Defenders Of Midgard, #TheDefendersOfMidgard , An MCU Fan Fiction, Chapter 23: Stealing Light From The Dark!
How Art Thou Fallen From Heaven, O Lucifer, Son Of The Morning! How Art Thou Cut Down To The Ground, Which Didst Weaken The Nations!
Chapter 23: Stealing Light From The Dark!
Isaiah 14:12
How Art Thou Fallen From Heaven, O Lucifer, Son Of The Morning!
How Art Thou Cut Down To The Ground, Which Didst Weaken The Nations!
The Black Smith Gabriel Reyes and Helga Ward come rushing out of Gabriel’s BBN analysis lab to check on Princess Sparkles after hearing about the showdown with the new Hydra after it’s over. They find Princess Frigga Foster, Princess of Asgard, sitting on the edge of her daddy Thor Odinson’s flying boat practicing using the Gravitonium to manipulate small multicolored alphabet blocks in the air to help keep the six-inch pixie infant, and the budding winged cherub Michael Selvig occupied as they fly about in front of Princess Sparkles. Various multicolored sparkles swirl around the flying infants, along with the alphabet blocks, while numerous brightly colored FSB butterfly drones fly in formation with them. Leopold Fits tends to the flying boat while being assisted by his vampire girlfriend Dr. Jemma Simmons, AKA Madame Web, the mother of his pixie infant daughter. Madame Web’s golem and power prism, the small sparkling ruby red tarantula sized spider drone called Agent Romanov, now rests upon her shoulder seemingly waiting for orders.
Helga Ward:
Frigga!?!… You’re still here!?!… You’re giving me a complex kid… I wake up sometimes worrying where you’ve flown off to… before I realize that I’m actually off duty… What are you doing?… Don’t tell me your mother finally gave you that scepter…
Princess Frigga:
She did!… And I’m practicing!… And I’m watching the others!…
Dr. Spectrum:
She is helping… But what are those extra rainbow sparkles little girl?… Are you fabricating?…
Princess Frigga:
Yes!… But nothing new!… Most of them were already made by mommy before she gave me the scepter… They’re like Space Crow’s mini crow golems… which are little FSB Gravitonium manipulator drones… based on the work of Dr. Franklin Hall… They help project and control the artificial gravity field… But mom made them into butterflies for me… I like butterflies… especially sparkly rainbow butterflies…
Dr. Spectrum:
Who’s this Space Crow person I keep hearing about?… I’ve never heard of a Space Crow in D&D… Is that some sort of demon bird?…
Madame Web:
That’s Ned Leed’s new call sign… as a probationary Shield Agent… with Grant Ward as his SO… And I have to admit… not doing too bad a job of it… It was Ward that called him Space Crow… But the Wolf King isn’t his only supervisor… or trainer… Ned is also helping Ward edit his confessional memoirs… Shield is supposed to vet and clear them for publication… as propaganda for the war… They’re not bad actually… Kind of hard to read in some parts… especially the ones with us in them… You should read them… to add your own commentary and testimony… He’s been asking everyone he knew before… before he came back from the dead… the franker the better… I’ve already contributed!… You should try it… It’s probably cathartic… for people who need that sort of thing…
Dr. Spectrum:
Will do…
Helga Ward:
How are you two so nonchalant about what just happened at the Hollywood Bowl?!?… With Hive?!?… and the Red Skull?!?…
Dr. Spectrum:
Hive and the Red Skull!?!… They’re both dead!…
Madame Web:
Not anymore it seems… Hive was resurrected earlier on in here… There were a lot of random resurrections when the Psycho Fandango first started… Including Hive… and even Will!… who’s a part of a budding astronaut training program in here now… along with Space Crow and Ward… But Hive’s been laying low ever since making a very bloody and gruesome display on a hillside to announce its return… Daisy and Ward are both on the war path about it… especially now…
The Blue Angel Darcy Selvig appears in the Cal Tech courtyard in a brief flash, holding hands with her husband with one hand, Dr. Eric Selvig AKA Doc Samson, and wielding Excalibur with the other, before Excalibur disappears from her hand.
Blue Angel:
Come to mama magic Mikey… Mama needs angel hugs…
Young Michael Selvig flies over into the eagerly awaiting arms of his mother.
Doc Samson:
You can’t blame yourself Darcy… The sword doesn’t belong to him… And apparently this Colossus person isn’t evil enough to be harmed by the white flames… not like the Red Skull… not enough to prevent him from stripping the sword from Capt. Rogers… You can only lend Capt. Rogers your power… But he doesn’t have the power to keep it…
Blue Angel:
Then he needs an Excalibur of his own that he can keep!… one that won’t shatter on first contact with the Red Skull’s neck!…
Dr. Spectrum:
Can’t he make one with his own FSB?… Or has he refused one?…
Blue Angel:
His Avenger friends decided not to give him one worrying that it might complicate him… mentally… because of his enchantment… That’s hit and miss in here… and the misses can be rather extreme… like Venom… formerly Spider Man…
Dr. Spectrum:
What in bloody hell happened to Spider Man?… Because of FSBs?…
Madame Web:
When the Psycho Fandango first hit us… Parker was enchanted into something like a spider goblin… according to Ilsa and Helga… who would know having lots of experience with them in Niflheim… Bloody experts apparently… Ilsa used a magic music cure on him… and it worked somewhat… But then she gave him an FSB of his own to help… and it did physically… But then he developed this alternate persona of Venom… and has been working with the Black Queen ever since… Space Crow became Space Crow largely to deal with Venom… and maybe rescue his friend Peter Parker from it…
Dr. Spectrum:
This is a total bloody nightmare… a nightmare of my own making…
Madame Web:
You can’t blame yourself for this Fits… You didn’t do any of this…
Dr. Spectrum:
No… I just made it all possible by inventing the damn FSB to begin with… It doesn’t matter what anyone else did with it… I made this possible… And I couldn’t stop it… But I have to make it right…
Blue Angel:
But the FSBs did help Eric remember being Dr. Eric Selvig… And they protected everyone that had one… They were good at protection… just not curing… at least not reliably… Now… The resurrection of the Red Skull seems to have snapped the Star-Spangled Knight out of his enchantment mentally… mostly… He remembers the Avengers now… And he definitely remembers Yohan Schmidt… But he seems to be worried about the fate of his angel girlfriend… He seems to think that Peggy Carter is alive in here… as an angel…
The Nova Queen to be Dr. Jane Foster flies in with her white flames blazing before touching down on the deck of Thor’s flying boat, and extinguishing her flames, followed quickly by Thor Odinson, the groom and captain of the ship himself landing next to his Nova bride.
