The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
Chapter #1: On The Road To Niflheim
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Chapter 1
A Funny Thing Happened To Grant Ward
On The Road To Niflheim
In a dark alley way under a full moon, providing the only light during an LA wide black out, a supercharged black 69 Dodge Charger, with a blower protruding out from under the hood, roars with flames coming out of the wheels, flickering out from the undercarriage of the vehicle, and streaming out of dual exhaust tailpipes. The red and orange flicking flames stream harmlessly from the vehicle, but burn garbage piled high in the alley due to a garbage strike, as it screeches turning into the alley way. Behind the wheel of the flaming black Hell Charger sits a black leather clad figure, with black leather driving gloves, and a flaming skull for a head.
Following closely behind the flaming Hell Charger, is a woman in a studded leather biker jacket and a short leather skirt, with fishnets and combat boots, straddling a modified Harley Davidson motorcycle, with long black hair and no helmet. The otherwise relatively ordinary motorcycle seems to plow harmlessly through the flames of the Hell Charger in front of it, apparently surrounded by some protective bubble, as if some invisible force were projected outward from the rider and the bike, beating back all the flames as it plows through them.
The headlights of the black Hell Charger catch sight of some tall pale black haired vagrant in army surplus gear, in the alley in front of it as it screeches to a halt, stopping short of running over the vagrant. The biker chick following behind barely avoids crashing into the back of the Hell Charger in response. The vagrant, startled by the flaming black Hell Charger, backs away hurriedly and falls back into some piled up garbage in the alley way, causing a large amount of it to fall on top of him, and cover him up in it.
Biker Chick:
Reyes!?!… What are you trying to pull?!?… What are we even doing here?… You said that you sensed great evil!… There’s nothing here but a vagrant and piles of flaming garbage!… And the flaming garbage… is your fault!…
The flaming skull exits the still running black Hell Charger as the flames from the car die down to a low smolder. He walks over to the front of his vehicle and stands there, as his biker companion dismounts her iron steed and follows suit.
Flaming Reyes:
There is definitely great evil here… Like The Hand… We love killing The Hand… But they know to stay away… They know that the City of Lost Angels… belongs to the spirit of vengeance… But they also know how to hide…
Biker Chick:
Not the mythical demon ninjas again… You know Robbie… Sometimes… you sound more like a ghost story teller… than a Ghost Rider…
Ghost Rider:
The Hand are real Daisy Johnson!… And they are among the most truly persistent and pernicious evils of this or any world!… But they know we can sense their evil… And they know to stay away… They know that the City of Lost Angels belongs to vengeance!… For them to come here again knowing that… simply cannot be ignored!…
The vagrant buried in garbage climbs out of the pile to stand wobbly and confused before the two pursuers of evil. He stands before them with army surplus clothing and shaggy black hair, clutching a bottle of something wrapped in a small brown bag.
Vagrant:
Don’t kill me!… Please!… For my daughter’s sake!… Please!… What are you?!?… Where the hell did you come from?… Do I know you?… Do you know me?…
Daisy:
Reyes!… Stand down he’s just some vagrant drunken mental patient!…
Vagrant:
Sky?… Is that really you?… Are you real?… Please tell me your real!… Please tell me that I’m not hallucinating again!…
Daisy:
Ward?… Hive!…
The biker chick reacts to the revelation in horrified panic, as if by a trapped or cornered animal. She raises both her hands out in front of her as if to reach out at the vagrant. Then an invisible wave of pulsating vibrations emanates from her bare hands, directed at the vagrant, forcefully knocking him back unconscious into the piled up garbage. Daisy then moves in for the kill, only to have the flaming skull of the Ghost Rider stand in the way.
Daisy:
Out of the way Reyes!… He has to die!… We have to kill him!… He’s too dangerous!… We came here to kill evil damn it!… You said it yourself!… You brought us here for this!…
Ghost Rider:
There is great evil here… We can sense it still… But we sense very little evil coming from this one… a mass of pain and confusion… but little evil… How do you know him?… He called you Sky… not Daisy… Are you sure he’s not just some confused vagrant?… like you said before?… The innocent must not pay for the guilty… We are vengeance!… Not slaughter!…
Daisy:
He’s definitely Ward!… He’s no innocent!… And he was evil even before he was taken over by Hive… even more evil!… How can you not sense evil in him?… I don’t have to sense his evil!… I lived it!… Friends of mine died because of it!…
Ghost Rider:
We cannot say why… We simply do not… Not from him… Why did he call you Sky?…
Daisy:
Sky was the name that he first knew me by… the name that I adopted for myself… before I knew my real name… long story… as is Ward and Hive…
Ghost Rider:
All we can tell you… is that this one is not the evil we seek… So we must still seek it out… to seek and destroy!… The evil may hide… like The Hand… But they cannot hide from us forever!… Kill him… if you must… But that will be on you to live with… We will not aid and abet a pointless personal vendetta… against someone as pathetic as this…
A police helicopter hovers and scans with it’s spotlight nearby. The Ghost Rider douses his flaming skull, revealing a Hispanic man with short black hair and a black mustache, still clad in a black leather jacket, with black leather driving gloves. The smoldering glow from the black Hell Charger dies down completely along with the Ghost Rider’s skull.
Reyes:
This hunt is a bust!… There’s too many helicopters… because of the black out… and the riots… And there’s too little to go on… even though the rider is chomping at the bit… He’s still going on and on about The Hand in my head… But we can’t do anything more about that tonight… Look… Do what you feel you gotta do… But we’re out on this one… If the rider is out… then I’m even more out… Maybe you should just call your old Shield friends… If you’re too close to this… maybe let them deal with it…
Daisy:
What makes you think they’ll be any different?… I don’t even know how to break this to them…
Reyes:
Whatever… We’re out… Good luck with that… But remember… Revenge itself can be evil… And you’re not immune or exempt… from becoming a target of the rider… And I may have little to say about it… if it comes to it… If it gets bad enough…
Reyes gets back in his black Hell Charger, still running, although no longer smoldering or flaming, and presses a button on his sound system, which starts to play the opening guitar riffs from the Metallica song, Seek And Destroy, as if cueing his personal theme song in solace for a frustrated hunt, as he drives away casually down the alley way to exit it. As the sound of the Hell Charger’s engine dies off into the distance, several sword wielding characters clad in red ninja outfits leap down into the alley from the surrounding rooftops where they were concealed, and watching.
Daisy:
Oh!… you’ve!… got!… to be!… kidding me!… Demon ninjas are real?!?… What’s next?… Werewolves?… Okay weirdos… If you think the coast is clear just because flamer boy took a powder… then you’ve got another thing coming…
The red clad demon ninja slowly close in on the biker babe and the psycho Ward. Some maneuver to surround Daisy while the others move towards the helpless unconscious mental patient. Daisy suddenly turns towards the ninja behind her, and quickly exerts her power, emitting a vibrational force pulse, throwing all the ninja behind her into her bike, before she ramps up her power, and causes the bike itself to explode in the alley way behind her, while forcing all of the flames away from her simultaneously in the process. As she turns to deal with the other demon ninja, an enraged Ward leaps to his feet screaming.
Ward:
Get away from me!!!… Leave me aloooonnngh!!!…
Then Ward begins to transform, as he growls in pain and anger. The already fairly hairy vagrant Ward begins to grow copious amounts of thick black fur everywhere he has exposed skin. Then he begins to grow larger and slightly taller, as he busts out of his cheap army surplus clothing, growing sharp claws, pointed ears, and the longish teeth filled snout of a wolf’s head, wearing nothing but black fur and a gold cross, still chained around the beast’s neck by a gold chain. A shocked and stunned Daisy looks on motionless with mouth gaping, as the werewolf Ward tears through the demon ninja, ripping many of them limb from limb. He even tears off one of their heads with his jaws, then spits it out, chucking it to the side as if in disgust of the foul taste in his mouth. After all the remaining demon ninjas are dispensed with, the bodies of the demon ninjas spontaneously self-immolate in a strange black flame, resembling a colorless photo negative effect of actual fire, that leaves behind nothing but ash, with even their swords being consumed and turned to ash by the very same black flames.
