Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction: Chapter 20, My Mother Was A Witch!
My Mother Was A Witch! She Was Burned Alive! Thankless Little Bitch! For Tears I Cried!
Chapter 20
My Mother Was A Witch! She Was Burned Alive!
Thankless Little Bitch! For Tears I Cried!
King T’Challa stands next to his parked shuttle on the roof of the Johnson Building, surveying the devastation, and the lack of lasting consequence against the enemy stronghold, the now flash rebuilt Dunbar Hotel, topped and relabeled in flames with the sign that reads ‘The Hellfire Club.’ The Valkyrie leader Brunhilde flies in on her winged steed, and lands next to King T’Challa’s shuttle.
Brunhilde:
Beautiful… is it not?… Your majesty?… Although ominous… However ominous… it is nonetheless beautiful… is it not?…
King T’Challa:
Yes… But I am concerned more for the lives destroyed… as collateral damage… of a war they know nothing about… and knew nothing about… even before this crazy enchantment hit them with it… a crime against human consciousness… a raping of the soul…
Brunhilde dismounts from her winged steed, and walks over to King T’Challa’s side.
Brunhilde:
Is it the innocents in the distance that concern you?… or the fate of your old friend Nakia?… You seem to be mourning the loss of someone who is not dead… clearly mourning the loss of love… rather than the loved one…
King T’Challa:
You are very perceptive… Mistress Brunhilde… if a bit too familiar…
Brunhilde:
My apologies your majesty… I only meant to comfort and console… As you seemed to be in need of it… And surely your majesty has other prospects?…
King T’Challa:
Perhaps I do… But I have duties to perform that take up much if not all of my time…
Brunhilde:
That sounds like a lonely duty… The Valkyrie know this sort of duty all too well… and gladly surrender our lives to it… But duty cannot be absolute… or the warrior will fail in their duty… for failing to survive their own extremism… in pursuit of their duty… Often such warriors must find temporary comfort and consolation in each other’s arms… failing to find any other alternatives…
King T’Challa:
Are you volunteering?… Mistress Brunhilde?…
Brunhilde:
I don’t know about volunteering… But would it be so untoward… if I was?…
King T’Challa:
No… It wouldn’t necessarily be so… I suppose it would depend on who you ask…
Brunhilde:
I was asking you…
King T’Challa:
Well… Mistress Brunhilde… It would not be at all untoward… But as King of Wakanda… I cannot allow myself to think that way… to presume to take liberties… for the sake of… comfort and consolation…
Brunhilde:
There is no need to take what is given freely… hypothetically speaking…
King T’Challa:
Mistress Brunhlde…
Brunhlide:
Yes your majesty…
King T’Challa:
If I may ask a personal question… of a different nature… I can’t help but notice… but you’re not what I was expecting… for a Valkyrie…
Brunhilde:
What exactly were you expecting?…
King T’Challa:
Well… someone more… nordic looking… you know… more like a Viking… and less like myself…
Brunhilde erupts with raucous laughter.
Brunhilde:
Asgard is not Scandinavia… While Midgard may be the most diverse of all the realms… it hardly has a monopoly on the phenomenon… Honestly… I never really think about it… I’ve heard that such matters are often a cause of concern here on Midgard… But that is not something that I have ever dealt with in Asgard… Asgard has it own prejudices… But that is not one of them… And what of Wakanda?… Does Wakanda have such concerns?…
King T’Challa:
Not as much as outsiders may assume… The prejudice of Wakanda… is against outsiders… irregardless… The White Wolf is a legendary hero… but if he weren’t so… Wakanda would likely have no place for him… But not because of his skin color… so much as him being a foreigner… Wakanda has always been very distrustful of it’s neighbors… even though they looked similar to us… I fear for my sister’s budding relationship with the White Wolf… for fear of Wakanda’s reaction to the revelation… But not because of his skin color…
Brunhilde:
So if foreigners are out of the question… then aliens are bound to be even more out of the question?…
King T’Challa:
Volunteering?…
Brunhilde:
Just asking… Sgt. Barnes is a wolfkin after all… That’s part alien… to Midgard…
King T’Challa:
Perhaps Wakanda doesn’t need to know about that part…
Brunhilde:
There is strong prejudice against the wolfkin in Asgard… in most of the nine realms in fact… I must confess to suffering from this prejudice a little myself… It was wolfkin hell hounds… brought to Vanaheim by demon marauders… that killed my parents as a child… I was raised by the Valkyrie from then on… and have known nothing else ever since… I have struggled to overcome my own prejudice… to become properly detached… as a Valkyrie must be… in order to serve as Valkyrie… Now… one of my closest and most intimate friends has married one… and built a family with him… and so my struggle returns…
Brunhilde’s winged horse suddenly rears up on it’s hind legs, howling in terror, before flying off on it’s own, as if fleeing some horrific unseen predator. Having just entered their presence back at the observatory, the brutal witch woman in black with the third eye and a taste for winged horse blood, stands before the group of would be demon bear hunters.
Danielle The Valkyrie:
Mama?… What happened to you?… What happened to papa?…
Witch Mother:
You happened Danielle… You happened… to start with… Your power happened… My name… is Melina Vostocoff… Or at least… that was the only name… that I was ever allowed to know… That bear… has a name… It is Alexei… Alexei Shostakov… As far as I was ever allowed to know… that is his real name… That bear is your papa!… And you made him that way!… You and your power!… Danielle Moonstar!… And now I must end it!…
The dark witch Melina draws a dark, oozing, and slithering matte black substance up through the floor, and into her waiting hand, where it forms a matte black straight double edged sword, before solidifying, as she begins to stalk towards her supposed daughter.
