The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
Chapter #2: Taken And Corrupted
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Chapter 2
Taken And Corrupted By The Hand Of The Black Queen Selene
As The Daughter Of Darkness Confesses To The Daughter Of The Trickster
Bound to a chair in complete darkness, Jemma pleads for anyone who can hear.
Jemma:
Coulson!… May!… Daisy!… Mack!… Anyone!… Coulson!… Anyone!… Where are you all?!?… Where the bloody hell am I?!?… Coulson!?!…
Someone lights a match, and the flickering flame reveals Dir. Coulson there holding the lit match, with Coulson’s face smiling like the grin on the white demon mask, still wearing his standard issue business suit.
Jemma:
Coulson!… Coulson!… Hurry!… Untie me before someone returns!…
Coulson:
Now why would I want to do that?… And when I went through all that trouble to fetch you… or someone like you… It was just plain serendipity it happened to be you… I had no idea that you even existed… But now that I have Coulson… I know all sorts of things that I didn’t know before… Never mind the wolfkin princess… We stand upon the threshold of the resurrection of the Black Queen Selene!… You… I owe to someone else… in payment of the debt for the favor that led us here… But I must confess… I can’t wait to see what happens to you… to someone like you… an interesting experiment for sure…
The flame of the match in Coulson’s hand leaps and dances around to light a number of candles placed throughout an old Hollywood western filming set of a saloon, before the match is extinguished in his bare hands, and tossed aside.
Jemma:
What are you talking about?!?… Have you gone mad?!?…
Coulson:
So certain are you… about what you think you know… An occupational hazard of those who in fact… know a great deal… to forget to remember… that you don’t know… what you don’t know… Never presume to know what you do not know!… A proper scientist… should know better!…
Jemma:
You!?!… You’re not Coulson!… Who are you?… What have you done with Coulson?… What have you done to Coulson?!?…
Coulson:
In short I have taken Coulson… And I have become Coulson… Coulson as you have known him… is now but The Hand… of the immortal sorcerer Ogun!… a mere hand to wield his blade… Soon to be the right hand once more… of the Black Queen Selene…
Coulson’s right hand waves about in front of him and a katana materializes in his right hand. Then he holds up his body’s artificial left hand to summon forth an energy force field with the shape and color pattern of Captain America’s shield, generated from Coulson’s artificial left hand.
Ogun:
This body has all sorts of surprises… I wish I could stay to see for myself directly how you turn out… But I can’t stick around and play doctor with you… I have a hot date… with Daisy’s cold dead mommy!…
The Ogun possessed Coulson materializes the smiling white demon mask from before and places it on his face, then fades into the shadows of the set, laughing at his own twisted joke, as he exits stage crazy. As the laughter trails off, Jemma continues to cry out to Coulson.
Jemma:
Coulson!?!… Coulson!?!… What happened to you!?!… Coulson!?!…
A tall woman in a black dress, with long straight black hair, pail skin and red lip stick, oozes out of the shadows, startling and silencing Jemma.
Pail Woman:
Good… Now that I have your attention… We need to talk… now that you are my slave… My name is Lilith… And I now own your fate… If not your soul…
Jemma:
The hell you do!…
Lilith:
The hell I do you say?… And which hell would that be?… Maveth?… I have heard of you before Dr. Simmons… I was a fan long before you came on the market for acquisition… I have need of someone of your special skill sets… and exotic enough experience… for a special project… And I am truly desperate for results…
Lilith shows her fangs, two extra long canines, which she begins to use to bite and drain blood from the tied up Dr. Jemma Simmons. As the process of profane and degenerate corruption continues, mundane corruption continues apace elsewhere. May and Fitz head back to Shield Main HQ to grab and secure whatever they could, preemptively clearing out their personal belongings, while doing so for the missing Coulson and Jemma at the same time. They head back to the Shield West Coast HQ, and get word in flight of the full immediate termination and effective replacement for Coulson, May, Fitz, and Jemma. When they land, Mack gets word of himself following suit, all effective immediately, along with an across the board termination of service notice for all Inhumans and other augmented assets. The extra security crew assigned to Daisy’s building, all abandon the property, while leaving their equipment behind out of loyalty to Mack. May and the others finally get back to Daisy’s building, and settle in for story hour downstairs in Yo Yo’s gallery, with Mack and Yo Yo pouring over the Asgardian story book of confidential origin with Dr. Laufey, while Ward still sleeps off his medically induced coma upstairs with little Karny watching over him.
Mack:
I can’t believe I can read this stuff… This is Asgardian?… It’s plain as day to me…
Dr. Laufey:
That is a side effect of the curse of the Eternal Berserker… for the purposes of service to war… all the tongues… of all the nine realms… must be as second nature to you as your own… including all the varied tongues of Midgard… It is known in Asgard… as the Allspeak… And includes all the tongues of the known enemies and rival powers of Asgard… from both within and beyond the nine realms…
Dr. Laufey sorts through various boxes of books and university degrees on the floor of Yo Yo’s gallery, as one of two large loading bay doors is remotely triggered open and the supercharged black Hell Charger pulls in with Robbie Reyes driving and Daisy riding shotgun. The loading bay door closes and the two file in past a line of custom motorcycles lined up by the other loading bay door, to break the news of disappointment to the roomies, new and old.
Daisy:
Nothing and everything… Everywhere and nowhere… That’s what the Ghost Rider said… I have no idea what it means except that we have no leads… And we know nothing other than they’re still here… somewhere!… I’m sorry Robbie… I don’t mean to take it out on you… It’s been a while since I was on the hook for people I cared about… who’s heads don’t normally catch on fire anyway that is… you know what I mean…
Robbie:
It’s cool… Now you know how I feel with you tagging along… even with your powers… I prefer risking only my own forsaken neck… I would be doing it now… But that wizard or whatever… Ogun… has put the mojo on the Rider somehow… We both feel helpless now… It’s like this growing sort of torture… like an itch you just can’t scratch… And it just keeps getting worse… like something’s building… like some sort of pressure build up… like a pressure cooker of evil… But coming from everywhere all at once…
Mack:
A pressure cooker of evil Robbie?…
Robbie:
I don’t know how else to describe it…
Daisy:
What he said made more sense than how the Ghost Rider described it… I think I’m starting to sense something too… A subtle build up of micro tremor activity lately… spiking just now… And not just because of me… That is no coincidence… Maybe we can use that somehow… Or we might if at least one of us still had access to Shield resources…
Dr. Laufey:
Access to the resources of authorities… and recourse to authority itself… has almost always seemed like more trouble than it was worth to me… I have always operated as you say… as an ‘NGO’… for most of my professional life here on Midgard… ever since I forever renounced the poison of political entanglement… But when the poison is in your blood from birth… that is easier said than done… And as a therapist… and an Asgardian… I have always had a weakness for wounded warriors… like Agent Fitz here… So some involvement with authorities is inevitable then… But we don’t need Shield necessarily… But without them… we may need those reinforcements that father promised… Even if it means my half sister… either one of them…
Daisy:
Besides your sister Lorelei… how many sisters do you have?…
Dr. Laufey:
Just two others… that are alive… that I know of… Lorelei was the fraternal twin sister that my father Loki had with Queen Karnilla… along with myself… pretending to be Lord Balder… Subsequently… Queen Karnilla had an affair with the real thing… giving birth to my honorable and distinguished half sister… Lady Sif… We all grew up together… But while we were the daughters of the trickster… She was the daughter of the legendary Lord Balder the Brave… and a distinguished warrior in her own right from a young age… And we all fought like sisters… to the point of bloodshed… Our oldest sister is a completely different kettle of strange fish entirely… I’m not even sure if she’s capable of coming to Midgard safely… or without causing even more trouble… I don’t know what my father’s thinking… But if he’s nostalgic for a performance from The Daughters Grimoire… I’m afraid that act died off with my sister Lorelei…
Daisy:
‘The Daughters Grimoire’?… Is that supposed to be some kind of Asgardian cult?… or a sorority?…
Dr. Laufey:
That was what our father introduced us as when he wanted us to show off for him at the fancier parties of the Asgardian court… He would joke that he needed no grimoire to study… to learn magic he didn’t need… Because his daughters grimoire could do it all for him… What we didn’t realize till years later… was that this was often a deflection when the subject of our parentage came up… And the incident that led to it… Sometimes our oldest sister Meghan would become a third member of our act… But only because me and Lorelei would have to pretend she was… As cover for when Mixed Up Meghan… got everything mixed up again… And then she would transform into some crazy thing and fly off and disappear… leaving my sister and I to clean up after her… As we grew up and my father’s mischief grew more serious… and more overtly political… my sister and I followed suit Although for different reasons… My father suffered from genuine ambition… ‘Burdened with glorious purpose!’… My sister cared about nothing but her own vanity and prestige… While I… I hated everything!… I hated the power my father wanted!… I hated the prestige my sister wanted!… But I wanted whatever they wanted!… Because they were just about all I had!… But I hated all of it!… everything about Asgardian politics… everything about the poison of politics… the poison of things that couldn’t be changed and couldn’t be avoided… like the name Laufey… Even before my father became the infamous war criminal Loki… even before he knew himself… it was known… but never said… Because everyone knew… And no body talked about it… The name Laufey followed and hung around my father’s neck his whole life… Even after he learned of it… he refused to believe… He would only admit the truth to us in private… And make stupid jokes about it… to dismiss it… But we knew… Because everybody knew… Even though no one said anything… The name followed us everywhere too… Part of our motivation for our performances as The Daughters Grimoire… was to outshine the name Laufey in people’s memories… and replace it with Loki… as The Daughters of The Trickster… The Daughters Grimoire… Eventually I came to embrace the name… as a rebellion… Even against my father… who killed our grandfather… King Laufey of the frost giants… for the sake of his own politics… That is part of why I adopted the name Laufey for my life here on Midgard… I named my NGO as you call it… The King Laufey Memorial Foundation… as a jab at dear old dad… and all of Asgard besides… So much for the authorities… To Niflheim with this cracked Shield!… Anything that folds so easily… cannot be trusted when it matters anyway!… One thing I know from growing up as a Daughter of the Trickster… is that all of politics are poison… And if you live by that poison… then you will most likely die by that poison… if not poison those around you… possibly taking them with you… or destroying them before you while you watch… as collateral damage of your own personal favorite flavor of the same basic poison… You seem to know something of that poison yourself… Miss Daisy… And you certainly seem like someone who knows what it’s like to be thus poisoned… You mentioned your own messed up family… But then you said it wasn’t pertinent… Given how much I’m sharing of a personal family nature… I for one would like to hear about yours… or anyone else’s really…