The werewolf Ward howls in angry triumph at the full moon, then turns towards Daisy, as she shutters slightly upon making eye contact with the beast. The werewolf moves slowly towards her, raising his clawed hand up in her direction, as if in recognition. Then the wolf seems to be beset by some incredible pain in his head, clutching his wolf’s head in his clawed paws as he collapses unconscious, transforming back to the human Ward she knows, lying naked and unconscious on the pavement of the alley.
Daisy now stands alone with the naked Ward, with Ward still wearing the gold cross, alone together among the burning debris of the battle, as a police helicopter maneuvers over to their location to investigate.
Daisy:
Dammit Ward!… Why couldn’t you just stay dead?!?…
Upon her saying this, the earth beneath her feet, and the beneath feet of all of LA, begins to shake slightly.
Daisy:
Breath… Calm down… The last thing you need is to be blamed for another earth quake… Quake is such a stupid nickname as it is… No one is ever going to believe this!…
Daisy pulls out her cellphone and dials a number from her old life as a Shield agent.
Daisy:
Hi Jemma… It’s me… Daisy…
After she reintroduces herself over the phone, she has to back away from the phone a bit because of the reaction on the other end, before she continues.
Daisy:
Yes… It’s really me… Yes… I know… Yes… I know… I know… I know… Jemma!… Jemma Please!… Jemma listen!… I need your help… I need Shield help… No I’m fine… That’s not what I need help with… Listen… There’s something that I need to tell you and I need you to remain calm and try not to over react… even though that may be impossible… Grant Ward… is alive…
Again Daisy has to back her ear away from the phone temporarily.
Daisy:
I don’t know!… I don’t know!… I have no idea!… I just know I’m standing in an LA alley next to Grant Ward… alive unconscious and butt naked… surrounded by burning debris from fighting off the demon ninjas…
Daisy again backs away for a moment.
Daisy:
Look!… I can’t even begin to explain over the phone right now!… It’s all just too crazy… And I’m not even sure if I believe it all myself!… No matter how you look at it… this is unavoidably Shield business… not just personal… We need answers… And I need Shield help… There’s no way I can deal with this by myself… Killing him would be easier I suppose… But I have too many unanswered questions to do that now… Again… a long story not fit for a phone call… And can you call off the local police?… and their helicopters?… They have enough of their own crap to deal with right now… And I don’t have the time or the patients right now… to deal with cops!… Thanks… I miss you too…
Daisy hangs up the phone as a police helicopter shines it’s spotlight down upon them and the fight scene in the alley. Then the unconscious Ward begins to mutter something in his sleep.
Ward:
I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Please Sky… I’m so sorry…
The police helicopters are called off, replaced minutes later by hovering Shield quinjets, numerous black SUVs, an ambulance, and at least one fire truck. The controversial rogue Shield agent Daisy Johnson, is voluntarily taken into custody on the scene without any further incident. And the unconscious Grant Ward is bundled up and strapped in for a Shield quinjet ride straight to Shield main HQ, along with Daisy.
As they arrive, Shield headquarters has already been placed on high alert, with all sorts of extra guards decked out in full body armor, fully armed, and with prejudice. Ward is carted off to a secure med lab deep in bowels of the facility, while Daisy and the remains of Ward’s torn clothing and belongings are escorted along with him. They are greeted by Daisy’s old friend and colleague Dr. Jemma Simmons, an English woman with long light brown hair wearing a lab coat, seemingly distraught, but trying to put up a brave face for the return of her friend Daisy. Ward is kept sedated in the lab while Jemma and Daisy go over Ward’s few belongings, waiting for tests to be completed. In the pocket of Ward’s torn army surplus jacket, Jemma finds a few different bottles of prescription pills.
Jemma:
My god these are a lot of pills for the human the mind to process!… Either the new Grant Ward is has become completely schizophrenic for real… or whoever this… Dr. Amora Laufey is… she should be seriously investigated for psychiatric medical malpractice!… How exactly did you find him?… Was he… acting as crazy… as these pills would suggest?…
Daisy:
Oh yeah!… He asked me if I was real… And whether or not he was hallucinating… Sounded like that was a normal occurrence for him… He called me Sky… Because that’s how he remembers me now I guess…
Jemma:
Or how he wants to remember you… from back before everything went wrong for him… That part is just basic psychology really… The rest begs more explanation… You said he burst out of his clothing… transforming?…
Daisy:
Into a werewolf… or what looked like one… Do you think Ward… is an Inhuman?… like me?…
Jemma:
We’ll know for sure when the test results are in… And this werewolf… tore through these… demon ninja?…
Daisy:
With extreme prejudice!…
Jemma:
Actual demon ninja?… attacking a werewolf?… Were there any vampires in attendance as well?…
Daisy:
Hah… Hah… I don’t know if they were actual demon ninja… They certainly looked like actual ninja… like the movies… but in red… instead of black… But it was the Ghost Rider who said they were demonic ninja…
Jemma:
The Ghost Rider!?!… Okay!… That’s it!… Empty your pockets!… I’m going to have to give you a proper examination as well… Perhaps there’s something pernicious in the LA water supply… besides the usual…
Jemma pulls a small pen flashlight from out of her lab coat pocket, as she approaches Daisy to perform an examination. She flashes her pen light in her eyes, observing the reaction. Daisy fends her off and tries to clarify.
Daisy:
Look!… I don’t know if they are actual demon ninjas… The Ghost Rider seemed to know all about them… But I thought they were some mythology he was spouting… some fairy tale… He called them… The Hand…
Male Voice:
The Hand is real!… You can’t be serious!… I always thought they were a myth!… I’ll have to update my files…
Daisy:
Coulson?… May!… Look!… I can explain everything!… Except for Ward…
Daisy turns around to see her old boss and current Shield director Phil Coulson, a middle aged man with short slightly receding brown hair and a formal standard issue business suit, standing next to her personal mentor and supervising officer, agent Melinda May, an athletically built middle aged Asian woman, with long black hair, and wearing a leather biker jacket, tight jeans, and combat boots.
May:
Save it for later… And save it for the files… I don’t care about your sob story excuses… It happens… I want to know about The Hand… Did the Ghost Rider really call them ‘The Hand’?…
Daisy:
Yeah… He went on and on about them… He seemed obsessed really… more so in recent weeks… He kept saying that he ‘sensed great evil’… ‘like The Hand’… ‘like The Hand’…
May:
Recent weeks?… Been spending a lot of time with the Ghost Rider have you?…
May and Coulson look at each other with looks of concern.
Coulson:
I guess that’s another set of files I’m gonna have to update now…
Daisy:
You have files… on the Ghost Rider?…
Coulson:
Yeah… But just like The Hand… it was always considered a myth… not that secret… just never believed… just another legend from the Shield files… until now…
May:
I haven’t even heard mention of The Hand… since I stopped listening to the crazy ghost stories my mother and grandmother would tell me growing up…
Daisy:
Ghost stories?…
May:
I don’t want to talk about it… What’s this nonsense about Grant Ward being a werewolf?… I’m starting to think you’ve actually cracked…
Coulson:
There weren’t any bodies of any ninja… or anyone else in that alley where we picked you two up from…
Daisy:
When they died… there was this weird black flame… that completely consumed them and turned them to ash… their weapons too…
May:
Convenient… and tidy…
Daisy:
You don’t believe me May?…
May:
Maybe… I just refuse to believe… in ghost stories…
Ward:
Aagh… Aaaagghh!…
Grant Ward begins to wake, in spite of his sedation, and begins to howl as he starts to transform again. A transformed werewolf Ward breaks out of the restraints in the adjacent isolation room where he was confined, strapped to a bed, and sedated.
Jemma:
You’ve got to be kidding me!… And I thought I was being heavy handed with the sedation!… as a precaution!…
The werewolf Ward begins to thrash about in the isolation room, destroying the bed he was strapped to and tossing the bits about the room, throwing one piece at the extra thick security observation window separating the two rooms, cracking it slightly. Jemma rushes over to slam a big red button on the wall next to the observation window, and the isolation room is flooded with some sort of sedative gas. The werewolf continues to struggle and thrash against the cracked observation window, before breaking through it, stumbling and staggering into the room with the others, sedated but not quite out yet. The creature stumbles over to Daisy as he looks up at her, and begins to speak in a growling tone.