Lady Sif:
A Necro Sword!?!…
Wolf King:
Necro Sword?…
Lady Sif:
The sword of a necromancer!… It’s beyond a poison blade… It’s touch is death itself!… even to those who are supposedly immortal…
The angel Darcy then suddenly flies up off the floor, with all three eyes glowing yellow, and Excalibur in hand billowing white flames. The angel lowers herself down to the floor, and steps in between Melina and Danielle, blocking Melina’s Necro Sword with the white flaming Excalibur.
Queen Boudica:
Hold there necromancer!… Or I will purge what’s left of you from this unnatural existence of yours!…
Space Crow:
Danielle!…
Space Crow rushes over to Danielle, and wraps his arms around her, before they both shimmer away.
Witch Melina:
Danielle!…
Queen Boudica:
I said hold!… Necromancer!… Melina?… is it?… Wolf King?…
Wolf King:
She’s fine… They’re still here… for now… But Melina here may not be for long… if she doesn’t put that Necro Sword away… Are you really a necromancer?… Dr. Vostocoff?… I’ve heard of you before… even before I had heard of your relationship to the Black Widow… and the Red Room program… That relationship may buy you a good deal of good will… But don’t push your luck… a friendly warning… from one monster to another…
A small mini whirlwind engulfs the Necromancer’s Necro Sword, then dissipates, disappearing the sword to nothing from whence it came.
Necromancer:
Very well… Wolf King… But I don’t find you all that monstrous…
Wolf King:
I suppose an alumni of the Red Room program wouldn’t necessarily be all that impressed by me… But rest assured Necromancer… I am very impressed with you… even without a Necro Sword… I assure you that I am taking you very seriously… And will not be making the mistake of letting my guard down anytime soon…
Lady Sif:
That would be wise… For she is definitely a necromancer… although it begs the question how… and most of all why… The third eye… combined with the Necro Sword… make it undeniable… and utterly abominable!… That can only result from a profane ritual of necromancy… like the Ritual of the Visionary Heart… and the live sacrifice of one of the Valkyrie’s sacred winged horses…
Queen Boudica:
Am I a necromancer?… with my third eye?…
Lady Sif:
No… Angels have natural abilities… and potentials… that the would be necromancer covets… for the pursuit of their unnatural powers… The winged horses of the Valkyrie are enchanted in order to give them similar powers… powers of vision beyond sight… the power to see through the veil between the physical world of the living… and the realm of the dead… All of their powers stem from this insight… and it’s exploitation… to conquer death… and use it as a weapon of power… Not just to kill… but to raise the dead as enslaved zombies… or even to feed upon them… among other atrocities… How would you even know how to perform the foul ritual?…
Necromancer:
As you may have noticed… There is a lot of enchantment going around at the moment… People are changed… even to the point of their memories and their physical bodies… Danielle and I… were both enchanted to become Valkyrie… She was just a young apprentice… But I was a Valkyrie elder… a trainer of other Valkyrie… and their horses… But Danielle has a greater power than that… a power that she had before… the power of Terra Genesis…
Wolf King:
She’s an Inhuman?…
Necromancer:
Yes… But she had only just recently gone through the process… We were only just beginning to learn about it… and what she can do with it… She has the power to make fears and dreams… seem beyond real… plucked out of your own mind… and made in such a way that you cannot tell the difference… because it’s perfectly crafted and catered just to perfectly fool you completely… Danielle was never our real daughter… But she was the youngest of the survivors of the Red Room program… So Alexei and I sort of adopted her… before she became Inhuman… But then the enchantment hit us… And her power became so much greater… powerful enough to alter reality… beyond this overall enchantment… She made Alexei into that nightmare bear… Alexei may be lost… But she must be stopped!… before anyone else falls prey to her power!…
Wolf King:
How do you know that the enchantment didn’t turn Alexei into this… nightmare bear?…
Necromancer:
Because I was there when it happened… after the enchantment… She was confused and terrified by the enchantment… And she lashed out at Alexei and me… blindly… and completely out of control… I saw him transform into that thing… then disappear as he howled in horror… I was still enchanted my self… So I desperately used the only means that I thought that I had… to rescue my love… if at all possible… with the power to see through the illusions of existence… the Ritual of the Visionary Heart… But even the vision of a necromancer cannot entirely pierce the veil… of wherever Alexei is… or wherever he goes when he disappears…
Space Crow:
That’s because there’s no there there… theoretically speaking…
Wolf King:
No there there?… Theoretically?… That sounds like even more of a headache Niflheim…
Space Crow shimmers into view with Danielle in a far corner of the room, before they start to make their way back to the center of the group.
