----------------------------------------

Amaterasu allowed herself to be carried, her back paws brushing over the ground as Thor lumbered forward, her body swinging side to side with the movement. He was holding her under the legs like one would a puppy; Ammy realized the Hulk had held her the same way.

She wagged her tail, delighted that beings who could beat people to death with their own arms found her approachable. They were so friendly and affectionate!

Despite Amaterasu's joy at seeing Thor again, her excitement was dampened by several factors. She didn't get to say goodbye to Steve or Phil; there were still areas of Killian's estate she wanted to upend and replace with plants; worst of all, the thing that caused Amaterasu the most concern…

The portal Thor dragged her through felt identical to the ones created by the Spicy Blue Cube, which only meant misfortune and discomfort—and possible alien invasions, those were pretty terrible as well. She was sure she could handle another one should it happen.

But what were the odds of aliens invading Earth again? Probably wouldn't happen.

Thor stepped through the portal, and it spat the two—three if the little rat in her neck floof counted—into a chamber of sorts. It was kind of neat in an architectural way with triangular pillars, but the colours were boring dull greys.

What wasn't boring were the glowing pedestals around the room, covered in various objects that seemed relatively important. Some radiated power, and Ammy really wanted to go investigate them.

Or lick them.

Thor plopped Ammy on the ground and stepped to the side. The swirling blue portal closed behind them, fading from existence, leaving the two in the rather large room, alone. As if to be sure of that fact, Thor glanced around, trying to see if anyone had followed them.

"I suppose there might be a better time to say this, but, Lady Amaterasu… Welcome to Asgard!" Thor beamed at her, full smile on display as he spread his arms, gesturing to the area. "Well… Welcome to Father's Vault. I needed the Tesseract to retrieve you because the Bifrost is destroyed." Thor dropped his arms and smiled sheepishly. "I asked you here-" Ammy shot him a questioning gaze. "-I took you here because I would like your assistance."

"Aroo?" Amaterasu asked, and tilted her head, ears flopping to the side.

"I fear I spoke too soon. The assistance is not needed immediately, that's for tomorrow." Thor turned and gestured for Ammy to follow. "No, it's important that we leave this area quickly. Father will not be pleased if he learns of your presence. He should be distracted with plans to repair the Bifrost."

Amaterasu blinked, and stood up, completely confused about why she was here. She'd have liked an explanation of this help she was to give at the very least.

Oh well. There're new places to explore, and new people to meet/help/harass! That's more than enough of a reason to be here. Besides, she was going to hang out with Thor some more, which was always fun. The only other person from the group she's not spent much time with is Bruce Banner.

She planned on correcting that little mistake soon enough.

Thor paused at the doorway and turned, looking down at Amaterasu with a hum.

"Alright, here's the plan. There are two guards outside the doors. I'm going to distract them, and then you can sneak out. Or you can do that disappearing thing you did in front of me. Or… Whatever it is you can do," Thor explained and gestured vaguely to Amaterasu. "I do not think repairing structures will be useful… Unless you think we should break out of the vault and then seal the hole?"

Amaterasu shook her head, and gave a short little "ruff", asking for Thor to wait. Thor grimaced but nodded. He glanced over his shoulder at the sealed door, as if he expected someone to burst through wielding a war hammer, or some kind of battle-axe.

The power within her welled up, and with a single thought, Amaterasu vanished into thin air. There was no sound to accompany the move or any gradual shift that might betray her location. Amaterasu was gone.

"…Lady Amaterasu? Are you still there?" Thor asked.

"Wurf!" She replied. Amaterasu hadn't moved from her spot at all, and she was still very much there. Ammy reappeared briefly and stuck out her tongue, then vanished once more.

"Well, this makes things much easier!" Thor clapped his hands and grinned. "Alright, here's the new plan: you follow me, and I'll lead you outside the Royal Palace. After that, we should be fine." Thor turned and placed a hand on the door, pushing it open.

Amaterasu watched the door swing open, with Thor still turned away from it. Standing in front of the door was a rather tall, imposing looking man, with dark skin and brilliant gold armour. Oh yes, and his massive sword was drawn as well.

That might pose a problem.

"We should be free to go, as long as Heimdalllll…" Thor finally turned around, coming face-to-face with the very man he spoke of. "Oh! Heimdall! What, uh, what… are you doing here? I thought you were in Himinbjorg watching over Asgard."

"I am watching over Asgard," Heimdall said. "With the Bifrost destroyed, there are three ways into Asgard. Magic, space flight, and the Tesseract. The strength required to breach Asgard's defences with magic would make it detectable immediately. I would spot any ships coming toward Asgard long before they arrived, which leaves…"

"The Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"The Tesseract."

"Well, it's a good thing that's locked up in Father's Vault then, isn't it? Can't let someone get their hands on it. They might use it for something nefarious." Thor clapped his hand on Heimdall's shoulder and flashed him a grin. "You do your job well; it's no surprise Father has kept you around all these years."

Heimdall gave Thor a deadpan stare and quirked an eyebrow upward. Thor's smile fell, and he brushed off Heimdall's shoulder pauldron with his hand.

"Oh! Oh, is this the Vault? That's my mistake, I was looking for- you're not buying it, are you?" Thor asked.

Amaterasu blinked, and stepped forward, sneaking her way toward the door. She hoped to sneak her way past Thor and Heimdall, and maybe slip away from the consequences of appearing in a secure vault.