Werewolf Ward:
Sky?… Is that really you Sky?… Aaaagh!…
The werewolf cups his head in his hands, seemingly in pain as he passes out and collapses, then transforms back into the normal human Ward again.
Coulson:
So… Werewolves… That’s another file I’m going to have to update now… What’s next?… Vampires too?…
Daisy:
Don’t say that!… I said that about werewolves… right before he turned into one!…
May:
You’re going back to LA… to talk to this Ghost Rider friend of yours… And we’re going with you this time…
Daisy:
I’m not so sure that’s a good idea… The Ghost Rider barely tolerates me!…
Coulson:
Who is he?… Does he have a name?… besides Ghost Rider?…
Daisy:
That… isn’t really my secret to tell…
May:
Is that so?…
Daisy:
I haven’t really talked to the Ghost Rider about Shield all that much either…
May:
That’s not funny…
Daisy:
Well… I’m not a Shield agent any more… And I don’t betray confidences… either way… Not now or ever… If you or Shield have a problem with that… then you’ll have more than werewolf Ward here to deal with…
Coulson:
Cool it you two!… Reach out to your new friend… And see if you can set up a meet… Maybe the Ghost Rider… will give us a name…
Jemma:
I’ll go along and see if I can reach out to this Dr. Laufey… That name does seem familiar to me… from somewhere… I can maybe even see if I can use these meds of hers to stabilize Ward… Since we now know why he has such strong prescriptions…
Daisy:
He was also drinking rather heavily when we first came across him in that alley… At first glance… he was just another drunken vagrant…
Jemma:
Well… Frankly… I’m not surprised… I just can’t imagine what may be going on in that crazed wolf’s head of his… He wasn’t exactly stable before he got possessed by Hive… and somehow became a werewolf?… Was he always a werewolf?… That would explain a lot… Wouldn’t it?…
Daisy:
Yeah… No kidding…
Coulson:
Did you say… Dr. Laufey?… As in the king of the frost giants?… That sounds like a bad omen… There better not be frost giants involved in this too… This is already crazy enough as It is… See if you can ready Ward for transport back to LA… Maybe it’ll help stabilize him if he’s at home… wherever home is…
Jemma:
We have his address from his meds… It’s not far from that alley where they found him… Perhaps we should pack silver bullets… just in case there are more werewolves in the City of Lost Angels…
May:
We don’t even know if that will work… Perhaps just grenade launchers…
Coulson:
I think we’ll just keep the heavy artillery handy on standby for the time being…
May:
I was kidding…
Coulson:
Nobody can tell May… Nobody…
The assembled Shield agents, and the rogue former agent, all make their way to LA as part of a clandestine high security transport of dangerous cargo, in the form of a very heavily sedated Grant Ward in the bay of their quinjet. They arrive in LA, and Daisy leaves a message for the Ghost Rider. They split up, with most of the others approaching Dr. Laufey for information. As Coulson and Jemma pay a visit to the offices of Dr. Laufey, with a curious Daisy in tow, May makes her way to check out the new address of the infamous Grant Ward, with Mack, a tall bald black man in a black leather biker jacket, carrying a shot gun with an ax head blade attached to the end of it. With the shotgun ax strapped to his back, Mack and May ride to Ward’s place on a pair of custom motorcycles, somewhat less fancy than the modified Harley that Daisy blew up to kill demon ninjas.
Mack:
It’s bad enough she borrowed my best bike… But then she blew it up?… to kill demon ninjas?… That girl and I are gonna have to have a long talk about respecting other people’s property… Or at least taking proper care of it!…
May:
Get in line… And get over it… We’ve got pressing business here… And why did you bring that ridiculously conspicuous weapon?…
Mack:
Are you kidding?… Demon ninjas?… Werewolves?… And spirits of vengeance?… What’s next?… Vampires?…
May:
Don’t say that!… It’s bad luck around here!…
Mack:
LA is always bad luck…
May:
No kidding…
Mack:
Fitz should have been told about this!… He has a right to know!…
May:
He couldn’t handle it and you know that!…
Mack:
Whether he can handle it or not he has a right to know!… And what makes you think Jemma… or anyone else… can handle this any better?… Daisy… or Coulson… or you for that matter… I’m the only one here even halfway level headed right now… But only because I was never Ward’s friend… let alone bunk mate… or bedfellow…
May:
Watch it Mack!… Jemma’s coping like she normally does… doubling down on detached scientist… Daisy’s like me… But more of a loud mouth about it normally… I made her that way… And Coulson is Coulson… Or he’d better be… Since he’s the director… If he can’t handle this… then all of Shield is screwed… It’s convenient that Fitz has his head buried in prototype testing… There’s no way he can handle this… He’s come a long way but… Some things just never go away… He might even lose the ability to talk… it’s happened before…
May and Mack arrive outside a small modest home, little more than a glorified shack with a fenced yard and an empty driveway.
Mack:
Doesn’t look like much… Does it?…
May:
What did you expect?…
Mack:
I don’t know… Some sort of abandoned warehouse maybe… filled with bomb making materials… virgin sacrifices… or at least a guard dog…
May:
There is a beware of dog sign… But there doesn’t seem to be any dog…
Mack:
I thought Ward was the dog… Isn’t that part of what we’re investigating?…
May:
There could be more…
Mack:
Now you know why I brought my shotgun ax…
May:
Should’ve brought grenade launchers…
Mack:
I don’t have a launcher… But I brought grenades…
Mack pulls open his jacket to reveal of pair of grenades fastened to the inside of it.
May:
Let’s try not to blow everything up all at once on first contact…
Mack:
Just coming prepared…
May:
Let’s just go take a look…
May and Mack make their way through the gate of the front yard, and May knocks on the door.
Mack:
Should we really be knocking?…
May:
We really shouldn’t be barging in without knowing what lies on the other side… If no one answers… then we move on to plan B… somewhere else where we can see better what we’re dealing with… somewhere less visible to the neighbors… Let’s check out the back…
The pair make their way around to the back yard to find nothing but overgrown grass and weeds.
Mack:
Are we sure anyone actually lives here?… Maybe it’s just some sort of front… a fake address just to get his meds…
May:
From what I’ve seen and heard from daisy… the new Ward can barely remember his own name… let alone arrange or maintain a ‘front’… Let’s just break in and take our chances… I’m starting to think this is a wild goose chase too…
Mack:
Or a ghost chase…
May:
That’s for later… And I’ve got enough ghost stories to sort through already as it is for now…
Mack moves to take the lead breaking into the back of the house, with May right behind. He busts through the door and is immediately attacked with a downward slashing katana, which he just barely manages to block with his shotgun ax. Before May can follow in behind to back him up, numerous red clad demon ninja leap into the back yard from hiding places surrounding the house.
May:
Mack!… We’re surrounded out here… Push inside!… We can even the odds in the confined space!…
Mack:
Got it!…
Mack shoots the red clad swordsman that sliced at him with the katana, and pushes past him as the red clad ninja self-immolates in black flames. Mack shoots another one, then slices a third with his shot gun ax, as May rushes past him to engage with the other ninja inside. Mack then goes back to the back door, and pulls the pin on one of his grenades, before tossing it into the backyard, and slamming shut the back door before the explosion. May manages to disarm one of the red clad ninja, and slashes him with his own sword, causing him to self-immolate in black flames, and causing his weapon to follow suit, forcing May to drop the sword as it bursts into black flames in her hands. Upon seeing this, May seems uncharacteristically frozen in fear, as her usual characteristic ice water in her veins, turns to the paralysis of stone.
May:
They’re real!… It’s all real!… The black flames and everything… It’s all real!…
Mack:
May!… Snap out of it!… What’s wrong with you?…
Mack shoots several more of the red clad assailants, but to no avail, as they seem to be oozing out of the walls, pouring out of spaces on the walls covered in some sort of strange glowing markings. May drops to her knees, as the onslaught continues, seemingly oblivious to anything but her own trauma. Then flames burst through the front door and spread to the entire ceiling, seemingly at the command of their maker who follows them through the door. A black leather clad figure with black leather driving gloves, and a flaming skull for a head, enters and begins to incinerate the red clad demon ninja, one by one, as he touches them. Then the Ghost Rider touches the walls where the strange glowing markings appear, burning their surface clear of all such markings, and expanding the fire starting to grow out of control.