Space Crow:
It could be some sort of virtual space… Perhaps some trans-dimensional Poincare space?…
Wolf King:
Poincare space?…
Space Crow:
A Poincare Space is a hypothetical mathematically defined space… where you have a finite region… that contains effectively infinite space within it… by virtue the effective distance within the space increasing as you approach the edges… so that you can never reach the edge… no matter how long and fast you travel towards it… It’s like containing an infinite tempest… in a finite tea cup… Ever since that bear chomped my ride… and took it with him… I’ve been getting some really weird telemetry… It’s like it’s there… but it’s not there… I’m getting the full telemetry… But it’s like it’s coming from everywhere all at once… everywhere and nowhere… But only from this area of the hills surrounding the observatory… centered here at the observatory itself… In fact… I’ve been using the fledgling BBN system to try and geographically fine tune the picture… and I can’t entirely vouch for my own results but… the area in question seems to be centered… on Danielle here…
Queen Boudica:
She does appear quite differently… to my admittedly strange eyes… So does this Necromancer… although differently… But my strange vision is too new to me to discern what it means…
Danielle The Valkyrie:
Did I… Did I really… curse papa?…
Space Crow:
Curse is a strong word… More like just… temporarily afflicted… from the sound of it… right?… Queen Morgana?…
Morgana:
Possibly… But we have to be able to capture this bear… or at least lure it somewhere we can treat it… if at all possible…
Wolf King:
We could bate it… We know what it’s after… if not necessarily exactly why… But we would have to lure the winged horses… in order to lure the bear… How do we even do that?… or contain and protect them if we do?…
Princess Karnilla:
I can try my dagger daddy!… It’s worth a try!… right?…
Wolf King:
Perhaps Karny girl… perhaps…
Morgana:
I might be able to help her with that… Between the two of us… we could probably manage… at least the luring part… If we maintain the lure… that might help to contain… but not to protect… Once we have the bear… then we might be able to treat him at least a little bit… but with no guarantees of success…
Wolf King:
We may not be able to contain the bear either… except to maintain the lure… We may have to lure… treat… and fight… all at the same time…
Spartan:
Reinforcements?…
Wolf King:
Reinforcements… Select reinforcements… This is still compromised air space…
Space Crow:
Compromised trans-dimensionally…
Wolf King:
Stark?… Yeah… Yeah I know… But now I need you… But I need you to pick up someone… A friend of yours is in drastic need of being looped in here… to say the least… Natasha Romanov’s mother… Dr. Vostocoff… has not only been whammied into being a Valkyrie… but she then whammied herself in to being a necromancer… Yes… A necromancer… Yeah… I know… Okay… Be careful of the air space here… Use stealth if you can… But even stealth can’t be completely trusted here… Ned says that the air space is compromised trans-dimensionally… whatever that means… fair warning… And Stark… Natasha’s father Alexei… is the giant demon bear… Yeah I know… Just get them here… and be careful… and be on the lookout for trans-dimensional… whatever…
Various parties are apprised of the situation at the Griffith Observatory, with each cautioned and mobilized accordingly. Just as the colonization of the observatory compound is completed, along with a high electric perimeter fence, the Hulk is heard roaring in the distance. Then the roar is heard extremely close up, as the Hulk comes crashing down inside the perimeter of the compound’s electric fence, sporting matte black eye enclosing goggles and sound canceling ear muffs as part of the Niflheim Protocols. The demon bear lets out another howl, and the Hulk howls back louder as an act dominance. The Wolf King, Lady Sif, and the Space Crow, lead Danielle and the necromancer outside, followed by the rest, as they filter out to join the Hulk, upon hearing his arrival. A female figure dressed all in black, with a katana strapped to her back, watches the group from concealment above them, on the domed roof of the observatory, next to the opening for the primitive telescope.
The Hulk:
Shut up smoky!… That’s enough out of you!… Try a monster your own size!… Fuzzy wuzzy!…
Wolf King:
You should be aware Bruce… that fuzzy wuzzy out there… is actually Alexei… your girlfriend’s adoptive daddy…
The Hulk:
Smoky bear is Natasha’s dad?… I only just met the dude… But I was hung over… And he was talking like some sort of commie… I don’t think he liked me… Is that why Natasha called in a code green?…
Wolf King:
Uh… Yes… I’m assuming… I actually don’t know what that means… Is that an Avengers thing?… This does seem somewhat like an Avengers thing… with more than a shade of Niflheim… like it’s just another intruder problem… But there are a lot more people in the crossfire here if this thing spreads beyond these hills… We have something of a plan… But that requires other reinforcements… including Romanov… Her mother’s here now… Dr. Vostocoff… turned into a necromancer… I’m not sure exactly what that means… But it’s got Sif wigged out… which by our standards is really saying something…
Lady Sif:
That is saying a great deal… She may have felt forced into it by necessity… one may even argue that it was a legitimately necessary evil… But with the nature of that ritual… and the nature of what it does to someone… she is unavoidably corrupted to some extent… Only the angels can wield anything like that power without being corrupted… and even they are not immune… With time… the temptation to use that power will be too great… That corruption will only grow…
Necromancer:
Oh please Lady Sif… Don’t soft pedal it… Just say it… I’m an abomination in your sight… The very sight of this… disturbs you deeply… I can sense it in you… I can see it… You have experience with a third eye… such as this one… But not with the angels… like Thor’s friend Darcy… You’ve hunted after necromancers… Haven’t you?…
Lady Sif:
I have… and successfully too… something to keep in mind…
Necromancer:
Duly noted… Nice to see you again Dr. Banner… albeit under less than ideal circumstances… But are you sure that you should even be here?… I have something of a personal vested interest in the survival of that bear monster out there… although possibly a lost cause… But I can’t have you raging out on him… and accidentally killing him… once things get too intense…
The Hulk:
Too intense!?!… We just got out of Niflheim!… I spent years alone unprotected in it’s maze… and part of me liked it!… It’s going to take more than your teddy bear to be too intense for me… And you’re supposed to be some necromancer?… Color me unimpressed… as well as green… What else ya got?… But it is nice to see you again Melina… Don’t worry about that goofball commie… I’ll beat him into submission personally if nothing else…
Wolf King:
Don’t enjoy your family responsibilities too much… And your tough guy talk would be much more convincing if you weren’t sucking up to your would be mother in law…
The Hulk:
Harsh bro…
Necromancer:
For what it’s worth Dr. Banner… I find your tough guy talk reassuring under the circumstances…
The Hulk:
Cool… So what’s this plan anyway?…
Space Crow:
Bate and trap… basically… Although potentially… bate and smash… under the circumstances…
Wolf King:
Yeah… But first we need special reinforcements before we can begin…
Space Crow:
Reinforcements incoming boss…
King T’Challa’s shuttle shimmers into view, and lands down on the observatory compound, just inside the perimeter fence. The shuttle hatch opens and Natasha Romanov rushes out after her mother, with her sister Yelena close behind, as Lord Balder, Brunhilde, and King T’Challa filter out onto the grounds behind them. Iron Man roars his way through the air space surrounding the observatory uncloaked, as if daring an encounter.