Daisy:
It’s… nothing… It’s nothing… nearly so interesting as yours…
Dr. Laufey:
Nice dodge… But I am a professional therapist you know… I’m afraid you’ll need to work on your delivery… And get a better cover story… I will not serve that purpose for you…
Daisy:
It’s just that… my story is nothing but tragic… My crazy father… driven crazy by my crazy mother… killed my crazy mother… to stop the crazy bitch from killing me… There is nothing interesting about any of that… just crazy tragic…
Dr. Laufey:
A crazy mother?… I know something about crazy mothers… from personal experience… Please… Tell me more…
Daisy:
Well… Jia Ying was the leader of our people… the Inhumans… You may have heard of them recently… I guess she wasn’t crazy so much crazed… as in being ruthless and murderous in pursuit of some fanatical ideal… She talked a good game… And she believed it… But that just made her more dangerous…
Dr. Laufey:
Wait… I’ve heard of the Inhumans… and the stories of the Kree and Terra Genesis… But… did you just say that your mother’s name… was Jia Ying?…
Daisy:
Yes… Why?… Does that name mean anything to you?…
Dr. Laufey:
I don’t know… It can’t… It can’t be… It simply cannot be… My memory must be playing tricks on me… Because it simply can not be…
Daisy:
What can’t be?… Dr. Laufey?… What can’t be?…
Dr. Laufey:
Mack!… Quick!… Hurry!… Bring me the book!… There is something that I have to check!… Hurry!…
Mack rushes over to hand her the book, with a growing sense of concern, obviously shared by everyone present, especially the daughter of Jia Ying. Dr. Laufey frantically searches through the book to verify the information in her memory concerning the name Jia Ying.
Dr. Laufey:
The book it self has all sorts of translations from earlier writings… many translated from languages older than modern Asgardian… The origins of the The Hand are related therein… compiled from multiple sources… But they all agree on a few key details… The Hand was started by a special breed of mankind… with special powers granted to them by the gods… a story with startling similarities to that of Terra Genesis… with the blue angels of the Kree… and the origin of what you call Inhumans… ‘Among these god men… were great powers of the gods of the heavens… bestowed upon some of the god men of earth… to rule on behalf of the gods of the sky… One was granted the power to control… to guide and to command… The other was granted the power to cull… to drain and feed upon the power of life itself… with the power over life and death to aid the great shepherd of the herd of god men… and to help manage the herd of the god men of earth… But the herd of god men grew contentious against the great shepherd… Chaffing against the burden of that control… The reaper of the herd rebelled against the power of the great shepherd… using the power of a great grimoire of evil… known simply as the Darkhold… a conduit for demonic powers… in service to demonic alliance… The reaper banished the great shepherd… But then turned against her own kind… feeding them to her demon allies… They fled from her in horror… as she became the Angel of Death… The Black Queen Selene… Those who remained loyal to her became known as The Dark Hand of the Black Queen Selene… The Hand of Death’… Elsewhere in the book it covers the identity of this reaper person who became the Black Queen Selene…
Dr. Laufey searches frantically again for some vague memory of a phantom from her childhood.
Dr. Laufey:
Here!… ‘Among the herd of god men was selected a reaper of the herd of god men… so that the god men of earth shall never surpass the gods of the sky… To appease the herd of god men… a woman of kind heart was selected from among them… A woman with a heart so kind… the power of the reaper broke her heart… and split her soul in two… The kind hearted woman was named Jia Ying… And from her broken heart was born… the Angel of Death… The Black Queen Selene’… It goes on to say that she was immortal and didn’t age because of her power… to absorb life itself… Does that sound at all like the Jia Ying you knew?…
Daisy:
That’s… not possible… It can’t be true… She was crazy… But she wasn’t that crazy… I’ve never even heard the name Selene before…
Dr. Laufey:
The book also describes a ritualistic behavior pattern of the Black Queen… the habitual embrace and corruption of strong men… It says that she builds them up into her own twisted image… as her black kings… only to turn on them and destroy them… then to replace them… And start all over again with another black king later… Perhaps pathologically trying to fill the role meant to be played by this banished shepherd… Has your mother ever done that?…
Daisy stares off into space without answering.
Dr. Laufey:
Have I struck a nerve?… Miss Daisy?…
Daisy:
She did that… to my father… But… She didn’t mean to… He just did it… to please her… when they lost me as a baby… He went mad… and murderously psychotic for it… Chemically altering himself to measure up to whatever she needed… It can’t be true but…
Daisy falls silent again, then demands Robbie take her out searching again, for which he dutifully obliges. Mack and Yo Yo grab a pair of bikes and follow, with Mack bringing his shotgun ax along for the ride, just in case. May and Fitz head up with Dr. Laufey to check on Ward and little Karny, with Fitz anxiously thumbing through Dr. Laufey’s book, and trying to remember all of his Asgardian.
Fitz:
We really need to call our old Asgardian berzerker friend… This just keeps getting deeper and deeper… And Daisy seriously needs to have the elevator fixed… Mack and I will have to put that on our to do list… along with Armageddon…
Across town, on an old familiar hilltop overlooking LA, the Hell Charger sits quiet, with Daisy riding shotgun, and Robbie Reyes behind the wheel, flanked on either side by a pair of concerned friends on custom Harley’s. Yo Yo sits on her bike next to Daisy on the passenger side, leaning over towards Daisy with her hand on the roof of the car, while Mack straddles his iron steed, strapped with his shotgun ax next to Robbie Reyes on the driver’s side. A small silver cross and a silver Rolls Royce emblem, hang from a silver chain wrapped around the rear view mirror of the black Charger, with a small Los Angeles Raiders bobble head resting on the dash.
Robbie:
I thought you wanted to search for your friends… What are we doing here again?… Are you having another flashback?… I’m not a mind reader you know… My bobble head may have settled down… But my head is still boggled… I can’t even imagine what your head is going through… Especially since you haven’t said a word since you made us a park here!…
Mack:
Easy Reyes… Everybody has a lot to digest right now… Daisy even more so…
Daisy:
Don’t you sense anything?… If not The Hand… then some other evil… There has to be something to kill!… This is LA dammit!… There has to be something evil to kill here!… Somewhere nearby perhaps?…
Robbie:
You hunting Daisy?… Looking for something to take it out on?… You know I’m down for destroying anything genuinely evil… We both are… But I won’t enable your denial…
Daisy:
Denial Robbie?…
Robbie:
Something else is bothering you… And you know we can’t just let it go… LA can’t afford for you to erupt normally… Even less now with the riots…
Mack:
They also can’t afford a lot of careless fires as collateral damage of the Ghost Rider’s joy rides… Robbie… But there’s a lot going on that they can’t afford right now… But with all due respect to your issues Daisy… Jia Ying is dead… right?… I never got to know her the way you did… you being he daughter on all… I only ever dealt with her minions… and her handiwork… But she’s dead… right?… That’s one thing we don’t have to worry about… right?… This Black Queen Selene… is supposed to be immortal… the Angel of Death… beyond death… whatever that’s supposed to mean… Why the hell does the Ghost Rider talk like that?… Dammit Robbie!…
Robbie:
I don’t know Mack… Your guess is as good as mine… I just know that he’s old… impossibly old… Old enough to have his own memories of this Black Queen Selene… Sometimes he shares some of his own memories with me… often just images… Sometimes dreams… I’ve been having this recurring flash of a woman… The face of this Black Queen Selene… is burned into my brain now… I’m starting to wonder if it’s effecting our ability to sense The Hand… It doesn’t feel like a coincidence… But this Jia Ying is supposedly dead… right?…
Daisy:
Drive Robbie…
Robbie:
Drive?… Drive where?…
Daisy:
Dr. Winslow’s…
Robbie:
The vet?… You want to take the dog to the vet now?…
Daisy:
Never mind the dog… Never mind the vet… We have to got to Dr. Winslow’s house!… Now!… Yo Yo knows the way… You can follow her…
Mack:
Yo Yo knows the way?…
Yo Yo:
Not now!… Mack the Executioner!… You’re still on my watch list!… Are you sure you want to do this Daisy?… Like this?… Now?…
Daisy:
Yeah Yo Yo… I have to now… Can you lead Robbie and Mack there for me?…
Yo Yo:
Sure thing Daisy… Whatever you need…
Outside of an old unmarked warehouse with electronic locks, several trucks drive in behind the warehouse and red clad ninja begin to pile out, including Electra, and a business suit wearing man with short light brown hair, wearing the white demon mask. The man in the white demon mask waves his left hand over an electronic lock on the back door to the warehouse and the door unlocks. Red clad ninja pile in behind Electra and the demon mask, as they unlock lock after lock, all without ever seeing any human security, until they come to a series of cold storage lockers for human cadavers.