After the red clad ninja are all dusted, the Ghost Rider walks to, and kneels down before the frozen May, and reaches over to touch her chin and raise her head up to look into the glowing red pits of his flaming skull’s eye sockets.
Ghost Rider:
You have darkness within you… Not enough to be of concern to us… But you may wish to be careful about that… Or otherwise… stay out of the City of Lost Angels…
The Ghost Rider stands up and turns to walk out the burning front doorway.
Mack:
Hey!… You want some darkness?… I’ll give you some darkness!… Try me freak!…
The Ghost Rider turns to look at Mack with glowing red eye sockets, and bursts out in hearty laughter, as his flaming skull briefly flares up, coinciding with his laughter, before turning to walk on out the burning doorway.
Mack:
Hey!… I’m talking to you!…
A flaming piece of the ceiling falls down to the floor next to Mack’s feet, forcefully grabbing his attention back from the Ghost Rider.
Mack:
Crap!… May!… May!… Come on!… We have to get out of here!… Come on!…
Mack grabs May by the arm and forcefully drags her up to her feet and out the burning front doorway, following behind the Ghost Rider out to the front yard. Just outside the burning house, they see the Ghost Rider pull away in his flaming black Hell Charger, burning more than rubber as he screeches away then disappears into a fireball at the end of the street.
Mack:
Damn!… Now that is one hell of a ride… May!… May!… Snap out of it May!… Can you ride?… We have to go!… Now!… Coulson and the others are going to need to hear about this!…
Mack leads May over to her bike and helps her mount her iron steed, then mounts his own.
Mack:
May!… Are you in there May?… Are you okay?…
May rests both her hands upon the center of the handle bars of her bike and lowers her head to rest on her forearms for a moment, before raising her head again and starting her bike.
May:
I will be Mack… I will be… Let’s get out of this dump…
Mack:
Amen to that!…
The burning house begins to collapse behind them, as they pull out and head for Coulson’s meeting with Dr. Laufey. Across town, Daisy, Jemma, and Coulson find the address of Dr. Laufey’s home office located on the second floor of a high end condominium complex in Santa Monica. They make their way to her front door and ring the doorbell.
Daisy:
What do you wanna bet… that this Dr. Laufey… is also a werewolf?…
Coulson:
As opposed to a frost giant in disguise?… I’ll bet your Shield reinstatement…
Daisy:
I’m not taking that bet…
Jemma:
You know… she might just be an ordinary quack doctor who doesn’t know anything… That seems like the most likely scenario to me…
Daisy:
If we’re lucky…
Jemma:
It’s not very lucky for us… if she can’t really help us because she doesn’t know anything… At this point… I’m rooting for a frost giant… We already have a werewolf…
Daisy:
Do you always have to be such an obsessive scientist?… always collecting specimens to study?…
Jemma:
Yes!… Of course!…
The door opens to reveal a little four year old red headed girl, wearing a set of pajamas with little Snoopys dancing on them, and a set fuzzy puppy face slippers on her feet, greeting them with a posh English accent.
Puppy Girl:
Hello… Who might you be?… Do you have an appointment with Aunty Amora?…
Jemma leans far down to talk to the little girl closer to her eye level.
Jemma:
Well… My name is Dr. Jemma Simmons… This is Daisy Johnson… And this is Shield director Phil Coulson… We’re Shield agents!… What’s your name?…
Puppy Girl:
Karnilla… Karnilla Ward…
Daisy:
Ward?!?…
Jemma:
Please excuse my rude friend here… She’s a bit high strung… Prone to the shakes really… I’m afraid we don’t have an appointment… But we would like to talk to your Aunty Amora… Could you please fetch her for us?…
Puppy Girl:
I’ll ask her Dr. Jemma… Since your friend is clearly in need of help…
Jemma:
Thank you…
The puppy girl closes the door, and leaves the Shield agents to themselves for a while.
Jemma:
What an adorable little girl… with a very posh accent for such a little girl…
Daisy:
Prone to the shakes?…
Jemma:
The name Ward clearly has that effect on you… You and me both really… But she’s just a little girl… Maybe she’s a distant English cousin of his…
Coulson:
Maybe… But how distant?… And that name… Karnilla… as in the Queen of the Norns?… First King Laufey… Then Queen Karnilla… That’s too much of a coincidence… Unexplained coincidences put me on edge… We’re not looking at an ordinary anything here… in spite of appearances…
Daisy:
History Geek!… Hey… Are we talking alien royalty here?…
The door reopens to reveal a tall blonde woman with long hair and an even posher English accent, wearing a set of vivid green medical scrubs with a white lab coat over them.
Dr. Laufey:
Shield agent?… Prone to the shakes?… I’m not exactly accepting new patients at the moment… But I’m sure I could find time for Shield agents!… So who’s the shaky one?… It’s you isn’t it?… I have a sense for these things…
As Dr. Laufey says this she points at Daisy.
Daisy:
Not exactly… I’m afraid we didn’t actually come here for that… But we couldn’t mention the real nature of our business to the little girl… We have confidential and classified business concerning one of your patients…
Dr. Laufey:
Ahh… So your here about Grant Ward then… Well… I suppose that was inevitable… I have few if any other patients that would be of interest to Shield agents… let alone Shield director Phil Coulson… and Mr. Ward is quite prone to episodes… that would tend to garner too much unwanted attention for his own good…
Upon hearing this, the little girl chimes in from the living room.
Karnilla:
Are they here about daddy?… Is he in trouble again?…
Daisy:
Daddy!?!…
Dr. Laufey:
Probably dear… Don’t worry… I’ll take care of everything… You just enjoy your cartoons while I talk to the nice Shield agents… Okay dear?…
Karnilla:
Okay aunty…
Dr. Laufey:
If we may… I would prefer to continue this conversation in my study… If you would please follow me…
The Shield agents follow Dr. Laufey past the little girl dancing in front of a large big screen TV, as the Peanuts theme music plays on, and she tries her best to do the Snoopy dance. They all sit down, and settle in for a talk in Dr. Laufey’s study, with Oxford psychiatry, history, and anthropology degrees, all over the walls of the study, and the Shield agents clearly agitated by what they have already learned.
Daisy:
Okay… What exactly does she mean… daddy?… She’s not Grant Ward’s kid… She can’t be… Can she?…
Dr. Laufey:
That she is… She is the Daughter of my fraternal twin sister… the Asgardian criminal you knew… as Lorelei… and your Grant Ward…
Coulson:
So your Asgardian too?…
Dr. Laufey:
Yes… among other things… She escaped from her Asgardian prison and fled to earth for a time… Where she met and had a brief affair with Grant Ward… a Shield agent at the time… He was no doubt under her thrall at the time… as was her pattern… But it was enough for her to become pregnant with his half human child… My little niece was born in the captivity of the Asgardian dungeons… without assistance… or even concern by her jailers… My sister died in child birth… leaving me alone to take care of my sister’s child… For a variety of reasons… much of them political… I had to leave Asgard for good with her… with no great loss for me at the time… given that I had forsaken Asgard long ago… So I decided to leave with her for Midgard… for good… hoping to eventually reunite her with her human father at least… Without even knowing the details at the time… not even his name…
Coulson:
If you don’t mind me asking… what exactly were these political reasons… that made it so that you had to leave Asgard?… besides Lorelei’s criminal history?…
Dr. Laufey:
Let’s just say… that my sister… my niece and I… all have a complicated heritage… a complicated family history… tied to a complicated politics… For starters… our father was the man you knew… as the infamous war criminal… Loki…
Coulson:
Loki?!?… Loki and Ward?!?… Man… Just thinking about Loki again makes my chest hurt…
Dr. Laufey:
Ohh… So you are the one my father spoke of… The… Son of Cole… My father speaks very highly of you…
Coulson:
He didn’t seem to feel that way… when he stabbed me through the heart…
Dr. Laufey:
Oh he cared nothing for you before… If he wanted to kill you before… it was mostly just because you were in the way… And you were friendly with his brother Thor… And I believe you already know some of the family history of that… After you came back from the dead… you became much more interesting to him… He’s become a bit of a fan boy… following your career… And that is just the beginning… of our familial complications… Our father himself had a fairly complicated heritage of his own… being born the son of King Laufey… king of the frost giants… the primordial enemies of Asgard… That was our grandfather… Additionally… Our heritage was further complicated by our father himself… in the course of his own scheming… He had transformed into the likeness of Lord Balder… one of Asgard’s greatest heroes… for whom Queen Karnilla harbored an unwavering obsession… He seduced her in order to abscond with some of her secret grimoires… My sister and I were produced by that encounter… Then abandoned after birth… at first… placed upon our father’s doorstep… as his responsibility… Our father did take care of us… sharing his ill-gotten grimoires… and all the ill-gotten details of his stories that he would tell us growing up… Quite a collection in fact… But mostly from a distance… as we had become a political complication for him…
Daisy:
That’s one messed up family… And I know messed up family…
Dr. Laufey:
You’ll get no argument from me… But I’m still not finished… our complications have only increased with the involvement of your Grant Ward… a man who harbors many secrets… even from himself…
There’s a knock on the door of the condo, startling the group otherwise enthralled by conversation and revelations. The group files out into the living room to answer the door, passing by a now passed out little girl, sleeping on the floor in front of the TV, still playing Peanuts. Dr. Laufey opens the door to reveal May and Mack standing in the doorway, with Mack still carrying his shot gun ax.