Space Crow:
Uh… Boss?…
Iron Man:
Steady on there Space Crow… I’m putting something to the test… a few things actually… If this works out well enough… I may even have you join me up here… But my shell is thicker than yours… So for now… you stay put… and actively scan from the ground and continue to refine the local resolution of the BBN picture surrounding the observatory… I’m trying out some of your predictive algorithms… based on chaos behavior theory analysis… If this works… then we may have a way in to wherever that thing goes… If not… then I’m probably dead… in which case you’re fired now… in case I don’t get to it later…
Space Crow:
Roger that… Death equals fired… You do know… that those algorithms… require bait… to render the predator predictable…
Iron Man:
That’s what I’m doing… so that you don’t have to… so I’m totally blaming you if I die…
Space Crow:
Got it… death equals blame… therefore… fired…
Iron Man:
Wish me luck with your chaos theory…
Space Crow:
May the chaos be with you… just not too much hopefully…
Natasha:
Mom?… Are you okay?… I heard some strange things from Tony… about you being… a necromancer?…
Yelena The Valkyrie:
It can’t be!… But I can see it for myself… There is no mistaking the foul stench of the necromancer… with her black blood… and her third eye… Abomination!… How could you?… Traitorous witch!…
Brunhilde:
I’m afraid there is no mistaking it… But perhaps we should forgo swift judgment of her… until we at least hear her story… The cost of the Ritual of the Visionary Heart… is abominable… But all of our winged horses are accounted for… The one that I was riding was suddenly frightened uncharacteristically… and flew off back to Emerald City in a panic… this from a beast who was made to brave the maze of Niflheim… But all of our horses are accounted for… How is it even possible for you to have committed such an atrocity?…
Space Crow:
Uh… How recent is your head count on the winged horses?… Cause these hills are littered with winged horse carnage… I don’t know where all that came from… but they seem real enough to me… And we can still hear them out there… especially when papa bear tries to munch one of them…
As if on cue, the demon bear Alexei roars again, followed by the sound of winged horses screaming and fleeing in a panic.
Space Crow:
You don’t suppose that people can be whammied into beasts?… There are a lot of normal horses in town now… way more than there ever were in Los Angeles before…
Natasha:
What exactly is… this abominable cost?…
Yelena The Valkyrie:
The warm blood… and the still beating heart… of one of winged horses of the Valkyrie… slaughtered alive for that purpose… then consumed… with the blood drank… and the heart burned and inhaled… all while still fresh!…
Natasha:
Uggh… That’s disgusting!… Is that real?…
Brunhilde:
Yes… I’m afraid so…
Necromancer:
I did it for Alexei!… for the only father… either of you have ever known!… I did it… before I even knew the nature of what had happened to him… And I did it to find out… which is the only reason I remember who I really am right now… I didn’t before… I don’t expect forgiveness for what I’ve done… But I will not tolerate the passing of judgment… by those who were not there… especially not by my own daughters!…
Danielle The Valkyrie:
I’m your daughter too… am I not?… Mama?… You were going to end me a few moments ago… You said that it was because I made papa into that monster!… With my power!… And that you were going to end it!…
Natasha:
Is that true?… Mama?…
Necromancer:
Yes… I did… And as much as it pains me to say it… I don’t see any other way… Her power is too dangerous… the power of Terra Genesis… the power of fear and hope itself… wielded as a weapon against the mind… made all the more powerful with this latest enchantment… now that she is Valkyrie… and she lacks the proper memory of even going through Terra Genesis… But even then she was struggling to control her power… It was almost as new to us… as this latest enchantment…
Natasha:
So this is just an illusion then… right?… If she can learn to control it… she can just turn it off… right?…
Necromancer:
Her power is far stronger than that now… Her illusions can possess substance… They can kill… and transform other people… like Alexei…
Space Crow:
Could that be why we have so many extra winged horses all of a sudden?… Some sort of spontaneous generation?… bringing hope to life?… or life to hope?… physically?… from the power of Terra Genesis… being possessed by one of the Valkyrie?… But why a demon bear?… an embodiment misplaced fear?…
Danielle The Valkyrie:
In my memory… I was orphaned as a child… when a demon bear attacked and destroyed our village in Vanaheim… I’m beginning to think this demon bear is following me… But you say that I made papa into that thing?… I refuse to believe this… You say that you were enchanted?… That part I believe… enchanted in the head!…
Iron Man:
Space Crow… How’s Widow holding up?…
Space Crow:
Better than her sister Yelena… or Danielle… But she at least knows better what’s really going on here… as does her mom… the new necromancer in town… I’d be more worried about the enchanted Valkyrie than I would about the Black Widow… But she’s you’re friend… And if Lady Sif and Brunhilde’s reaction to our new necromancer friend is any guess… We’d better hurry up and solve our bear problem… before we end up with a full fledged Valkyrie blood feud on our hands…
Iron Man:
Roger that Space Crow… The Wolf King’s right… That is a much better call sign then… The Golem Master…
Space Crow:
Roger that… Any sign of fuzzy wuzzy?…
Iron Man:
None yet… I’m starting to wonder about these algorithms of yours… You don’t think he’s shy all of a sudden?… do ya?…
Space Crow:
We did just get a bunch of new reinforcements… And I think he got hit a bit with the magic white flame from Excalibur earlier… Yeah… That’s a thing… But it’s healing thing… There’s no telling the exact effect… on a demon bear… that might not be an actual real demon at all… That part’s unclear… Maybe he’s gun shy… and just working up the courage… The chaos theory based algorithms assume hunting behavior… as well as track and predict the dimensional anomalies with the assumption that it’s a phenomenon controlled by the bear somehow… which fits the observed behavior… We were going to bait it with winged horses… You may not even be able to test the algorithms again till then…
Iron Man:
Or just grow wings…
Space Crow:
With all due respect sir… you’re no angel…
Iron Man:
Roger that…
As Iron Man and Space Crow consult with each other on the following of bear tracks, two giant bear claws shimmer into view, grasping at the space immediately in front of Iron Man’s flight path. One claw is slightly covered in blood. While the other one is completely covered in blood, and dripping fresh from having been just regrown and regenerated, after the Blue Angel cut it off previously with Excalibur. Iron man reacts and begins maneuvering to evade the bear’s claws, even before they fully appeared, just barely managing to dodge the grasping claws before they disappear again.