The demon mask goes to one particular locker, and opens it all the way out, revealing the cold dead body of Daisy’s mother Jia Ying, an Asian woman with brown hair, and numerous facial scars. The demon mask stands back with Electra, whom he motions to stand beside him, as the red clad ninja file in one by one and press their hands upon the remarkably well preserved corpse of Jia Ying. As they do so, energy seems to drain from them, killing them as they drop dead, to be consumed in black flames, and replaced by another willing suicidal supplicant. Jia Ying’s eyes open, accompanied by the sound of bones healing and popping back into their proper place, as the white demon mask escorts Electra past the throngs of red clad Inhuman fodder, to wait for the feaster upon her full resurrection. Jia Ying seems to smile as she absorbs every last red shirt, save for Electra, erasing every last one of her scars from her mutilation alive at the hands of Hydra, as she greets the white demon mask outside by name.
Jia Ying:
Master Ogun… Your choice of hosts is as delicious as always… I have a history with this one… Jia Ying never remembers me… But I always remember her!… And now I have a daughter that I haven’t had the chance to get to know properly… in large part due to that man… Did you know?… Was this a present for me?…
The voice of Ogun sounds out from the white demon mask as it talks.
Ogun:
It was because I acquired this host that I learned of how to find you… and gained the means to release you… You were asleep within Jia Ying… and surrounded by her Inhuman sycophants for decades… after the treachery of The Black King of Shanghai put you to sleep… Just recently we received word that you had died… But we lacked the knowledge of the location of your supposed corps for resurrection… until now… my Angel of Death…
Electra:
Angel of Death?… Her?… That power is impressive… But… she’s so… ordinary looking… beautiful mind you… but otherwise ordinary… She’s just not what I pictured… as the Black Queen Selene… The Angel of Death… Perhaps I’ve seen too many silly comic book movies…
Selene:
If you want something more impressive… how about this?…
The Selene rushes and grabs both Ogun’s host and Electra, each by the neck, one in each hand, impossibly swiftly, and begins to drain them of their life energy slightly, absorbing their memories along with their energy.
Selene:
I can see why you like this host… He’s full of all kinds of useful information… I already knew of course… about your treachery with the Black King of Shanghai… I already knew… that it was you who gave the Darkhold to him… So that I may be made to sleep… And so that you may have free reign in my absence… And now you presume to act happy to see me?… as if I’m just another one of your cult followers?… You truly were desperate… But I have no patience for unreliable and conniving spirits… If you like this host so much… then may you rot in it forever… I like your new acolyte… I’ll take her too… Electra Natchios… You belong to me now… May the demon sorcerer Ogun be nothing but a source of power to you in your memory… All of his memories and knowledge will be yours… and all the power thereof… And you will serve me in his stead… Begone parasite!… Return to me if you dare… when you learn the true nature of your place in the food chain!…
The white demon mask shatters and explodes off of Coulson’s face, leaving behind Coulson’s body with Selene’s hand still at his throat before she drops him. The demon sorcerer Ogun scurries off in Coulson’s body, leaving behind Electra in the hands of the Angel of Death. The red color drains from Electra’s clothing as is, and it all fades completely to black, before Selene drops her, and she collapses to her knees on the ground before Selene, then rips the now black cloth off of her face, as if gasping for air.
Electra:
Mistress… my Black Queen… Selene… You know Ogun will seek revenge… Why let him roam free?…
Selene:
The parasite amuses me… As much of a pathetic parasite as the demon Ogun may be… presuming to be the right hand of the angel of death… He is nonetheless a genuine agent of chaos… It amuses me endlessly to have him roaming about… scurrying about for power… or for revenge… or for the sake of his own petty twisted indulgences… presuming to play petty puppet master… all the while calling it transcendent sacred chaos…
Electra:
But I feel his power now!…
Selene:
What you are feeling now… is only the beginning… It is but a taste… of your own true power… Almost all of what you think of as Ogun’s power… Is just glorified smoke and mirrors… part of his glorified performance artistry… with his powers of the mind being his forte… his palette of choice… But all of his true power… came from his mastery of the sword… and his mastery of kiaido… or onmyodo… the mastery and harmonization of natural life energy… Something that he uses on his hosts to increase their bodies power… But something that has even more powerful effects for those who are properly alive in their own skin… The power you feel… will only increase with time… But that is not Ogun’s power… That is your own…Now come along with Aunty Selene… Jia Ying’s ex hubby… is long overdue for a chance to get to know the real me… And I have an address now… For my daughter too… I can’t wait to properly introduce myself… or re-introduce myself… to the Black King… of Jia Ying… and his traitorous daughter of darkness…
Grant Ward awakens to find little Karny still sleeping on the bed next to him while Fitz reads through Dr. Laufey’s story book, and peppers her with a thousand questions about it and The Hand, while May just stares at Ward and listens silently.
Fitz:
So according this… ‘The Hand have methods of torture… and arcane magic… that break the Asgardian curse placed upon the wolfkin of Midgard… turning the wolfkin into mindless beastial slaves… the hell hounds of The Hand’… So if that is what we’re waiting to wake up… why are we letting him wake up?… except for little Karny’s sake?…
Dr. Laufey:
Grant Ward is no hell hound Mr. Fitz… Regardless of your personal history together… or your personal feelings about any of it… Grant Ward is simply wolfkin… unbound by the Asgardian curse somehow… His present condition is primarily a function of his experience being the host for the creature known as Hive… Being wolfkin just makes that more difficult to deal with from time to time… Although the two may be somewhat related… I have yet to find the cause somewhere in his jumbled memories… for either result… or to answer the question of his resurrection in any state to begin with… He was found butt naked in the ruins of his family home… wearing nothing but a golden cross around his neck… that he has no memory of from before… jumbled or otherwise that I can discern… He exhibited the behavior… of a schizophrenic multiple personality disorder… as well as paranoid delusions and hallucinations… I had used some of my influence through the foundation… to put an automatic lid on any reports regarding Grant Ward… while routing all such reports to me personally… I was able to have him placed under my care here in LA… as a confidential outpatient of one of my foundation clinics… the similar to the one where I treated Agent Fitz at first… From what I can gather from our sessions… this Hive creature was somehow removed… while Grant Ward was spared… but left with all the combined memories of every life consumed by Hive… jumbled all together in his human skull… but without the ability to manage it that Hive must have had… He has his moments of lucidity… But he often jumps about in his accumulated memories in mid conversion… or otherwise talks to the phantoms in his head… Little Karnilla seems to have a magic touch when it comes to keeping him focused… Because she’s new to him… fresh memories of something hopeful… for a brighter future… as opposed to his own dark and jumbled past… Apologies in advance for the apology mantra monologue marathon… He can become somewhat obsessive about saying sorry… I haven’t bean able treat that yet… after a while… it grates on the nerves…
Ward sits up and tries to focus his eyes on the source of the familiar voice in the room.
Grant Ward:
Fitz?… Is that you?… Are you really there?… I’ve lost it again haven’t I?… I’m sorry Karny Girl… I’m so sorry… May!?!… Is Sky here too?… Is any of this real?…
Little Karny awakens from the sound of her daddy’s voice, and tries to talk her daddy down.