Dr. Laufey:
Well… Who’s the tall dark and bald man with the ax?…
Mack:
I’m Mack…
Dr. Laufey:
You certainly are… To what do I owe the pleasure?…
Mack:
I’m afraid that this isn’t a social call… Coulson… Can we talk here?…
Coulson:
Yeah Mack… We were just going over things here… Dr. Laufey here… is Asgardian nobility… for starters… But you seem to have something more urgent…
Mack:
We were attacked… ambushed at Ward’s address… by The Hand…
Dr. Laufey:
The Hand!… The Hand are here!… in LA!… Karnilla dear!… Wake up!… We have to go!… Now!…
Daisy:
Wait!… Who’s to say that they’re after you?… They seemed to be after Ward!… and Ward doesn’t even remember my real name anymore… He keeps calling me Sky!…
Karnilla:
Sky!?!… You’re Sky?!?… She said your name was Daisy!… She lied to me!… You broke daddy’s heart!…
May:
Daddy?…
The small red headed little girl erupts off the floor in a wrath as her features transform into a red fur covered wolf’s head, with a snout and teeth, and claws on paws, all the while still covered in dancing Snoopy pajamas, and fuzzy puppy face slippers, as she launches herself growling at Sky. Dr. Laufey leaps over and catches the little wolf cub in mid air.
Dr. Laufey:
That’s enough there little girl!… These people are not our enemies!… But the monsters who are… are now in LA!… We don’t have time for this little girl!… The Hand are in LA… Settle down!… Now!…
The little wolf cub calms down and transforms back to human semblance, as she stops flailing. Dr. Laufey sets her bock down on the floor.
Daisy:
Look little girl… I may have broken your daddy’s heart… But he betrayed and lied to me… And killed friends of mine… But he seems to be suffering for his sins well enough for me… So why don’t you just give it a rest… And quite while your daddy’s ahead… Your daddy is safe with us… But you might not be so lucky if your aunty’s reaction is any sign… I’m guessing… Fair enough little girl?…
Karnilla:
Okay Sky… Sorry… for your friend… on my daddy’s behalf… Although he’ll probably get around to saying it himself anyway… He does that a lot…
Daisy:
It’s Daisy… Daisy is in fact my real name… But I didn’t always know that… long story… But your father remembers me as Sky… Because that was the name that I had chosen for myself… when I didn’t know my real one… That’s what he first knew me as… Understand?…
Karnilla:
I like Sky better!… Sky’s prettier!… Do you really have my daddy?…
Daisy:
Yes… He’s safe… but sedated… I found him in an alleyway shortly before being ambushed by The Hand the other night… He’s fine… But I saw him transform… just like you did just now… If you like… I can take you and your aunty to see him… and maybe help stabilize him… Does that sound good to you kid?…
Karnilla:
Okay… I knew there was a reason he was late!…
Out in the hall way numerous red clad ninja filter in on either side of them.
Mack:
We got company Coulson!…
White flashes and black smoke burst into the air behind the little werewolf girl, filling a space within Dr. Laufey’s living room with numerous other red clad ninja, led by a white demon mask wearing man.
Coulson:
That we do!… That we do!…
May:
Get in and lock the door!… We can’t use a grenade here!…
May launches herself instinctively at the leader in the white demon mask, as if trying to chase away the boogie man, and Daisy instinctively follows after by her training and habit.
May:
Ogun!…
More red clad ninja filter in behind them through the condo balcony, and Mack begins to to shoot a few of them off of it, before he starts swinging his shotgun ax. The white demon mask spews out a noxious looking black cloud of smoke at the two would be assailants, knocking out both May and Daisy, as they drop down unconscious on the floor next the little girl, the only things in between her and the white demon mask.
Jemma:
Daisy!… May!… What was that?… Some sort of poison?…
Red clad ninja burst through the front door behind Coulson and Jemma, and take them prisoner. They are quickly drugged and carried off as more red clad ninja filter in through the front door. Mack turns to run back toward them, as a red clad kunoichi assassin with long straight black hair hanging out for her ninja garb, sneaks in behind Mack and slices his right arm with one sai of a matched pair, a forked bladed trident with one long fork in the middle, and two much shorter side forks for trapping and controlling the blades of katana and other swords. Mack is forced to drop his shotgun ax, then the demon mask makes a move towards the little red headed girl.
Dr. Laufey:
Away from her demon!…
Green flame erupts from all around Dr. Laufey, as some of it shoots out and incinerates the red clad ninja body wearing the demon mask. The demon mask itself harmlessly falls to the ground, only to be taken up and put on again by one of the other red clad ninja having come through the front door. The kunoichi with the long straight black hair and twin sais, calls out to the demon mask.
Kunoichi:
Ogun!… Do you need any help with the girl?… This one looks like she’s gonna be a problem!… I could make short work of this other one… unless you want another plaything…
Demon Mask:
No Electra!… Dispatch the brute… I already have the interesting ones… Hurry up and help me eliminate the troublesome one… Then we can take the girl and the others…
Dr. Laufey:
You speak and presume too quickly demon!… Now I will show you how presumptuous you have been!…
Dr. Laufey begins to emit a strange orange and red glow, as she stares at tall, dark, and bald with the wounded shoulder, who begins to emit a similar orange and red glow.
Dr. Laufey:
Rise again knight of Midgard!… I have dire need… of an executioner of monsters!… And so I am afraid that I have to curse you with the burden as such!…
Mack:
Do your worst!… Do your worst or we’re dead anyway!…
Dr. Laufey:
So be it!… Smoldering Eternal Flame of the Berzerker be upon you and your blade!… I curse you and charge you… as my berzerker Executioner of monsters!…
Mack’s shotgun ax begins to emit the same orange and red glow, as does a small silver cross hanging from Mack’s neck. The orange and red smolder suddenly shifts to a flickering flame surrounding both Mack and his custom weapon. Mack’s shoulder heals rapidly until the flame surrounding him takes the shape of blue Asgardian armor before dissipating, leaving two dark stripe like marks on his bald head, running from the front to back, side by side along the top. Mack’s shotgun ax continues to emit flames that grow higher, as Mack stands back up and levels his flaming shotgun ax at the demon mask and the other red clad ninja flooding through the open front door. Then his shotgun ax transforms into a long handled double bladed battle ax, with the orange and red flame continuing to be emitted from the double ax blades.
Demon Mask:
Change of plan Electra!… You grab the girl and leave!… I’ll take care of these two and catch up!…
Dr. Laufey:
The hell you will demon!!!…
Electra makes a bead for the little red headed girl, and Dr. Laufey ramps up her green flames again readying to fire, and Mack the executioner heads for the demon mask, swinging his battle ax, clashing against the katana in the hands of the white demon mask’s red shirt puppet of the moment.