Space Crow:
Boss!…
Iron Man:
Relax Space Crow… The algorithm seems to work… But there’s not enough lead time in the warning… I can only just evade… But I can’t follow back… But at least I’ve got it’s attention… Any suggestions on making it to the other side?… strictly visiting mind you…
Space Crow:
Besides channeling the spirit of Jim Morison?… That’s what we’re trying to figure out… Maybe… try not evading…
Iron Man:
You mean let it have me?…
Space Crow:
No… Attack it!… Attack it… and whatever opening it comes through… like an armored rocket propelled flying tackle… I say body slam that thing back to wherever it’s coming from… then try to break away on the other side… But it’s extremely risky… And it’s not my hard shelled hide that’s on the line to test that theory…
Iron Man:
At least I have a full shell… as opposed to a half shell…
Space Crow:
With all due respect sir… you’re no ninja turtle…
Iron Man:
Roger that… Wait!… Here we go!… Kowabunga!…
Iron Man detects another incoming incursion, but this time turns into it, flying at it blind before the bear even attempts to pop through. The bear’s head pops through the opening to snap at Iron Man. Iron man just barely manages to steer clear of it’s jaws, and body slams the bear across the side of it’s face, grappling with it’s jaws as he does so, and knocking the bear’s head back into the other side, disappearing with him.
Space Crow:
Iron Man?…
Iron Man:
Still here space nerd… And you are officially not fired… And the anticipation of your algorithms is improving with every exposure…
Space Crow:
They are learning algorithms… And telemetry is so much better with you on the other side boss… way better than just with my busted hover quad… Maybe you should set up a BBN node on the other side… At this point it may be necessary to better map the interface between the two quantum entangled spaces… So that we can figure out how go back and forth without running the gauntlet of claws and jaws… What’s it like?… Do I have to tell you to not go into the light?… The environmental telemetry is still a bit wonky… But it seems much warmer there… Am I getting this right?…
Iron Man:
You are correct sir… In fact… it’s broad fricken daylight over here!… high noon from the looks of it… not a cloud in the sky… And no signs of civilization… at least not modern civilization… I think I can see tepees in the distance… It looks like the American planes… at the base of what looks like the Rockies… There are also numerous winged horses on this side as well… There’s no telling how many… I’m trying to do a head count… But there’s no telling how many there are… Could this be a portal to Valhalla?… with tepees?… This side is more than a bit of a head scratcher… and it seems to go on forever… I’m going to recon the surrounding area for a bit… And see what else I can find out… Ask Brunhilde about there being tepees in Valhalla… and tell her about the winged horses… This scene is like something out of the old west… with wild horses running about everywhere… but with wings!… On the bright side… the bear doesn’t fly… But it can pop in anywhere… at any elevation there… without ever having to leave the ground over here… But the bear itself doesn’t seem completely solid… It seems as much smoke and mist in the form and shape of a bear… as it is fur claws and fangs… How’s the bait for that trap coming?…
Space Crow:
I’ll look into it boss… Brunhilde?… This may seem like a strange question… but are there tepees in Valhalla?…
Brunhilde:
Tepees?… No… not in Valhalla… If I understand what you refer to… it is a primitive style of tent among some planes people… from Midgard… right?… We have something similar in Vanaheim… but nothing like that in Valhalla… Why?…
Space Crow:
Well Iron Man made it to the other side… wherever that thing keeps coming and going from… And there are no signs of human life except for some tepees in the distance… It sounds like the precolonial American Planes… But there are wild winged horses on the other side… Iron Man’s doing a head count now… But he says there’s no telling how many…
Brunhilde:
That is not… possible… But neither are the extra winged horses that are already here on this side… The winged horses of the Valkyrie are nearly extinct… the few that we brought with us… are all that are left in all the nine realms… We brought them all here for a large scale invasion into Niflheim… full scale for the Valkyrie… We brought everything we had…
Space Crow:
Any ideas as to why our phantom bear seems to have such a taste for winged horses?… Because we’re suppose to be baiting that thing with them… right?… If we’re gong to figure out the way back for Iron Man… we need to get that bear to cross over more… so we can properly map the effect… as well as capture the bear for treatment… what ever that entails…
Necromancer:
I may have an idea about why he’s going after the winged horses… Before he became that bear… as part of our shared enchanted backstory… We were caretakers of the winged horses… and as such he would have known about the potential of the blood and hearts of the winged horses being used to give special powers of vision… to see through the veil between worlds… in order to cross over at will… among other things… Perhaps he’s instinctively trying to do that… but without the knowledge or capacity to perform the ritual… Perhaps he’s desperate to get back to something more familiar… but he just can’t do it on his own… especially not in his current atavistic state…
Space Crow:
But the bear seems to be able to control the portals to the other side… opening and closing them at will… hunting winged horses that way…
Necromancer:
In his primitive mental state… he may not understand that… He may just be acting out… like a desperate and panicked animal… lashing out at anything in his way as he does…
Wolf King:
Well he can definitely cross over completely… Maybe he crosses back over out of fear… not really knowing where else to turn to… or how… like a trapped animal… very dangerous…
Space Crow:
Iron Man was asking about the bait plan?… Where are we with that?…
Wolf King:
Still waiting on special reinforcements…
Just then, the bear shimmers into view looming over the Wolf King, then the Hulk leaps after the bear, launching his own flying tackle at the creature, knocking it back into the portal where it came from, and disappearing with it.