Little Karny:
Calm down daddy!… Every one’s real here!… I think… Why don’t you tell me who you see… and where… and I’ll tell you who’s real… We’ll play who’s real with your old friends daddy!… Okay?…
Grant Ward:
Okay Karny girl… I’m sorry to be such a bother again… Is Fitz real?… That one there…
Fitz:
Of course I’m real!… You barking mad wolf’s head!…
Grant Ward:
I wasn’t asking you!… I’m sorry… So sorry… Karny girl?… Am I barking mad again?… I don’t even know if May is really here either… what about her?…
Little Karny:
They’re both real daddy!… And Sky is real too!… But she’s not here right now… This is her building!… But the bad men in red made off with Dr. Jemma!… and the Son of Cole!… We had to move… We live here now… Sky has a dog!… Her name is Snoopy!… She’s a war hero… See?… She’s sleepy right now… She’s a cranky old bitch!… That’s what Sky says… She sniffs bombs… and drugs… the cranky old bitch… not Sky… as far as I know…
Dr. Laufey:
Now Karnilla dear… Please don’t overwhelm your daddy too much all at once… His old friends are in need of some answers… And your daddy could use some space… for peace of mind and a bit of clarity…
Grant Ward:
Well at least I know that Loki isn’t real… That I know is an hallucination!… Loki’s dead… I remember that much…
Loki:
The hell I am!… Wolfkin princeling!…
Little Karny:
Granpa!…
Grant Ward:
Loki is real?!?… And he’s really your grandfather?!?… I thought you were just telling tall tales to impress your daddy… Aren’t you supposed to be dead?…
Loki:
I got better… And you got worse… I had heard about you before… looked into you… exactly the kind of dirt bag Lorelei liked to waste time on… the dangerous haunted bad boy… She could really pick em… Couldn’t she daughter?…
Dr. Laufey:
She had done worse…
Loki:
That she had daughter… That she had… I suppose it’s long overdo that we should finally meet… I recently met my oldest daughter’s new husband… That was fun… Typical white knight… A British descendant of one of Captain Rogers war buddies… The Howling Dildos or something… And just as insufferable as Captain Rogers… But you were always such a scoundrel… Lorelei’s typical fetish… An actual Hydra double agent… running around… trying to conquer the world… A man after my own heart really… But a bit too dangerous for your own good apparently… Again… I can relate… Even more so than I first realized… I would have sent reinforcements sooner… But as it is… Asgard is very busy right now…dealing with a sudden growing full scale wolfkin rebellion!… Spurred on by sudden rumors of a wolfkin prince of Midgard breaking the curse of the Midgard Wolfkin Clan… Every realm with wolfkin in it has erupted in insurrection… And that cannot be a coincidence… Hell hounds of Midgard are said to have been seen in other realms… The Hand is clearly involved… in whatever is going on with the wolfkin all throughout the nine realms… Not just these two here… So why focus on these two… Unless it’s related… I suspect young Master Ward here may be some sort of wolfkin royalty… But I have no way of knowing… And I have my hands full… But reinforcements are on the way… as is your mother…
Loki disappears again before his daughter can react.
Dr. Laufey:
My Mother!?!… Dammit father!…
Fitz:
That was Loki… The Loki… Shouldn’t we tell someone?… Shield maybe?…
May:
To hell with Shield!… We’re not Shield!… And we’re not Avengers!… Loki is someone else’s problem… We’re NGOs now… NGOs without a Shield…
Dr. Laufey:
Well then perhaps we’d better make our own Shield…
Coulson:
I know Shields… I’m Shield director… I can help with that…
Coulson chimes in from the bottom of the stairs that provide direct roof access, taking everyone by surprise.
May:
Coulson!?!…
Fitz:
Coulson!?!… Where’s Jemma?!?… Do you know what happened to her?!?…
Coulson:
Easy Fitz… We were separated… before we even knew it… I honestly don’t know exactly what has been made of her… before I escaped… But I am eager to find out… You can count on that… I just came to check on you lot… I have to chase down some leads… about Jemma… So I can’t stay…
Fitz:
Chase down leads?… With what?… We’ve all been sacked!… With extreme political prejudice!… What do you think you can use… to track down leads with?… What leads?…
Coulson:
I can’t talk about it now!… I know about Shield… Don’t you worry about Shield… I’ve got the Shield situation under control… I’m several steps ahead of everyone… I just need to borrow agent May for a while… You can all stay here and hold down the fort… We’ve got this!… Come on agent May… We need to go somewhere… somewhere… where we can have a private conversation… Care to go for a bike ride agent May?…
May:
Okay… I’m ready… Let’s go… But you’re explaining it to Mack if we scratch one of his bikes…
Coulson:
I wouldn’t dream of it… I know the consequences…
Little Karny:
Wait!… Something’s wrong!… Coulson’s wrong!… He’s different now!… He’s wrong!… He smells the same… But he’s different!… He’s wrong!…
Coulson:
I beg your pardon little girl… But children should respect their elders…
Grant Ward:
Please Karny girl!… I’ve been the cause of enough trouble already… I’m sorry Coulson… I’m so sorry…
May:
Sorry kid… But I’m with Coulson… We’re out of leads… And we’re out of support… fighting monsters and ghost stories… without a Shield… Whatever he has in mind… I’m in… Lets go…
Coulson smiles as he leaves with agent May, commandeering one of Mack’s bikes.
Grant Ward:
Well… That went better than I ever could have hoped… Was it just me?… Or was he smiling at me and Karny girl?… I would have thought that he would be madder… that he would hate me… I would hate me… I do hate me… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…
Fitz:
I’m starting to get what you mean about the sorrython… It does grate on the nerves after a while… It’s like he’s found some new twisted way to inflict suffering… I bet part of him enjoys that… I honestly thought… that I would enjoy this more… Even though it’s Ward… I feel his pain too much… Because I went through it… or something close enough to it… Even though it was him what did it to me to begin with!… Dammit Ward!… That’s just like you Ward!… I can’t even enjoy karma!… Karma may be a bitch… But it’s also damned inconvenient at the moment… revenge served ice cold and everything… But with Jemma taken… I really could have used the old Ward right now…
Ward:
I’m sorry Fitz… I’m so sorry…
Fitz:
Me too Ward… Me too…
Karny:
I’m sorry too Uncle Fitzy… If it helps…
As Fitz and Ward begin to get re-aquainted, with little Karny acting as a mediator, a thunderous noise is heard coming from the roof. Then a tallish woman with long straight black hair, walks down the stairs from the roof, wearing red and stainless steel Asgardian armor, and carrying a pair of single handed straight double edged swords strapped to her back.
Fitz:
Lady Sif!… You’re here!… Was that the Bifrost just now?… Wow!… When he said reinforcements… he wasn’t kidding…
Lady Sif:
Who said reinforcements?… Agent Fitz?… And how is it that you know my half sister?… I was ordered by King Odin himself… to assist her here on Midgard… to deal with bed time stories… while war is upon the very gates of Asgard!… and spreading throughout the nine realms!… But I am called here… to protect my half sister from the ghost stories of Midgard…
Fitz:
Well… We just heard that you… or someone like you was coming to help out… from a friend of a friend… of Dr. Laufey’s… Right Ward?…
Ward:
Right… I think… When was that?… I’m sorry… I must have forgotten… I’m always forgetting… I’m so sorry…
Lady Sif:
I’m afraid your friend has seen better days agent Fitz… This is not the man I remember as Grant Ward… Is this some foul trick of yours Amora?… Or was it our sister’s doing?… Revenge for Lorelei?… or by Lorelei from the grave?… Perhaps some wicked curse of the Daughters Grimoire… Where is agent May?… Where is the Son of Cole?…
Dr. Laufey:
Bite your tongue when you speak of our sister traitor!… Oh… Sorry… half sister… I know how important that distinction is to you… Agent May and Dir. Coulson just left to follow some leads… I honestly don’t know what my father was thinking… sending you of all people here… He must be mad!…
Lady Sif:
He must be mad?… You must be mad!… Your father is dead Amora!… He died as a hero of Asgard in his last moments sister… To save all the nine realms from the evil of the Dark Elves… Why can’t you honor his death as a proper Asgardian should?…
Dr. Laufey:
Perhaps… because sister… I have no interest in being a proper Asgardian… And I never did to begin with… Asgardian propriety… is nothing but pride and vanity… And you can shove Asgardian honor!… This is Midgard!… And you can shove all the pretensions of the glorified false gods of Asgard!… And shuffle off back to Asgard with the lot of them!… No one needs that kind of help here!… half sister…
Lady Sif:
I am sorry sister… I did not mean to antagonize… But I am under strict orders directly from King Odin… I cannot simply shuffle off anywhere… I will see this done… or die seeing it done… no matter the cost… Even if it’s just chasing after the ghost stories of Midgard…
Dr. Laufey:
Do you doubt my word?… Or just my sanity?…
Lady Sif: At this moment sister?… Both!…
Uncle Fitz motions to Karny and Ward to follow him as the sisters rage on. Fitz grabs the Asgardian story book and begins to head past the oblivious fighting sisters, down to the gallery store front for some peace and semi-quiet, for conversation.