Nova:
Well that could have gone better… I need to train more…
Blue Angel:
If you say so Dr. Nova… Thor… You know magic stuff… right?… There has got to be some magic way to give Capt. America his own Excalibur… Right?…
Thor Odinson:
Possibly… But I doubt it could ever be the same… It would certainly be no easy feat… It would be a minor miracle all its own… And I’m no craftsman of that skill… The dwarves of Nidavellir could possibly do it… Queen Karnilla certainly has great skill in this regard… although not as great as the dwarves… I agree with you completely Darcy… But providing a weapon worthy of Capt. America will be no small challenge… I’m surprised that he can’t wield Mjolnir frankly… I still suspect that he may someday… But I can’t really share that either… even if he could…
Dr. Nova:
We could just make him a Vibranium sword to go with his Vibranium shield… But that would be really expensive… And it could still be taken away… repeatedly… very expensive… beyond Stark expensive… It takes too long to synthesize with FSBs…Frigga’s scepter took about a year… Do we really have that kind of time?…
Dr. Spectrum:
Hopefully not… But it might be a little while more than I had hoped… I already know that I’m going to have to retool my hypothetical cure somewhat… My initial idea was correct… but back-ass-wards in a way… Perhaps a multipronged approach may be in order…
Thor Odinson:
Now Master Fits… Don’t tell me that you’ve just been leading us all along now…
Dr. Spectrum:
No… It can still work… just not exactly the way I was thinking… I was thinking of applying the magic music cure to the FSBs… But that only works on the spirits of the living… It would be like trying to magically heal a toaster by singing to it…
Dr. Nova:
That was what Stark just said…
Dr. Spectrum:
I was thinking of using the music to cure the tech… then using the tech to cure the people… But it just won’t work that way… The music cure has to applied to the people in order to affect the tech… then free the city… not the other way around… But that makes it all the more difficult to test… Because we’re probably going to have to apply it to the whole city all at once… We have to be able to magically cure any given individual completely… just to know if we can apply it to the whole population of LA… all at once… Has anything worked that well reliably so far?…
Madame Web:
Only magic music and FSBs… but not reliably…
Blue Angel:
The white flames of Excalibur have worked a little… and prayer… But can we do all that for an entire city?…
Dr. Nova:
We may have to find out…
Dr. Spectrum:
Prayer?… Angel prayer?…
Dr. Nova:
From the Acolytes of Avalon…
Dr. Spectrum:
Sounds like some sort of cosplay choir group…
Doc Samson:
Many of us in here have been enchanted with the memories of training and study in the real Avalon… including myself… In my enchanted false memories… I was born and raised in the monasteries there as an orphan… Lady Sif was once a scholar in the archives there for real… It was founded by Christian fairy folk… and uses Christian magic… for lack of a better word… The Avalonian Orthodox Order incorporated the magic of the fay into their Christian faith… which led to all sorts of political conflict with the Vatican… They automatically dismissed and demonized all such fairy folk as simply creatures of the devil… This was exploited by the Black Queen as a weapon against Avalon… operating under the name Lady Gallio… Many of us feel the need as I do… to go to the real Avalon… to confirm it exists for ourselves directly… and to confirm what they have learned from it…
Dr. Spectrum:
I’ve heard of Avalonian Orthodox… I learned about it when I was training in magic with my great great grandmother Queen Karnilla and my grandmother Ursula… in Nornheim… I included some of their literature in with the standard issue archives of the FSBs… I suspect I was raised that way without really knowing… I always just thought we were some sort of Catholic or Anglican thing… although we never went to church… Bible study was strictly a private matter in our house… Mostly between just me and me mum… Dad never really seemed religious to me growing up… He was also mostly busy with work… protecting the world and that sort of thing… I was never really all that religious mostly… or even thinking that much about it… until I started learning magic… I guess I grew out of it because I didn’t see the power of it… compared to technology that I could master and control… and engineer…
Madame Web:
We were Anglican… But not church going… My parents always stressed the use of reason in religion… The pursuit of reason and science was virtually a matter of faith in our house… I just kind of moved on with reason and science from there… and didn’t think much about the rest until I became a vampire… Perhaps a little too late… to say the least… Agent May was raised by a cult dedicated to opposing and destroying the hand… called The Chaste… of all things… and ran away from it in her youth… only to be turned into a vampire by the Hand… I can only imagine her issues…
Black Smith:
Robbie and I were raised Catholic… But where we grew up… and the way we grew up… we didn’t seem to have much time for it… It was kind of like a luxury belief that we were too poor to afford the time for… until Robbie’s head started catching fire as the Ghost Rider on a regular basis… Maybe that’s just another example of too little too late again…
Helga Ward:
Growing up in Niflheim… We just took these things for granted… It was a daily reality for us… But I couldn’t tell you what I believe about it… It’s not even a question of belief… only sorting out the details… usually just friend or foe… with little time for the other details… Mom didn’t talk much about Avalon growing up… still doesn’t…
Princess Frigga:
What do you believe daddy?… I’m… What are we again mommy?… aggy something?…Agnostic!… I’m agnostic… I think… That means we don’t jump to conclusions without proof… for science!…
Dr. Nova:
You don’t have to be agnostic all the time for science little girl… just within science… as a part of the process of science… in accordance with the scientific method… I choose to be completely agnostic because I can’t bring myself to trust anything else… But you don’t have to be agnostic for my sake… just for science…
Thor Odinson:
Well… I guess you could say that I’m more of a traditionalist by Asgardian standards… Some have even called me a fundamentalist… A term that we didn’t even have till we learned it from Midgard… I believe in the sacred life of Yggdrasil… I guess you could call that the official religion of Asgard… We believe that the gods of Asgard… to the extent that they may be properly considered as such… are made to protect Yggdrasil… We exist for the sake of Yggdrasil… and we exist because of Yggdrasil… The very kingship of Asgard is defined by its primary duty to protect Yggdrasil… It is not simply a tree… nor is it simply the trans dimensional physics of the thing that your mother has dedicated her life to studying scientifically… Yggdrasil is life… It is the very life and spirit of the universe itself made manifest in living physical form… in order to physically bind the disparate realms together… And it is believed that Yggdrasil created the continent of Asgard itself… simply as an extension of Yggdrasil… It is a common joke in Asgard… that Asgard itself is just Yggdrasil’s flower pot!… If you ask a devotee of the Avalonian Orthodox Order… they’ll tell you that the angel Mithras made Yggdrasil… acting as the hand of God almighty… in accordance with God’s will… in order to serve as an instrument of God… Whether Yggdrasil is God almighty… or is just made by God almighty… its life and its power is nonetheless sacred… And I believe in the sacred life of Yggdrasil…
Princess Frigga:
Cooool…
Dr. Nova:
I’ve seen this tree… Haven’t I?… I thought it was just ceremonial… big… and bioluminescent… magically holographic… but ceremonial… It didn’t even have any protection… outside of being grown indoors… somehow magically without sunlight… or even grow lights…
Thor Odinson:
It is not meant to be protected that way… In fact… all Asgardians are expected to visit it… and to touch it for themselves at least once in their long life… But access has to be restricted at least a little… or the crush would overrun and overwhelm…
Princess Frigga:
Does that mean that I can touch it?…
Thor Odinson:
You have my word as your father and a prince of Asgard… You will see and touch sacred Yggdrasil for yourself my little princess…
Princess Frigga:
Cool!…
Downtown, another princess from another kingdom makes her way through the streets barefoot, glowing with orangish red skin, glowing yellow eyes, and a flaming head of hair in the smoggy steamy aftermath of the volcano she just made there, as it continues to cool, steam, and glow a molten glow. As the Inhuman granddaughter of the Black Queen Selene, makes her way through the streets, she comes across various stray monsters fleeing the battlefield, and takes the trouble to either incinerate or singe them with hurled masses of flaming magma, conjured out of the palms of her hands, while seemingly enjoying the exercise.
As the combatants finally clear out completely, Amara Reyes douses her flames and returns to her normal human appearance, barefoot in her matte black FSB cat suit decorated with red roses and green thorny stems and wearing a matte black cross on a matte black chain hanging around her neck. As she makes her way back to the Johnson Building, a woman in a matte black hooded cloak with the hood up speaks to her from a nearby alley as she approaches Amara and removes her hood to reveal the face of the Black Queen Selene.
Black Queen Selene:
Who do you think you are little girl?… The Sprite of Vengeance?…
Amara Reyes:
Grandma!?!…
Black Queen Selene:
Do your parents know that you're cosplaying as a spirit of vengeance Mara?… I don’t think that they would approve… not with Alveus on the loose who knows where… Have they told you about him?… How are you or Emma even allowed to go anywhere near this chaos while Alveus is alive and free?…
Amara Reyes flares up again with her reddish orange flames and orangish red skin, and her feet begin to melt the pavement where she stands as the ground trembles slightly like an aftershock.