Natasha:
Bruce!?!…
Space Crow:
Iron Man says he’s okay… Their both going toe to toe with the bear on the other side… That should keep it busy long enough for us to get the bait ready… not to mention the hypothetical treatment… But we might wanna hurry up with that…
Natasha:
You’re a necromancer now!… You can see through the veil between worlds or whatever… Why can’t you cross over and help him?… or even take me to him…
Necromancer:
The power of a necromancer cannot be so easily shared or lent out… not without creating another necromancer… And my special vision cannot quite completely penetrate that space yet… And even if we cross over… there isn’t necessarily any cure to be had… Alexei… is already as good as dead… The best thing that we can do for him… would be to end his misery… But even that may be beyond us… We must end the source of the problem… before things get worse… before anyone else is effected… Danielle Moonstar must die!…
Yelena The Valkyrie:
The hell she does!… Traitor necromancer!… You are not our mother!… Our mother is dead!… And you’re the abomination that killed her!…
Yelena makes a step toward the necromancer in anger, but Lord Balder steps in to hold her back.
Lord Balder:
Steady Yelena… That is still your mother…
Necromancer:
Enough of this!… If you refuse to deal with reality… then I will!…
The Necromancer begins to step towards Danielle again, recalling her necro sword back from the aether, right into her waiting right hand. Yelena brushes Lord Balder aside and steps in between Danielle and the advancing Necromancer, and blocks her way with her FSB spear and her own body. The Necromancer swings her necro sword to block Yelena’s spear, but slices through the spear, and inadvertently slashes the back of Yelena’s hand. Matte black ooze begins to bubble slightly from the wound on the back of Yelena’s hand, and spreads outward from the wound beneath the skin, leaving black vein like tracks just underneath the skin that keep slowly spreading over her body, as she collapses down to the ground and begins to shake.
Natasha:
Yelena!…
Necromancer:
Yelena!…
Lord Balder:
Mistress Yelena!…
The Necromancer disappears her necro sword again, and begins to step towards Yelena on the ground. But Natasha steps in and smashes her face with a precise palm strike, knocking her out momentarily. Lord Balder and Natasha rush to Yelena’s side on the ground, as she continues to shake.
Natasha:
Yelena!… Talk to me!… Stay with me!…
Lord Balder:
Queen Morgana… is there anything you can do?…
Morgana:
No… But perhaps Darcy can… with the white flames of Excalibur… But I don’t know that even that will work against the effects of a necro sword… Darcy!…
Queen Boudica:
I believe I understand…
The Blue Angel walks over to where Yelena lies shaking on the ground, as the black taint continues to spread visibly beneath her skin. Dr. Foster flames up with her white flames, and joins the Blue Angel kneeling on the ground next to Yelena.
Dr. Jane Foster:
If it’s the white flame you need… I can help with that now…
Dr. Foster joins hands with the Blue Angel and places her other hand on Yelena. The Blue Angel places her sword gently on Yelena’s shoulder, as it erupts with white flames, joining with and amplifying Dr. Foster’s. Morgana begins to to play her flute in support, as the acolytes of Avalon present join Dr. Selvig in supplying some supporting chanting and prayer. The black vein track marks begin to recede and disappear. As they continue with the white flames, chanting, and praying, Piotr Rasputin stands guard at one end of the compound platform where they are attempting to save Yelena. The black clad kunoichi with the katana, stealthily makes her way down to a part of the roof above where Piotr is standing his self appointed watch, and whispers at him to get his attention while everyone else is distracted.
Kunoichi:
Piotr… Piotr… Piotr Rasputin… Dammit metal head… Piotr!…
Piotr:
Katya?…
Katya:
Katya?… It’s… Never mind… Don’t you remember who you are?… and what you’re doing here?…
Piotr:
I am tending to the winged horses as best as I can… But we are beset by demons… and now necromancers…
Katya:
Oh boy… You’re lucky you’re cute and burly… We need to talk… in private…
Piotr:
I cannot leave the others… They may need me…
Katya:
They’re not your friends… And you’ve been whammied in the head… You’ve been enchanted… I can help you with that… but only in private…
Piotr:
Very well Katya my love… But this behavior in most peculiar… And why are you dressed like some thief in the night?…
Katya:
Because I’m here to rescue you… I may not be Luke Skywalker… But you’re no Princess Leia… But you’ll remember all of that soon enough… if you come with me… Hah… Come with me if you want to relive…
Piotr:
This is all most peculiar Miss Katya… But I will come with you… always…
Katya:
That’s better… Come to Kitty Katya… Come on inside… Everyone else is out here… And I have something private to show you…
The kunoichi in black phases through the roof upon which she was perched, and disappears down into the building.
Piotr:
Katya!?!…
Piotr panicked at the unexpected sight and runs after his Katya. His outburst and panicked retreat catch the attention of the two power princesses, Little Karnilla Ward and Frigga Foster.