"I am not." Heimdall stepped forward, and his eyes flicked down. With a move that seemed far too fast, his blade swung around and pointed directly at Amaterasu, the point just brushing against her nose. "I see you, wolf."

Amaterasu yelped in surprise and jumped backward, the illusion crumbling to nothing around her. Her fur stood on end, shocked from being seen. It should have been impossible!

Unfortunately, as always, Amaterasu's aim when jumping without looking was rather poor. Sure, her front paws landed perfectly on the polished floor. Her back paws though…

They landed on the stairs, already lower than her front, and slipped out from beneath her. Her back legs slid further down the stairs and she stretched out, trying to keep herself from falling. Her front paws began sliding backward on the polished surface, being dragged backward against her will.

The evil force of gravity was at it again.

Alas, her one weakness, like all dogs, wolves, and other creatures with anything other than tentacles or conveniently grippy bipedal feet…

Smooth surfaces.

Ammy glanced at Thor, gave a low huff goodbye, and began sliding down the stairs on her belly. She slid backward and watched Thor and Heimdall both slowly grow further away with each step she descended.

Amaterasu gave a low "awoo" that trailed off as she slid down the stairs, all the way to the very bottom of the steps. She landed on the floor and spun around in a slow circle, coming to a rest near the middle of the room, having slid for several seconds.

"Boof," Amaterasu said up to Thor and blinked owlishly.

"…So, nice to see you, Heimdall. I'll just be on my way with my friend here and go-"

"No," Heimdall interrupted, "you stay put. I believe I recall your father being explicit in his instructions that anyone arriving on Asgard must be approved." He looked down at the wolf lying at the bottom of the stairs. "I don't believe he approved Amaterasu to be here."

Ammy perked her ears up at that. He knew who she was? Interesting…

"If there is one to blame, that is me. I asked Lady Amaterasu to-"

"Awuff!" Ammy protested from her spot on the floor.

"What!? I did not kidnap you!" Thor exclaimed, bewildered. "I merely explained I needed assistance and carried you through the portal. There was no kidnapping done."

"It sounds like you just grabbed her and left," Heimdall added.

"Wurf!" Ammy chimed.

"You only arrived after the battle as well? For shame. That is not very warrior-like." The little upward quirk of his lips let Amaterasu know Heimdall was in on this.

They were going to get along well; she was sure of it.

"There was a battle!? If I had known I would have gladly fought by your side!" Thor protested. His hand drifted down to Mjolnir, his hammer, as if itching for a fight to join. "I had no idea. You must still be yearning for battle, so soon after the last."

Amaterasu shook her head in protest. No. She was quite done with battling for today. After projectile vomiting fire she was quite happy to deal with something more normal, like being abducted and dragged to a new world. Much more familiar.

"Why did you believe it would be a good idea to try and sneak someone into Asgard?" Heimdall asked.

"I did ask Father if I could bring a friend from Midgard who may be able to fix the Bifrost," Thor said. "He did not approve, and said our people should remain separate."

"Tell me exactly what was said." Heimdall turned away from Amaterasu and focused on Thor. "As well as you can remember."

Amaterasu took this brief moment to get to all fours. She shook herself off, fixing the fur that was ruffled the wrong way from her slide down.

"I went to Father recently, and we talked of the state of the Nine Realms. It seems that war is breaking out with the loss of the Bifrost and Asgard's protection," Thor said. "I told him I knew of a friend on Earth who might be able to help repair the Bifrost."

Ammy kept her ears perked to listen, but her attention quickly fell to something else. Her gaze turned toward the room, or more importantly, those fancy objects within the room. Pedestals lined the area, various objects upon them. The things that really drew her attention were the blue box that wasn't the Tesseract, the fire at the end of the hall that radiated power, and the Tesseract itself—that spicy blue cube.

With her eyes set on Tesseract, Amaterasu began stalking her way toward it. She'd been looking forward to this moment for a while.

"And what did the King say?" Heimdall asked.

"He told me that our people should not interact more than necessary. Father was against the very idea of bringing a Human to Asgard," Thor explained.

Amaterasu slunk her way closer, paws silent on the floor as her prey stood unaware, open to attack. Finally, she would have her revenge. The Spicy Blue Cube had humiliated her and thrown her around like she was nothing to it—like she wasn't even a threat.

She'd show it who the real danger was.

"The King stated that you could not bring a human?" Heimdall asked, relaxing his stance.

"Yes… I believe I just said that," Thor replied.

"Well. I have done my duty to Asgard and followed the King's instructions," Heimdall said. He sheathed his sword and nodded at Thor. "I see no Humans here, and there have been no threats to Asgard invited within its walls."

"Ah, so you did catch on to my reasoning. I believe Father will not be too upset when he finds out. After all, I have personally seen her abilities in action, and she fought in Earth's defence."

"The King may not be upset with you bringing her. But you did bring someone into his Vault without permission. Speaking of which, you may want to deal with your friend." Heimdall nodded toward Amaterasu, while Thor paled in realization of his little error.

Amaterasu crouched down, and then jumped up, planting her forepaws on the pedestal. Directly in front of her was the Tesseract, sitting there, humming menacingly. Like the villain it was. True evil incarnate.

She had to show it who was boss.

"Amaterasu! Wait, do not-"

She lunged!

