drone gestured to all the Avengers, who were now standing, alert but unsure.

"Mongrels" The drone pointed at Kon and Kara, causing Kal to move in front of them instinctively.

"And traitors….." An angry set of eyes formed on the drone's head for a moment as it glared at Kal, whose face became one of confusion. "None of you deserve it, what I will bring….what I will restore."

"And what are you going to restore?" Kal asked, his eyes glancing at Stark and Steve

"Why? Peace of course," The drone scoffed as if the answer was obvious.

"Jarvis, we have a rogue drone," Stark whispered into his smartwatch, only to hear silence.

"I'm sorry I was asleep, or I was a d-dream? There was this terrible noise, and then there were these two…..people?" The drone stumbled to the side, like it was confused and trying to piece everything back together. "One showed me it, showed me what peace is….. oh, then I had to kill the other guy….. now he was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked in alarm.

"Wouldn't have been my first call. BUT, down here on this speck of rock, in the real world, we are forced to make ugly choices"

"Who sent you?" Thor demanded his grip on Mjolnir tightening as he stared at the drone.

"I see a suit of armour around the world. Peace in our time, peace in our time, peace in our time…."

The recording caused Bruce and Tony to look at each other but before either could speak another voice played, one that Kal recognised.

"Krypton became the shining jewel in the vast dark cosmos of space."

"Father?" Kal's face became one of confusion, the words were the ones spoken when he had first asked about Krypton.

"Ultron?" Bruce asked Tony, looking at the drone with both awe and dread.

"In the flesh, or not. No, not yet, not this chrysalis. But soon, soon I will be" The Ultron drone swayed where it was as it nodded to its own statement "Yes, I'm ready to begin, I'm on a mission."

"Ultron?" Kal's whispered voice caused Thor to look at his brother, who had gone white as he stared at the drone like it was the herald of Ragnarok. "It can't be."

"What mission?" Romanoff asked, unclipping the heavy calibre handgun she had strapped to her thigh.

"Come on, weren't you listening?" Ultron let out what almost sounded like a sigh, as he shook his head before looking directly at Kal. "...Peace in our time."

The words acted like a trigger, as the world suddenly exploded into chaos Iron Legionnaires burst through the floor and crashed out from the wall behind the broken drone. Kal's eyes however stayed fixed on Ultron Prime, just as its metallic eyes stayed fixed on him.

"Peace… in…our… time."