Ghost Rider:
Vengeance be upon The Hand!… We are vengeance upon The Hand!… We are vengeance upon The Hand!… And vengeance… will not be denied!…
As Mack’s executioner’s battle ax comes crashing into the katana in the hands of the red clad puppet ninja wearing the white demon mask, Dr. Laufey rips off her lab coat and jumps in front of her niece to block Electra. The flaming chain of the Ghost Rider wraps around the railing of the balcony, and the Ghost Rider himself flips up on to the top of the railing, with the other end of the flaming chain still in his hand.
Ghost Rider:
Vengeance be upon The hand!… Vengeance be upon the mad demon sorcerer Ogun!… We are vengeance!… And vengeance will not be denied!…
Ogun Mask:
Change of plans Electra!… Scatter!… Scatter and regroup!…
Electra smashes some sort of pellet and black smoke erupts, broken up by white flashes, as Electra and the white demon mask of Ogun disappear, leaving behind the still unconscious Daisy and May, the still transformed executioner Mack, and a still flaming skull of the Ghost Rider, alone with Aunty Amora and her little red headed niece.
Ghost Rider:
Cowards!… Cowards of The Hand cannot hide from vengeance forever!… You cannot hide from us forever Ogun!… Daisy!…
The Ghost Rider douses his flames upon noticing Daisy unconscious on the floor and rushes over with his fully fleshed out human head of Robbie Reyes.
Reyes:
Daisy!… Daisy!… Are you okay?… What happened here?… Mack?… What happened to you?…
Cursed Mack:
What happened to me?… What about… what happened to you?… You got some splaining to do too Robbie… You and Daisy both!…
Karnilla:
Doesn’t that hurt?… When your head is on fire?… My wolf’s head itches a lot some times…
Dr. Laufey:
Karnilla dear!… We appreciate that rescue… Although I sense it seemed somewhat frustrating for a proper spirit of vengeance… My apologies… But if we wait too long here… We’ll get a gratuitous encore of The Hand’s performance… Your flaming counterpart may enjoy that… But some of us could use some recuperation time… and a safe place somewhere else to do it…
Cursed Mack:
First things first!… Robbie… No back talk with me right now Robbie… We’ll talk about the other thing later… when Daisy’s awake for it… Now help me grab those two and get them the hell out of here… a long with these two high end refugees…
Karnilla:
I want to see daddy!…
Cursed Mack:
Right now… I want to see your daddy too little girl… But not for the same reasons as you… But I’m going to try to restrain my self… for your daddy’s sake… Come on!… We’re all going to see your daddy… At Shield West Coast HQ… Now!…
Reyes grabs Daisy and lifts her over his shoulder, and Mack carries May down to Robbie’s non flaming Hell Charger. They pack Daisy and May into the back seat, while little Karnilla rides in front with Robbie.
Cursed Mack:
I can still ride!… Follow me to Shield West Coast!… And my Asgardian Enchantress… You ride with me!…
Mack gets on the bike that he came on, with Dr. Laufey riding on the back of his bike with him, as he leads Robbie with his Hell Charger and the others away. May and Daisy awaken on the way as they realize who’s missing when they arrive in the bowls of Shield West Coast.
Daisy:
They got Coulson and Jemma!?!… And you turned our Mack into… Conan the Road Warrior!?!… Dammit Ward!…
The earth shakes slightly beneath everyone’s feet, as Daisy starts to breath deeply again to calm herself.
Karnilla:
This isn’t my daddy’s fault!… Nor is it mine!… So stop using mine and my daddy’s name like that all the time!…
Daisy:
Sorry Karny Girl…
Karnilla:
That’s what daddy calls me!… Where’s daddy?…
Daisy:
Your daddy is safe… but sedated… It was Jemma who put him that way!… And now she’s gone… You better know how to bring him out of it because I don’t!…
Dr. Laufey:
I can handle my patient just fine!… But we are without a home or a secure place to treat patients… at least not secure enough under the circumstances… And neither I… nor my patient… will be comfortable within the confines of a Shield base… I assure you… There are limits to what you will ever be able to get out of Grant Ward on a Shield base… And I refuse for my niece and I to be treated as little better than hostages to crimes we have not committed…
May:
Sorry… But where would your heinous prefer?…
Daisy:
I have a place… with plenty of room… and privacy…
Cursed Mack:
You can’t be serious!…
Daisy:
Completely Mack… I’m not a Shield agent any more… And I own the building… So it’s like neutral territory… almost… Between you and Yo Yo… there’s enough Shield guns and equipment there for it to be a Shield sub station… And you know your gonna need help explaining this to Yo Yo anyway… They can move in with me in my building… werewolf Ward and all… But your gonna have to explain all this to Yo Yo yourself… Executioner!…
Cursed Mack:
Fine… But your breaking all of this to Fitz… If you can reach him…
May:
I tried to reach him just now with no luck… We have to split up… Mack and I have to deal with the fact that the Shield director’s just been kidnapped!… Whether I like it or not… Whether I’m ready for it or not… I’m now the acting Shield Director… Daisy… I don’t wanna hear about how you’re not a Shield agent anymore… You volunteered your place so you’re drafted into service… Consider yourself a cooperating NGO… So keep cooperating and don’t talk back… Mack… You’re the head of the West Coast Shield HQ… So go along and make sure no one gets in their way… Then stay with them as security… I’ll catch up as soon as I can… Daisy… Take Ward and all our new friends here over to your place… And get situated and secured… Take whatever you need for it… You’ll find all your old clearances still in the system… even though you were officially rogue… Nobody here ever took that too seriously… We all just kept expecting that you’d be back…
Daisy:
I’m not back!…
May:
No… You’re an NGO… We covered this… Don’t talk back… I gave up on you being back the moment Coulson disappeared while I was unconscious… just because I lost my head in ghost stories for a second… I’ve gotta go…
Daisy:
Ghost stories May?…
May:
I don’t want to talk about it right now!… We’ll talk later!… I gotta go!…
The group splits up and Mack takes point running interference with his various underlings of the West Coast Shield HQ, rounding up medical resources and equipment, as well as security related resources and crew. Endless phone calls drag on for May while Ward is shipped off and relocated to an old inactive medical office building in downtown LA, with renovations for a new gallery underway at store front level. Daisy is greeted by an adopted military service dog as they enter the level with her father’s old medical office, where she keeps a king size mattress next her father’s old desk, surrounded by wind chimes hanging from the ceiling inside, and a grand piano in the center of it all.
Numerous Shield personal go about the tedious task of beefing up building security, and taking up positions on the rooftops, and anywhere else of a security concern. Various medical personnel and technicians go about the task of equipping the basement with state of the art medical lab equipment, among other things under Mack’s orders, with Dr. Laufey’s advice, direction, and supervision.
At the insistence of Dr. Laufey, she, her niece, and Grant Ward, are all moved to the top floor by themselves, just below the roof, with Grant Ward placed upon his bed to sleep off his meds for a more coherent conversation. As Grant Ward sleeps off his meds with his red headed daughter passed out from all the excitement on the bed next to him, the rest of the group waits for cooler heads to prevail, while the berzerker Executioner Mack tries to explain everything to his girlfriend, Elena ‘Yo Yo’ Rodriguez, an athletically built Hispanic woman, with long brown hair, former full time Shield agent, part time Inhuman first contact, as well as budding photographer and gallery operator.