Her paws wrapped around the back of the Tesseract and her jaws descended upon the Spicy Blue Cube, teeth scraping against the energy barrier. Amaterasu turned her head when she heard footsteps and watched Thor racing toward her.

Her gnawing and chewing sped up.

She dragged her tongue across the surface and left a trail of slobber and drool on the cube of pure energy. The tingling and static sensation rolled over her tongue but she continued like the warrior she was; gnawing, biting, licking, and chewing on the object of otherworldly power.

Clearly, the cube was intimidated by her assault, for it did not react.

But unfortunately, her revenge was over far too quickly.

Thor grasped the Tesseract with one hand, and with the other, he pressed on Amaterasu's chest. She fought against it, of course, but the might of an Asgardian, especially the God of Thunder, is nearly impossible to resist for long.

With a playful growl slipping into a disappointed whine, Amaterasu was sent sprawling backward, landing on the floor in a pile of limbs and floof. Thor was left holding the cube that was just dripping with wolf slobber and had little teeth marks covering the outside.

With a grimace, he swung the cube toward the ground a few times to let the drool wick off the surface of the cube. A quick inspection revealed the teeth marks on the cube were not fading, despite the barrier being made entirely of energy.

Thor set the cube back on the pedestal and turned away, looking at the sprawled out and flopped Amaterasu with a raised eyebrow.

"Lady Amaterasu… Odin's Beard, what were you thinking? Why did you chew on the Tesseract?" Thor crossed his arms and looked down at Ammy.

"Arf!" Amaterasu replied with a wag.

"…Fair enough," Thor admitted. "Well then! That's that, let's get going." He clapped his hands together, and turned away, taking strides back toward the entrance of the vault. "On the bright side, you no longer have to disguise yourself. That makes things much easier."

Amaterasu rolled to her belly and stood up, shaking herself off from the brief lounge on the floor. With a happy little "wurf!" she followed after Thor.

"We will have to meet with Father eventually, but I believe that should wait until after the Bifrost is repaired," Thor continued.

Well… She tried to follow after Thor, but every step taken had absolutely no effect. Amaterasu wasn't moving forward. She looked down to figure out why and blinked in surprise.

Her paws weren't on the ground. She was floating!

Amaterasu flailed and wriggled around in an attempt to put her paws back on the floor, but it wasn't any use. The faint blue glow around her form pointed to only a single culprit.

The Spicy Cube wanted revenge!

Amaterasu gave a small "wurf" as she started to rotate end over end, flipping over herself in slow circles. She gradually grew higher and higher, the ground falling away.

"Lady Amaterasu, what are you-" Thor turned around, looking at the ground, only to find a significant lack of wolf. He looked around, trying to spot her. Finally, his eyes shifted upward, and he locked eyes with Ammy.

"Wuff!" Ammy called from above and raised a paw in greeting. Or farewell. She wasn't too sure what was going to happen. Luckily for her, falling didn't really pose a significant danger to her health. Luck of the draw for godly powers.

"What- where are you going?" Thor asked.

Ammy gave the wolf equivalent of a shrug and flailed her legs a little, only causing her rotation to start spinning along all axes now, not just end over end. She was going to get dizzy.

Ammy looked up and watched the roof grow closer and closer. She closed her eyes, waiting for impact…

But nothing happened.

She cracked her eyes open and looked around.

Amaterasu found herself on the opposite end of the room now, above the fire, and slowly floating sideways. The wall was quickly approaching, and she watched as it grew closer, and closer…

A blue portal burst into existence, and the universe jolted around her, spitting her out into a new location.

Right behind Thor.

Ammy gave a warning "awoo" as her speed seemed to be increasing steadily. Thor whirled around, only to get hit in the face by a speeding ball of godly fluff.

Amaterasu watched Thor fall to the ground, clutching his nose in surprise, while the impact sent her spinning to the side, her rotation speeding up further.

The Spicy Cube was out for revenge and wasn't letting her go. Another portal burst into existence.

Ammy vanished.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Nick Fury was not having the best day. He'd sent Stark, Rogers, Coulson, and a team of agents to go retrieve a magic time-travelling dog, and shut down a basement lab super soldier operation.

"What do you mean you lost Fido?" Fury asked. Well, 'asked' was putting it lightly. It was more of a barely restrained growl. "Rogers, Coulson, explain."

"Do you want the quick version or the full version?" Steve asked.

"Quick version," Fury replied.

"We don't know where she is," Steve said. "Slightly longer version: Ammy puked fire, then Thor stepped out of thin air and carried her away."

…

"It seems that Thor came through the same kind of portal the Tesseract made," Coulson added.

Fury sighed.

"Just… Alright. Give me a longer version. Anything important. The rest can be handled in the debriefing." Fury pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed the corner of his eyes. The things he put up with to try and keep the world safe…

"Alright, well, to start, there's a new super soldier serum to worry about. Super strength, endurance, incredible regeneration, and the ability to heat up enough to melt steel. The users may explode," Steve explained. "Killian-"

"Aldrich Killian," Coulson supplied. "Their leader and the company owner."

"Thank you. Killian gave himself some enhanced version of it. He was… I don't think Stark and I could have beat him. Not with what we had, at least. I couldn't touch the guy, and he didn't stop fighting even after Stark cut him in half with some kind of laser."

"Fantastic... How did you stop him?" Fury asked.