Fitz:
Well Ward… Here we go again… Normally… I would love to enjoy your family troubles Ward… But I can’t enjoy anything right now that gets in the way of getting Jemma back…
Ward:
I’m sorry Fitz… I really am… I just wish I could help… I’m so sorry…
Fitz:
Oh stop with that Ward!… I honestly couldn’t care less about apologies… Save it for the dead Ward!… whenever you eventually catch up with them…
Karny:
Uncle Fitzy!…
Fitz:
Sorry little Karny… But things between your father and me… just are the way they are… Hell… If it weren’t for you being here little Karny… I probably would have strangled your father at first sight in his bed!… As it is… we’re stuck with each other… And your father needs to get his head together… Because if anything happens to Jemma… I really will kill him… Sorry Karny… But this is adult business… And that’s just the way it is for adults some times… a lot of the time with your father… Right now I’m working the problem… rather than killing your father… which would you prefer little Karny?…
Karny:
Working the problem?… What does… ‘working the problem’ mean?…
Fitz:
It means that I have no leads except your father and you… And so I have to work on you lot… Your granpa seems to think your father is some sort of wolfkin royalty… I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t know about that… or know of something that might indicate it… But Daisy had no idea that she was an inhuman… until after she changed… So you never know… Maybe we can jog something lose from your father’s broken brain with this story book here… Something he might not even know he knows… about his own wolfkin family… if nothing else…
Ward:
I’m sorry Fitz… for everything…
Fitz:
Oh stop that!…
The three make their way down to the ground level gallery, just as they hear the roar of a replica of the specially modified World War II Harley Davidson rode by Captain Steve Rogers as Captain America during the war, with the American flag replaced with the Union Jack of Great Britain, pulling up in front of the gallery. Two people arrive riding the Harley Davidson, with a man in front wearing a British Royal Air Force captain’s uniform, and a World War II replica of the helmet worn by Captain America during the war, but painted with the flag pattern of the British Union Jack. Behind him rides a blonde woman with no helmet, riding side saddle, wearing only a vivid Loki green body suit, with no shoes or gloves. Captain Britain takes off his helmet to carry it under his arm, as he readjusts his blonde hair, formerly underneath. They pull up and make their way to the double glass gallery doors, and knock on the glass to get their attention. Little Karny rushes over to let them in.
Karny:
Hello… Can I help you?… Are you lost?… You look lost…
RAF Officer:
Well… We aren’t lost little girl… Meghan here always just looks that way… But we don’t necessarily know if we even have the right address… It’s a new address for Meghan’s sister… Because of recent family troubles… We’re supposed to help her out with that… But Meghan didn’t write it down… And her father is well… problematic… So we can’t really ask the source… Do you know if someone named Dr. Amora Laufey… has taken up residence here recently?…
Karny:
That’s my Aunty Amora!… Are you my Aunty Meghan?… Granpa said he was sending help… Aunty Sif is already here… But they’re upstairs fighting about mommy… And… Who are you supposed be again?… Are you Aunty Meghan’s body guard?… Aunty Meghan’s supposed to be a princess!…
Meghan:
I am a princess!… But I left all that behind… I wasn’t a good fit for the court anyway… Or so they told me… So I ran away… Brian here protects me from anyone who might try and take me back…
RAF Brian:
In a manner of speaking… I’m her husband… Brian… Captain Brian Braddock… I was told that this building was the home of a Shield agent… of a rogue agent supposedly… It all sounds rather dubious to be sure…
Ward:
Brian?… Is that you?… Since when is the Weird Happenings Organization involved?… Last I heard… you told me you were suppose to become a test pilot… Weren’t you?…
Brian:
I’m sorry… But I don’t know you… And I haven’t worked as a test pilot in years… Who are you supposed to be exactly?…
Ward:
I’m not sure if I know right now exactly… I don’t suppose you know someone named Will?… an astronaut?…
Brian:
I did have an astronaut buddy named Will… But he disappeared years ago on some secret mission he couldn’t talk about… What exactly would you know about that?…
Ward:
I’m not sure exactly… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…
Brian:
Oh… You must be Ward… I was told that you were damaged… and pathologically apologetic… And not much else… I don’t think Meghan’s dad likes me very much… And the feeling is mutual… Have you met him yet?… I wouldn’t want to talk out of turn…
Ward:
Loki… At least… I think it was Loki… I’m not sure what I can believe… I’m sorry… But I am Grant Ward… Usually… I’m sorry for that too…
Brian:
Well we’ve definitely come to the right place at least… Perhaps we should make sure the sister act doesn’t kill itself upstairs…
The group makes their way back up to find the sisters still arguing.
Lady Sif:
It was my duty!… Our sister gave King Odin no choice!…
Dr. Laufey:
No choice!?!… You mean King Odin gave you no choice!… Did you even want a choice?… You wanted her dead!… You wanted revenge!… You didn’t care what happened to her!… You returned her to her cell in the dungeon!… And you walked away and left her to die!…
Lady Sif:
I didn’t know she was pregnant!…
Dr. Laufey:
You didn’t care!… You’ve wanted nothing to do with us our whole lives!… And now you expect me to believe that it would have made any difference if you had known about the baby?… To Niflheim with you sister… And all of Asgard along with you…
Meghan:
That’s enough!… No one is going to Niflheim!… I’ve been there… Once… When I got lost this one time… It was very unpleasant!… Trust me!… No one wants to go there!…
Dr. Laufey:
Meghan!… You made it!… We’re saved!…
Meghan:
I’m not stupid!… I’m not Mixed Up Meghan any more!… I know your mocking me!… But I’m all grown up now… I’m married and everything… This is my new husband Brian!… He’s a space cadet!…
Brian:
Astronaut in training Meghan… Astronaut in training… Or I was… before the purge… Now I’m on indefinite leave… along with the entire Weird Happenings Organization… as well as Black Air… Which is more than can be said for much of Shield at the moment… I would say… that your sister’s need arises at a time when I am conveniently available… But I don’t believe in coincidences… They make my skin crawl…
Meghan:
Ooooh!… Crawling skin?… That sounds fun!… What’s that feel like?… Does it tingle?…
Karny:
It probably itches… Like my wolf’s ears sometimes…
Meghan:
Ooooh!… I hate itchy ears!… But that’s nothing compared to an itchy tail… That’s the worst!…
Karny:
Oh… I hate it when my tail itches!…
Ward:
Yeah… Me too… I think… Sorry…
Fitz:
What are you apologizing for now?…
Ward:
I don’t know… Sorry…
Lady Sif:
Yes… You have become quite sorry indeed… I fear for my niece’s well being… With such people as you lot looking after her… Even without considering my sister’s ghost stories…
Dr. Laufey:
Again!… You doubt my word!… You’re the one who cannot be trusted here!… You are the traitor to your own blood!…
A flash of purple lightening erupts in between the sisters, and a tallish figure of a woman takes shape within the purple flashes, with long black hair, in a purple dress and tiara, with single handed straight double edge sword, strapped to her side with a silver chain around her waste. The sword rests in a sliver trimmed wooden scabbard painted purple, with a purple gem enshrined in the silvery cross guard of the sword.
Purple Woman:
That is enough!… Daughters!… No more!… I will not stand for this sibling squabbling any more!… Not when my granddaughter needs our help… The Nine Realms are tearing themselves apart right now… I will not stand for my own blood kin doing the same!…
Sif/Amora:
Sorry mother…
Karny:
Nana Karny!… Did you come to help fight the red pajama people too?…
Queen Karnilla:
No… I’m sorry my dear little Karny… My domain is relatively unscathed… as wolfkin have always been welcome there… But there are enough extremists in the mix to create difficulties even for me… And there are even rumors of Kree involvement in the agitation… If so… then Midgard may even be their primary target… I would simply take you home with me little Karny… if I thought it would be safer than Midgard… But nowhere is properly safe at the moment… And Midgard at least… is a bigger place to hide if it comes to it… If the Kree really are involved… then there may be no safe place in all of the nine realms… Ragnorak may yet be upon us… Prophecy and portents… have all been steadily increasing in their foreboding warnings of strife and difficulty… Whatever that may mean specifically… chaos is unavoidably ahead… And I will not tolerate any unnecessary strife within my own family!… Not anymore!… If… when this is over… you still feel the need to be at each others throats… Then kill each other!… And good riddance to troublesome women!… And I will just have to raise my granddaughter without having to deal with either of you… Perhaps the next generation… will have more sense… than the present one… Is that understood?…
Sif/Amora:
Yes mother…
Coming up the stairs unannounced, an old Asgardian friend arrives to help out, bearing numerous papers sticking out of his briefcase and portfolio.