Amara Reyes:
I’m not afraid of Alveus or you!… Come any closer and we’ll see who’s an angel of death or a spirit of vengeance…
Black Queen Selene:
Alveus goes by Madame Hydra now… And presumably she just escaped to build her army of Inhuman slaves elsewhere… or so I hear… and after taking two of my most powerful soldiers with her on the way out… Your hostility would be better directed towards a proper threat… But why so hostile with me little Mara?… I’ve always been good to you…
Amara Reyes:
You lying psychopath!… You turned us into murderers!… In a blood sport!… As a test!… For children!?!… Mother doesn’t completely remember Nova Roma… She probably doesn’t want to… And I don’t blame her… I wish I could forget… Emma and Robin were the only ones you didn’t bloody that way… Robin’s powers weren’t useful that way… But Emma was always too strong for you to force her… So you never tried… I guess even the Angel of Death has her limits…
Black Queen Selene:
Your sister couldn’t prevent you from participating… So I guess she has her limits too…
Amara’s sister Emma Frost shimmers into view having walked up on them with FSB stealth measures engaged, revealing her wearing a white FSB made cat suit, and wearing a white hooded rainslicker overcoat with the hood up and white knee-high biker boots. Emma pulls her hood down to confront her grandmother face to face as she approaches.
Emma Frost:
You can test those limits any time you want grandma… Any time… I’ve gotten a lot stronger since Nova Roma… I’ve been getting a lot of practice lately… You might know something about that… Maybe I’ll even topple you grandma… and become a White Queen… Your dad told you not to linger Mara… And this is exactly why… She’s all too predictable… even if I couldn’t sense her presence… And FYI grandma… I can now… You can’t hide from the White Queen… not anymore…
Black Queen Selene:
Well your majesty… apparently the angels still can… so much for the White Queen…
The Black Queen’s enslaved Archangel Samuel drops down out of the sky and comes crashing down to a firm footed landing that cracks the cobblestone pavement beneath his feet.
White Queen:
I’m not impressed with your winged boytoy… Bare foot and bare chested with leather pants grandma?… Really?…
Amara Reyes:
I’m not calling him grandad…
Black Queen Selene:
I’ll settle for you calling him sir… Miss Magma…
White Queen:
Over my dead body!…
Miss Magma:
Fry’em Emma!…
The young White Queen raises her hands to her temples and begins to concentrate. A white glow suddenly surrounds Emma’s and Samuel’s heads as Samuel is lifted up off the ground and momentarily seems to reel in pain gripping his head in his hands.
White Queen:
The White Queen doesn’t just read minds grandma!… I can also break them!… or even free them!…
The white glow emanating from Emma and Samuel suddenly turns into white flames. Emma begins to shake and tremble as Samuel’s arms and wings spread wide in a sudden spasm as he hangs in the air a few feet above the ground. The white flames then flare out from Samuel’s wings and body, engulfing him, as well as Emma’s head, before dousing suddenly as Emma and Samuel both hit the ground unconscious.
Miss Magma:
Emma!?!… What did you do to her?!?… Is that some sort of curse witch?!?…
Amara runs over to kneel on the ground to check on the unconscious Emma.
Black Queen Selene:
Me!?!… Emma did this to herself!… playing with things that are beyond both of you little Miss Magma!… And you would do well to remember the example of the White Queen!…
Miss Magma:
Enough!…
Miss Magma stands up and her flames flare up higher again and the ground starts to steadily shake beneath their feet as they are suddenly and rapidly approached on the city streets by a pair of FSB motorcycles from one direction, and the Ghost Rider’s flaming Hell Charger from the other.
Black Queen Selene:
Oh great… The son-in-law from Hellraiser… arriving with the boytoys from Niflheim… Be careful of Zarathos Mara… You have more than enough darkness to earn some wrath of your own… Be careful how you choose to indulge it around your father…
The Black Queen turns into a black silhouette of herself surrounded by a bright white halo, before disappearing completely in a bright white flash, just before the Ghost Rider and the boytoys come screeching to a halt before them. The boytoys so-called are Mara and Emma’s boyfriends, the sons of the Wolf King, Loki ‘Loco’ Ward and the Spartan Grant Ward Junior, both with plasma rifles strapped to their backs. Spartan jumps off his bike and rushes over to Emma on the ground. Loco dismounts and pulls a plasma rifle strapped to his back and levels it at the unconscious Archangel Samuel on the ground. The Ghost Rider simply disembarks from the Hell Charger as its flames die down, and he walks calmly and silently towards Amara with his skull still aflame.
Spartan:
Emma!?!… Emma!?!… What happened to her Mara?…
Loco:
What happened to her?… Who waylaid the Dark Angel Sam?… We’ve been trying to do that for months…
Miss Magma:
Don’t call him that!… I don’t know what happened to them… Grandma tried to use him against us… and Emma attacked the angel’s mind… to free him I guess… Then there was some weird reaction… Dad!… Dad?… Z-man?…
Mara turns to address the Ghost Rider now looming behind her.
Miss Magma:
Dad?… Are you in there?… Z-Man?…
Ghost Rider:
We are vengeance for the soul of Amara Reyes… against… Miss Magma…
The Ghost Rider grabs Miss Magma’s arms and pulls her to within inches away from him, face to flaming face and eye to flaming eye socket.
Loco:
What is he doing?!?… To his own daughter!?!…
Spartan:
Shut up Loco!… I’ve heard of this… This is the Penance Stare… It has the potential to redeem… supposedly… The rider must think she needs it… There’s nothing we can do about it regardless at this point… The Ghost Rider is a virtual force of nature…
Suddenly Miss Magma’s flames flare up high for a moment then douse completely as she returns to her normal human appearance. Then the Ghost Rider releases her, and she collapses to her knees on the ground shaking and weeping.
Loco:
Mara!?!…
Loco lowers his plasma rifle and rushes over to see to his girlfriend Mara on the ground.
Loco:
Why?!?… Why do this to your own daughter?!?…
Dark Angel Sam:
To correct the errors of the dark… one must cast a true light… But the light of truth burns those who would rather hide in shame…
The Dark Angel Samuel sits up having awoken with his eyes glowing white momentarily with cataracts, before the glow wears off and leaves nothing but the plain white cataracts behind.
Dark Angel Sam:
Hellfire isn’t called hellfire because it comes from hell… but because it delivers hell to those who are worthy of it… It is a correcting message from God almighty… a message of holy wrath… the truth of God that burns away all lies…
Spartan:
Dude… Are you okay?…
White Queen:
He’s fine… Finer than me… My head hurts… And everything is so loud in my head now… All of the voices are so much louder now…
A light blue glow begins to emanate momentarily from the middle of Emma’s forehead, and a translucent blue oval jewel appears embedded vertically aligned in her forehead as the glow dies down and disappears leaving it behind. A similar translucent red jewel materializes in a reddish glow embedded in Sam’s forehead vertically aligned the same way. Then Emma sits up and opens her eyes and feels at the jewel in her forehead with her own hand as if to verify it was real as she stares at the similar red jewel in Sam’s forehead.
White Queen:
What the hell just happened to me?… And what the hell is this?!?…
Dark Angel Sam:
I don’t know what it looks like to you… But it is the third eye of the angel… no matter what form it takes or how it appears… I’m starting to remember now… I remember who I really am… US Air Force pararescue man Capt. Samuel Wilson… honorably discharged… But I also remember what I became… and then what the Black Queen made of me… I’m still sorting through it in my head… But I’m pretty sure I remember everything now… Making sense of it is not so easy by comparison…
White Queen:
Oh my God Mara!…
The White Queen gets up and walks over to kneel down and console her sister, practically ripping her out of Loco’s arms while he was doing the same.