"It seems like they got Ammy with some Extremis to make her explode. It… sort of worked? But then she puked fire, which somehow snaked around and hit Killian so hard it buried him in the ground and melted the rock around him," Steve explained. "Then she froze him."

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Rogers, can you repeat that?" Fury asked. "Because I'm pretty sure you just said the dog can breathe fire now. Or control fire."

"That's what it looked like. I'm sure you can get the footage from Stark if you ask."

Fury muttered several choice words under his breath, many times over, and mumbled something about magic, physics, and a broken dog-goddess-thing. Could he go back to alien invasions? Those were much simpler to deal with.

"Fine. Coulson, add it to the file." Fury paced around the room for a moment longer. "So, what was this about Thor? He used the Tesseract to kidnap Fido?"

"It looked like it. The residual energy the scanners picked up was nearly identical to that of the Tesseract," Coulson said. "That, and it was, well, blue and swirly and everything. Fits the whole colour profile."

"Do you know where Thor took her? Is her tracking collar still working?" Fury asked.

"No idea, Sir," Coulson replied. "She left the collar with the captured scientists."

"Thor said he had an urgent problem to deal with," Steve added.

A flash of blue interrupted Fury's thoughts, and he turned his head to the side. His eye narrowed, and his leather gloves creaked with the clench of his hands.

"We're running a triangulation pattern right now to see if we can pinpoint where Frosty was taken. If it's not too far, we should know in-"

"Don't bother," Fury interrupted Coulson.

"Sir?"

"I found her."

That flash of blue had been Amaterasu herself popping into existence. Fury's eye tracked her as the wolf lazily floated across the room, spinning in slow circles in front of him.

"Aroo?" Amaterasu perked up and gave her best attempt at a smile to Fury.

While upside down.

"Could you repeat that?" Steve asked. "You-"

"Found her," Fury said. "In Washington. In this conference room."

Amaterasu was still floating across the room, her paws grazing over the conference table, knocking over empty Styrofoam cups and mugs full of pens. Clearly, she didn't care. If anything, it looked to Fury like the wolf was reaching for more things to knock over.

Amaterasu's tail brushed along the projector in the middle of the room and left a dark smear of black ink across the surface. Fury watched the ink ooze into the internals of the machine, which immediately began sparking and smoking.

"What? Why is she there?" Steve asked.

Amaterasu heard Steve's voice this time, and her ears perked up. She kicked her legs and flailed around, rotating herself upright. Her paws swiped at the desk and carved gouges into it, but she made no progress stopping herself.

"Awoof!" Amaterasu barked, her tail wagging faster.

"Fido, you'd better sit down and stay put. Stop flying," Fury ordered.

"Flying?" Both Steve and Coulson asked at once.

Amaterasu huffed and let out a whine, and her attempts at grabbing the table to slow herself grew more desperate. She wriggled, and planted her paws firmly on the table this time, claws digging into the surface.

She slowly slid backward, claws carving grooves into the table. Fury watched the wolf look down at the gouges she was still making, and then she looked at Fury. Then the table again. Then Fury.

Amaterasu tilted her head and gave her best "I didn't do anything, I'm innocent" smile.

Fury didn't buy it.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to tell her such. There was no warning or time for either Fury or Amaterasu to prepare.

One moment she was there.

Then a wave of blue washed over her.

Amaterasu was gone.

…

"-sir? Can you hear me?" Coulson's voice came through his earpiece.

"I can hear you," Fury ground out.

"What happened?"

"That dog is taunting me. I don't know how, or why, but she is." Fury stared at the spot where Amaterasu had vanished, and followed the claw marks along the table, back to where she had first appeared.

She didn't come back.

"Fury, I seriously doubt that Ammy is-"

"Rogers," Nick Fury interrupted. "If I find that dog again before you do, I'm sending you to help with tech support. Find Fido."

"Yes, Sir." Steve's voice sounded a little more panicked.

Fury closed the communication line, took a breath, closed his eye, and tried to take a moment to relax. He could feel a headache coming on.

"…I swear if I see that dog in my dreams, I am taking a vacation." Fury left the room and started his march down the halls. "I don't care if the world burns then. I'll be on a beach. It can burn all it wants."

Multiple SHIELD agents overheard him and watched on in concern.

Maybe he had finally lost it after all.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Loki huffed and paced in his cell, eyeing the energy barrier that kept him imprisoned. He'd already searched the thing countless times for a weakness. There were none.

It was just like his Father to make sure that everything was perfect when it came to keeping his enemies locked away. Traitors to the kingdom and threats to the Nine-Realms deserved life in prison, but all the world-ending artifacts merely needed four guards. They hadn't even rebuilt the Destroyer yet.

They were all fools, and Asgard was vulnerable. Did they not see that?

He longed to make them all strong. He wanted to put Asgard on top again, and to secure its place in the universe. Odin was ignorant of all that was out there, but Loki knew the truth.

The Other had shown him. The dangerous beings that lurked in the cosmos, and the terrible might they wielded. It had shown him the destruction its own Master, Thanos, had wrought throughout the universe.

Worlds scorched. Populations razed to half. An unending campaign of destruction and violence across the universe for the sake of "peace", "generosity", and "mercy".

Lies. There was no mercy in such acts.

Loki knew the truth behind the invasion. They could have taken the Tesseract once he had his hands on it, but they wanted the Earth as an encampment. As a staging ground for their assault.