Yo Yo:
What do you mean permanent?!?… He’s cursed!?!… You permanently cursed my boyfriend!?!…
Mack:
I’m Okay!… Or at least… I will be… I’m getting used to it…
Yo Yo:
Getting used to it!?!…
Mack:
It was an in the heat of the moment do or die kind of thing!… Desperation moves babe!… Even with the Ghost Rider… we were as good as dead!…
Yo Yo:
I don’t trust this… Asgardian puta!… What’s the real reason you can’t go home huh?… Daughter of Loki!…
Mack:
Wait… How come you’re not shocked about Robbie?… Did you know about him?… Did you know about this when you and Daisy introduced him to me?… You knew… Didn’t you?… And you didn’t say a word…
Yo Yo:
We couldn’t have told you Mack… Because then you’d be obligated!… I know how it works!… I was a Shield agent too ya know… not for as long as you… But I won’t be disregarded as less than a rookie just because I’m not active… But I’m not active… So I’m not obligated… So there!…
Mack:
We’ll talk more about this obligation stuff later…
Yo Yo:
Promise?…
Mack:
At this point… I can’t even promise not to scare away small children…
Yo Yo:
You have to have them first Mack…
Dr. Laufey:
If I may be allowed to attempt… to relieve at least some of this concern… the Berzerker Curse… is simply a more powerful… if more primitive form… of the effect that your more familiar with in the form… of the berzerker staff… of the berzerker armies… raised by King Odin in a time of great need for Asgard… and for Midgard as well… And great and dire as was our need earlier… The curse is stronger… and permanent… But even that is not meant to be a continuous torment… At the time of the placement of the curse… the curse itself would have found something to latch onto as a trigger… and a focal point… something of great significance to the subject in question… that should allow you to turn it off… for a time at least… There would have been two such focal points… two separate switches… two separate triggers for ‘On’ and ‘Off’… Your old shotgun ax is the trigger for ‘On’ I suspect… But I couldn’t begin to guess what your trigger for ‘Off’ may be… That would be strictly… and particularly… personal… to you…
Yo Yo:
Mack!… Your cross!… Your cross is the only thing unchanged!… That has to be it!…
Dr. Laufey:
Try it!… Try taking hold of it and concentrating on the return to normal… and the return to home and loved ones most of all…
Mack grasps his cross and prays quietly with his eyes closed for a moment, then transforms in a smoldering orange and red glow, with his double bladed battle ax transforming with him, back into his shotgun ax of before, as he returns to a completely normal dress and appearance, at least for the time being.
Mack:
Yeah baby!… Hallelujah holy Jesus Christ and merry Christmas baby amen I’m back!…
Yo Yo and the human Mack hug in triumph as Dr. Laufey looks on in slight disappointment.
Dr. Laufey:
Of well… So much for that prospect…
Daisy:
Now that that is settled… I want to know more about this mysterious Hand… May seemed to know a lot more than she let on… But she didn’t want to talk about it…
Mack:
Yeah… And I’m pretty much all done listening to ‘I don’t want to talk about it’…
Dr. Laufey:
Well… given that your friend May isn’t here yet… perhaps I can at least continue where we left off… And I can explain to you at least a few more things about your Grant Ward… and his daughter… that may answer at least a few of the burning questions in your busy brains… As you witnessed earlier Daisy… my niece can transform into wolfkin… like you witnessed Ward doing before as well… The Wolfkin are a people that have been the subject of fear and ostracism for as long as they have existed… By legend created by some dark sorcery of the dark elves… an unnatural hybrid of Asgardian blood… and the blood of Fenris… a giant monstrous wolf… said by the prophecy of Ragnorak to play a role in the ultimate destruction of Asgard… Because of this association… the presence of shape shifting wolfkin… has always been treated with suspicion… as a bad omen… Their presence has been banned from all of Asgard since before the time of Odin… A ban that has been maintained until this very day… Which was why my niece could never have been raised in Asgard at a minimum… But she didn’t get that trait from our side of the family I assure you… not that there’s anything wrong with that mind you… But she got her wolfkin nature from her father… your Grant Ward…
Daisy:
But how?… How is Grant Ward… a wolfkin?… Don’t get me wrong… It makes perfect sense… Explains a lot really… But how?… And how is he even alive?!?… let alone… wolfkin?!?…
Dr. Laufey:
I have not yet unraveled the mystery of Grant Ward’s resurrection… But according to legend… about five thousand years ago… there was a great war for the nature of existence… between Asgard and the dark elves… taking advantage of the great convergence of realms… a rare five thousand year occurrence… that occurred again just recently… during which the veil between realms can be thin enough to cross over… even without the help of the rainbow bridge… or any other special means… Then many a wolfkin of the other realms seized upon the opportunity to migrate to Midgard in search of a new life… free of prejudice and ostracism… and an opportunity to conquer there own kingdom in Midgard… using there superior personal physical power to conquer the mortals… The Asgardian king at the time… King Bor… King Odin’s father… got wind of this after the war… and took it as treason!… and a long term threat to Asgard… It was then that the ban on wolfkin from all of Asgard was enacted… And the king of Asgard put a curse upon all the wolfkin of Midgard… For as long as they are born on… live on… and die on Midgard… they shall be forever bound into human form… mortal… and as weak as mortals… Something happened to Grant Ward to unlock his curse… and allow him to transform… My niece having been born in an Asgardian dungeon… was simply immune to it… The Hand has there own arcane twisted… and torturous methods… of breaking the curse… and rendering the wolfkin their slaves in the process… the hell hounds of The Hand… For untold centuries… millenia… The Hand have tracked down and hunted the secret wolfkin… often without their knowledge of what they are… or what’s hunting them… That’s the only reason I can think of as to why they’re interested in Ward and my niece… But why so much trouble for just another pair of wolfkin?…
Daisy:
You did say that you and your niece had a complicated political heritage… Maybe this is political… Putting you aside… your niece alone is… by my count directly or indirectly in line to at least three thrones… being the great granddaughter of King Laufey of the frost giants… the granddaughter of Queen Karnilla… Queen of the Norns… not to mention being the granddaughter of Loki!… Infamous war criminal yes… but also the adopted son of Odin… king of Asgard!… Does that about cover it?… And that is just your side of the family… Ward there is the son of one senator… and the brother of another… both now deceased… both by Ward’s hand… I’m starting to sense a pattern here… But why would a clan of mythical demon ninja care about this politics in particular?… if this is the issue?…
Mack:
Are we talking game of thrones action here?… with creatures that go bump in the night?…
Dr. Laufey:
I wish I could tell you… knight of the cross… But all that I know about The Hand… or wolfkin for that matter… I learned from the stories my father would tell us on the rare occasions when he would visit my sister and I…
Daisy:
You mean Loki?… the war criminal?…
Dr. Laufey:
Now look here!… Lets get one thing perfectly straight right now!… While I do not support what my father did… I also have nothing to be ashamed for in my association with my father!… Nor what my father has taught me… neither me… nor my dead sister!… If you… or Asgard for that matter… have a problem with that… then to Niflheim with you… and all of them… I care nothing for their politics anymore… And I care even less for yours… or any other’s now… than I ever did for my own back before I left!… So you ca stuff it!…
Daisy:
Sorry… I didn’t mean to sound judgey… I was just repeating the information for the others who weren’t in the room when you told us before… Since the other two people who were in the room… were abducted by The Hand!…
The ground begins to shake slightly as Daisy lets her emotions over boil a bit, struggling to maintain calm. She begins to breath deep and slow.
Daisy:
Breath Daisy… Relax… Don’t shake down daddy’s building…
Dr. Laufey:
Daddy’s building?…
Daisy:
Yeah… Daddy’s building from his old life as a doctor… before my mom and I happened to him… Sorry but my sordid family history isn’t relevant like yours is… They’re not after me and mine…
Mack:
I wouldn’t be so sure… At one point… when you and May were out from some sort of gas… He said that he already had all the interesting ones… while he was telling that freaky Electra chick to hurry up and finish me!… At that point… he thought he already had you and May in the bag… And he did… before Reyes showed up… Oh sorry… That’s right… The Ghost Rider!… Can’t help but notice he hasn’t yet caught up with us in his hot Hell Charger… Guess he doesn’t want to have to answer any of my questions either… eh?… roomies?… Well… lets get back to story time with Loki!…
Loki:
Love to!…
Dr. Laufey:
Father!… How long have you been there?…
Loki appears behind the group by the staircase to the roof, tall with long black hair dressed in dark green and black leather, with a vivid green cape matching Dr. Laufey’s scrubs.
