Thor glanced around the entrance hall of the grandest castle he had ever seen in his days. Everything seemed to glimmer... and change... He shook his head, he needed to find the other Avengers.

"Lo!" he shouted. "Where am I? What am I doing here?"

"You're in my home," said a voice behind him. Thor turned to see a man, skin as pale as fallen snow, and eyes that were dark like voids. "And you're here, Thor Odinson, because you've been here before, long ago. Welcome back to the Dreaming."

"What madness is this?" Thor demanded, holding out Mjolnir and aiming it at the stranger's face. "I know not of this realm. Where are we? T'is not Asgard, nor Midgard, nor any realm familiar to me."

"You're in the Dreaming, as I've said," the pale stranger said. "I am King Morpheus..." He crossed his arms and rubbed his cheek in thought. "... I do admit, I prefer this incarnation of you than the one that came before and drank nearly my entire selections of mead. Do you remember that, Thor?"

Thor lowered his hammer and stared at the one called Morpheus in shock.

"... Aye... but t'was a dream!" he said.

"... And here we are, in the Dreaming," Morpheus said. "Come. we have much to talk about."





Cap opened his eyes and looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was in an apartment... a very simple apartment. There were two fish on the coffee table, swimming in their little bowl, as fish did.

"Tea's almost done!" shouted a woman from another room. "I haven't made it in a while, guests are kinda rare, so I hope it turned out okay!"

Cap made to grab his shield and kept his eyes on the doorway where the woman's voice was coming from. He jumped when the woman finally appeared. She was pale, and lean, with messy black hair and gentle, dark eyes. She had her make-up done to give the corner of her left eye a small swirl, and she wore an ahnk around her neck. All in all, she looked very similar to the young girls in this time period.

"Here you go!" she said, holding out a mug of tea. "I put a lot of honey in it, I hope it's not too sweet."
Cap took the mug carefully.

"Miss... where am I?" he asked.

The woman smiled and sat on the couch.

"Better get right to the point, then," she said, pointing to the available couch space. When Cap sat down, she continued. "Me telling you my name is kinda moot at the moment, so I'll just explain myself. I've been watching you for decades, Steven Rogers." She smiled. "I saw you grow up, I saw you join the program that got you into the Army... and I thought I would see you die at the hands of the Red Skull... another person I've been watching for a while." She set down her mug and touched his arm. "... I'm Death."







Clint looked ahead and groaned. This place... this weird, freaky nightmare... was just miles and miles of red hallways. He leaned against the wall and sighed.
"... I just want to get somewhere that ISN'T this hallway..." he groaned.

And quite suddenly, he wasn't in the hallway. He was in a large room, where a enormous bed sat, almost waiting. Sitting on its edge, was a person... Either the most beautiful man, or the most handsome woman.

"Welcome, Clint Barton," the person said.

Clint aimed an arrow instantly.

"Alright, lady... fella.... YOU," he said. "You're gonna start explaining everything that's happening. Right now!"

"Is that what you... desire?" the stranger asked.

"Damn right it is!" Clint said angrily, keeping the arrow aimed at the person's golden eyes. But the longer he stared at them, the harder it was to keep his aim, and finally, he lowered his bow.

"I'll explain what I want to," the stranger said. "You're here, in my realm. The realm of want, of cravings... and I am Desire."

"Desire??" Clint asked. "Am I in some freaky coma, or something?"

The one called Desire laughed, a sound so beautiful, Clint was almost angry it ended.

"No, you're here," Desire said. "Because you're mine... you've always been mine. And your friends are not here. But I can send you to them, if that's what you want." S/he grinned. "But you don't want that. You want answers. About me. About you. And this is the place to get what you want..."





"... Steve?"

Tony looked around, but he kept seeing the same thing. Mirrors. Lots of mirrors. Too many mirrors, for his liking. he walked to one and sighed. He looked so ragged... was that really him?

"... Sad, isn't it?" asked a very quiet voice behind him. He turned slowly, face to face with a large, nude woman. Her almost monstrous face was etched in sadness, to the point where Tony didn't have the heart to even bring up the fact that she was naked.

"... Who are you?" Tony asked.

"Someone you know, and someone you've never met," the woman said. "... They call me Despair. Because I am." She examined her ring, a small gold band with a little hook on it. "... You're a hard man to catch. You hide your heart very well, but it aches under that reactor of yours." She frowned up at him. "Have you ever stared into a mirror and thought maybe someone was watching you?"

Tony blinked, but found himself nodded.

"Yeah..." he said.

"That's me..." Despair said. "Queen of mirrors..." She looked into a mirror, one that showed Captain America, rather than Tony's reflection. "... He's a nice man. He's caused you so much despair... and so much love... it was hard to place you. My sister wanted you too... but..." She frowned again. "You and I... we have too much in common. So... let's get this over with..."





Hank covered his eyes. There was so much color, it was hard to see, and this pace he had ended up in was just... silly. He pushed aside a fish balloon and kept walking.

"If I just keep walking..." he said. "I'll find something. That's common sense..." He adjusted his helmet. "... Maybe I can find some insects..." He turned on his frequency and waited for signals. Instead, he got really old music.

"You're listening to D310, music of the mad!" said a man's voice in his helmet. "I'm your disc-jockey, Dee Lerium, and coming up, we've got the music for you, but first, we're going to talk to ants!"

Hank blinked and kept listening.

"I'm here with the Queen's Aunt Ant," the man continued. "Tell me, what's it like working with Henry Pym?"

Hank had stopped everything. He had to hear more. He didn't care. He had to. He had to. He had to.

A small hand wrapped around his, and he looked down to see a girl. Her head was mostly shaven, with the exception of a few long blond locks that were colored randomly, with different dyes.

"I don't like that station," she said. "It makes your head start to hurt... and then the butterflies stop coming by to give you.... I forgot the word." She looked up. "I like your hat. It's pretty."

Hank took off the helmet and sighed. His head felt a little lighter now, enough to think clearly.

"... Where am I?" he asked.

"You're here..." the girl said. "Or... maybe you're there. Either way, its a place you should be. Sometimes, when you work, you get kind of crazy. Crazy like me. Not that you're bad crazy... well... maybe you are. Maybe." She shrugged. "I can't remember who I used to be, either. Can you?"

Hank frowned.

"I'm Hank Pym," he said. "I'm Ant Man..."

"Yeah... I don't like giants and yellow jackets..." the girl said. "But ants are cute..."

".... Giants and Yellow Jackets?" Hank asked.

The girl nodded.
"Um... I'm Delirium..." she said. "... I want to talk... but not here. Let's talk in the talking place, where we can concentrate on talking."