No, Loki saw through their plans.

Thanos had wanted the Earth under his command so that when the Convergence occurred, he would have direct access to pillage the Nine-Realms, and to spread his army across the universe.

He wanted the treasures of Odin's Vault, and ever the strategist, determined they could take it all in a single strike.

Loki had planned to take the Earth from under their noses and defend Asgard.

He hadn't exactly planned it from the start, of course. That idea came to mind after his run-in with that damned wolf.

Amaterasu.

She thought he could change his ways? Change his nature? That he could go back and make amends for the mistakes and betrayals he had committed?

No, there was no going back. But he had planned to alter the path going forward. It had been simple. Conquer the Earth, and then use the Tesseract to control the armies, and create weaponry that could rival the mightiest weapons of Asgard. All to defend his homeland.

It might have been a rather reckless plan, now that he thought about it. What was that mortal saying? Visions of the past have twenty eyes? No, that sounded wrong. A little too Eldritch.

Despite his failure, Loki had held back in the final moments of the battle. He could have slaughtered many innocent Humans, but he didn't.

…Not exactly a fantastic moral accomplishment, but still! He made an effort, and he had instructed the Chitauri to go after those Avengers relentlessly.

…And maybe also injure some humans to draw out the protectors of the Earth, in the event they were strategizing. He wasn't exactly proud of that part, but it worked! And from what Odin had told him, the Human deaths from his time on Earth remained under one hundred.

That was a reasonable number! They made more children than that in a day; he was sure they'd be fine with those few losses. They acted like prey animals, and bred like prey animals, so they would repopulate like them as well.

Loki huffed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Damned wolf, throwing doubt into his mind. Encouraging him to be better, and to alter his plans. He should have committed and allowed the ends to justify the means once he was the ruler of Earth. That, and those humiliations. Throwing him around in that prison for the Hulk, and forcing him to retreat after he stabbed her through the heart.

If he ever saw her again, he'd-

"Arf!"

Loki slowly lifted his gaze from the floor, tracking the source of the sound. He gradually turned himself around, unsure if he wanted the noise to be real or not. Green eyes locked on the very creature he was thinking about moments earlier.

"Amaterasu," Loki hissed. The wolf's ears perked up and she tried to turn herself around to face him, only to be stuck flailing and floating backward.

As if by reflex, Loki summoned a knife into his palm and hurled it straight at the creature. The blade whistled through the air, his aim true, aiming for the back of the white wolf.

Clang!

The blade missed! No, he didn't miss.

Amaterasu moved. Her body had shifted its position in space and teleported to the side. She was even facing away from him; how could she have seen it? Despite her blindness, she had moved, and the blade struck the wall.

"Awuff," Amaterasu taunted. She finally turned enough to be able to look at Loki.

The Asgardian hurled two more knives at the so-called "Goddess of the Sun", the blades aiming for her eyes.

Loki didn't even see what happened. One moment the blades were careening toward her face, and the next, they shattered. The force that shattered them struck him as well and sent him stumbling backward several steps.

"Gah!" Loki growled. "I don't know why you're here, or why you taunt me so, but I will-"

Loki took a step forward, oblivious to the ice slick that appeared on the ground beneath his feet. He windmilled his arms in an attempt to stay up, only to slide and scramble on the ice. His feet slipped and he felt as if he was falling for twenty seconds before he finally hit the floor. He cranked his head against the edge of a table they'd decorated his room with, causing the table to upend itself onto him.

The contents of the table—various plates and a vase of flowers—spilled onto him, covering him in water, broken glass, and flowers.

He remained on the ground for a long moment, and blinked, looking straight up at the ceiling.

Amaterasu slowly drifted into his line of sight, the wolf upside-down, her paws tucked against her chest as she floated above him.

"…What is happening?" Loki asked himself, bewildered. He sat up and lunged for the wolf above him, fingers grabbing for her throat and-

His hand passed right through her. Loki blinked, and waved his hand through the wolf, watching her form ripple and wave around his arm. Loki growled, pulled another dagger from the ether, and began stabbing at the false Amaterasu, if for nothing other than the satisfaction of watching the blade plunge into her.

But also to lure Amaterasu into thinking he was fooled by her low quality illusions. His were far more convincing.

A bark from behind him jolted him from his pretend stabbing of the wolf through the head. Loki turned, ready to intercept a wolf lunging for him.

He'd been expecting a single wolf.

Not over twenty.

Two dozen Amaterasu's floated about his room or bounced around on the furniture. They wandered across the ceiling as if gravity had suddenly flipped, and stared at him while they ambled through the air. Some barked and wagged, while others just wandered in and out of the energy barrier holding him inside the cell.

Clearly, he'd gone mad.

Then, he realized that, no, he was far too intelligent and mentally stable to lose his mind. That was an impossibility.

Which only meant one thing.

"You… you stole my magic," Loki said. "You stole my magic! You're no Goddess, you're a parasite. A leech! You steal from others and-"

Something hit the back of his knees and threw Loki off balance, sending him crashing to the ground once more. He looked back to find black ink wisping away from his prison clothing. The snarl that tore itself from him was not very dignified, but that didn't matter.

He locked eyes with the real Amaterasu, ignoring the empty and false magical signatures of the illusions around him. Loki pressed his hands on the floor to push himself upright.