Princess Frigga:
What was that all about?… Something just spooked the heck out of the shiny man!… He went inside!… Let go investigate!…
Princess Karnilla:
I don’t know… It could be dangerous to investigate…
Princess Frigga:
He went inside!… where it’s supposed to be safer!… Let’s go investigate safety!…
Princess Karnilla:
Well… Okay…
The intrepid princess detectives make their way inside after the shiny colossus. Former Shield agent Piper, along with enchanted former Shield agents Bobby Morse the Valkyrie, and Lance Hunter, now a monk of Avalon, take notice as the detective duo make their way inside.
Piper:
Now where are those two heading off to in the middle of all this?…
Hunter The Monk:
The royal heirs do seem rather adept at slipping their guards…
Morse The Valkyrie:
If their proper guards are lax in this duties… then we must make up the difference… Everyone else is too busy to even notice them slip away…
Piper:
Wow… You two are still whammied I take it… Fine then… There’s no one else… So we’re the imperial babysitters now… Lets go…
Piper, Morse, and Hunter follow the dynastic duo inside. The shiny colossus makes his way inside to find his Katya waiting for him, leaning up against the base of the primitive but elaborate telescope.
Piotr:
Katya… What by the heavens and the nine realms has happened to you?… Boshmoi!… You fell through the roof!… But you’re okay!… What magic is this?…
Katya:
Oh Piotr… You don’t remember that part… do you?… Well it won’t matter for long… I have what it you need for what ails you… for your ailing head…
Piotr:
My ailing head?… What of your ailing head?… Katya my love… Your mind has been enchanted… as well as your body…
Katya:
Aw shucks Piotr… I think your pretty hot too… Now come over here and let me give you something… Then everything will be alright…
Piotr:
Very well my love… If you say so…
The shiny colossus makes his way over to Katya just as the intrepid princess detectives sneak in behind them, magically cloaked by little Karnilla’s sneaky Snoopy charm that her grand mother Queen Karnilla gave her. Katya pulls out a small crystal pendent on a silvery chain, and holds it up to Piotr’s face and begins to twirl it gently as it begins to emit bright sparkling light, like an overclocked disco ball, then flashes blinding white for a second. Piotr collapses unconscious as the sneaky detectives watch.
Princess Frigga:
What did you do to the shiny man?!?…
Princess Karnilla:
Frigga!…
Frigga and little Karnilla shimmer into view as they uncloak.
Princess Frigga:
Explain yourself this instant!…
Katya:
Princess Karnilla?… Here?… My you two have wondered off the royal reservation…
Princess Karnilla:
How do you know my name?… And what did you do to Piotr?…
Katya:
Oh… I won’t be telling any bedtime stories little girl… not even for royalty… And Piotr is with me… always was… He just doesn’t remember it… But now that he’s been treated… we’ll be blowing this dump ASAP…
Piotr:
Kitty?… Is that you?… Suddenly… I’m no so sure of myself… let alone anyone else…
Princess Frigga:
How do we know that you didn’t whammy him?… You’re not going anywhere with the shiny man… not until we get answers!…
Kitty:
I don’t answer to preschoolers kid… Just try and stop us…
Princess Frigga:
Your funeral witch!… Get ready to fry!…
Princess Frigga starts to ramp up her lightening, and gets ready to zap Kitty Katya.
Princess Karnilla:
Wait!… We don’t know…
Just as Piotr comes to his feet, Princess Frigga unleashes her full power at Kitty Katya, but zaps Piotr with it instead, as Piotr rises to his feet in between them.
Princess Frigga:
Shiny man!…
Princess Karnilla:
Frigga!…
Before Frigga can cancel out her own power, the lightening strike knocks Piotr up and back over Kitty Katya’s head, and through a wall, hurtling into the surrounding hills.
Princess Karnilla:
Frigga!… You zapped Piotr through the wall!… Even if he is made of metal… watch who you’re zapping!…
Princess Frigga:
Sorry…
Kitty:
Normally I don’t like getting my hands dirty… especially with kids… But for you sparky… I’ll make an exception…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Kitty:
You will be kid… You will be…
Kitty Katya unsheathes the katana strapped to her back, and begins to make her way to the sparkly target. Princess Frigga starts to ramp up her lightening to defend her self but panics and begins to strike out at random to the surrounding walls.
Princess Karnilla:
That’s more than enough lightening for one day… Thank you very much…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Princess Karnilla grabs Princess Frigga, and drags her away, as they shimmer away, magically cloaked. Kitty Katya pauses momentarily before continuing the pursuit.
Kitty:
You can’t hide from me little witch… not for long…
Piper:
She won’t have to…
Just as the shadowy Katya moves in for the kill against the cloaked royal heirs, Piper rushes in, and whips out a silvery cross from her nun’s habit, and extends the bottom portion of the cross as it detaches from the main body of the cross, attached by a chain concealed inside the cross, similar the kusurigama, the weighted chain and sickle of ninjutsu. Piper whips the weighted chain around and wraps it around Kitty Katya’s katana, and rips the sword right out of her hands, and through the air, where the katana is caught deftly by Morse the Valkyrie. Lance Hunter, the monk of Avalon, suddenly changes and shape shifts into a light brown furred wolfkin form, still clad in his monk’s robes, and chases after the black clad kunoichi.
Kitty:
Well… This party just got way too crowded and complicated… And my business is done here anyway… Time to catch up to boy toy…
Kitty Katya does a series of back flips away from the attacking wolfkin, and phases right through a wall behind her as she retreats.
Morse The Valkyrie:
She’s disappeared through the wall!… Is she some sort of sprite?… or phantom?… or just some witch perhaps?…
Piper:
Unknown… But those are not our only choices… Are you kids okay?… Show yourselves!… Now!…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Princess Karnilla:
Stop saying that…
Princess Frigga and Princess Karnilla shimmer into view and walk back towards the others, having run off to hide after cloaking.