Loki:
Only a little bit… I’m surprised you didn’t notice daughter… I’m not supposed to anywhere as you know… But I would still think that you could sense me… I trained you well enough for that… And your mother trained you better… Speaking of which… I actually came to warn you about your mother… only to find you embroiled in something more pressing… Perhaps I should come back after you’ve finished dealing with this latest melodrama or whatever… given the state of your condo and all…
Dr. Laufey:
Stop right there!… What do you mean?… warn me about mother?… Spill it!…
Loki:
Well… She’s feeling extra… familial…
Dr. Laufey:
What do you mean extra… familial?…
Loki:
Look… it’s been building for some time now ever since the unfortunate incident involving your sister… She been making your other sister’s life a miner hell… obsessing over getting closer as a family… rebuilding bridges… I swear… It’s like she’s been reading B grade self help literature from Midgard… She even tracked me down and confronted me… demanded that I make you talk to her… and your half sister…
Dr. Laufey:
The murderous lackey!?!… The traitor!?!…
Loki:
That’s the one… a friend of mine… also known as Lady Sif…
Dr. Laufey:
How can you call that traitor friend?… It is because of her that your own daughter is dead!…
Loki:
It is because of my daughter!… that my daughter is dead!… It is because of me!… even more so than my daughter… more so than anyone!… How dare you blame anyone… but me!… I made her who she was!… I taught her and encouraged her… and her mischief!… I was her hero!… And she dutifully followed my every bad example!… You did too… once upon a time… But then you stopped… And you went away to Midgard… proving that you were the smarter of the two of you… the smarter of the three of us really… So just what is bothering you anyway?… Your not getting involved in political mischief again?… are you?…
Dr. Laufey:
No father… The Hand is stalking your granddaughter and her father for some unknown reason…
Loki:
What?!?… The Hand!?!… What in Niflhiem would they want with you?!?… Are you sure you haven’t been up to mischief?… I won’t stand for you following after me and your sister!… They can’t be after wolfkin that badly… Hold on a minute…
Loki holds his hands in front of him for a moment as a glowing mass forms into his hands in the shape of a book.
Loki:
Here it is… Both my father and my mother told me stories of The Hand of Midgard… It was among my favorite scary stories when I was a kid… till I grew up and found out they were supposedly real… But part of me never really believed it… Both my father and my mother would tell me the same story but with radically different details… It wasn’t till much later that I learned that they both got their information from this one book… It was written by this one Asgardian scholar living secretly on Midgard… a veteran of the berzerkers… who’s been allowed to secretly reside on Midgard by Odin… in exchange for writing on his experiences and studies… for the benefit of secretly publishing in Asgard under the pseudonym… Ozymandias The Mad… some of the best stuff to read in Asgard… especially in the dungeon library…
Daisy:
That sounds familiar… I think we know that guy…
Dr. Laufey:
I know him too… I ran into him at a festival… And he couldn’t help but brag about it once he realized that I was Asgardian…
Daisy:
That sounds like him…
Dr. Laufey:
They attacked us father… They tried to make off with little Karnilla!… and her father!… And they did make off with two of the Shield agents!… including your favorite fascination… Shield Dir. Coulson!…
Loki:
They took the Son of Cole!?!… For real!?!…
Loki glances about in a frantic moment at Daisy, Mack, and the others, as they nod yes in confirmation.
Loki:
Well… With someone like the Son of Cole in their possession… there’s no telling what they could do!…
Dr. Laufey:
It was the mad demon sorcerer Ogun!…
Loki:
Ogun!?!… Ogun is real too?!?… Look daughter… I’m no expert on The Hand… I just told you the same stories that I was told when I was a child… If you want to know more… and you need to know more… track down the author of this book… And see what else he knows that didn’t make it to print!… Well… I can’t stay and help… But I’ll send reinforcements… including your half sister… both of them…
Loki disappears before Dr. Laufey can react.
Dr. Laufey:
Aggh!… Father!… My father was never here!… My father is dead!… If anyone asks… Although sometimes I almost wish he actually was dead!… Understand?…
Daisy:
I’m not even a Shield agent anymore… I’m an NGO… Shield said so and everything…
Mack:
I am so far off duty right now… I don’t even know what the word means any more…
Yo Yo:
I’m just part time anyway…
Daisy:
Fitz!?!…
May arrives with a shortish man, with short light gingerish brown hair and stubble in a flight suit, twin side arms and extra magazines held in a shoulder holster tactical harness.
Fitz:
What the bloody hell!?!… Jemma gone!?!… And Ward!?!… of all bloody people is alive!?!… And a bloody werewolf!?!…
Karnilla:
Please uncle Fitzy!… Don’t be angry with daddy!… He can’t help it right now!…
Fitz:
Little Karny?… Dr. Laufey?… What are you two doing here?… How are you mixed up in all of this?…
Daisy:
How do you know Dr. Laufey?…
Fitz:
She’s my therapist… Has been since my cognitive rehab days… I first saw little Karny as a wee baby in her crib… She just calls me uncle Fitzy because she’s known me so long… Wait… Are you telling me that… that wee girl… is Ward’s daughter?… Is she a werewolf too?…
Little Karny:
Please don’t be angry with me uncle Fitzy…
The little girl jumps off the bed next to her daddy and runs over to uncle Fitzy, then changes into her red headed wolf’s head.
Fitz:
Yikes!… That’s for real?!?… That’s no mask!…
The little girl, stunned at the reaction from one of her favorite uncles, runs away crying to her aunty, as she changes back to her human looking face.
Fitz:
Oh!… I’m sorry little Karny!… I didn’t mean it!… You just caught me off guard is all… Can you show me again?…
Little Karny goes back over to uncle Fitzy and shows off her red headed wolf face again, for which uncle Fitzy dutifully applauds, then she changes back and smiles at uncle Fitzy.
Fitz:
What happened little Karny?… Did you see what happened to Jemma?…
Little Karny:
Bad men in red came!… And a scary white mask!… The scary white mask knocked out Sky!… Then the red men made off with Dr. Jemma… and the Son of Cole!…
Fitz:
Who did?… Who are the red men?…
Dr. Laufey:
The Hand… Agent Fitz… They are called… The Hand…
Fitz:
The Hand are real!?!… I thought that was just one of the more whacked out conspiracy theories from the Shield archives… They took Jemma!?!…
Daisy:
And Coulson… But they’re after Ward and his daughter for whatever reason… So they’re bound to still be in the area… At least that’s why I asked Robbie to keep searching the area for sign’s of The Hand… He can sense them… sense their evil…
Fitz:
And who is this Robbie?… that he can sense them?…
Daisy:
That… would be the Ghost Rider…
Fitz:
The Ghost Rider!… Brilliant!… Another ghost story from the archives!…
Dr. Laufey:
A spirit of vengeance Agent Fitz… Not the only one… But definitely a powerful one… powerful enough to drive off the mad demon sorcerer Ogun… a high task master of The Hand… if not it’s ultimate master… the legendary Black Queen… Selene… According to the stories… The same stories contained in this book here… It’s in Asgardian… But you’ve learned Asgardian as I recall… Never mind where I got the book… Lets just call it an Asgardian artifact acquired under mysterious circumstances and leave it at that… As you say here on Midgard… It fell off the back of an Asgardian truck… But if you would like information from a more trust worthy source… May there seems to know a great deal… calling out the mad demon sorcerer Ogun by name… Although all the while naively heading straight for him… How is it you know the name Ogun to begin with?… unless you heard stories as a child?… as I had?…
May:
You could say that… from my mother and grandmother… When I wa younger… While they were raising me within a cult… called the White Lotus Society… often presumptuously referred to as ‘The Chaste’… as in chaste of the touch of ‘The Hand’… I was born and raised in their cult view of the world… and their cult ideology… Until my father became disillusioned by their cult teachings… and sought to break us out of it… My mother would never turn her back on my grandmother… or the cult… So it was just me and my father… They chased us for years… They caught up to my father eventually… He let himself be captured to let me get away… By then I was old enough… So I joined Shield… I didn’t know much of real education… But I knew how to fight… thanks to The Chaste… Eventually my father made it out too… thanks to his Shield agent daughter… I didn’t even talk to my mother again for over a decade… Not until after my grandmother passed…
Dr. Laufey seems to reel with girlish excitement at the mention of the White Lotus Society, as she hugs the present from her father a little tighter in her arms.
Dr. Laufey:
Well then… First the horrible Hand… And now the legendary White Lotus Society… what used to be my favorite storybook come to life…
May:
Well I’m afraid we don’t have time… for myths legends and fairy tales… I just got done with about a hundred or so phone calls… Someone’s been pulling strings and lying in wait because… as word broke within the bureaucracy of Coulson’s abduction… the trigger was pulled… There’s going to be a new director no matter what… one expected to clean house of anything ‘Coulson’ related… or anything Inhuman related… or even remotely abnormal in any way without vetting and authorization from the sound of it… I’m still the acting director for the time being… But by the end of the week… we could all end up being NGOs like Daisy…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never Ends!
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