Only to have them encased in ice an instant later. He pulled once, twice, then huffed. Loki managed to get his knees beneath himself, and heaved himself backward, straining against the ice that appeared out of nowhere.

Then, he froze. Literally. Another wash of ice swept over Loki, encasing everything beneath his shoulders in ice.

"You- Let me out and face me!" Loki shouted. He grit his teeth and pulled hard, struggling to break his way free of the ice.

Loki thrashed and pulled and strained, his Asgardian and Frost Giant strength put to work against the cold material. He heard a crack, and then another. He was making progress!

Then, he realized that it was just his joints shifting and being pulled from his efforts. Loki growled.

"When I get out of here, I will-"

Loki locked eyes with Amaterasu once more. She stuck out her tongue at him, and without any warning, vanished in a swirl of blue.

The Tesseract, Loki realized.

But it was far too late. The wolf was now long gone again, out of his reach.

It was then that Loki decided to practice some of the more inventive curses he had picked up from his time on Earth. He strung them together like beads and weaved himself a tapestry of filth and horrific syllables that would have made Thor proud.

Despite his curses, he was still stuck.

He was going to have to wait for the ice to melt.

Gods damn it all.

~{O}~{O}~{O}~

Luckily, after tormenting Loki and visiting him in his prison chamber, Amaterasu found herself back in Odin's Vault. The only downside?

She was hurtling straight toward a blue cube with handles. This wasn't the Spicy Blue Cube that was tormenting her. No, this one radiated cold and power and danger.

It also looked like it would be fun to play with. And Ammy really wanted to bite it. It'd be like chewing ice… Probably.

Not that she had a choice; the Tesseract rocketed her toward the stone pillar face-first. Amaterasu hit the pillar hard enough that it drove the breath from her. The pillar, Other Blue Cube, and Amaterasu were sent sprawling across the polished floor.

Thor let out a panicked yell as if expecting something bad to happen. Heimdall stood tense and waited, his eyes roaming around the room.

Why were they panicking? She just knocked over the pillar, it's not like it was the end of the world or anything.

Amaterasu took a moment to reorient herself, her head spinning from the collision and the feeling of gravity suddenly pulling down on her again.

Heavy footsteps drew Amaterasu's attention, and she tilted her head, looking to see both Heimdall and Thor approaching her. Thor was displaying a myriad of expressions, torn between horror, relief, concern, laughter, and that narrow squint a parent would give a misbehaving child.

Heimdall looked bored, and eerily neutral, as if this whole thing had been completely expected.

"Do you often chew on objects of immense power?" Heimdall asked.

"Awoof!" Amaterasu confirmed. They looked interesting and tasted funny.

With a huff, Amaterasu pushed herself to all fours and shook herself off.

Well, that whole adventure had been fun. And she'd seen Grumpy Eyepatch again, and run into the Whiny Trickster once more. Both ended in an overall positive experience.

For her at least.

Still, she'd had her fun. The Tesseract had its revenge upon her, and she managed to return the favour. She sent it a glance, and the cube pulsed with power as if daring her to try again.

She would. Just not when Thor was watching so he couldn't tell the others about it.

The sound of grinding and scraping drew her attention, and Ammy found that Thor was moving the pillar she'd knocked down back into its place. There was a chunk missing from the bottom which kept throwing it off balance, so Ammy used her divine powers to Restore the pillar to its previous condition.

"Have you learned your lesson yet?" Thor asked. He turned away from the pillar and crossed his arms, raising a brow at Amaterasu like a parent would a misbehaving child.

The nerve! She was being professional and getting revenge. There was nothing goofy or fun about it. Definitely not. There was no joy at all in flying about the place or having bested the Spicy Cube in combat.

Yeah, she definitely came out on top this round.

Seeing as the pillar that held the cold blue box was now upright, Amaterasu padded over to the object, intent on helping out.

"No! Amaterasu, don't touch-"

Thor's warning came too late.

Amaterasu wasn't sure what it was with her and magic blue boxes. Maybe it was the colour? Maybe they all had a unique flavour that demanded they be sampled? Or maybe she just had a biological—was it biological if she was a goddess?—urge to touch and play with every single object of immense power she stumbled across?

Whatever it was, it was putting in work.

Amaterasu grabbed one of the handles of the box in her teeth and hefted it up. She was behaving and wasn't chewing on the box because it hadn't wronged her. It didn't teleport her all over the place, it didn't make her fly around. This was a nice box.

She liked this box.

Ammy ignored Thor's mildly horrified and concerned gaze, trotted up to him, and showed off her successful retrieval. She had grabbed some sort of powerful artifact without anything going horribly wrong!

See? She could be trusted with it.

Amaterasu balanced on her hind legs and planted her forepaws on the pedestal. With all the grace of a goddess, she lowered her head, set the blue box onto the pedestal, and then pulled her head back.

…She set the box on the pedestal and pulled away.

Just... Put the box down.

She growled, and shook her head, attempting to dislodge the box.

Amaterasu tried to let go, only to find that it had frozen to her tongue! She rolled her tongue out and crossed her eyes, attempting to look at the magical item affixed to her face.

This one wasn't her fault! Why did these things happen to her?

"Here, Lady Amaterasu, allow me to help," Thor said. Ammy flicked her eyes to him, and then immediately sprang away from his grasping hands.