White Queen:
I warned you Mara… Your dad warned you too… But he didn’t know the half of it did he?… not like I did… Fat lot of good I did for knowing better… What’s that?… Zarathos?… Is that… you?…
Dark Angel Sam:
Yeah… That’s him… You can hear him too now?… Or could you before?…
White Queen:
I couldn’t before… I could never read the rider at all before… But now I can’t seem to block him out… And I can’t make out a single word of what he’s saying in his flaming head… Is he saying anything?… It sounds like Hebrew… Let me guess… ‘We are vengeance’?…
Sam levitates of the ground to his feet and spreads his wings as if to feel them out for the first time.
Dark Angel Sam:
Its ancient Hebrew… He seems to be ranting about Lucifer… personal things… like a list of personal grievances that keep repeating endlessly in his head like some broken loop mantra… I think he says that… he’s the son of Lucifer… And that his father Lucifer led him into the betrayal of God almighty… joining his father in the war of angels against the Archangel Michael and the angels of God… Lucifer… is his father… the great betrayer… over and over again… It seems we know what drives the spirit of vengeance… towards vengeance…
Ghost Rider:
We are vengeance!… We are vengeance upon the father betrayer!… We are vengeance upon the father of lies!… We are vengeance upon the father and betrayer of Zarathos!… We are vengeance upon the great betrayer Lucifer!… And we shall be vengeance upon all those who choose to follow in the path of the great betrayer Lucifer!…
The Ghost Rider’s flames extinguish and Robbie Reyes, Amara Reyes’ father, returns to his normal human appearance. Then he kneels down to address his still shaking daughter as her sister Emma comforts her.
Robbie Reyes:
I warned you girl… I tried to hold the rider back… But I’ve been doing it for a while now… And you just kept pushing… Vengeance isn’t a game… It’s not an outlet… And it sure as hell aint therapy… We sensed the darkness in you… when you first came back to us… I knew you had been through things… in Nova Roma… things that you weren’t about to talk about to your old man… who was effectively a total stranger to you at the time… But rather than take fair warning to heart… multiple warnings… from multiple people… you started to let the darkness get the better of you… There are always consequences to that… And not just to you… Emma… Are you okay?…
White Queen:
Yeah dad… I’m fine… Better than fine actually… If anything I’m overamped… It’s kind of giving me a headache actually… Whatever this thing in my forehead is… It seems to have amplified my powers… considerably… and I can’t seem to shut it off or shut it out…
Dark Angel Sam:
So this isn’t normal for you?… This cacophony of voices?…
White Queen:
No… You can hear that too?… When I tried to free your mind from grandma’s control I may have overpowered it… I was going for broke hoping it might just barely be enough… I guess I didn’t know my own strength… Now I really don’t… The psychic connection we made must have… unlocked some things… in both of us apparently… Are you… blind now?…
Dark Angel Sam:
Yes… But I am free… And I am eternally grateful to you for it… Never forget that… And in compensation… you seem to have given me your power in return… A new way of seeing… and listening… But I suspect we may both have some trouble getting used to it…
Miss Magma:
Great… You get touched by an angel and I get the Penance Stare…
Robbie Reyes:
And you earned it Miss Tude… And you need to learn from it… and remember what that cross you like to wear really means… The penance stare isn’t therapy… and it doesn’t guarantee salvation… Its way more than fair warning… And it’s as close as the rider ever gets to mercy… and past some point even I can’t stay the rider’s hand… And I wouldn’t be so jealous of your sister… That third eye is only for the angels... and even the angels can be corrupted by that power…
White Queen:
Wait… Are you saying that I’m like a necromancer now?… Because of this?… How do I turn it off?… Is there a cure?… Can’t we just cut it out?… I don’t want to be the White Queen anymore… That was such a stupid smash mouth brag…
Dark Angel Sam:
The necromancers are partly corrupted by the profane process of becoming a necromancer… And they are partly corrupted just in pursuit of it to begin with… coveting the power and insight of the angels… The insight alone is not inherently corrupting… But it certainly can be… depending on how it is used…
White Queen:
That is some crazy cosmic divine blowback… Can we go home now?… My head hurts…
Robbie Reyes:
Hell yes we can… You two get in the back of the charger… Boytoys!… You’re on escort duty!…
Boytoys In Unison:
Yes sir!…
Robbie Reyes:
You’re welcome to ride shotgun… if you can figure out how to retract those things…
Dark Angel Sam:
Maybe later… Right now… I just want to fly… and clear my head with some fresh air…
Robbie Reyes:
Fly?… I hate to break it you the hard way dude… But you are a blind man now… With all due respect… are you nuts?… How you gonna fly blind?… Wait… Do you see like the winged horses see now?… like magic bats?… Are you Batman now?…
Dark Angel Sam:
There are many ways to see… And I have to see and fly for myself… And they call me Dark Angel Sam now… Hadn’t you heard?… With what I’ve been through… I feel like it fits… No matter why they said it… But wait… Check for me real quick… Am I… still… you know…
Robbie Reyes:
Yeah dude… You’re still black…
Dark Angel Sam:
Oh thank the lord Jesus Christ!… I was genuinely worried… Angels do come in other colors apparently… And I’m just not feeling the blue… It would suck to let a cool name like Dark Angel go to waste… But it would be really embarrassing to wear that handle if I had turned into some kind of albino or something… or just some white chick from Seattle… Catch ya later… vindicator…
The Dark Angel Sam stretches out his wings and flies straight up into the dark skies, flying blind with respect to his eyes, but seemingly knowing exactly where he’s going. Sam flies over in the direction of Capt. Roger’s location, as the captain and company fly to Emerald City in the Black Widow’s open top flying car. Space Crow detects the ariel movement of the incoming bogy heading their way and alerts Iron Man as he flies alongside the flying car in his armor.
Space Crow:
Mr. Stark… We have the fallen one incoming… The electromagnetic signature is a little different now… But the radar profile is the same… And it’s heading your way on an intercept course… and fast…
Iron Man:
I see it… Fly to me Space Crow… We may need some help with containment… But stay cloaked and keep a little distance… And call Sgt. Barnes and King T’Challa while you're at it…
Space Crow:
Roger that boss… Already on my way…
Iron Man:
Heads up Capt. America… I don’t know if you’re ready for this yet Rogers… But Sam is incoming… as in heading for us now…
Capt. America:
I’m as ready as I’m going to get… Do we have any kind of plan?…
Iron Man:
You mean besides stalling for backup that probably won’t get here in time?… a containment plan that we’ve never really had?… and a cure that’s strictly theoretical?… and magically musical?… No… We got nothing… Does Thor have working coms yet?…
Space Crow:
I took the liberty of notifying Thor and Dr. Foster… Thor and the others are already underway in your direction with Thor’s flying boat for other reasons… And they’ve got kids on board… But they’re still going to be a while… I’m here already at least… But I don’t feel up to any wrestling matches with fallen angels in the air… And with all due respect… I suspect you’re not either…
Iron Man:
I’ll say… I just got done wrestling dragons… And I didn’t have to pull any punches with them…
Space Crow:
Here he comes!…
Iron Man and the passengers in the flying car make visual sighting of the Dark Angel Sam as he speeds his way to his friend Capt. Rogers. Iron Man maneuvers around to intercept him in the air. But the Blue Angel Darcy materializes above them in a sudden brief flash of bright light with Thor holding one of her hands, and the white flame engulfed Dr. Nova holding the other. Darcy lets go of them both to fly on their own. Then Thor unleashes a massive lightning strike on Sam from above, driving him down crashing into some abandoned ruins on the ground below.