A Friend:
By the Midgard serpent!… Is that Queen Karnilla?!?… Oh my goddess!… I beg your pardon your majesty!… I knew Dr. Laufey was your daughter… But I honestly never expected to run into you here on Midgard!…
Dr. Laufey:
Randy!… You made it!… This is my mother… You obviously know who she is… Mother… This man is a veteran of the berzerkers here on Midgard… But you may know him better by his writing pseudonym… Ozymandias The Mad…
Lady Sif:
Seriously!… Your Ozymandias The Mad?!?… You were in the berzerker army?!?…
Dr. Laufey:
I didn’t realize that you were such a fan girl… I thought you didn’t approve of ghost stories…
Lady Sif:
I don’t disapprove of them sister… I just don’t want to chase after them while Asgard may be under siege…
Queen K:
That’s enough you two!… So you were Odin’s scribe of Midgard?…
Randy:
Yes your majesty… I am still… Although I haven’t published in a while… It’s always nice to meet fans… But my name isn’t Randy your majesty… It’s Leif Erickson… Your daughter just likes to call me that because I lived under that name for a while here on Midgard… I’m using a different one now…
Dr. Laufey:
I call you Randy because you’re always randy… Randy… Although my sister here might just call you Ozzy… when she asks for your autograph… Try to resist the urge to take advantage Randy… My sister has led a sheltered life…
Lady Sif:
Hush sister!… Ozymandias The Mad is a loyal servant of Asgard and Odin himself… as am I…
Dr. Laufey:
And he is randy as Randy gets as well…
Queen K:
Hush you two!… My apologies sir knight… for my daughter’s squabbling manners… It is an honor to meet such a distinguished author… And I beg your indulgence of my daughters and my granddaughter in their time of need…
Randy:
It is my honor your majesty… It is my honor…
Queen K:
Now that I see you have some decent guidance in this matter at least… I must return to my domain and see to matters of state in turmoil… Granddaughter… Come over here to your grandmother… I have something for you here…
Little Karny nearly jumps out of her skin to get across the room to see what her grandmother has for her. The queen hands her a silver chain attached to a silver wire frame charm, shaped in the form of Snoopy’s head.
Karny:
Snoopy!…
Queen K:
I heard that you had a fondness for this creature from your Aunty Amora… So I made this sneaky charm for you…
Karny:
Snoopy!…
Queen K:
Sneaky!…
Karny:
Sneaky Snoopy!…
Queen K:
Sneaky Snoopy then… I specially made this special Sneaky Snoopy charm just for you… I enhanced it with special enchantments… called glamours…
Karny:
Glamours?…
Queen K:
Yes… They are special magical illusions… that can take on all sorts of appearances… and disappearances… In this case… it allows you to become completely invisible… It will even hide your scent… Just in case there are any hell hounds of The Hand tracking after you as well… It will also allow me to find you no matter what… or where… Grandmother’s privilege… and prerogative… Now… Put it on… And try to activate it… Hold it in your hand… And think of hiding…
Little Karny does as directed by her grandmother, then disappears. Her disembodied voice chimes in seemingly from the walls.
Karny:
It worked!… Right?… I can’t tell!…
Queen K:
It worked my little wolf cub!… Now come back to your grandmother!…
Little Karny reappears, and hugs her grandmother in celebration.
Lady Sif:
Satisfied mother?… Now that she’s past your test?…
Karny:
Test?…
Dr. Laufey:
Your grandmother likes to give special gifts… as tests… Charms made such that… they can only be used by those with Asgardian blood to some extent… Only they can use them… And even then… some charms can only be used by those with the natural gifts… to do so someday without the shortcut of the charm given… Like the twin daggers she left with my sister and me when she left us on our father Loki’s doorstep… Isn’t that right mother?… Just in case anything worthwhile came of your embarrassment?… at the hands of our father?…
Lady Sif:
At least you past all of her tests…
Dr. Laufey:
You never needed to pass her tests!…
Queen K:
Enough of you two and your petty melodrama!… Lady Amora… Do you still have your sister’s dagger?… I think it’s time for my granddaughter… to take up her mother’s heirloom… And no… You did not fail my tests… Lady Sif… You just lacked interest in training in anything but swinging your twin swords by your father’s side… Daddy’s little girl through and through…
Dr. Laufey:
Here Little Karnilla… These are the matching daggers that I mentioned… They are even more powerful than that Sneaky Snoopy talisman your grandmother just gave you… They can act as conduits for even greater power… if you have the talent for it… But these are keyed to our bloodline… So that only the direct blood descendants of the queen who made them… can ever use their higher powers… A very special family heirloom…
Dr. Laufey reaches behind her and pulls out two matching daggers, with purple scabbards silver trim, and silver cross guards etched with different markings.
Dr. Laufey:
My sister and me named ours… Mine was the Enchantress Blade… Hers was called… the Siren Blade… Here… The Siren Blade is yours little Karny Girl… It’s about time you learn how to use it… especially with The Hand after us…
Little Karny rushes over to take possession of her mother’s Siren Blade. Dr. Laufey hands it over to her, and pulls her own stainless steel blade with a silvery cross guard, from it’s silver and purple scabbard. It glows a vivid Loki green static electric glow, as it’s unsheathed. Little Karny does likewise with her Siren Blade, but rather than glowing, it begins to hum. Low level barely audible harmonics accompany the hum, as little Karny waves it about in amusement. Hearing this, the adopted drug and bomb sniffing Snoopy, rouses to full attention, jumps off the couch, and runs over to little Karny’s side.
Dr. Laufey:
This blade was confiscated from my sister the first time she got caught plotting and causing trouble for Asgard… It was remanded back to it’s creator… our mother the queen… Then bestowed upon me by our mother upon my sister’s death… to give to you some day… And with The Hand chasing after us… It simply can’t wait any longer…
Lady Sif:
Artifacts such as these not only function as a conduit for the power of their wielder… They develop tendencies of their own over time… tendencies imprinted upon them by their masters habits of use… I’m not so sure the Siren Blade is safe to be wielded by anyone… Our sisters power nearly brought down Asgard!… I don’t think it’s safe to be wielded by anyone… let alone a child…
Dr. Laufey:
It is her rightful heritage!… Whether Midgard or Asgard… can handle it or not!… And what would you know of magics?… shield maiden?… Valkyrie wannabe?…
Lady Sif:
I am not ignorant of magics sister!… I just choose not to rely upon them unnecessarily… or place my trust in them… In fact… I was the top of my class at the academy in astronautical and portal navigation… So much so there was even talk of me replacing Heimdal manning the Bifrost someday…
Dr. Laufey:
That’s my sister… Lady Sif… aspiring intergalactic toll booth operator… or perhaps a space chirpa…
Lady Sif:
At least that would serve a purpose besides my own vanity…
Dr. Laufey:
Would it now?… That sounds vain to me…
Queen K:
Enough you two!… My granddaughter will not go unarmed!… And that is the end of it!… Understand?…
Sif/Amora:
Yes mother…
Queen K:
Wait!… Something is coming!…
A loud roar is herd suddenly coming out of nowhere and seemingly landing on the roof above them, as Randy walks over to stand by the queen.
Fitz:
That doesn’t sound like the Bifrost…
Queen K:
It is not!… It is something else entirely…
The sound of stomping boots is heard marching their way down the stairs from the rooftop, and the sound of howling and growling makes it’s way up the stairs from below them.
Fitz:
Whatever they are… we’re surrounded…
Fitz pulls both of his side arms and moves to stand in between the little girl and the doors to the stair wells for the roof, as well as to the downstairs. Lady Sif jumps in front of her mother Queen Karnilla, with both swords drawn and crossed in front of her, as the queen pulls her own sword from it’s purple scabbard. Blue skinned but otherwise mostly human looking soldiers, wearing advanced body armor and carrying large hand held plasma weaponry, come stomping down the stairs from the roof. They are joined from below by pair of fur covered bipedal werewolves with red glowing eyes, one large one with orange fur, and another smaller one with black fur, both wearing gray metallic chains around their necks, with military style dog tags.
Numerous red clad ninja filter in through various large open windows and balconies of the top floor penthouse, as well as following in behind the two hell hounds. Right behind the two hell hounds stands a female figure in a hooded purple overcoat, with a red sash tied about her waste, wearing red gloves, and with another red sash tied around her eyes. She uses a reverse grip and pulls out two sais tucked away inside a red sash tied about her waste, then flips them around in her hand to hold them straight up in her grip, at the ready. The Kree officer addresses him self to the group.
Kree Officer:
Surrender now!… Surrender now and submit to the Kree Empire!… Surrender now your majesty… Queen Karnilla… And you will be treated as a royal hostage of the empire… with all due honors and privileges… Surrender the inhuman… known a Daisy Johnson… and the wolfkin nobility… And you may even be allowed… to join the empire!…
Queen K:
Allowed!?!… Allowed!?!… Kree Savages!… You presume to allow the Queen of the Norns!?!… Treacherous Kree savages!… The Queen of the Norns submits to no savages!… The Norn Queen submits to nothing… but the sacred duty of the Norn Covenant!… I don’t know who or what this Daisy Johnson is… But she is now under the sacred protection of the Queen of the Norns!… And as the Queen of the Norns… I hereby declare unending sacred war… against the profane empire… of the barbarian Kree!…
The queen swings her sword and unleashes a bright flash of purple lightening from it’s blade that incinerates the Kree officer where he stood.