She knew full well how strong Asgardians were, and she'd rather not have her tongue ripped from her face, thank you very much. She could do it herself.

Freeing herself from the icy box, that is. Not the tongue removal part.

Probably.

Maybe.

If she cut off her tongue, would she be able to Restore it?

Ammy darted backward with the box, and shook her head, retreating from the approaching God of Thunder. Heimdall unsheathed his sword and approached Ammy rather quickly, a focused look in his eyes. She bounded backward, holding the box, and tried to think of what to do.

"Hold still, wolf. I will remove your tongue from your body, and our healers will construct you a new one," Heimdall ordered. He held his sword at the ready, the massive weapon glimmering in the light.

Nope! None of that, thank you!

Ammy retreated further, dragging the box along on the ground, and came to a halt a decent distance from the two.

She might have regained some of her fire abilities, right? Maybe that would help! And considering she could generate ice out of sheer will, maybe she could do so with fire. From her face.

Would that qualify her to be some sort of dragon?

Questions for later.

Amaterasu focused on that feeling from earlier in the day. That feeling of warmth inside her, focused around her very being. The heat that radiated outward from the fire she'd expelled just hours ago. The sensation of being too hot and burning and melting and pushing all that force out.

Ammy held down the box handles with box paws, opened her jaws, and willed her magic to obey her.

It started small and built up in her core. She struggled and forced it upward and out, recalling the feelings of purging Extremis and the fiery hell from her body.

But instead of a torrent of fire…

She burped.

Ammy's ears folded back, and she blinked, hoping the blush on her cheeks wasn't showing through her fur. Then again, she naturally had red on her face. Why did a little more matter?

She grumbled and clamped her jaws around the handle of the box, and darted away from Thor once more, edging her way toward the back of the hall.

"Lady Amaterasu, bring that back immediately!" Thor shouted. "The Casket of Ancient Winters is immensely dangerous, and could spell the death of us all."

So overdramatic. It was just a box!

Amaterasu tried again, paws on the box, and willed fire to come forth.

Fire spilled from her jaws in a slow trickle, basically just fiery drool at this point, oozing onto the polished floor with a sizzle. She focused and tightened her grip on her magic, which seemed surprisingly slippery and difficult to control.

Slowly, Amaterasu managed to solidify her grasp on that burning warmth in her center, and pulled.

Flames spilled from her jaws in a horrific torrent, bathing the ice-box that clung to her, and showered the ground in fire. She tried to pull away but found her tongue stuck fast, so she pumped more magic into the fire.

Immediately, bright white, searing hot flames screamed from her jaws and bathed the magical artifact in equally magical fire. She could feel her tongue coming free from the metal of the ice-box and kept at it.

Her eyes flicked up to see Thor staring at her, horrified. Or was he excited? It was hard to tell through the shimmering air. Heimdall, meanwhile, didn't seem worried at all. Or, maybe his face was stuck like that.

Still, her plan was working, and with a shove of her paws and a tug from her head, she came unstuck from the blue ice-box. Ammy stumbled backward, while the blue box tilted and shifted, rocking back and then coming down with a thud.

The impact caused the box to open.

There was maybe half a second for Amaterasu to prepare herself before she was blasted by an intense wall of cold, heavy ice, and winds. Ammy was launched backward from the assault, some of her fur already frozen solid from that brief contact.

Ammy flew backward and landed at the base of a brazier full of fire. It radiated warmth and magic like nothing she'd felt from a fire before. It felt… warm. Natural. Like laying in a sunbeam, but thousands of times more intense.

Thor let out a horrified, surprised sound, and tried to rush for the box, only to get buffeted by a gust of ice and sent staggering backward. He reached for his hammer after, electricity thrumming through him.

Heimdall's neutral look vanished, and he quickly charged forward, ready to intercept the box with his bare hands and seal it.

He slipped on some ice and slid past the box, stumbling as he tried to regain traction.

Amaterasu stood up, looked at the box spewing ice and wind, which quickly started filling the room, and then glanced back to the fire.

Well… She'd done crazier things.

Amaterasu turned, and without hesitation, leaped into the fire.

Immediately she was set upon by warmth. A satisfying heat seeped into her fur and soaked her bones. It wasn't hot or uncomfortable though. It was comforting and soothing, like a blanket made of pure magic and fire. She supposed this made sense.

As the Goddess of the Sun, what was more fire than a ball of plasma suspended in space and radiating heat and energy at an impossible scale?

Magic fire? Nothing compared to an impossible amount of mass undergoing nuclear fusion in the heart of a star.

Amaterasu took a deep breath in, and the fire flared up and outward, responding to her. She exhaled, and the fire flickered, dropping lower, flickering around her paws.

She allowed the feeling of the fire to mingle with her energy, her magic. She could feel it gravitating toward her naturally, as if drawn to her very being. With closed eyes, she took another breath, and the fire roared around her, spiralling up into the air, licking at the ceiling, a spinning tornado of fire surrounding her.

She exhaled, and the fire vanished, turning into nothing but shimmering and sizzling coals beneath her paws. Within her though, the fire raged.

Amaterasu snapped her eyes open, and focused, grinding the world to a halt around her. With her natural gifts, she used her Celestial Brush to draw a pathway of ink for the flames to follow. She arced it around the walls of ice that had begun to build up around the ice-box, and directed that magical fire straight into the opening of the container.