Iron Man:
Thor!?!… You do know that we’re trying to save that one… Right?…
Thor Odinson:
Angels are supposed to be legendary warriors… even heartier than Asgardians… Even an enchanted fake one will be a mighty challenge…
Iron Man:
He certainly has been… Let’s just hope that’s not a posthumous recognition… Stay up top Space Crow… and maintain comprehensive scan… We’re going in… Any necromancer-like energy flashes that we should know about?…
Space Crow:
There were a couple downtown moments ago… But that may not be related… Just the Black Queen being the Black Queen somewhere else…
Iron Man:
We’d better hope so… We’re not doing too well against the necromancers tonight…
The various Avengers and their associates come down to land and check on Sam among the ruins, and the seemingly disembodied voice of Emma Frost chimes in without coms.
White Queen:
No!… Stop!… Wait!… Sam is okay!… Sam is free!… I freed him!… Don’t hurt him!… He’s not there to harm anyone!… He’s just trying to come home to his friends!…
Capt. America:
Come home to his friends?… And who might you be?… You sound familiar…
White Queen:
It’s Emma Frost Capt. Rogers… I’m the one that you called a mind witch… when I tried to help you before… I know that you remember who you are now… Sam does too… because of me… You're welcome by the way… But you really have to stop smiting him… And FYI… He’s blind now… So… Thor just thundered a blind man into those ruins… technically speaking… Sorry about that part…
Iron Man:
Well Thor… as it turns out… you really would hit a blind man…
Thor Odinson:
How was I supposed to know?…
Iron Man:
You could have waited to see the whites of his eyes…
Thor Odinson:
I didn’t think I would get that close to a fallen one… And you said he was fallen…
Iron Man:
He was…
The Dark Angel Sam busts out of the ruins and explodes upward into the air and stops suddenly about twenty meters up and screams.
Dark Angel Sam:
Thor!… That hurt!… What’s the thundering bright idea hammerhead?… I’ll show you where to stick that hammer in a minute!…
Thor Odinson:
It was Stark’s fault… He lied to me… He said you were fallen… So you can completely blame him…
Iron Man:
Woh… Dick move thunder bro… That was a team fail…
Dr. Nova:
Now I can really see where Princess Sparkles gets that from…
As crossed wires get uncrossed among old friends reunited, back downtown another Shield stakeout spends the aftermath of the most recent battle surveying one particular building from another rooftop deep within enemy territory. Assistant Shield Director Alphonso ‘Mack’ Mackensie, AKA Mack the Executioner, and fellow Shield Agent Elena ‘Yo Yo’ Rodrigues supervise the surveillance mission with their son, probationary Shield agent Lucas Francisco Mackenzie, AKA the Black Bishop of Niflheim.
Standing with them on the roof among the various hover quads, is CIA Agent Everette Ross, wearing a monk’s habit and standing next to his special charge, Nakia of Wakanda. Nakia stands there still enchanted into the form of the legendary storm goddess Ororo, and beholden to Agent Ross as his virtual slave, wearing black robes and long white hair, with pointed elf-like ears, and small white horns at the top corners of her forehead. The bald, armored, and spear toting Gen. Okoye, of the Wakandan Imperial Guard, the Dora Milaje, stands and frets with her old friend Nakia as a virtual chaperon.
Assigned to them, shrunk down and cloaked in a special Pym Particle enabled shuttle, Dr. Henry Pym, the original Ant Man, and his wife and colleague Janet Van Dyne crew the shuttle as it patrols over a small area surrounding one particular building in enemy territory. Dr. Pym sports his sparkly emerald green mantis armor without his helmet, sitting in the pilot seat. Janet wears what looks like a matte black FSB flight suit without a helmet in the navigator’s chair.
The current Ant Man Scott Lang, and Dr. Pym and Janet’s daughter Hope Van Dyne, AKA the Wasp, both sit in the shuttle behind them dressed in FSB versions of there previously unenchanted shrinking suits. They both have slots in the back for their fairy wings and extra room in their retractable helmets for their fairy ears. Scott’s red and green butterfly wings twitch in nervous anticipation, while Hope’s larger wasp wings are held swapped straight back behind her.
Ant Man:
Come on… I was told this was supposed to be a heist… You got me all excited… Now I’m stuck in a stakeout?… a stakeout without coffee and donuts?… Even cops know better than that!…
Mack The Executioner:
Don’t get antsy… Ant Man… Gen. Okoye’s tips have always been good so far… If she says we’ll get a glimpse of the Darkhold… I’m certainly willing to bet more than money on that…
Gen. Okoye:
I just wish I could have seen whether or not we get it…
Ant Man:
Where’s the fun in that?… Prophecy is cheating…
The Black Bishop:
If the job was easy… then it wouldn’t be any fun…
Mack The Executioner:
There’s Ward talking again… I don’t care if he is reformed… That dude’s a bad influence… And you spent way too much time in Niflheim with that dude…
The Black Bishop:
No argument… mostly…
Gen. Okoye:
I hate to have to say this myself… But even I’m starting doubt my own vision here… It didn’t make much sense to begin with… The Dark Angel is always with the Black Queen these days… only leaving to fight alongside Venom downtown… It doesn’t make sense that he and Capt. Rogers would be shaking hands… And that the Black Queen would be walking alone unescorted to consult the Darkhold… But that is definitely the right building… I think… Maybe we’re just really really early… This so-called gift is nothing but a curse of endless frustration and worry!… Now I know why my mother is always so cranky…
Storm Goddess Nakia:
I remember the Darkhold… I don’t care what anyone tells me… I remember all too well how the Black Queen herself used it to enslave me… and then the pharaoh imprisoned me with it… The Darkhold must be destroyed!… along with the Black Queen and all the pharaohs with it!…
Mack The Executioner:
That is the plan… And all the pharaohs are already dead… God and time took care of that a long time ago… Wait… Holy mother of God… The Dark Angel just broke free of the Black Queen… Space Crow tells me that he’s talking to Capt. Rogers right now… Do we have eyes on the Black Queen yet?… or any movement around the target building?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
It continues to be completely dead around the building in question… Probably by design… It may have been chosen because of that… or was ordered to be so… Either way the area sticks out in its inactivity… as far as enemy territory goes… It’s like some dead zone by decree… possibly in more ways than one… Wait… I’ve got a single black robed figure… hooded… walking towards the building from the direction of the old Dunbar… Could be female… Could be her… Going in for a closer look…
As the shrunken and cloaked shuttle dives down to get closer, the black robed and hooded figure pulls the hood down to reveal the Black Queen.
Dr. Henry Pym:
That’s her alright… And she’s approaching the door of the target building…
Mack The Executioner:
Game on!… Get in that door!…
Dr. Henry Pym:
I’m on it…
Ant Man:
The heist is on…
Mack The Executioner:
Alright… Everyone else mount up and maintain stealth… And get ready to provide back up or cover fire… or possibly a distraction if need be…
Storm Goddess Nakia:
The Black Queen and the Darkhold must be destroyed!…
The wind picks up suddenly, swirling around Nakia, and the electricity in the air begins to crackle loudly and wildly around her and throughout the clouds above.
Agent Ross:
Nakia?… Now hold on…
Nakia:
They all must be destroyed!…
Lightning strikes where Nakia was standing on the roof as a hurricane force whirlwind hurls her up into the air, and lightening continues to repeatedly strike the ground all throughout Black Queen’s territory.
Agent Yo Yo:
Madre de Dios!…
The Black Queen herself turns and looks up at the sky, taking casual notice of the unusual weather and grinning in amusement as she enters the door to the building. Dr. Pym takes the opportunity to fly right past her and through the open door as she momentarily looks away.