Lady Sif:
Death to the treacherous Kree Savages!…
In a heat of bloodlust, spurred on by her mother’s declaration of sacred war and her first strike against the enemy, Lady Sif charges after the remaining Kree as they shoot plasma bolts at her and the queen behind her. Lady Sif keeps her swords crossed in front of her as she charges towards the remaining Kree, choosing a path between her and the remaining Kree that stays between them and her mother the queen. The Kree fire at Lady Sif, as she intentionally draws their fire, which harmlessly bounces off her crossed twin swords and her Asgardian armor. Lady Sif slices off one of the Kree soldiers heads, and chases after the other one as he flees up the stairs to the roof. Ward reacts badly to sight of The Hand and the Kree. Triggered by the queen’s and Lady Sif’s actions and sentiments, he transforms into his full wolfkin form, and chases up the stairs to the roof after Lady Sif, howling and screaming as he transforms.
Ward:
Leave us aallooooooonnngrrrrraaaggh!!!…
Karny:
Daddy!…
Little Karny starts to chase after her daddy when the hell hounds try to stop her by jumping in front of her. She pulls out and holds her mother’s dagger, while clutching her grandmother’s talisman, and shouts at the hell hounds presuming to get in her way. The blade of the dagger begins to glow a slight blue glow, humming louder as it does so.
Karny:
Heel!…
The hell hounds stop in there tracks, and kneel down.
Karny:
Sit!…
The hell hounds likewise sit down on the floor where they were kneeling.
Karny:
Rollover!… Play dead!…
The hell hounds rollover and pass out, transforming back into naked sleeping human men. Fitz rushes over to stand over Karny with his twin sidearms pulled and brandished. The purple hooded figure screams at the remaining red clad ninja.
Purple Hood:
Attack!… Disciples of The Black Queen Selene… Attack!… Capture the Queen and the wolfkin!… Slaughter the rest!… Attack!…
The numerous red clad ninja attack. Fitz begins opening fire with both guns at the red ninja, causing them to burst into black flame and turn to ash along with their weapons. Likewise Queen Karnilla swings her sword and unleashes her purple lightening, while Dr. Laufey swings her dagger and casts her own green lightening against the attacking Hand. The purple hooded figure starts to head Into the fray. Then suddenly she stops and holds her wrists up to her temples, still holding her sais in her red gloved hands.
Purple Cloak:
Master Ogun?… But we may yet have them!… Yes master!…
The Hand continues their attack, but the purple hooded figure recedes back from the fight, and merges with a sudden cloud of pink and purple smoke that shimmers into place, engulfs and absorbs the purple hooded figure, then dissipates as a shimmering pink and purple mist. The Hand continues to filter in to no avail, as the werewolf Ward and Lady Sif run out of red shirts and blue faces to slaughter, and the flood of new red shirts to the slaughter dwindles to nothing. On a rooftop across the street overlooking the roof of Daisy’s building, and looking into the top floor through it’s large open windows and balconies, two figures watch the fight intently. May is strapped to wheel chair with her head in a neck brace to hold her head still, and small pieces of tape holding her eyelids open, with a piece of tape covering her mouth. Next to her with an idiotically joyful grin on his face, sits Coulson, watching intently as werewolf Ward and Lady Sif finish up.
Coulson:
Wow!… I don’t know what’s freakier!… the natural berzerker frenzy of Lady Sif… or the wolfkin prince marking his territory in blood… Woh!… He really does rip people’s heads off!… Well… That seems to be the end of the show for now… We can’t stay for the aftermath of course… We have places to be… and old friends to corrupt…
Behind Coulson, another pink and purple cloud shimmers into being, and the purple hooded figure emerges from the shimmering purple cloud, as it shimmers away and dissipates, leaving her behind.
Purple Cloak:
Master Ogun… I do not understand… We could have had them… If I had been allowed to fight to my fullest… Please forgive me master… if I have disappointed you in some way… that I have lost your confidence…
Coulson:
Please don’t fret yourself any over the affairs of The Hand anymore… my lovely dear Betsy… The resurrection of the Black Queen Selene was a perfect success… and a perfect failure… but a liberating failure… The Black Queen has cast me out!… So I no longer have any care for the affairs of The Hand… save for the entertainment value… for the purposes of chaos… But for the purposes of chaos… we needn’t take any particular side… We don’t even have to win… We only need to keep anyone from ever winning… Like I managed to do for centuries… Until the agents of Tokugawa and the White Lotus managed to sideline me with a curse… I still miss the Warring States Period… Today… I would settle for a new Cold War… I may have lost The Hand… And I have lost a precious disciple of chaos… But I still have you… And I have new friends… Pardon me… We have new friends… Right May?… Bring her along Miss Braddock… We don’t want to be late… and keep our old teammate waiting…
Betsy Braddock gets behind the wheelchair that May is tied to, and pauses as if to take one last look at her brother Brian with her blind folded eyes, as he pounds some red shirts head in, caving it in as it crumbles under the impact within it’s red hood and mask, and the red ninja falls and turns to ash in black flame before the body even hits the floor. The purple hooded disciple of chaos pushes May around and follows her master away with May.
The fight dies downs and werewolf Ward passes out in a fit of nervous exhaustion and transforms back in to his naked human self. The other naked and passed out wolfkin are tied up by Captain Braddock and Fitz, then covered up by them with blankets. Dr. Laufey dresses Ward and puts him to bed to recover from his exertion. Karny sits on the end of her father’s bed, as Lady Sif stands at the foot of the bed, standing guard over a recovering fellow berserker.
Lady Sif:
Outrageous treachery!… To attack here!… To presume to demand the surrender of the Queen of the Norns!… They are clearly in league with The Hand… And at least partly behind the wolfkin uprising… seeking to take political advantage somehow… of our niece!… as well as this supposed wolfkin prince… War is upon us all!… The Kree must be stopped!…
Queen K:
I agree my daughter… That is why you must return to Asgard immediately… And notify your father and King Odin at once… in person… So that there can be no mistake… Asgard must hear of this immediately… And you must return with reinforcements… I will remain here with my granddaughter… And to protect this… Daisy Johnson… the Kree are so interested in… Let them know that the Queen of the Norns has declared sacred war against the Kree… King Odin must now give a formal response to that… and to what has happened here… All of the nine realms must learn of this… Including Midgard… None may ignore the Kree now…
Lady Sif:
But mother!… What if they attack here again?… My place is here!… By your side!… Defending my niece!…
Queen K:
And you will be again… As soon as you do as you are told… I am very proud of you daughter… I am not sending you away out of displeasure… You fight like a bezerker… even without the berzerker charm… You are your father’s daughter… You even have his sword style… There was a reason it was your father… Lord Balder… who led the berzerker army against the frost giants… Seeing you fight thrills my heart… But Asgard needs you to do this for King Odin… And for your father Lord Balder!…
Lady Sif:
Yes mother… I will go at once… And I will return as soon as possible!…
Queen K:
I have every confidence in you… Now get going… You take after your father in terms of melodrama as well… Now go!…
Lady Sif:
Yes mother…
Lady Sif heads up to the roof, having momentarily forgotten some of the details of the previous fight. She comes back down to inform her mother and company.
Lady Sif:
I forgot to mention… There’s a Kree war shuttle parked on your roof now… It’s not emitting any light… But if it’s still there by morning… it may call attention from the locals… if not the local authorities… I will have to go to a nearby park for enough space to use the Bifrost…
Lady Sif runs downstairs as Fitz heads up to the roof to check out the spoil of war, followed by a curious Queen Karnilla, and curious company. Space cadet Captain Braddock and ex Shield agent Fitz, begin to argue over the proper claim to the Kree spoil, as well as just who to call about any of it, given the state of Shield and the Weird Happenings Organization. With The Hand all turned to ash, only the Kree remains and blue blood splatter are to be seen strewn around the Kree war shuttle on the rooftop, and the stairwell leading up to it.