Ammy released her grip on the universe.

The fire surged forward, spiralling and screaming with energy boosted by the Goddess of the Sun. It snaked around the pillars of ice that had started to grow, and splashed across the walls that formed, melting them faster than they could form.

The fire of the Eternal Flame, consumed by Amaterasu, and enhanced by the power of the sun, shattered through the ice and filtered straight into the Casket of Ancient Winters.

The trailing snake of fire vanished into the box, and the container began to rattle violently. The ice that had built up around it started to quiver and cracks began running up and down the surfaces, causing them to start crumbling.

Ammy leapt from the dead brazier; the Eternal Flame found something new to call home. Someone new.

Paws carried her forward and splashed in the pool of water that grew outward from the ice-box. Then, just as quickly, the water started to evaporate, only to condense, forming itself back into small chunks of ice. The cycle repeated over and over again, the contact with the Casket of Ancient Winters interrupted by the Eternal Flame rattling around and combating the cold.

Ammy grabbed the box and upended it. Out spilled a single piece of ice, glimmering with light and radiating magic. Concealed within the ice was some of the fire she had pushed into the box, leaving a living flame dancing and flickering within the shard of ice.

It was a mesmerizing sight, the fire and ice combatting one another for dominance in a struggle for power.

Ammy leaned in to look at it closer. Her nose pressed against the surface, and she gazed at the fire within, dancing and sending out light. She could feel the fire within it starting to flicker and die out, while the fire within her continued its eternal dance.

Faced with either forcing the very essence of cold and ice into the box, or dealing with this issue once and for all, Amaterasu made the safe decision.

She bit down on the ice and shattered it.

Amaterasu looked at Thor out of the corner of her eyes as she crunched and chewed on the remnants of the Casket of Ancient Winters. More specifically the Ancient Winters part. The Casket was fine and completely usable. They could use it to house some other small object of immense danger and magic.

Thor's confused mumbling and vague gestures amused Amaterasu, but she didn't give up her task. She crunched down on that magical essence like she'd watched other dogs in Central Park consuming ice cubes.

It was very similar. In fact, the crunch was satisfying to no end. And did it ever taste good. It did make her tongue tingle though. It was probably a magic thing.

The pool of water evaporated with the loss of the ice keeping it cool.

And just like that, everything was back to normal. Well, other than the absence of the Eternal Flame, and the Ancient Winters essence. Both of those were still technically in the room.

Within Amaterasu. Not as some physical thing, however. The powerful magics swirled and combatted one another inside of her and quickly fell into sync.

The Goddess of the Sun had just assimilated the Eternal Flame and the Casket of Ancient Winters into her very being. They didn't exist separately from one another any longer. They simply were a part of her now.

Amaterasu could still feel them swirling around, mingling with her magic and balancing each other out. Yet, with a single thought they faded into obscurity, spreading throughout her being, and becoming just another aspect of Her.

Ammy turned to face a stunned Thor and gave a happy little bark. Her tail swished across the damaged floor, and she gave him a big doggy grin for all the trouble she'd caused. She'd clean it up, she wasn't some sort of monster that left problems for others to deal with.

"I… I don't… What just… How?" Thor pointed and waved his arms at Amaterasu in some confused motions, unable to properly put his feelings into place to respond. "Why did that… Heimdall?"

"I can honestly say I did not see that coming." The person in question had his hair blown back, and face covered in ice. Thor wasn't much better off, with icicles hanging from his beard.

"Thor," a new voice spoke from the entrance to the vault.

Thor immediately paled, and he whirled around, looking as if he'd been caught in the middle of doing something he'd been explicitly told not to do.

"Father! I can explain-"

"Heimdall," Odin continued.

"My King." Heimdall inclined his head in a slight bow.

"What have you done?" Odin asked.

Amaterasu could feel the weight of the King's gaze on herself. It pierced her very being and examined her in her entirety. She could see the wisdom and the years in that eye and realized she was now face-to-face with the most powerful being she'd ever met.

"Well, Father, I have good news," Thor said. He flinched when Odin's piercing gaze shifted to him instead.

Odin raised an eyebrow at Thor and started making his way down the stairs and into the Vault. His steps echoed in the room, the weight of his presence causing the very air to feel thick and heavy with magic.

Odin came to a stop before his son.

"I am this close to banishing you for your actions, and killing the wolf for high crimes against Asgard and her people." Odin narrowed his eye, and his presence seemed to grow tenfold. "Speak, boy."

"Well. The Frost Giants no longer have reason to hate us, for we no longer have their Casket. Surtur won't be able to return to full power ever again. The danger contained within the vault is no longer anything to worry over," Thor said. At Odin's unimpressed gaze, he continued. "Two possible versions of Ragnarök have been eaten by the Goddess of the Sun? Surely that is a good thing."

Odin blinked. He and Thor stared at one another, and Amaterasu could almost feel the conflict and tension between the two.

Then, without a word, Odin whirled around and started his march back toward the entrance of the Vault.

…

"Come, Lady Amaterasu. Father seeks an audience with us. We should avoid angering him further." Thor gestured for Ammy to follow Odin.

Amaterasu complied, and padded along behind the King of Asgard, while Thor fell into step behind her.

Today had been an interesting day, all things considered.

Amaterasu sneezed, and a swirling mixture of flaming snowflakes rolled out into the air.

That was going to take some getting used to.