Dr. Henry Pym:
We’re in!…
Mack The Executioner:
And we’re out effectively!… Because Nakia’s in!… She just lost it and went all in for distraction!… So you’d better be able to use that!… Because that cat’s out of the bag!…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Got it!…
Ant Man:
Yeah!… We got this!… We’re all in now!…
Wasp:
Do you have to sound so excited?…
Ant Man:
Are you kidding?… This is always the second-best part of the heist!… The best part is getting away with it…
Mack The Executioner:
Alright!… Everybody just lay low and grab whatever cover you can!… But get ready to move if this lets up!…
Gen. Okoye:
I certainly didn’t see this!… At least not from her!…
Miles away as Dark Angel Sam and Capt. Rogers are shaking hands, Nakia’s thundering hurricane catches their attention.
Capt. America:
What the hell is that?…
Thor Odinson:
Little Frigga?…
Dr. Nova:
No… She only does Lightning… not weather in general… That’s one power of yours that she doesn’t have… at least not yet as far as I know…
Dark Angel Sam:
It’s Nakia… She was with a team… going after the Darkhold…
Thor Odinson:
The Darkhold!?!… The Darkhold is here?!?… In enemy hands?!?…
Iron Man:
Yes… But in retrospect… maybe sending Nakia wasn’t such a good idea…
Thor Odinson:
How can you all be so calm while the enemy possesses the Darkhold?… Have you no knowledge of its infinite evil?…
Natasha Romanov:
That team that Nakia was on was supposed to steal the Darkhold… and maybe destroy it…
Dark Angel Sam:
The Darkhold cannot be destroyed… It is the tomb and eternal prison of Lucifer… It was made by God almighty… And only God almighty can destroy it…
Thor Odinson:
We’ll see about that!…
Dark Angel Sam:
Wait!…
Thor winds up his hammer and launches himself into the sky, riding the lightning on the way to the storm. Then Sam flies after him.
Dark Angel Sam:
Dammit thunder head!…
Iron Man:
Wait!… Dammit!…
Dr. Nova starts to ramp up her white flames as if to take off.
Iron Man:
No!… Not so fast!… That’s enough of that!… I’ll go after those two… You two get back to the kids and make sure that Princess Sparkle Britches doesn’t join big daddy… like father like daughter apparently…
Dr. Nova:
No kidding…
Iron Man blasts off with maximum speed in the direction of the storm.
Iron Man:
You’re still with me Space Crow… But climb… Grab as much altitude as you can… and get over the top of this storm… I want a comprehensive real-time deep scan of that storm… I need you to be my weatherman Space Crow… I’m heading into the storm…
Space Crow:
Already climbing boss… with more than just the usual dark skies ahead…
Across town on the roof in enemy territory, Mack and his team are laying low and hoping not to get struck by lightning or blown off the roof with hurricane force winds.
Agent Yo Yo:
We should brought an armored shuttle!…
Mack The Executioner:
We were supposed to be low profile and flexible!…
Agent Yo Yo:
Is this low profile enough?… We’re pinned down!… Sitting ducks!… Soon to be roasted ducks!…
Mack The Executioner:
Would you rather go down to street level?… and mix with the locals?… or just ring the building concierge for an umbrella?…
A lightning flash hits the roof where they are huddled as if on cue, and Dr. Spectrum materializes in the flash, holding a baseball sized translucent 100-sided polyhedron in his hand that sparkles like a rainbow disco tech mirror ball.
Dr. Spectrum:
Really Mack?… The Darkhold?… What’s next?… slaying dragons?… questing for the Holy Grail?… chasing bloody Lucifer back to bloody hell?… Who’s bright idea was this anyway?…
Gen. Okoye:
Mine…
Mack The Executioner:
What the hell is that?…
Dr. Spectrum:
Oh… This?… Nothing special… Just the usual… But a little more of it… I’m getting you lot out of here… Your mission is over… As bad as this is… Thor is on his way here now to add to it…
Mack The Executioner:
Wait!…
Lightning flashes discharge from Dr. Spectrum’s Power Prism and hit everyone on the roof simultaneously, and they all disappear in the flash. Then they reappear in a similar lightning flash on the deck of Thor’s flying boat, materializing everyone on deck in the flash. Dr. Nova and Darcy then join them with the others on deck, returning in their own bright flash of light.
Thor reaches the storm and flies his way into the center of it by going with the flow and working towards the center. He’s followed closely by Dark Angel and Iron Man just trying to keep up with thunder head.
Iron Man:
Thor!… Do you even have a plan here?… besides storm chasing?…
Thor Odinson:
This Nakia must be stopped!… What sort of demon is this?…
Iron Man:
She’s no demon!… At least not exactly… Her powers are Inhuman!…
Thor Odinson:
They certainly are!…
Iron Man:
The Inhumans are a subspecies of human!… Created by a Kree experiment!… Terra Genesis!… They call themselves Inhuman… But she’s got an enchanted psychosis and doesn’t exactly know who she is right now!… But she’s a friendly!…
Thor Odinson:
She doesn’t seem that friendly!…
Dark Angel Sam:
I may be able to reach her!… With a gift I received from the White Queen!…
Iron Man:
White Queen?… or white witch?… white widow?… Have you been holding out?… Secret stash?…
White Queen:
The White Queen… It’s a stupid joke that I’m stuck with now… I’m Emma Frost… I’m a telepath… We might be able to reach her mind… She’s lost it… but not completely… believe it or not… But I can’t reach her right now… She’s running too hot… and she’s too far away from me… Sam could get close enough to reach her… But he’ll probably have to make physical contact for a strong enough connection…
Iron Man:
And get zapped for his troubles!… We just got him back!… Like the Wolf King of Emerald City likes to say!… Bring em back alive if at all possible!… For the honor of the Hulk Busters and everything!…
Thor Odinson:
Does Dr. Banner really appreciate that sort of talk?…
Iron Man:
You should hear him scream it!… To the Wolf Kings kid’s… he’s their Uncle Brucy!… Bruce was the Wolf King’s first success with that motto!… in Niflheim!…
Thor Odinson:
Interesting!…
Space Crow:
FYI boss… Fits extracted most of the team from the area… According to Assistant Director Mackensie… the infiltration team’s telemetry went dark the moment the Black Queen shut the door behind her entering the target building… I can’t get any sense of it from here with this storm raging… But I am getting readings that the target building has been colonized with FSBs… Even without this storm… they may be on their own… Watch out for lightning as you enter the eye of the storm… That’s one crazy Inhuman dynamo… A lot of enemy bogies are getting fried in there… Just saying… Without the storm… you’ll have to deal with what’s left of them…
Iron Man:
Roger that Space Crow!…
Thor Odinson:
Stay behind me!…
Iron Man:
Roger that Prince Lightning Rod!…
Dark Angel Sam:
I’m your wing man!…
Thor enters the eye of the storm, and his hammer is immediately besieged by a barrage of lightning strikes, drawn to the hammer. Sam flies in immediately behind him with Iron Man as his shadow, with Iron Man also drawing numerous strikes as a flying lightning rod behind Sam.
Iron Man:
What do you say we give this angel of mercy an escort to the sperg victim!… You take the front!… And I’ll take the back!… Between the two of us… we should be able to handle the storm!…
Thor Odinson:
Okay Tony!… If you think you can handle this storm!…
Iron Man:
I literally get a charge out of it!… Just like I get a charge out of you sometimes…
Dark Angel Sam:
Get a room!…
Inside Dr. Pym’s shuttle, Ant Man of the fay’s wings continue to twitch with nervous excitement as the shuttle tails the Black Queen while shrunk down and cloaked, as she climbs the stairs of the seemingly empty building otherwise. The building itself has odd looking matte black walls lit by candlelight from matte black candles in matte black candle holders, which light up along the way as she walks through.
