In a rundown shawarma shop on the outskirts of Manhattan, ten tired heroes sat around a table as they silently ate their meal.  The atmosphere was rather awkward as the giant green man scarfed down food left and right, all while glaring at the five Asgardians across the room.

*Sigh* 

“You didn’t have to beat him up so badly, big guy,” Steve Rogers tried to maintain the rather fragile alliance of the group, as he sought to calm the tempers in the room.

*Snort*

Hulk didn’t see anything wrong with his actions, he only made sure the little god wouldn’t get up again. He wasn’t even dead, so he didn’t see why the God man was angry at him, not that he minded either way.

“You crippled my brother you beast!” Thor yelled for nearly the fifth time in the last hour as the Warriors Three and Sif fought to keep him in his chair. “His bones were crushed into powder and you ripped his leg off! He may never walk again!”

Hulk ignored the angry wild Pikachu as he continued to stuff his face. Occasionally, he paused to glance at Tony Stark and, after getting a small nod, went back to eating happily. The two storeowners in the back were nearly crying tears of joy at each one as they frantically rushed to keep the big guy’s plate full.

“You won’t find me losing a night of sleep over the bastard,” Clint said cheerfully, not caring in the least about the thunderous glare now sent his way. 

“Clint…” Steve sighed once more, before eventually just giving up. If anyone had the right to be angry, it was his friend. He himself was more than a little peeved at how Thor was overlooking all the harm his brother had caused.

Thor was fuming and about to retort at the perceived disrespect towards his brother, when Sif shoved a piece of shawarma in his mouth to shut him up. Neither her, or the other Warriors were particularly fond of Loki in the first place and now that he’d caused so much trouble, sullying the name of all noble Asgardians, they were forced to leave their new favorite games out of shame. 

As if to further rub in their suffering, at that moment, Tony stood up and wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking, “Well, this has been fun. Let’s do it again sometime, yeah? I’ve got a tournament to prepare for so that I can get my hands on some blueprints.”

Looking around at the now crestfallen aliens, Tony smiled playfully as he headed towards the door, throwing one last quip over his shoulder, “Shame you all can’t join in back on Narnia, but I’ll be sure to record the whole thing for you. Oh, and eat all you want, the tab’s all on SHIELD’s dime”

*Di-Ding*

The door chimed as it closed behind him, contrasting sharply with the now silent shop. He may have also been a little pissed regarding the events of the day and the Asgardians weren’t making it any better.

Once he was away from prying eyes, the figure known as Iron Man sighed as he looked around at the war-torn streets of the city. It had been a very long day and now, he was just tired.

His new tower had been commandeered for an alien invasion and the actions of the WSC had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for ASTIR’s warning about the need to evacuate New York, they might not have responded in time. With Thor being on Earth prior to Loki’s arrival, they didn’t even know what the mad prince’s plans were. 

He would need to look further into the VR company again later but, right now, he just wanted to sink into bed, wrap his arms around his sexy redhead, and forget about it all…

•••••••••••

Four hundred miles away from the epicenter of Earth’s violent ‘first contact’ with extraterrestrial beings, Yao, the Sorcerer Supreme and Guardian of Earth, was not too pleased at the moment. One of her earliest and most well thought out plans for the future had recently taken a huge detour.

As she floated above the small cabin in the Canadian countryside, she frowned from within her small pocket of the Mirror Dimension. Down below, Stephen Strange enjoyed a pleasant evening on the couch with his, evidently, very smug girlfriend, Dr. Christine Palmer. 

“This isn’t right… this wasn’t supposed to happen,” she muttered as she once again tried, and failed, to see into the past with the Eye of Agamotto. Eventually, she sighed accepting that her longtime crutch was now little more than a fancy paperweight. 

Ever since she had been uninterrupted by Dr. Banner during her defense of the New York Sanctum, she knew that something was off. After confirming that the actions carried out by the Avengers during the invasion, and that the city was in relatively the same state after its conclusion, she immediately went to check on her future student and confirm his safety. 

Only, to her shock, she found him not in one of the many overflowing hospitals surrounding New York City, but sipping wine while cuddling with the woman he was supposed to be at odds with.

“How could it have turned out like this?” she said to herself in frustration. She once thought that not knowing the future would finally bring some excitement to her life and, while she was right about that, this wasn’t the kind of thrill she was looking for. 

As if somehow hearing her question, Stephen whispered over his girlfriend’s shoulder and into her ear, “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you for dragging me away with you this morning. I know I can be somewhat of an ass- “

*Snort*

“But…” he pressed on, hugging her tighter and ignoring her giggles. “I truly believe that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Hmph! And don’t you forget it,” Christine said with faux arrogance, leaning further back into his embrace. Eventually, she sighed before explaining herself a little, “Honestly, I wasn’t so sure of it myself until I saw all the new stations denying the warning so fervently. It reminded me of that day in Harlem, you know? Back then, everyone was also saying that everything was fine and that there was nothing to worry about, it was just too similar for me to ignore.

And what was the worst that could happen? We lose one of our days off? Something that you never take anyways and that we desperately needed.”

“Hmm, your right. This is nice, I can see why people seem to enjoy them so much,” the man murmured, earning another small giggle from his partner.

The two lapsed into silence as, unbeknownst to them, their hidden observer returned to her room in Kamar Taj. Sadly for the timeless woman, the answers she’d gathered hadn’t put her thoughts at ease in the least. 

“ASTIR… it has become more of a factor than previously thought. It’s happening at a far faster rate as well,” Yao said with a wary expression. Something that could defy the workings of one of the Infinity Stones was worthy of such caution after all. “And its next ‘game’ is supposedly one that touches on magic as well. Maybe I should give this one a go? There has to be a reason behind all this… maybe I could finally get some answers from within?”