Fitz:
What a mess!… And I can’t call Shield and tell them about any of this… Because I’m persona non grata with them at the moment… But at least we have some bodies as evidence… They’ll have to believe us about the Kree at least… We might not want to mention the wolfkin thing to them… But they’ll probably demand to confiscate the ship!… An honest to God bloody Kree ship!… If Lady Sif were still here… We could have used her diplomatically here… She’s recognizable to earth’s governments as a representative of Asgard… from previous involvement here on Midgard… The new Shield is probably more likely to believe her than me right now…
Captain Brian:
Then don’t tell them… I’m starting to think we can’t trust any earth authorities right now… There are just too many coincidences of political convenience right now… I’m drooling I must confess… at the chance to take this baby for a cruise… assuming we can figure out the controls… But far worse than being deprived of that self-indulgence at a time of war… I’m now more and more concerned… that if we hand this ship over to the authorities… we might be handing it over to enemies of a different sort… on a different front… Without any legal standing here on earth… we won’t be able to hold on to it… And with all due respect to the your majesty… Almost no one knows who you are here on Midgard… Politically you’re a nobody… as far as anyone here on Midgard is concerned… Lady Sif is a known face… representing a known authority of Asgard… Hardly anyone on earth has even heard of you before now… And I must confess… I was one of them… We have to contact somebody to let them know about the war… But we don’t have the clout to hold on to this ship… And we may have to hand it over to enemies without it… Bearing news of war… is a hard way to introduce yourself to the politics of Midgard… your majesty…
Queen K:
Your council is well taken knight of Britania… And I still have growing concern for this Daisy Johnson… of which the Kree were so concerned about capturing… I can understand The Hand’s interest in wolfkin… And the Kree’s interest in capturing me… as the Queen of the Norns… But how did they Know we would be here at Daisy’s building?… I believe that I was a target of convenience for these glorified brigands… Likewise for The Hand… and the wolfkin they had no reason to believe would be here… A trap was sprung upon us… that was actually lying in wait for this Daisy Johnson… But why would the Kree care about this Daisy Johnson?…
Fitz:
Daisy… is an Inhuman… an offshoot race among the human population of Midgard… created by the experiments of the Kree in the distant past… the Terra Genesis experiments… We’ve had dealings with some of them before… at Shield… Lady Sif was there for some of that… She knows about Daisy from before… It looks as if they’ve come back to claim what they think they own…
Queen K:
Over my dead body!… I have heard enough!… I hereby lay claim to this Kree vessel… as a spoil of war for Nornheim… And I further declare this Daisy Johnson… to be a special charge of protection for Nornheim… and for myself as it’s queen… As such I declare this building of Daisy Johnson’s likewise to be a special protectorate of the Norn realm… Effectively an embassy of the Queen of the Norns… Until such time as I hear otherwise… from Daisy Johnson herself!… If anyone wants to argue the contrary in the interim… Then let them come and take it!… Diplomacy can wait until the return of my daughter… the Lady Sif… with her reinforcements… But what of this Daisy Johnson?… What is she like?… And where is she now?… Wherever she is… There can be no safe place for her… while the Kree are hunting for her… Master Fitz… your council has also been invaluable… And your courage in the face of the unknown… would give Lady Sif’s father Balder the Brave cause for shame… You seem to have a great deal of experience with the strange and extreme… Since you are currently without a post or position… as a former knight of the Shield of Midgard… And I have need of knights of Midgard such as you… and possibly this Daisy Johnson… if need be… Will you Sir Fitz… become a knight of Nornheim here on Midgard?… My principle task for you… should you accept… will be to guard my granddaughter… And to guard the interests of Nornheim within Midgard… especially when it comes to this Daisy Johnson… and her kind… And keep in mind… we are already at war… And you have already been fighting in it… But without a banner to fight under… Not even the Shield of Midgard…
Karny:
Please uncle Fitzy!… Can you be my knight in shining armor?… You would make a great knight… Not as good as daddy though… But daddy’s still trying to get better… He could use some help…
Fitz:
You know what little Karny… You’ve got yourself a deal… We still need to find Jemma… And Shield is dead to me now… A Shield that cracks right when I need it the most for Jemma… is of no value… But Karny is also right about Ward… Without diplomatic immunity… as soon as they learn about Ward… the authorities will arrest him… And throw away the key… Which he more than well deserves… Don’t get me wrong… But I need him… for Jemma’s sake… And little Karny needs him for obvious reasons… If you want to keep your de facto common law son in law… from being buried in some deep dark Midgard dungeon hole… you’d better make him a knight of Nornheim too… And treat Daisy as if she’s already one of them…
Queen K:
Your council is well given… And you may consider it taken… effective immediately… And what of you?… knight of Britannia?… Brian was it?… Princess Meghan’s mortal husband… You could do worse than a commission from Nornheim… to sooth over any family difficulties you may be having… with court of Alfheim…
Captain Brian:
I thank you humbly your majesty… But I do not need any help with my family politics… I can handle that myself just fine… with all due respect… And unlike Uncle Fitzy here… I am not currently without a commission at the moment… only inactive… I’m still in a position to garner the ears and attention… of what I hope are still the right people… But if you’re going to make a diplomatic play… You might want to wait for Lady Sif to return… to make introductions… Hopefully that won’t take too long… It would help if this Daisy Johnson herself were here… Has anyone tried calling the woman?…
Fitz:
I’ve tried… She’s just not picking up… Her phone is probably turned off… She didn’t seem like she wanted to talk to anyone… after the revelation about her mother possibly being the Black Queen Selene… Founder of the horrible Hand…
Queen K:
The Black Queen Selene?!?… Daisy johnson… is the daughter of the Black Queen?!?… I have faced this black hearted sorceress many times!… Are you telling me… that I have pledged my realm… and my life… to protect a daughter of the Black Queen of Midgard?…
Fitz:
Daisy Johnson is… or was… a Shield agent… part of the Shield of Midgard… back when that still meant something… And she helped defeat her mother… Her own father killed her mother in front of her!… She’s dead!… Even if she was the Black Queen… She’s dead now…
Queen K:
Are you really so sure as that?… I have faced the Black Queen personally… And I assure you… every time that I’ve thought as you did… friends and loved ones have suffered and died for that mistake… If her mother really is the Black Queen… then she is not dead… And this daughter of the Black Queen… is in even more danger than I realized…
Fitz:
Perhaps I can get Yo Yo or Mack on the phone… They left together… maybe they’re still together…
Fitz pulls out his cell phone and speed dials for Mack first. Across the greater Los Angeles area in Pasadena, Robbie Reyes’s Hell Charger sits parked in a preschool parking lot, across the street from a row of suburban homes, with one of them being carefully and anxiously watched by Daisy Johnson in the passenger side of the Hell Charger. Yo Yo sits on her bike next to Daisy on the passenger side, with Mack parked on his bike on the other side of Yo Yo, as his phone rings.
Daisy:
Can’t you turn that off Mack?…
Mack:
So we’re ghosting Fitz now?…
Daisy:
I don’t want to talk to anyone about anything right now… And I know he’s going to have a hundred different questions that I don’t have the answers to…
Mack:
Can I at least know why we’re here?… Since I’m here?… for whatever reason… I was already tired of this ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ crap from May… And that was before I got hexed by an Asgardian curse!… ‘I don’t want to talk about it’… is something I just don’t wanna hear from anyone right now!…
Yo Yo:
Take it easy Mack the Executioner!… Great!… Now he’s calling me!… Now you’ve got me ghosting Fitz while Jemma is still missing!… Enough of this Daisy!… What are we doing here?… Are you at least gonna tell them why this house in particular?… Why Dr. Winslow’s house?… You made me promise not to tell!… But then you had me lead them here!… And you won’t talk now?… I’m with Mack Daisy!… It’s time to start talking!… But you made me promise!… So you have to start talking!…
A child is heard screaming in horror.
Child Scream:
Mommeeeee!!!…
Yo Yo:
Robin?!?…
Mack:
Robin?… That came from the school!…
The skull of Robbie Reyes behind the wheel of the Charger, erupts in flame turning into the burning skull of the Ghost Rider.
Ghost Rider:
The evil of the Black Queen Selene is upon us!… But we are vengeance!… We are vengeance upon the Black Queen Selene!… We are vengeance!… And vengeance… will not be denied!…
The Ghost Rider steps out of the Charger, and chains engulfed in orange and red flames pour out of the Ghost Rider’s palms, as if conjured up from hell it self. The flaming chains wriggle and dance in the air around the Ghost Rider, as he begins to stalk evil in the direction of the preschool behind them, while Daisy remains frozen on the passenger side of the Charger, eyes still fixed on Dr. Winslow’s house.
Yo Yo:
Daisy!… Daisy!…
Mack:
I’m going in after the Rider!…
Mack unslings his shotgun ax from over his shoulder, then dismounts from his ride, and begins to transform into his berzerker executioner form, with his double bladed battle ax engulfed in the same sort of orange and red flames as the Ghost Riders chains, as he chases after him into the normally empty preschool.
Yo Yo:
Daisy!… We have to go too!… Daisy!…
Daisy:
Mom?… Is that really you mom?… Do I have to be one to kill you myself?!?… Damn you Mother!… Damn you back to hell!…
Tremors erupt beneath their feet, as Daisy storms out of the passenger side of the Charger, nearly knocking over Yo Yo in the process, and storms after Executioner Mack and the Ghost Rider’s flames, with eyes half blind pouring tears, and screaming out, earth trembling the whole way as she storms and screams.
Daisy:
Damn you mother!… Damn you back to hell where you belong!…
Yo Yo:
Daisy!… Wait!… Daisy!…
Yo Yo chases after Daisy as best as she can with the earth shaking beneath her feet. Tremors and shock waves erupt and propagate throughout the greater Los Angeles area, centered around Pasadena. They hit and shake Daisy’s own building in downtown LA, arousing the suspicion of an old friend who knows her signature, and awakening the sleeping Ward.
Fitz:
That… is no normal tremor… Nor is that… or that… Something has gone seriously wrong with Daisy!…
Ward:
Is that Sky?… Is something wrong with Sky?… Is she in trouble?…
Fitz:
We have no way of knowing what it is… But that is not natural geologic activity… That’s Daisy’s emotional distress!… shaking up all of LA as collateral damage!…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
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