Ant Man:
She just has to build tension to mess with me… Do you think we’ll have to follow her all the way up to the top?… And where the hell is everybody?… Is it haunted?… It sure as hell feels haunted…
Dr. Henry Pym:
This entire building is FSB colonized… like a lot of buildings behind enemy lines here… Its interfering with our BBN com system… We’re effectively cut off… We have been ever since the queen of evil closed the door on us… This building doesn’t need any guards or attendants because the entire building is effectively automated…
Ant Man:
Do we have an escape plan for that?… now that we’re here in the belly of the beast and everything?… hopefully not literally?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
I only have my usual escape plan… shrink down to slip out… But to do that here we would have to go all the way down to the Quantum Realm just to get past all of the FSB material surrounding us right now…
Janet Van Dyne:
This shuttle could do that…
Dr. Hanry Pym:
So could their new suits… But if we overshoot… we could end up just about anywhere… We could even escape this Psycho Fandango thing… in theory… But with all of this enchanted mad science crap effecting spacetime in here… There is absolutely no telling where any of us would end up… or what dimension… I don’t want to chance that if we don’t have to… It would feel like ditching the battlefield in the middle of the fight even if it worked… So the only escape plan we have… is an escape plan of last resort… And we have our mission objective…
Ant Man:
The ultimate score…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Its not a score Scott… Its a book of infinite evil… whatever that means… Its a weapon of the enemy to be captured at all costs… That is our mission objective…
Ant Man:
Capture and bail… Got it… Because getting away with it is the best part…
The Black Queen reaches the top floor and walks on down the hallway to one room on the end, and she opens the door. The shuttle slips past her into the room to find the Darkhold set by itself upon a single Matte black desk and chair set that serve as the only furniture in the room. Two matte black candle holders hold matte black candles that light up when the Black Queen sits down.
Ant Man:
Game on… But now we have to separate her from the book… Do we have to rush her?…
Wasp:
There has to be some way to get her to leave…
Dr. Henry Pym:
This shuttle has enough fire power shrunk down to blow up a spaceship the size of her… proportionately speaking… But she’s no spaceship… And I’m sure she’s not legendarily known as the angel of death without reason… supposedly being beyond death… whatever that means… Magic gives me a headache…
Wasp:
We could do a hit and run… With the shuttle… I could do it… zap and fly…
Ant Man:
Smash and grab?… Basic… But I like it… If you smash I’ll grab… But can we fly away fast enough for that?…
Wasp:
I can… slowpoke…
Dr. Henry Pym:
We can!… Only the shuttle needs to attack… and it’s the fastest… And only one of us needs to grab the book… So we’ll attack in the shuttle… And Scott will grab his ultimate score…
Wasp:
How is he supposed to escape with the objective if we’re all busy running for our lives?… The shuttle has to stay behind cloaked and pick him up after he does the grab… I have to do the zap and fly… I can escape and evade and get back to you… I know it…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Alright… I don’t like it but you’re right… You’d better both cloak and fly out the hatch now… and stay on coms in here… We can’t contact the outside world in here… But we should still be able to communicate within the building… or a least within the room…
Ant Man:
I only just need a little bit of space for the grab… just to avoid getting swatted in the attempt…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Use one of the special quantum marker shrink discs to shrink it… We have quantum tracking available for those and can remotely re-enlarge what they’re attached to… in case we lose it…
Ant Man:
Got it…
Ant Man and Wasp cloak and fly out of the back hatch as the shuttle remains cloaked, then the hatch closes behind them. Ant Man flies down to the floor at the foot of the desk and waits for the smash to provide an opportunity for the grab. The shuttle backs away and gives the Wasp space to maneuver as she decloaks and starts buzzing around the Black Queen to get her attention. The Black Queen swats casually at the Wasp buzzing around her head.
The Black Queen:
Insects?… Intruders!… Malekith!?!…
Wasp:
Malekith!?!…
The Wasp blasts the Black Queen point blank in the face full blast and temporarily blinds her as she screams in agony and stumbles blind to her feet, moving away from the book on the desk as she does. Taking the opportunity for the grab, Ant Man flies up onto the desk with his smallish fairy butterfly wings and makes a dash for the book on the desk. He readies one of the special quantum marker shrink disks in his hand as he leaps onto the top of the Darkhold’s cover.
Ant Man:
The best part is getting awa!…
As Ant Man activates the shrink disc on contact with the Darkhold’s cover, a bright flash of light seems to explode from the book’s cover blinding everyone in the room, disappearing both the Darkhold and Ant Man completely in the flash, cutting off Ant Man in mid triumphant boast.
Dr. Henry Pym:
Scott!?!… He’s gone!… He’s completely gone!… I’m not detecting his quantum marker!… or getting any telemetry from his suit!…
Black Queen Selene:
Malekith!… Your security has failed!…
Malekith:
They came in with you… I thought you wanted them for something… Did you not sense their presence?… You must be distracted after losing your guardian angel… Or is it the resurrection and rise of Alveus that disturbs and distracts you?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Hope!… Get in here!… Get in here now!…
Wasp:
But what about Scott?!?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
If I’m right Scott’s better off than we are right now… Either way we can’t do anything about Scott right now!… We have to go now!… This entire building has been colonized by Malekith’s FSB body… This entire building is Malekith!…
Black Queen Selene:
Malekith!… Enough jokes!… Dissect these insects and absorb the scientist’s heads!… Add them to your collection for me…
Malekith:
Very well then… Dark mistress of death… It will be my pleasure…
The Wasp flies into the back of the shuttle as it uncloaks and then the hatch closes.
Wasp:
What about Scott?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
Scott may not even be on the same planet at the moment!… let alone currently trapped in Malekith’s gut like we are!…
Little Malekith drones begin to ooze from the walls of the room and start to fly towards the shuttle.
Dr. Henry Pym:
We’re getting out of here!… And that’s final!…
Dr. Henry Pym activates the shuttle’s full capacity to shrink down to the quantum realm as it was designed to do. But the Malekith mini drones start to shrink down with them and continue the chase them into the quantum realm.
Dr. Henry Pym:
You’ve got to be kidding me… Remind me to write a special thank you letter to Dr. Simmons for sharing her synthetic Pym Particles with the world… Hold on…
The shuttle jacks up its thrusters to maximum thrust as it shrinks down and leaves all of the pursuing mini Malekiths behind in the quantum realm before enlarging again, and entering the raging storm by Nakia and being hammered with lightning strikes.
Dr. Henry Pym:
Holy thunderclap!… Out of the frying pan and into the fryer!… I’m still not getting any reading on that quantum marker…
Wasp:
Was it defective?…
Dr. Henry Pym:
No… It looked like there was some sort of reaction with the book itself… But there’s no sign of that marker here or anywhere… and still no telemetry from Scott’s suit… Wherever he is… wherever they are… it’s nowhere in here with us… Magic gives me a headache… And we have to get out of this storm…
Dr. Pym speeds away from enemy territory at best speed under a barrage of lightning, as even Thor struggles to get close to the goddess of the storm.
Iron Man:
Alright!… We need a new plan!…
Thor Odinson:
She is indeed a mighty Inhuman!… Worthy of being called a goddess of the storm!… I only wish I could unleash my full power!… and test my hammer against her might!… But for the honor of the Hulk Busters!… I must refrain!… But this is getting ridiculous!…
Dark Angel Sam:
I’ve been getting zapped in here pretty regularly!… I think I can handle this solo if you can draw away more of those strikes!… Just spread them out a bit!… So I can fly in between the strikes!…
Thor Odinson:
It’s your hide!…
Iron Man:
It’s your fried chicken wings!…
Dark Angel Sam:
Let’s do this!…
Iron Man spreads high and wide from behind Sam and starts to hover with his arms spread wide like he was mounted on an invisible cross, as his suit starts to buzz with electricity. A large number of the lightning arcs bend and twist their paths to strike Iron Man’s armor. And Thor swings wide to spread the arcs further apart, drawing the others away with his own hammer. Sam starts to take on numerous lightning strikes as he flies up and maneuvers around to Nakia’s back and grabs her head in his hands from behind.