Piper:
Don’t go wondering by yourselves like that again little girls… I don’t care how royal you are… And what the hell was up with the ninja chick in black?… Is The Hand out of red pajamas all of sudden?…
Princess Karnilla:
She seemed rather familiar with Piotr… Like he belonged with her… or so she claimed…
The Wolf King, and King T’Challa rush in to the room to investigate.
Wolf King:
What the hell happened here?… Did Princess Frigga just blow a hole in the wall?…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Princess Karnilla:
Stop saying that… Some woman put the whammy on Piotr daddy… She claimed to be helping him… And she knew my name… and that I was royal… She called me ‘Princess Karnilla’…
Wolf King:
Explicitly by name?…
Princess Karnilla:
Yes daddy… Before Frigga here sent Piotr through a wall trying to zap the ninja lady…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Princess Karnilla:
Stop saying that…
King T’Challa:
This is most disturbing… We are beset by new enemies at every turn… And royal heirs cannot go without their guards under such circumstances… especially when they are already targets of the enemy…
Princess Karnilla:
Yes your majesty… We… won’t go wondering off alone again…
Princess Frigga:
I said I was sorry…
Wolf King:
Hunter?… I that you?… Are you wolfkin?…
The light furred wolfkin in the monk’s robes shape shifts back into his normal human appearance.
Hunter The Monk:
Yes your majesty… as a refugee in Liber Avalon… exiled from normal human society because of my curse…
Wolf King:
It’s not a curse… It’s just part of our nature… Naughty by nature I guess… The curse is having it sealed away… But I can’t even tell if this how you were before… or how this latest enchantment made you… And your heads are still scrambled… You two little girls are in serious trouble with me right now… You two will stick like glue to Piper here… no wondering… no questioning… got it?…
Princess Karnilla:
Yes daddy…
Princess Frigga:
Yes your majesty…
Wolf King:
And you had better hope that Piotr is okay little girl… We can’t even check on him right now because of the compromised airspace…
King T’Challa:
I believe that I may be able to track them on foot…
Hunter The Monk:
I have the ninja woman’s scent… I could take him…
Wolf King:
Good… you go with him… If we have to brave to surrounding area beyond this compound right now… we’d had better stay light and nimble… and strictly adhere to the buddy system…
King T’Challa:
Agreed… let’s get going Mr. Hunter… Even if this Piotr is okay… there may be other dangers lurking… as they seem to be coming out of the wood work at the moment…
Wolf King:
No kidding…
The demon bear let’s out another howl, and horses are again heard panicking in the distance. King T’Challa and Hunter the Monk head after Piotr through the hole in the wall. And the rest head back out to check on the others working on Yelena. They find Yelena sitting up but still slowly healing under the influence of the white flames that Darcy and Dr. Foster are still bathing her with, while Lord Balder looks on with gradually easing concern.
Natasha:
What was that?…
Wolf King:
Just another enemy… and possibly some friendly fire from Princess Frigga… Is she going to make it?… I hate to be callous… but this is not the best place to be having proper medical care at the moment… never was really…
Yelena The Valkyrie:
I… will be fine… eventually… after I’m done mourning my mother… Because she is dead!…
Necromancer:
I am so sorry Yelena…
Yelena The Valkyrie:
Stop saying that like it matters…
Ilsa and Helga come screeching in at full speed on a pair of hot rodded racing hoverquads armed with plasma cannon, and barely slow down enough to come to a hover just above the deck by the others.
Wolf King:
Show offs… Was there a point to not using stealth?…
Helga:
I heard stealth was iffy… And speed is my go to jam…
Ilsa:
Where’s the demon bear?…
Wolf King:
In and out of a parallel world of some kind… details being sorted as we speak…
Helga:
You two!… If I weren’t busy with bigger bads than you two little girls right now… we’d be having a long conversation about something our dad invented in Niflheim… called the penalty box… Just you wait little girls… Don’t worry… I’m sure you’ll eventually get a turn…
Wolf King:
Stowe it Helga we don’t have time… Go ahead and land…
Helga and Ilsa land their quads. Helga glances over at the two power princesses again and points two fingers at her own eyes, then points them at the two girls.
Ilsa:
So… what are we doing?…
Wolf King:
Luring and serenading savage beasts… with the siren song of magical flutes… hopefully…
A few hillsides away, Hunter and T’Challa catch up with Piotr, only to find the formerly metal colossus, unharmed in his landing crater, turned back to ordinary flesh of slightly shorter stature, and making out with the young kunoichi woman in black, with her hood removed revealing a young brunette woman. T’Challa motions for Hunter to get low and quietly observe from their vantage point.
Piotr:
I’m glad to be back… my kittycat… And part of me is glad to be done with the poison of politics… With my cover blown… I can never go back…
Kitty:
Your cover’s not blown if all of the witnesses are dead…
Piotr:
That sounds rather extreme for you… Is what happened to Ogun bothering you that much?…
Kitty:
I threatened to kill the little lightening girl… I didn’t have to… I just felt like… killing something… Without Ogun… I feel like a trapped animal in here… Everyone is our enemy… And there is no way out… The fate of Ogun could easily be ours… or worse…
Piotr:
There may yet be a way out… The black queen may not be trustworthy… But I’m sure she’ll think of something eventually… We will not be trapped in here with her forever my love… But we must be going… or we will share Ogun’s fate…
The brunette kunoichi pulls out her crystal pendent again and starts to wave it around above her head. The crystal pendent begins to sparkle again, then flashes blinding white for an instant, disappearing them instantly.
Hunter The Monk:
They got away!…
King T’Challa:
Yes… And in this instance… I think that we’re better off that they had… We may have potential allies in the midst of the enemy…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
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