Dark Angel Sam:
Be at peace… Let not your heart be troubled… Be at peace and remember… Nakia of Wakanda… Leave Ororo behind… Move on from her and her pain… And be at peace…
White flames suddenly flare up and engulf Sam and Nakia as they hang in the air. Then the storm dies down considerably, and Thor relents as a result, allowing the storm to cease. The white flames cease, and Nakia goes limp in Sam’s arms. Then Sam begins to fly off towards Emerald City.
Dark Angel Sam:
I’m out!… Try not to get caught loitering with the locals!…
Iron Man:
Wait!… We’re not clear yet!… Thor!… We have to go!… The Darkhold retrieval team is clear!… mostly!… The angel can probably handle it!… But we should be blazing him a path!…
Thor Odinson:
Very well Tony!… We shall retreat for now!… But only for now!…
Iron Man:
Roger that… Space Crow… Give us a gravity dive bomb please?… to cover our exit?…
Space Crow:
You got it boss… One gravity dive bomb special coming up… Already diving…
Thor Odinson:
Gravity dive bomb special?…
Iron Man:
A little heave ho hello goodbye… but with gravity itself… a gravity shockwave hit and run… a Space Crow specialty…
Thor and Iron Man race ahead of Sam in the sky and begin intercepting various creatures in their way as they head out to Emerald City with hammer powered lightning strikes and repulsor plasma blasts. As they fly away, numerous winged monsters give chase to them in the air. The Space Crow finally reaches the level of the pursuing hordes at high speed, accelerated by artificial gravity adding to the natural gravity, and surrounded by a large murder of crow drones swarming around him in the air.
He then sharply shifts direction using arterial gravity as thrust, with the crows all going in the opposite direction, thrusting Space Crow even faster in the direction of Emerald City and sending the murder of crows as an escort for an artificial gravity shockwave that blasts back all of the arial pursuers and shatters numerous windows that still remain in the buildings in enemy territory. Space Crow’s increased acceleration allows him to speed past Thor and Iron Man and take the lead past Sam in front.
Space Crow:
I am the master of the gravity bomb… Dr. Pym has already touched down in Emerald City… But Ant Man’s MIA… with the Darkhold supposedly… The enemy doesn’t have it… But neither do we… And now we’re down one Ant Man…
Elsewhere, very far away from the Psycho Fandango and Midgard entirely, Ant Man appears in a bright flash of light holding the Darkhold in his hands. Ant Man is surrounded by a terrain that resembles Death Valley CA by the light of a full moon but veiled in a masking misty fog.
Ant Man:
ay with it!… away with it?… away to where?… Super foggy Tatooine?… with a super size full moon?… So much for getting away with it… I mean there’s getting away… and then there’s getting away… I have the ultimate score in my hot little hands… But I’m pretty sure that this aint Kansas… or anywhere near it… That is definitely not the Moon… And I’m not wearing ruby slippers… A book of infinite knowledge may be the my only way home… But the one thing I was told that we couldn’t do was read the book… or even look in it… What would Capt. America do?… These days he would just pray on it… and wander the misty desert as is for as long as it takes… to find purpose… or die trying… But I’m not Capt. America… I’m a motormouth drama queen talking to himself in the middle of an alien desert… And I have to get back to Cassie… And what harm could really come from reading a book?… It is the ultimate score… And I still have to get away with it…
Ant Man kneels down on the alien desert floor with the Darkhold, and he places his hand on the top cover and leaves it there, hesitating for a moment before flipping open the cover like ripping off a band aid.
Ant Man:
Blank!?!… You’ve got to kidding me!… Are you trying to tell me that I just stole a fake?… some stupid prop?… Is this supposed to be some magical spacetime boobytrap?… Oh wait… Now I can see something… What the?…
Scott Lang begins to be shown a series of glowing elven symbols and writings covering one whole page. Then the writing stops and it flashes bright yellow in his face. Ant Man reals from the bright yellow flash seemingly burning his eyes.
Ant Man:
Arggh!… What the hell?!?…
Ant Man struggles blind to feel around for the book again to shut it closed and avoid another flash. Ant Man rubs his eyes for several moments trying to recover his sight. Ant Man finally manages to open his eyes only to reveal them glowing yellow. Then a third glowing yellow eye opens up in his forehead. Two glowing yellow antennae sprout up out of the top of Ant Man’s head.
The matte black zero matter that forms the fundamental building block of the FSB technology which makes the Ant Man’s current suit, begins to denature, disorganize, and break itself down into raw pure zero matter. Ant Man looks down at his hands as the zero matter starts to move, ooze, and writhe about his body, infusing itself into his skin and hair, turning them completely matte black.
Ant Man:
This is not getting away with it!… This is not getting away with it!… Worst heist ever!…
The previously smallish red and green butterfly wings on Ant Man’s back, resulting from the previous enchantment by the Psycho Fandango, grow and transform into large Monarch butterfly like wings, with the Monarch pattern cast in matte black and glowing yellow.
Ant Man:
This is the story of my life now… fade to black and day glow yellow…
A woman’s voice chimes in from the veil of the thick surrounding mist.
Woman:
You chose the wrong book… to bring to the wrong place… Scott Lang of Midgard… Even more foolish than that… you chose to read it here…
Ant Man:
I just peaked!… Wait… Who are you?… And how do you know my name?…
A tall Caucasian woman with green eyes, long black hair, and dark green feathered angel wings walks calmly out of the mist to introduce herself to the new necromancer in town. She wears dark green knee-high riding boots and a dark green cat suit with slots in the back for her wings. She carries a large matte black necro trident as a walking staff. In the middle of Hella’s forehead is a translucent emerald green oval jewel aligned vertically.
Woman:
I am Hella… Guardian angel of Niflheim… And you Scott Lang… are severely trespassing… Even the Black Queen never brought the Darkhold here… Even she wouldn’t dare… for the sake of possibly losing control of it if nothing else…
Ant Man:
I didn’t bring it!… It brought me!…
Hella:
But you read it…
Ant Man:
I peaked!… I just glanced at it!… And at first it was all blank… but this glowing yellow elvish writing started showing up on the page… And then bam!… The glowing writing flashes bright yellow and I’m central casting for the Mothman Prophecies…
Hella:
Funny you should say that… Because it seems as if you’ve used the Moth Man Curse on yourself… It is the necromancer curse of the dark elves… The Darkhold shows people the knowledge that they are greedy for in their hearts… as a means of corrupting them with the power of it… What did you desire to know when to peaked at the book?…
Ant Man:
I just wanted to go home… Like you said… We’re not supposed to be here… I just wanted to get back to my daughter Cassie… I don’t suppose that you would share the way back… Would ya?…
Hella:
You already have the means yourself… thanks to the Darkhold… But that power and insight always come at a price for those who are not ready or capable of bearing it… Be thankful that you have not lost your soul to the Darkhold’s bottomless pit of madness already… It may be your earnest desire to be reunited with your own daughter that has prevented the worst of the effects of what you have just inflicted upon yourself…
Moth Man:
But the road to hell is paved with good intentions… And I just punched my own ticket to ride on the highway to hell…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
Paperback Compilations Of Previous Chapters Also Available on Amazon.com: