The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
Chapter 11: On The Road To Ragnorak
Ozymandias The Mad! Please Give Me Money To Keep A Mad Scientist Off The Street!
Mad Ozzy's Circular Suggestion Bin: Ozymandias360@protonmail.com
Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/ozymandiasthemad
Chapter 11
A Funny Thing Happened To The Hulk
On The Road To Ragnorak
As the floating emerald city continues to sparkle in the twilight sky near Los Angeles, the green ogre of Midgard bellows out another characteristic howl, before curling up in the fetal position in a park in the floating emerald city, and covering his head with his large green hands, annoyed at the sudden flash of light amid the pile of empty beer kegs. The annoying brightness dies down as night falls on the emerald city along with Los Angeles. The annoyance gradually returns, as police helicopters and Shield quinjets begin circling. Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton spot their old colleague in the park, and land their Shield quinjet elsewhere in the large park. All of the Valkyrie investigate on flying winged horseback, and land by the quinjet.
Gabriel volunteers as chauffeur to Queen Karnilla, in his three row flying car, but with Robbie riding shotgun, and little Karny riding in between the queen and Daisy in the back. In the middle ride Princess Meghan, Dr. Rappaccini, and a hooded, gloved, and shaded Dr. Simmons. Gabriel lands next the Shield quinjet, as Yo Yo flies in and lands likewise on a matte black hover quad. The hatch of the Shield quinjet opens and Romanov and Barton begin to make a beeline for something right out of the hatch, with Dir. Mace, Gen. Talbot, and Lord Balder following close behind. And with Nakia, Everett Ross, and the Warriors Three, following close behind them.
As Romanov and company turn the corner exiting the hatch, a bright flash of purple lightening erupts in their path cutting them off from their old friend. A matte black cloaked and hooded figure of a young teenage girl, with long black hair and polished black motorcycle boots, stands revealed in the wake of the purple lightening.
Hooded Girl:
Hold!… Miscreants of Midgard!… Demons and demigods alike!… The mighty Hulk is under the protection of The Buster Brigade of Emerald City!… Turn back now and forsake your mischief!… And you may leave with your lives!… if not your dignity and sanity intact!…
Barton:
What?… No Loli Pop Guild?… I’m slighted…
Romanov:
You’re not wearing your best ruby slippers…
Barton:
They’re being polished…
Hooded Girl:
Silence!!!… Do not mock me fools!… I am Helga Ward!… Daughter of Hydra!… Born of Hell!… Leader of the Gang of Three!… Swords of punishment and penance… in the name and memory… of the Hulk Busters of Midgard!…
Romanov:
I think you got that mixed up a bit there little girl… The Hulk Busters were the enemies of the Hulk… Not his protectors…
Helga:
Harpy trickster!… The past is not the prison of the future!… only it’s prologue!… My father taught me better than that!…
Romanov:
Harpy trickster?… Father?…
Lord Balder:
Who was your father?… Who may we thank for such lovely manners?…
Helga:
Come test my blades and find out old man… None may pass otherwise!… And who are you to demand anyone’s name in the first place?… Interloper?…
Lord Balder:
I am Lord Balder little one… Commander of the armies of Asgard… And Dr. Banner is a good friend of my cousin Thor’s… And that woman there… is an Avenger of Midgard… Along with the Hulk… Stand aside or be disciplined!…
Helga:
You’re welcome to try your luck old man!… But you’ll find that I’m only the beginning of your challenge… You forget the Gang of Three… Now!…
Two more young teenage combatants shimmer into view on either side of Lord Balder, both wearing black motorcycle jackets, matte black jeans and polished black motorcycle boots, and bearing twin double bladed straight swords, one in each hand. One of them has long platinum blonde hair, while the other has short high and tight ginger hair. Helga pulls out two more such swords from behind herself, concealed with her cloak.
Helga:
Come on Lord Balder… If that’s who you really are… Show us what you can do… Show us Balder the Brave…
Blonde Sword:
Yeah!… Show us your swords Lord Balder!…
Ginger Sword:
Yeah!… Show us what you got grandpa!…
Lord Balder:
Grandpa?… Who are you calling grandpa?…
Helga:
Crap!… The jig is up!… He knows!… He’ll never fight us seriously now!… You loser Remus!…
Remus:
That doesn’t mean anything… He doesn’t necessarily know we’re his grand kids… Right Romulus?…
Romulus:
He does now moron… And only Helga is technically his grand kid… We’re still in the clear… Right Helga?…
Helga:
Not any more you goons!…
Ward:
Not by a long shot!…
Helga:
It’s dad!… Scram!… This caper’s a bust!… Past time to blow this mausoleum anyway!… Time to hit the road!…
Purple lightening strikes the each member of the Gang of Three, and three matte black choppers appear underneath them, as Ward runs out after them from the edge of the park.
Ward:
Stop right there!… You three punks aren’t going anywhere!…
Helga:
Sorry dad… But we’re done being prisoners of hell… And we don’t have to wait around to be pardoned…
Queen K:
You’re forgetting about your grandmother!…
Helga:
With all due respect grandmother… No we’re not!… Catch up later grandma!… Let’s go!…
The bikers shimmer out of view where they sit on their bikes, and the howling whines of their engines are heard ripping away from the park, as they leave skid marks from their peel outs. The howls echo through nearby halls, tunnels, and causeways till they’re heard disconnecting from the ground and spinning up their revs, as howling invisible phantoms. The phantoms reappear in a flash of purple lightening, as they land on Venice Beach, and head up the coast into Malibu. Dr. Spectrum shimmers into view, rolling up next to Ward on his roller blades.
Dr. Spectrum:
Don’t worry your majesty… I’ll stay with them… I won’t let my new cousins get lost or come to harm…
Gabriel:
I’ll go too… If those punks wanna race… then I can handle them…
Gabriel steps out of the flying car, and holds up his Power Prism, as it erupts in lightning strikes, materializing his matte black Mark I Tribute armor all around him, in motorcycle configuration, with himself already seated on the chopper as the Black Smith.
Robbie:
Wait… I’ll come with you…
Black Smith:
No bro… You stay here with Daisy… We got this…
Ward:
Not without me you won’t… You won’t be able to handle them without me… Sorry Karny Girl… I missed you so much… But I can’t stay now… I have to go rustle up your sister and your brothers… Can you wait a little longer?…
Little Karny:
Wait a little longer?… Silly daddy… Are you mixed up again?… You and Aunty Sif only just left to look after Aunty Amora…
Ward:
Right… Time compression… I keep forgetting… Very well then… I’ll just have to wait a little longer while I go fetch the kids… I’m afraid Sif and Amora will have to answer your questions… These kids can be quite a lot to keep up with… Careful of Dr. Banner though… He’s not like you knew him probably… You’ll find him conversational… As long as he’s not out of mead or beer… Otherwise steer clear then…
Romanov:
Roger that…
Dr. Spectrum shimmers away as he rolls away. Gabriel peels away after him and shimmers away likewise. Ward transforms into his Star God form, but now with his armor appearing as if made with a mixture of matte black hardware and translucent sparkly emerald chain mail, with matte black roller blades on his wolfkin feet. The Star God holds in his right hand a large matte black mace, and a large sparkly emerald and matte black shield adorns his left arm, with his sparkly emerald Power Prism in it’s center. The Star God howls with wrath, as lightening strikes the Star God, disappearing him.
Barton:
Did we ever try alcohol with him?… I’m sure we must have… Right?…
Romanov:
Apparently not enough… But I suspect the alcohol may be for other problems…
Barton:
And probably causes other problems… Can you imagine the hang over?…
Romanov:
I don’t think they have to imagine here…
Lady Sif:
No we don’t… But it’s not as bad as you might imagine… compared to how we found him…
Romanov and Barton round a corner of bushes and trees within a park filled with various fruit trees, lit by supplementary lighting directed downward from over sized overhanging grow lights, and they see their old friend again, but passed out with a number a small children playing around him and on a nearby playground set. A number of sparkly emerald wolf drones stand guard and patrol the area. The Hulk himself sleeps under an apple tree in the park orchard, next to a stack of barrels labeled hard apple cider.
Just past all of that is seen a set of posh white traditional English style garden furniture. Seated at which are Lady Sif nursing a black haired infant, and her sister Dr. Amora Laufey, noticeably pregnant, with a third young woman in a matte black hooded cloak with platinum blonde hair, blue skin, and blue eyes. The blue skinned girl is a young teen girl, with matte black hunting boots, and a matte black quiver and arrows strung to her back. Long matte black gloves cover her hands and her arms up to her elbows.
Dr. Laufey:
Come along and come see me little Karny… I have to introduce you to some of your brothers and sisters… Don’t worry… I have a photo album and a diagram… The rest is a bit of a long story I’m afraid… Welcome to Emerald City… As Grant likes to call it… This is what used to be Nova Roma… Before the Black Queen Selene abandoned it quite some time ago before we got here… relative to the time scale of Niflheim that is… I went looking for my sister… and a clue to help my love against the enemy… Acting out of desperation… Ward and Lady Sif came chasing after me with understandable concern… I found my sister… But no one else save for one… They abandoned the city… Destroyed parts of it… Then tossed him out into the unprotected maze of Niflheim… Somehow he found his way back into the city… with the help of my dead sister… Searching for her was how I found the remains of Nova Roma… Her and the one called Bishop… are all that we found…
Romanov:
How did Bruce come into the picture?…
Lady Sif:
Loudly… We heard him howling… from outside the city… Ward had already recognized the howl as belonging to Banner… before we even made it into the city… being the fanboy that he is… Once inside the city… We couldn’t leave without him… And we couldn’t leave this keep of the enemy behind… So my sister colonized the city… and took it over… And set about figuring out how to remove the whole thing… Us and Banner with it… leaving it to Ward and the kids to manage Dr. Banner… While I played brat wrangler… A losing battle to be sure… without my sister Lorelei’s help… Dr. Banner was inconsolable at first… We could only lure him into the city with provocation… But he could not be caged… and he could not be contained… Same old story with that one I guess… according to fanboy… So fanboy chose to try enticing him with food and drink… A combination of the carrot and the stick… As Ward said at the time… Gradually more and more he we would stay inside the city… The kids grew up helping their dad with his occasional Hulk busting… And the Hulk became hard drinking Uncle Brucey… And then the bike racing started…
Dr. Laufey:
I must confess I thought it was the most adorable thing ever when Ward insisted on teaching the three of them to ride a bike… Then pretty soon… it was all they did… Then the other five started… And then the races began…
Lady Sif:
The next wave will be worse!… Now Bishop’s taken up riding!… He and Lorelei are teaching the others!…
Yo Yo:
He and Lorelei?… Your dead sister?… Lorelei?…
Dr. Laufey:
Yes… Indeed… But Yo Yo… Go easy at first with him… You might want to ask Lorelei for more details… He speaks more to her than to anyone else save for Ward…
Lorelei:
That would be me…
A hologram of Lorelei shimmers into view next to Yo Yo and little Karny.
Little Karny:
Mommy!?!…
Lorelei:
Yes my little wolf’s cub… I’ve heard so much about you I feel like I know you… I can’t wait to introduce you to your brothers and sisters… Let me show you a trick I learned here… so I can help out Yo Yo…
The hologram of Lorelei shimmers and splits into two identical holographic copies.
Lorelei:
See… I can be in two places at once… Everywhere in Emerald City all at once really… I am the city effectively little girl… Now part of mommy has to go help Yo Yo with her son Bishop… Okay… Don’t worry I’m still here… I’m everywhere here in Emerald City…
Little Karny:
Okay…
The second hologram of Lorelei walks off motioning for Yo Yo to follow her, with Daisy and Robbie following them, as the first hologram begins to make introductions to the rest of the new brood of small siblings. Yo Yo’s hover quad morphs and shifts into a matte black crow, then shrinks down in size before flying over and landing on Yo Yo’s shoulder. Dir. Mace and Gen. Talbot approach Dr. Laufey and Lady Sif to discuss the small matter of the floating city, while Queen Karnilla and Lord Balder observe the spirit of the queen’s dead daughter introduce the queen’s granddaughter to her other new siblings.
Dir. Mace:
Just how is it that this city is just floating here?… And how do we make it stop?… It’s pretty and everything… But Sechovia was a thing after all…
Dr. Laufey:
Where would you like me to stick it director?… Somewhere right up your alley?…
Gen. Talbot:
A little breathing room would be nice… And your blocking some people’s view of the sunset… I’m assuming this hunk of green sparkles is at least as sea worthy as it is air worthy?… Then move it out far enough to clear the land and float it out there… If you’re so good with these FSBs… you can build a bridge to connect them… or an express causeway even… I’m sure the greater Los Angeles area could use the additional living space once it’s been cleared for that… But you could literally put this thing anywhere… Even Oklahoma!… How the hell is this thing powered anyway?…
Dr. Laufey:
FSBs have their own built in power supply… and built in electromagnetic levitation functions for itself… And the entire mass of the old city has been colonized… the levitation of itself is it’s easiest trick… Numerous arc reactors power all sorts of other defenses… as arranged by Grant Ward… But it is my Power Prism that allowed me to bring the city here… when combined with the power of the city itself… My sister Lorelei’s Emerald wolf drones provide plenty of ground defenses… should it ever come to it… By necessity… we made this city a home… By the necessities of war… We prepared it as such general… We have everything here but the manpower for war… Not even if they lower the age to four… But if the war is to be decided by a race… Then we have them beat already…
Lord Balder:
How does one learn how to ride one of these… bikes?…
Lady Sif:
One of your own grand kids could do it… if you can pry them away from fighting with each other… or with you… Your granddaughter Helga is the ring leader of the Gang of Three that tried to pick a fight with you before… She and her younger brother Grant Ward Junior… also your grandson… fight and race like mad… They lead apposing factions… race teams… The other ones have no doubt silently escaped as well… They’re the younger wave of biker hooligans… The Hellions… If you come across them… Junior is the leader… Spartan… He’s one of the few to have ever beaten Helga… besides Ilsa here… and her bother Loki… another Hellion… But Ilsa doesn’t talk… She doesn’t join… She just races… They keep detailed score… and more than one track… for more than one class and type… There’s almost nothing else to do here for them… So they race everything!…
The floating sparkly Emerald City lowers itself down into a position in between the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach on one side, and the Island of Catalina on the other, then anchors itself down into place, before building a sparkling emerald green express causeway to connect it to the port of Los Angeles. Only mild trembling is felt by Yo Yo, Daisy, and Robbie, as they are led down a long corridor, and up a series of stairs to an artificial light supplemented greenhouse, tended by a lone black man, with long wavy black hair and a goatee, sleeping blindfolded on a cot in the middle of the greenhouse. The apparition of Lorelei leads one of her sparkly emerald wolf drones over to nudge Bishop awake. Bishop awakes with a start and sits up.
Bishop:
Is that you my love?… Are we there?… I couldn’t bear to watch…
Lorelei:
It worked my love… We are now on Midgard… Just outside of Los Angeles… And you have visitors… Daisy and your mother Yo Yo are here… Along with a friend of Daisy’s… You remember don’t you?… Ward mentioned Robbie to you?… Amara’s father?…
Bishop:
Are they really here?…
Bishop removes his blindfold from his eyes, and begins to blink as he adjusts his eyes to the light, as Yo Yo begins to tremble slightly, letting her imagination run wild.
Bishop:
Mother?…
Yo Yo:
Bishop?… Do you remember me?… Yo Yo… I wanted to name you Francisco… after my cousin… But that evil bitch Selene couldn’t even let me have that much of you…
Bishop:
I remember you… She wanted me to remember you… And to blame you… for me being cast out into the maze of Niflheim… She wanted me to renounce you in front of the others… Emma… Amara… even Robin… I don’t know if it would have done any good… But I just couldn’t do it… So I just decided to recite the Lord’s Prayer… Over and over again… Which drove her completely mad with rage… The last thing I saw before she ripped out my eyes… Was the sight of Emma… Amara… and Robin… smirking… It’s not much… But that memory kept me going… Ironically… Her ripping my eyes out… probably allowed me to hold on to my sanity within the maze of Niflheim… Her brutality necessitated my reliance upon my power… to make my way through the maze… not just to deal with the other poor creatures trapped there… including Uncle Brucey on occasion… before I knew his name…
Yo Yo:
But… you have eyes…
Bishop:
These eyes grew back after the treatment with Black Box Extremis that Dr. Laufey gave me after they arrived in the city years ago… For years before that… it was just Lorelei and I… here in what was Nova Roma… I couldn’t begin to tell you how many years I was lost in the maze before that… I cannot vouch for my time here at all in fact… The last time I saw you… seems like an entire separate lifetime ago… with a completely different set of eyes… I still feel the need to blindfold myself… to be alone with my own thoughts… having gotten use to the darkness… the light just adds to the confusion of the senses some time… having gotten used to doing without it… It helps to block out the noise from the maze of Niflheim… that I could still hear… and feel… But here I may need to get used to it…
Daisy:
Or just not sleep under grow lights…
Bishop:
The grow lights are actually soothing and regenerative… With my power I absorb energy… including light… But sometimes… my eyes can be too much of a distraction for me to concentrate… or to rest… Is… my dad here too?…
Yo Yo:
No… He doesn’t know about this yet…
Robbie:
Your arrival coincided with your father trying to go undercover with the mafia… believe it or not… It might take some doing… But if you can ride… we can take you to him… I think he’ll insist as soon as he knows about you… But we kind of need him to do what he’s doing… So it’s probably best we do this first… So that he doesn’t have to do anything too risky flying off the handle when he hears about this through the mafia grapevine… or even the Shield one…
Daisy:
Yeah… You should really come with us… Right Yo Yo?…
Yo Yo:
Damn straight!… You’ve been in this glitzy emerald hell long enough!… I’m taking you from here if I have to knock you out and drag you out!…
Bishop:
I can’t leave here without Lorelei… Without Lorelei… I never would have found my way back to the city… Her lonely song called to me out in the maze… like a lighthouse for the blind… If not for her… I would have succumbed long before the others arrived…
Yo Yo:
I don’t care about your ghost girlfriend!… If you can figure out how bring her along… all the better!… I could use some help explaining this to Mack anyway!… But we’re leaving here now!… And I’m not leaving here without you!…
Robbie:
Dragged if necessary…
Daisy:
Robbie!…
Robbie:
That’s what Mack would say… If he were in my position… We may be out of luck here… But Mack and Yo Yo don’t have to be…
Lorelei:
There is no need to argue… I can send one of my wolf drones along with you… for a considerable range… And I agree with you… As does his doctor… Lady Amora… my sister… You’re virtually being kicked out by doctor’s orders… Although she also recommends taking it easy at first… It may take time for him to get completely comfortable with normal life… But he has to start ASAP… whatever that means…
Daisy:
There you have it… We’re all leaving… Lady Sif says you’ve starting riding… Do you have a bike you can ride?… You can follow us… Although I’m not sure about the ghost chick… Do sparkly emerald wolf drones ride motorcycles?… Or do we have to make a flying car?…
Lorelei:
Actually… The wolf drones can take just about any size and shape…
The sparkly emerald wolf drone shape shifts, morphs, and changes color and texture to convincingly resemble a solid physical corporeal manifestation of an actual living Lorelei.
Daisy:
Well… Okay then… My magic black box is telling me we’ve got an expressway out of here now… Let’s take it and blow this place!… We can swing by home first and pick up the Charger just in case… Lets hit the road shall we?… The Dunbar should be having live music starting up right about now… Although we may have to run interference for Mack… depending on how successful he is with his mafia chase…
Bishop:
Why is he chasing the mafia?…
Daisy:
Because it was my stupid idea before you all showed up… I was expecting for me and Yo Yo to have to storm Niflheim to get you… Mack couldn’t come anyway we thought… Sorry… My bad… But he only just started so… it shouldn’t be too bad… The Dunbar has the best jazz club in town… And I’ll be damned if I’ll let the mafia take that from me for any reason… I’ve got enough to deal with… If the mafia have a problem with Mack… or us… or us with Mack… then so much for the mafia…
Robbie:
You going scorched earth Daisy?… Isn’t that a bit much?… for a former Shield agent?…
Daisy:
If necessary… I aint no Shield agent any more… I’m a mother!… And I’m pissed!…
Yo Yo:
Damn straight!…
Daisy:
And compared to my mother… the mafia are just something for us to step on while we fight to the death… My only patience for the mafia is for the sake of family… And only so much… But that’s a different can of worms that we won’t be going into tonight if we can help it… Besides… We haven’t been back since the massacre at the Dunbar… I kind of feel the need to make our presence known at the Dunbar… Me and Robbie especially… Madame Masque needs to know that we don’t fear her in anyway… Not anywhere!…
Robbie:
Yeah… the one thing I know about gangsters… of any kind… is that you can never show fear… Or you’ve had it!… Where even if you live… You may not want to… And once you start laying down… it gets harder and harder to get back up… Until it becomes impossible… Because your dead… or near enough to it…
Bishop:
This mafia… Are they demons?… or some sort of giants or trolls?…
Yo Yo:
No… Not for the most part… Mostly they’re just gangsters… Just organized crime among losers in fancy overpriced suits… But they are tied in with scarier powers… Like Daisy’s mother…
Bishop:
Then I have nothing to fear from this mafia either… They sound like nothing compared to the monsters of the maze of Niflheim… And if they can lead me to Daisy’s mother… then maybe I should introduce myself to them properly…
Robbie:
Woh there… Cool your jets there bro… at least till you know the players… and how they’re connected… That’s part of what your father is supposed to be figuring out… If you want to help there… then you’re gonna follow your father’s lead on that…
Bishop:
I believe I understand… There is a lot to get caught up on… For a lot of people I guess…
Daisy:
Story of our lives… Lets hit the road…
Daisy leads the group with Robbie down the various stairs to the bottom, with Lorelei leading Bishop down by the hand, as Yo Yo walks behind them, watching them closely. They reach the bottom of the stairs and Daisy pulls out a small matte black chopper from the pocket of her leather jacket, and it expands to full size as she places it next to her on the floor of the corridor. Yo Yo does the same with her little matte black crow transforming into her own custom matte black chopper, as Daisy and Yo Yo mount their rides, with Robbie riding behind Daisy.
A matte black duster forms over Bishop’s shoulders and torso, hanging down to his knees, split in the back for riding. Bishop pulls a similar small matte black chopper out of his pants pocket, and sets it down on the floor of the corridor next to him as it enlarges to full size. Bishop mounts his chopper, and Lorelei slides onto the seat behind him, and wraps her arms around him, momentarily resting her head on his shoulder, as Yo Yo continues to watch them closely.
Yo Yo:
If your eyes are really that sensitive… that overwhelming… You might want to try wearing some shades… to lessen the effect… Like these… Even though it’s night time…
Yo Yo pulls out a pair of matte black shades with classic frames, and places them on her face as an illustration.
Yo Yo:
See?… Or… See less?…
Lorelei:
I know of those devices… Like this…
Lorelei reaches up in the air slightly, and emerald green sparkles form an identical pair matte black classic frame sunglasses, and places them on Bishop’s face.
Daisy:
You know… Eventually he’s going to have to do that for himself…
Lorelei:
But I like doing things for him…
Daisy:
Well okay then…
Daisy pulls out down the corridor first, followed by Bishop and Lorelei, with Yo Yo taking up the rear, eyes glued on Lorelei and her son the whole way, after Yo Yo removes her shades. The group proceeds through the various sparkly emerald green corridors, halls, and roadways within the Emerald City, till they make it to the sparkly emerald green express causeway, now lit with sparkly emerald green lamp posts, shining a bright green light on the sparkly emerald green roadway underneath it. As they speed along the causeway towards Los Angeles, they are passed going the other way by a blonde woman with her long blonde hair tied up in a tight bun behind her head, wearing a skin tight black outfit with combat boots and a leather jacket.
As they pass each other, the blonde woman recognizes Daisy, and does a double take, with Russian accent.
Blonde Biker:
Agent Johnson?… What the hell have you gotten yourself into Natasha?…
Just before the blonde biker enters the Emerald City, she passes five identical twelve year old blonde girls, in identical matte black dresses, with frilly white lace, and identical matte black helmets, riding five identical matte black mopeds, causing the blonde biker to have another double take, marveling and the strangeness.
Blonde Biker:
What?… No brooms?… What’s next?… Werewolves?…
Uncle Brucey lets out another characteristic howl as he wakes up cranky, startling the blonde biker as she enters the city, before she ditches her bike to proceed more carefully on foot. The red haired source of Uncle Brucey’s wake up call, pokes at him again with her Widow’s sting, zap!
Hulk:
Stop that!… Hulk Smash!… Oh… Hi… Natasha… Clint… What do you want?… What brings you to hell?… besides karma…
Barton:
Ouch!… Not that it isn’t true but… ouch!… What did we ever do to you?… Besides lose track of you?… Which was at least partially your fault by the way…
Romanov:
Clint… Can you give us a minute?…
Barton:
Uh… Sure… I’ll just go check out the distillery… for more medicinal supplies… I’ll just leave you two to… whatever…
Clint wonders off in search of medical supplies for his own needs, while Natasha remains to try and broach a previous hot topic of conversation between them.
Romanov:
Well Bruce… how have you been?…
Hulk:
I live in hell… How do think I’ve been?…
Romanov:
This doesn’t seem like hell to me… Seems like a fairy tale to me…
Hulk:
Inside the city maybe… But outside is Niflheim… Asgardian hell… And from what little I remember of my time out in the maze… it lives up to it’s reputation…
Romanov:
Your not in Niflheim anymore!… The city is back on earth!… Just outside of LA!…
Hulk:
LA huh?… That’s not much better… I think I’ll just stay here…
Romanov:
Hah… Hah… You seem to have improved at least… Not only are you more conversational in this form than you were before… you seem to have grown a sense of humor…
Hulk:
Don’t bet on it… Some things just aren’t funny… They’re that much less funny to me… Like being shoved off a cliff or something… Very unfunny!…
Romanov:
I’m sorry Bruce… I guess… I guess I’m just too much of spy for my own good some times… trained all too well for my own good…
Hulk:
Does that make it easier to deal with?… Or just to do?…
Romanov:
Both… as it was meant to do by design… But it’s more effective in the latter than the former…
Hulk:
I don’t have that benefit… not even that much…
Romanov:
Well maybe I can help with that… Perhaps just a little?… After all big guy… Sun’s getting real low…
Hulk:
The sun is down… And that don’t work on me anymore… They already tried that several times… fanboy knew the words… They even tried to use a glamour… an illusion to look and sound like you… But it just doesn’t work anymore…
Romanov:
Fanboy?…
Hulk:
Yeah… The gardner… and my personal bartender… the Thunder Wolf…
Romanov:
Thunder Wolf?… You think he’s like Thor?…
Hulk:
He’s worse than Thor!… He’s just as loud with the thunder… But he howls like a giant hungry wolf about to swallow the moon… It’s freaky… That was how we first met… I thought… well… I don’t know what I thought… He seemed like just another monster in the maze… Just like me… As it turned out… I was right…
Romanov:
But a fanboy?… He was a fan of he Hulk?…
Hulk:
No… Just the opposite… He’s one of those Buster Brigade weirdos… But he makes booze like Thor… even better if that’s possible… He uses Thor’s manual… and a bunch of his recipes… The one he’s always bragging about… You should try some…
Romanov:
Don’t all those recipes call for at least a hundred years of aging… With some of them requiring as much as a thousand?… Or more?…
Hulk:
I don’t how he does it… Time compression or something…
Romanov walks over to the stack of matte black kegs, and pours some into one the Hulk over sized matte black mugs to sample it.
Romanov:
Wow!… That… is definitely one of Thor’s recipes… Are you sure… that I can’t help you?… with something?… anything at all?…
Hulk:
No… I’m sure…
Romanov:
Well… Okay then… I… I think I’ll go help Clint… and go find that medicine cabinet…
Hulk:
Suit yourself… See if you can find the gardner’s secret stash… The really good stuff he has to hide… He can never make enough of that stuff…
Romanov:
Right… Secret stash… I’m on it…
Romanov walks off in the same direction as Clint, while the blonde biker watches from behind the bushes on the other side of the apple orchard park. She begins to follow after Natasha behind the bushes, as Lord Balder swoops in and catches the biker chick by surprise, grabbing her by the back collar of her leather biker jacket, and lifts her up out of the bushes. The blonde biker grabs his arm with one hand and kicks him in the stomach, causing him to buckle sightly, hunching over, before she then flips him forward into the bushes as she kicks him further, adding force to his existing forward momentum into the bushes, and giving her additional separation from her surprise attacker.
Lord Balder quickly rebounds out of the bushes, and knocks the biker down on her back. He closes in on her to subdue her where she lay on the ground, then the biker grabs a short cylinder from inside her jacket, about the size and shape of the small flashlight, and jams one end down on the ground, with the other end pointing at Lord Balder’s face. The cylinder rapidly expands to reveal a telescoping self extending bo staff, smashing Lord Balder in the face, and lifting up the biker off the ground as she hangs onto it, all in one move. Lord Balder staggers a bit. But then he steadies himself, and draws his twin swords. The biker twirls her staff around a bit, as if to show off and intimidate her opponent.
Blonde Biker:
Back off!… I didn’t come here to kill cosplay losers old man!… But you better back off now!… Or I’ll teach you some of the more gruesome things they taught me in the Red Room!…
Lord Balder:
I care nothing for what color your dungeon was… as long as I get to put you back there… mortal shield maiden…
Biker:
Who are you calling mortal?… Sir Lame A Lot?…
Romanov:
That would be you sister… And you are mortal Yelena… Even though you never act like it… He however… is not… not like you or me at least… He’s Asgardian… Thor’s cousin actually…
Yelena:
Thor’s cousin!?!… This is Thor’s cousin?… Is that where this crazy city came from?… And those weird kids?…
Lord Balder:
To what weird kids are you referring to?… Many of those kids are my grand children… Although I only just learned of this my self… And I must also confess that they do seem a bit… different… But being born and raised in Niflheim is bound to affect one in the most profound and unpredictable ways… It’s only natural… or as natural as being born and raised in Niflheim can ever be…
Yelena:
Do they all talk like that?…
Romanov:
Yes… They do… And it’s rude to talk about them like that when they’re standing right there… For any one really…
Yelena:
Well I don’t know… I don’t do this weird alien stuff… That’s your Avengers nonsense… That’s your strange bucket of freaky fish…
Romanov:
Kettle…
Yelena:
What?…
Romanov:
Kettle… It’s kettle Yelena… strange kettle of fish… not bucket…
Yelena:
Why would you put fish in a kettle?… Tea goes in kettle… not fish… Fish goes in bucket… not kettle… This saying makes no sense… Your strange fish… either way…
Lord Balder:
Speaking of strange fish… who might you be?… Yelena?… is it?… And you’re the Black Widow’s sister?…
Yelena:
Yes… Not biologically… But we were raised together… As part of the same assassin program… the Red Room…
Lord Balder:
Oh… That’s what you were referring to… Dir. Mace only just told me the story of the Red Room… But he said that it was shut down… and destroyed permanently… due to the actions of the Black Widow… I had not realized that there were more survivors of that program…
Yelena:
I was there too you know… We… destroyed the Red Room… And we… are not the only survivors…
Romanov:
Hey!…
Yelena:
What?… You sent out the SOS… You said there was potentially world ending war…
Romanov:
And I said to go to ground!… Not to come here!… I have to do this… But you and the others don’t have to…
Yelena:
What?!?… We don’t have to!?!… Who do you think you are mother hen?… We live on this planet too… You tell us about world destroying war… and you expect us to stand down!?!… Screw you!… We’re all here now!… And we’re all in!… Get used to it!… So… Who are we fighting again?…
Lord Balder:
Well… For starters… there’s the savage and barbaric Kree Empire… whom have already attacked here on Midgard and tried to make of with Queen Karnilla of Nornheim… The grandmother of all of those weird children you mentioned before… Then there is the Hand… an ancient cult of demonic ninja… Created to serve one of the greatest evils ever known to Midgard or Asgard… The Black Queen Selene… And something called the mafia… But I don’t really know what that last one is… You probably know more about the mafia than I do… Just about everybody on Midgard probably knows more about the mafia than I do…
Yelena:
The mafia is nothing special… But if they’re hooked up with that other stuff you mentioned… Then they already have a foothold of conquered territory… The mafia can effectively act as agents of the enemy within our walls… if evil alien empires are wasting time with local thugs like the mafia… That tells me they’re going fourth generational… Open conflict is just one battlefield in fourth generational warfare… And not even necessarily the most important one… We were trained… and had our lives completely taken over in service to another one of those battlefields… diplomacy… propaganda… psychological warfare in general… as well as assassination… it results from the natural evolution of war… blurring lines that distinguish war from other endeavors… blending war… politics… and civilian life… And blurring the lines between combatant and non-combatant… rendering everything completely confused… and using that confusion itself as a weapon… The war permeates and infects everything… battle is everywhere… in politics… economics… media and culture… Normally it involves smaller non-state actors using asymmetric… or gorilla warfare tactics… part of our specialty… or it can be state actors using proxies to fight for them while they sit things out relatively or completely unscathed… like the Cold War… That dragged on for decades… That war created us… And the Red Room program…
Lord Balder:
The Kree and the Skrull have had genocidal hot war… that has lasted for over a million of your years… And what you describe… as fourth generational warfare… is how they do that… It is part of what makes the Kree so savage and barbaric… is there total and absolute disregard for the collateral consequences of their unbridled pursuit of power… relishing in their own callousness as a virtue of empire… wiping out whole species… just because they’re in the way… often getting others to do their dirty work for them as you describe… But they have plenty of real power of their own… And they relish using it… demonstrating it… gratuitously… as part of their psychological warfare…
Yelena:
Well… It looks like we’re in the right place after all… Because it sounds like you could use us… all of us… right Lord Balder?…
Lord Balder:
Uhm… Right… I’m sure we could use all the help we can get… And you certainly are skilled… There is absolutely no doubt about that… I can bear witness…
Yelena:
Why thank you Lord Balder… At least someone appreciates my participation… Lord Balder… You said that Queen Karnilla was the grandmother of all these kids… But you are the grandfather for some of them… Does that mean that you and the queen are married?…
Romanov:
Yelena!…
Yelena:
What?… It’s a perfectly innocent question…
Romanov:
No genuinely innocent question has ever been described that way…
Lord Balder:
It’s quite alright Mistress Romanov… I am in fact single… I have never been married… But it is well known in Asgard at least… that the queen and I have had an ongoing relationship for hundreds of years… Lady Sif is our first and only child together… And many of the children you may see running about here and there… are hers… Does that satisfy your curiosity?… Mistress Yelena?… If you like… they keep a family tree diagram on one of the larger walls here… We could go over it if you like…
Yelena:
I would love that… It’s always nice to be appreciated… by such a charming gentleman such as yourself…
Lord Balder:
You’re too kind milady… Too kind by far…
Romanov:
I need to find that medicine cabinet…
Romanov begins to walk off in the direction that Clint disappeared, then decides to put down her over sized mug, and instead searches for Yelena’s stashed bike, quickly finding it, knowing her training and habits. She re-hot-wires Yelena’s bike, and heads back to the Johnson Building to clear her head. The Black Smith catches up with Helga and the Gang of Three entering Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Malibu, headed north, tracked down with the aid of Dr. Spectrum’s invisible eye in the sky.
He chases after them through the winding canyon road, weaving through and around the sparse occasional night time traffic they come across. They come across a section of road, with crowds gathered and cars parked along on either side of the road. Two cars are parked, seemingly at the starting line of an illegal road race. Helga speeds her way in between them, with her bothers taking paths around them on either side. The Black Smith pops a wheelie and fires a sudden intense single pulse of thrust, launching the Black Smith into the air, jumping over the two parked cars, to the roar of the crowd.
Crowd:
It’s the Black Smith!… The Black Smith rules!… Ride or die with a vengeance dude!… Ride or die forever!…
About half way through the canyon, the Gang of Three veer off onto to some random dirt road to nowhere. The Gang of Three’s bikes morph and shape shift into bikes more suitable for the terrain, with larger springier shocks, and suitably knobby tires. The Black Smith’s bike follows suit, and changes as he pursues the Gang of Three down the dirt road to a clearing, where they pull over of their own accord, and come to a skidding stop. The Black Smith pulls to a skidding stop next to them.
Black Smith:
Alright!… That’s enough of you punks!… This chase ends now!… And you are all going back!…
Helga:
The hell we are!… Black Smith!… Yeah we know about you… Dad kind of talked you up quite a bit… Made you sound like some kind of hot shot… Frankly I’m not impressed… You race like a trick rider…
Black Smith:
Thanks…
Helga:
That wasn’t a compliment hot shot… Tricking isn’t racing… Fancy tricks don’t win races unless your cheating… Racing is about dancing on the razors edge without getting cut… A careful balancing act… with very slim margins… between winning and losing… life and death… ride or die… With that big bulky armor and extra fat tires… you’re all fancy tricks and gimmicks with no real skill… Not when it comes to racing at least… We’ve been playing with you… We could have ditched you at any time… made you eat our plasma dust… But you were fun to watch… and we were curious… But we’re pretty much over it now…
Black Smith:
Over it!?!… Nina pequena!?!… I don’t think so chiquita!… Not by a long shot!…
The Black Smith’s armor absorbs his bike back into itself, then it morphs and shape shifts, shrinking as it does, into a matte black long handled heavy battle hammer, with a handle about the length of a hockey stick, held in front of him with both hands. The large matte black hammer head begins to emit arcs of lightening and a blue electrostatic glow. Helga and the other two begin to grin slightly at the display.
Gabriel:
I don’t give crap about your stupid race!… I care about the reckless endangerment of the innocent people that want nothing to do with you punks and your stupid race!… We have laws here on this planet!… But… You know what?… Never mind that noise… I don’t care about the law either… These are my streets!… My turf!… And I don’t have to put up with you punks tearing through my streets… without consequences… And I don’t have to play by the rules of your stupid race!… No on here does!… So you can stuff your critique of my riding skill… Nobody cares!… Bruja pequena!… And we’ve been giving you punks slack!… Isn’t that right?…
Dr. Spectrum:
That’s right… And we’re over it… Aren’t we Ward?…
Dr. Spectrum shimmers into view, hovering twenty feet or so in the air, with electrostatic discharges emanating from the matte black roller blades on his feet, just over Gabriel’s left shoulder. Then a sudden lightening strike comes out of nowhere and strikes the ground behind the Gang of Three, materializing Ward in his Star God form, standing behind them and looming.
Star God:
I was over it before it started… This!… is!… over!… Or is it time for another stay in the penalty box?…
Helga & Gang:
No!… No dad!…
Helga:
We were just letting off steam… getting the hell out of hell… And we’re not going back!… Not till we’re done with Midgard!… Put me in your penalty box if you must daddy dearest!… But I’m not going back without a fight!…
Star God:
Fine!… You have maps… You know how to find the Johnson Building… Go there!… And stay there!… And wait for your grandmother to return!… No more tricks!… No more trouble!… Go home!… I still have two other sets of brats to track down… So I’m in no mood to play Mr. Nice Puppy!…
Helga:
Okay dad… chill… We were going there eventually anyway…
Star God:
Now Helga!… Now!…
Helga:
Okay dad… Lets go punks… I can’t wait to see this place anyway… Hey Black Smith… If you want to improve your riding skill at all… You’re going to need to practice… And you’re going to need a better set of wheels… without that big bulky armor… Here you can have my specs… You’ll need the short cut if you want to have any chance of keeping up with us… if we don’t wanna hang back that is…
Star God:
Helga!…
Helga:
We’re going dad… But we’re gong our way… Catch us if you can scrubs!… Last one to the Johnson Building is a squeaky wheel!…
Helga flips Gabriel the bird, then the Gang of Three shimmer away and disappear, followed by the sound of engine roaring, whirring, and whining, with dirt and gravel being kicked up into a dust storm for extra cover, as they can be heard to speed away back to Topanga Canyon Blvd.
Gabriel:
Penalty box?… What’s the penalty box?…
Star God:
Sensory deprivation combined with time compression… The human mind can only stand so much silence and darkness… for only so long… before they start to crack… Twenty for hours max for the process to start with most people… That’s the maximum penalty… It usually doesn’t take that much… Anywhere from five minutes to an hour… all happening in an instant thanks to time compression… Only two of my kids have had to get the maximum before… And Helga was one of them… The other one… is the leader of the other band of biker hooligans that I have to track down… My own namesake… But he prefers to be called Spartan…
Gabriel:
What did they earn it for?…
Star God:
Trying to kill each other after a race that went badly… They are my kids after all… All things considered… I’m lucky they turned out as well as they did… I certainly can’t claim credit for it… I’m lucky if I can manage it… For what it’s worth… when it comes to racing… Helga does know her stuff… You might actually want to take her advice on that… But you didn’t hear that from me… Helga is already insufferable enough as it is… I have to go…
The Star God disappears in a similar flash of lightening to the one that materialized him, leaving Gabriel alone with Dr. Spectrum.
Gabriel:
Well… No wonder they weren’t impressed with my tough guy act… with that guy as their father…
Dr. Spectrum:
Not to mention Uncle Bruce…
Gabriel:
Very well then… I’m going to try and hang with the Gang of Three… At least as far as the Johnson Building… You should probably try and help Ward with the others… From the sounds of it… the others might already be at the Johnson Building…
Dr. Spectrum:
Highly probable I would say… Alright then… I’ll check it out… Ride or die…
Gabriel:
Ride or die…
Dr. Spectrum shimmers away, and leaves Gabriel to consider his riding options. The five identical blonde twelve year old girls make their way to the Johnson Building themselves, and skate around the area in single file, on matte black roller blades, weaving in and around the crowds of people congregating for the extended impromptu festival. Noticing their arrival, are two fourteen year old boys, also on matte black roller blades, wearing black leather jackets, with a big giant red letter H on the back, and a smaller one over the heart on the front of it. Both of them watch from an alleyway next to the Johnson Building, which features the multicolored sparkling FSB skate park in the ally.
Two more twelve year old boys on matte black roller blades are doing tandem tricks in the half pipe, to the delight of a growing crowd of admiring kids, and wearing the same style black and red leather H jackets. The two in the half pipe are identical twins, with short black hair, and baggy matte black jeans. Of the two watching from the alleyway, one has long black hair, and a scar along the left side of his temple. The other one has long red hair and green eyes, and a vivid Loki green t-shirt with the words ‘Loco Motivation’ written in big black letters.
After taking note of the arrival of the quintuplets, scarred one resumes his stare at the back of a young teen girl dressed all in white. The young teen girl has a pair of large white sound canceling head phones, with shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing yoga pants, flip flops, and a white sweat shirt, open in the front, with a white bikini top underneath. She had the words ‘Massachusetts Academy’ written in black letters over the heart in the front of her sweat shirt, and on the top left pant leg of her yoga pants. The ‘Loco’ one resumes staring at a young teen girl with long black hair, black makeup, and painted black fingernails, dressed all in black, with black combat boots, black fishnets, and a modest but tight black dress, covered in embroidery depicting red roses with green stems and thorns, hanging loose around knees, with long loose sleeves.
The blue skinned Ilsa shimmers into view next to the loco one, startling the loco.
Loco:
Aaggh!… Dammit Ilsa!… Why do you always have to do that to me?… You’re going to give me a nervous condition… if I don’t already have one… Did you come to check out the infamous Johnson Building?… Not much to look at… Is it?… And why is there a festival here?… What are they celebrating?…
Scar Face:
Don’t you know anything?… They don’t need a reason… They only need an opportunity… and an excuse… And no enforcers to say otherwise…
Loco:
If you say so junior…
Junior:
Don’t call me that!… Loki!… I hate that!… Call me Grant… Or call me Spartan… But don’t ever call me junior…
Loki W:
If you say so Grant… But I’m not calling you Spartan unless you call me Loco!…
Grant Jr.:
Fine!… Loco!… I… I just can’t believe we’re here… We made so many plans about what we would do if we ever got here… Now I don’t even know where to begin!… It’s all so… beautiful… Isn’t it?…
Loki W:
You mean besides that one girl’s ass that you’ve been staring at since we got here?…
Grant Jr.:
Your one to talk… Loco Motivator… It’s not like you haven’t been staring at uber goth girl over there for just as long…
Loki W:
Help me out here Ilsa… Does that not seem like a totally transparent deflection?… Eh?… Ilsa?… You’re still not going to talk to me?… Your own twin brother?… We shared a womb together!… Why do you only talk to Helga?… Of all the people… you have to talk to the enemy?… that lightening riding she witch!?!… rather than your own twin brother?…
Grant Jr.:
Helga isn’t our enemy Loco… Just a raving bitch…
Loki W:
But this is a new world for us… We should all do new things… And do old things differently… Like talking to new people… in tight white yoga pants…
Grant Jr.:
Or tight black dresses…
Loki W:
Or just talking to your own brother right Ilsa?… Still nothing?…
Grant Jr.:
Give it a rest dude… She’s not into it yet… Give her time… It’s going to be difficult enough for her to just work up the courage to take off her gloves and pull back her hood… And she’s probably not up for that yet either…
Loki W:
Like how you’re not quite up to talking to a girl yet… right?… Spartan?… At least not one who isn’t one of our sisters or mothers…
Grant Jr.:
You first Loco… if you’re up to it… big mouth…
Loki W:
But you’re our fearless leader Spartan… Lead by example… With a self anointed nickname like Spartan… You really can’t cower before the opposite sex like this… The honor of the Hellions is at stake here dude… Whatever would B & T say about this… When I eventually mock and ridicule you for it in front of them…
Grant Jr.:
You wouldn’t dare… Loki…
Loki W:
Try me junior… Perhaps I should live up to my name… and mount a palace coup to take over the Hellions!… What do you say junior?… Wanna fight for it?…
Loco puts both his fists up in the air in front of himself, moving them about in an exaggerated mimicking gesture of mocking pugilism.
Grant Jr.:
Put those away… People are staring… Besides she’s listening to music dude… So clearly she’s not interested in talking to anybody… And we should respect her wishes…
Loki W:
I call bullshit… What do say Ilsa?…
Ilsa looks at Grant, and places her hand on her nose, then flicks her hand away as if wiping something away from her nose in disgust, as she shakes her head in disapproval.
Loki W:
There you have it… And Ilsa’s never wrong…
Grant Jr.:
Ilsa never says anything… And she still hasn’t… Have you Ilsa?…
Ilsa glares at Grant and Loki, with a look of irritated frustration, trying to mouth words but stopping herself, before turning away from them in anger.
Loki W:
Oh!… Nice try dude… I could have sworn she was about to say something… You know… I bet Ilsa might have more courage to overcome her issues and speak… if the brave and noble Spartan… the grandson Lord Balder the Brave… would lead by example… and talk to a girl…
Ilsa returns her gaze to her brothers, awaiting Grant’s response. Grant looks back at them and shakes his head, and begins to walk slowly in the direction of the white yoga pants.
Grant Jr.:
Oh shut up already… I’m going in…
Loki W:
Not too far in I hope… At least not on the first date… or you might end up in the penalty box again if dad finds out… You might even have to raise your kid in the penalty box… depending on how far in you go…
Grant stops in his tracks, and glares back at Loki.
Loki W:
Okay… Okay… Shutting up now… I’m rooting for ya!… really!… Go forth… be fruitful… and multiply… Then tell me all about it…
Grant turns to resume his course toward the yoga pants, as Loki flashes him a beaming smile and double thumbs up as encouragement. As Grant nears the yoga pants, he hesitates, and almost turns back, but keeps going until he reaches her, and starts to raise his hand to tap her on the shoulder, only for her to spin around and stare at him suddenly before he could. She takes off her head phones to speak with the would be suitor.
Yoga Pants:
Hi… I’m Emma… Emma Frost… It’s about time you came over to talk to me… instead just staring at my ass the whole time…
Grant Jr.:
I… I… I wasn’t… I wasn’t staring… at your ass…
Emma:
What else would you be staring at?… My fancy head phones?… Are you some sort thief?… A clearly gay thief?…
Grant Jr.:
I’m not gay!… And I’m not thief!… Not unless I have to be… A thief that is!…
Emma:
So you want to steal more than my head phones?… Should I be calling the cops?… Or blowing a rape whistle?…
Grant Jr.:
Rape whistle!?!… Now hold on a second…
Emma:
Hold on to what?… Do have you something that you want me hold on to?… For safe keeping perhaps?… Or maybe just to kiss it and make it better?…
Grant Jr.:
Now wait second… This conversation is moving way too fast for me…
Emma steps closer to Grant and raises her hand up to his temple to feel his scar, and Grant recoils slightly by instinct.
Emma:
It’s okay… I didn’t mean any harm… I just love that scar… It’s just bad enough to be cool… without being bad enough to ruin your pretty face…
Grant Jr.:
I… um… never thought about it that way…
Emma:
Oh shut up you stupid boy and just kiss me…
Emma gets up on her tip toes, and reaches up and around the back of his neck with her arms to pull his head down to her level to compensate for his additional height from wearing roller blades, then begins to kiss him without reserve or care for who may be watching. Grant wraps his arms around her as he forgoes all resistance or questioning, and just goes with it, as a stunned Loki watches on.
Loki W:
Wow!… Just like that!… It must be even easier than I thought if he could do it…
Loki turns to look at his sister Ilsa, who raises her open hand in the direction of the uber goth girl in the flowery dress, as if laying down the gauntlet.
Loki W:
Okay… Okay… Challenge accepted… But it would be so much easier if you could say… ‘Please… Do it for me brother’…
Ilsa just glares at Loki.
Loki W:
Okay… Okay… I’m going in… Just not too far in… At least not on the first date… not unless she asks nicely… or at all really…
Ilsa just wags her head, as Loki seeks to enter the breach, just not too far in. As he approaches, he starts out with the same approach as Grant, reaching up to tap her on the shoulder. Then thinks better of it. And instead walks up and stands beside her trying to get her attention.
Loki W:
So… They’re pretty good huh?… They’re my little brothers… They can put on a pretty good show when they want to… I taught them everything they know of course…
Uber goth girl begins to smirk a bit at Loki’s spiel.
Loki W:
Do you roller blade at all?… Or skate?… Or anything really?…
Uber Goth:
Or anything really?… Yes… I’m pretty sure I do some things… But then everyone does something… if not multiple things… But I don’t roller blade… I never learned… I’ve never learned anything that would be of any interest to you… or anyone like you… I don’t do interesting things… At least nothing that I can talk about…
Loki W:
Well that sounds interesting… in and of itself… Say… Since we seem to be having an at least somewhat friendly conversation… How about a name?… besides smoldering hot… My name is Loki… Loki Ward… But people just call me Loco…
Uber Goth:
Amara… Amara Reyes… But people call me Mara… So you were named after the alien war criminal?… You must have had hippie parents…
Loki W:
Uh… Yeah… Crazy hippies… right?… Actually… Our moms come from a different culture… From absolutely no where near here actually…
Amara:
‘Our moms’?… So then your parents are divorced?…
Loki W:
No… They’re still married… Our dad married both our moms… That’s legal where we were born and raised…
Amara:
And where would that be?… where it’s legal?… Is that an Islamic thing?… Are you practicing Muslims?…
Loki W:
No… At least I don’t think so… I actually don’t know what that is… We’re not from around here… Would you believe that we were born and raised in hell… Well… Niflheim to be exact… There are a lot of hells… But we’re from Niflheim…
Amara:
Well… I don’t believe it… But I’m sure it makes for an interesting story anyway… Can I hear it?…
Loki W:
Uh… Aaaggh… I can’t really talk about it… It’s like… classified and stuff… or at least confidential… Sorry… I shouldn’t have even said what I did… Honestly… I thought this would be easier… Grant made it look so easy… I’m sorry for wasting your time…
Amara:
Wait… Which one is Grant?… Who made whatever you were trying to do look so easy?…
Loki W:
He’s the one being face swallowed by the hot blonde chick in the yoga pants… They only just met…
Amara:
So your brother… is the one lip locked with my sister over there?…
Loki W:
That’s your sister?… You two look nothing alike…
Amara:
Same mother… different fathers… all dead now… That’s why we live in a boarding school now… The Massachusetts Academy… We’re here on a field trip… a school vacation really… We’re supposed to going to Disney Land… But everything is shut down for some stupid reason… This is the only thing happening… And it just sort of happened… Like that glowing green city…
Loki W:
Dude must have some knack that I don’t have…
Amara:
What do think you need a knack for?… that you supposedly don’t have?…
Loki W:
Talking to girls obviously…
Amara:
You seem to be doing fine to me… What is it that you’re failing to pull off?… What do you want from me exactly?…
Loki W:
Well… At least whatever it is that they have going would be nice…
Amara:
You could always just ask…
Loki W:
Just that simple… Will you… lip lock with me?…
Amara:
Sure thing… I’ll tell you what… We can go somewhere more private… And you can tell me all those confidential secrets of yours… And if they’re good enough… Maybe I’ll even give you a little more…
Loki W:
Aaggh!… I can’t!… They’re not my secrets to tell…
Amara:
So?… We both have our secrets… Lets go anyway… Lets just take it one kiss at a time and see what happens…
Amara raises herself on her toes to reach up and grab Loki’s face with both her hands and gently kiss him on the lips.
Loki W:
Well… Okay… But I can’t make any promises…
Amara:
Promises are for suckers and liars… The weak preying upon the weak… Which one are you… that you would care about promises?…
Loki W:
Um… Neither…
Amara:
Then don’t bother me with promises… Just take me away from here… My sister doesn’t need me here in the way… And I want leave here anyway… Lets go Loco… wherever you want…
Amara leads Loki by the hand, dragging him along on his roller blades, past the skate park in the alley, and further away out of sight. Grant tries to break the lip lock momentarily to glance over and check on his brothers and sister.
Grant Jr.:
Loco?…
Emma:
Yes I am… Is this not loco enough for you?… You’re hard to please… Your friend is fine… Better than fine… Given that he didn’t leave alone… He just left with my sister…
Grant Jr.:
That was your sister?… Do you know where they went?…
Emma:
Some place private probably… My sister isn’t the extrovert… or the exhibitionist… that I am… She’s shy… So she needs privacy… I don’t need privacy… But I wouldn’t mind some… Do you live near here?… We’re staying at the Dunbar Hotel… But that’s a few blocks away…
Grant Jr.:
Well… It’s not settled yet… But I suspect we’ll be living here… in the Johnson Building…
Emma:
The Johnson Building?… The Nornheim Embassy?… You’re going to live… in the Nornheim Embassy?… Are you aliens too?…
Grant Jr.:
Well… I can’t really talk about my family too much… I don’t want to talk about it…
Emma:
Cool… You have secrets… I like secrets… I have my own… Why don’t we join my sister and your brother… and find some private bushes to share secrets together in…
Grant Jr.:
Woh… slow down… I’m not ready for that…
Emma:
Ready for what?… What did you think I was proposing?… What would you like me to propose?… You fast talker you… Come on… We won’t cramp their style too much if we tag along and join them… We can go as slow as you like… But I have ways… of quickening the pace… Fair warning…
Emma leads Grant away by the hand dragging him along on his roller blades, just like her sister had done with Loki before, and follows after them, disappearing behind the skate park in the alley. Watching all of this is a cloaked and hooded figure in all black, sitting on a simple folding chair across the street from the alley with the skate park, with a clear view of the park and the kids wondering off behind it, and smiling for what she saw. The figure in black sits behind a young woman with long light brown hair, wearing a simple and somewhat modest white dress, sitting in another folding chair, behind a folding table with tarot cards spread out upon it. In her hand, the young woman in white clutches a small carved wooden Robin, as she waits for a customer to come to her table.
Natasha Romanov rides her borrowed motorcycle past the cordon and parks her borrowed bike in front of the Johnson Building and goes in. She clocks numerous other Red Room alumni casually hanging out outside the Johnson Building, keeping watch as casually as they can, and she exchanges some knowing glances with a few of them on the way in. She heads up to her assigned room to get some rest and clear her head, when she spots Whitney Frost and the Red Hulk lip locked in the hallway of her floor. She ducks back out of sight to avoid crashing the scene, but she’s already noticed by Whitney Frost.
Whitney:
Agent Romanov?… Is that you?… You needn’t hide away on our account Agent Romanov… We’re the one’s carrying on in a shared space… If anything… We owe you an apology…
Romanov:
Oh that’s fine… I’m just little shocked is all… Nothing personal… But I can’t imagine how… Never mind… None of my business…
Whitney:
Why so curious Agent Romanov?… You know… If you have any questions… I’d be happy to oblige your curiosity… Why don’t you run along dear and I’ll catch up later… I’d like to have a talk with Agent Romanov…
Red Hulk:
Alright…
The Red Hulk walks past Romanov to the elevator and leaves Whitney behind in the hallway with Romanov.
Whitney:
It’s really none of my business either… but I can guess why your curious… You know a Hulk as well… And by all accounts… have much more than friendly professional interest in Dr. Banner… Really… If you have any questions at all… I would be happy to help…
Romanov:
Uh… That’s not… really… uh… I can’t believe I’m having this conversation…
Whitney:
Why not?… Come on agent Romanov… I have other reasons to want to talk to you… I have an old friend who’s like you… An alumni of the Red Room program… She was recently treated with something called Black Box Extremis… I think you’ll find her results very interesting too… If you like… I can even draw you some diagrams…
Romanov and Whitney head into Whitney’s room, and settle down for a talk about the Gamma Ray enhanced birds and bees, and the Black Box Extremis treatment. The Gang of Three reaches the freeway route back to downtown LA, and shimmer back into view, as they accelerate onto the on ramp, weaving in and around the relatively sparse evening traffic. As they complete their entrance onto the freeway, the Black Smith swoops in flying on his hover quad, shooting ahead of them on the freeway, before lowering it down in front of them. The Black Smith’s armor and hover quad morph and shape shift as they are lowered onto the pavement, changing the hover quad into matte black recumbent motorcycle, ridden from the reclined position in between the wheels.
The Black Smith’s armor changes into a slimmed down matte black motorcycle outfit, with armor reminiscent of off road motorcycle gear, but with the more aerodynamically designed matte black helmet of road racing. The recumbent motorcycle features two arc reactors in the rear wheel hub, and two more over the rear wheel pointed backwards for additional thrust.
Black Smith:
I told you punks before!… We’re not playing by your rules!… Now you can eat my plasma dust!…
The rearward facing arc reactor switches to thrust mode, and begins to stream plasma out the back, rapidly accelerating the matte black recumbent motorcycle forward, leaving the Gang of Three dusted.
Helga:
Dammit!… If he wants unlimited racing… then we’ll give it to him!… Pop your limiters!… And lets show this punk how Emerald City does unlimited racing!… Lets catch him!…
Helga and the Gang of Three pop a large matte black button, on their matte black belts. And the three of them become bathed in electrostatic plasma, with Helga emitting explosive lightening arcs as she accelerates. As they accelerate, their bikes lift off the ground slightly, then they form short stabilizing wings out of their sides, and aerodynamic faring forms around the riders, along with a bubble canopy style enclosure over the top and sides of the riders, completing the mini cockpit. The Gang of Three then fly up above the sparse evening traffic, bypassing them entirely, and rapidly passing the Black Smith.
Black Smith:
Suckers… Thank you for your cooperation…
The Black Smith’s recumbent motorcycle then begins to levitate as well, then the front wheel morphs into a nose cone, as fairings and a bubble canopy also form around him. A narrow set delta wings take form, running along the sides from the nose cone to the back, where the two arc reactors inside the rear wheel morph and shift to point backwards along with two already there. Four short stabilizing wings form, with two out of the nose cone in front to the sides, and two more on the back pointing upwards at angles widening out as they go up.
Once fully reformed, the Black Smith’s mini shuttle lifts up completely from the roadway, and the four arc reactors then begin to ramp up their thrust, rapidly accelerating him as he flies above the sparse evening traffic as well. The Black Smith rapidly catches up with and passes the Gang Of Three, then flies up and away from the roadway, as they give chase and follow suit.
Black Smith:
That’s it punks… Come and chase me… And go wee wee wee… all the way home to the Johnson Building… So your big bad wolf daddy can lay the smack down on your candy asses…
The Black Smith reaches the Johnson Building, and lowers his mini shuttle down to land on the roof, next to an already parked three seat row equipped flying convertible car. The Gang of Three follow suit, and land next to it as well. The Black Smith’s bubble canopy seems to melt away as he stands up out of his mini cockpit, then the entire vehicle morphs and shrinks down to take the shape of Gabriel’s long handled matte black battle hammer within Gabriel’s hands. And Gabriel’s outfit shifts back to a matte black dress suit and loafers again. The bubble canopies and fairings of the Gang of Three’s flying bikes melt away, and an angry Helga steps off her ride, as a sudden lightening strike hits her bike, dematerializing it, followed by the other two doing likewise.
Helga:
What kind of racing was that supposed to be?… Don’t you follow any rules at all?… Even unlimited racing needs a track!…
Gabriel:
I’ve already told you repeatedly… We’re not following your precious rules!… And we were never racing!… I was chasing… Then I caught you… Then I lured you into the air away from the innocent bystanders who want nothing to do with you and your stupid race!… And the chase is over!… We’re home now!… This is the Johnson Building!… And daddy’s home now too… And he’s not alone…
Dr. Spectrum shimmers into view, standing behind the Gang of Three, roller blades resting on the rooftop surface.
Dr. Spectrum:
Not by long shot… Cousins… Not by a long shot… I must say… I do like the idea of this penalty box of Ward’s… Sensory deprivation… combined with time compression… It’s neat… clean… quick… downright tidy… like instant karma… Although it might technically constitute cruel and unusual punishment in the United States… But this is the Nornheim Embassy… So that doesn’t really apply… I don’t suppose I can get the specs for that?… Ward?…
Ward:
Sure thing… I suspect everyone here will need them to deal with my own personal Wild Bunch… Like the Brady Bunch… But rewritten as a gang of juvenile wolfkin biker hooligans…
Ward steps out from the queen’s tent on the roof, in human form, wearing a mock green and black hockey team hoodie, with the writing ‘Emerald City Enforcers… Grant Ward… Head Coach’ on it, with the queen and Lord Balder at his side.
Queen K:
I’m sure that would be most helpful… Although I may have to make my own arrangements for instruction…
Lord Balder:
Well I for one prefer to meet out punishment directly… by my own hands… or by my own swords… To think you would assume that I would go easy on you just because we’re kin… I find this insult highly offensive… And I will begin to correct this when I take over your training in the morning… Lady Sif certainly would not have led you to believe such a thing… And she certainly would have done no such thing… as go easy on you… She’s quite upset with the insult as well… As it reflects badly upon her as well as I…
Ward:
I’m afraid that’s my fault sir… That’s why I came up with the penalty box to begin with… I always thought I was being harsh… But as it turns out… I was sparing the lightening rod… and spoiling the wolf cubs…
Lord Balder:
My penalty box is at the tip of my swords…
Helga:
Well… Your welcome to try anytime you like grandpa… Why wait?…
Ward:
Because he said tomorrow morning!… If you have a problem with that… then you can wait it out in stasis… I’ve had enough of this attitude Helga!… From all of you… You don’t make the rules here… You don’t set the agenda… You don’t make the schedule… And you don’t decide how and when we punish you… So put a sock in it!… And since you don’t want to go back to Emerald City… You’re banished!… No more racing on any of your precious tracks… And I’m seriously thinking of going home right now and destroying that precious wall of yours… And all of your precious leader boards along with it…
Helga:
You can’t do that!…
Ward:
Keep talking Helga… And it will be guaranteed… Now go downstairs and join the street festival… and stay there… or it’s stasis till morning for the lot of you…
Gang Of Three:
Okay dad…
Helga and the Gang of Three walk towards the elevator past Gabriel.
Helga:
Nice hammer you got there… Overcompensate much…
The Gang of Three chuckle at Helga’s joke as they proceed to the elevator. After they’re gone, Gabriel morphs and shrinks his hammer into a small matte black twenty sided D&D die, with the sides numbered in white, then he simply puts it in his pocket, before looking at Ward.
Gabriel:
Dude…
Ward:
Yeah… I know… I know… I just don’t know what to do about it at this point… Honestly they’re too much to handle as is… I don’t want to think of what would have happened if we had stayed in Niflheim for much longer…
Lord Balder:
Well… Don’t you worry yourself about that anymore… You are here now… And we are with you son in law… And we have your back…
Ward:
Thanks Lord Balder… I appreciate that…
Gabriel:
Do we know where the other ones are?…
Dr. Spectrum:
They’re all at the street festival already… You were right about that… Although… A couple of the boys have wondered off with a couple of young girls… But boys will be boys I suppose… That’s the least of our problems with this lot…
On the elevator ride downstairs with the Gang of Three, it stops to let Natasha Romanov get on, joining them going down, appearing somewhat concerned.
Helga:
So you’re her… Aren’t you?… The infamous Natasha… Uncle Brucey’s lady friend… in the flesh and everything… How does that work with you two anyway…
Romulous:
Very carefully…
Remus:
And with good medical care standing by…
Helga:
Ointments?…
Romanov:
We are not having this conversation…
Helga:
You know… He would often call out your name in his sleep… ‘Natasha!… No!’… And very loudly too… I figure that was either about something really shady… or really kinky… or some combination… You’re not planning on doing anything shady with Uncle Brucey are you?… Because even if he forgives you… We may not…
Romanov:
And what would a little girl know about anything shady or kinky?…
Helga:
Bruja pequena…
Romanov:
What?…
Helga:
Bruja pequena… That’s what Black Smith called me… I’m thinking of having it tattooed over my heart… But I don’t know what it means though…
Romanov:
It’s Spanish… for little witch… And it’s very descriptive…
Helga:
Aww… He does get me…
Romanov:
I assure you bruja pequena… I have nothing but the best of intentions towards your Uncle Brucey…
Helga:
In that case… You’d better bring plenty of ointment…
Romanov gives up on the bruja pequena and the Gang of Three, as she is saved by the bell of the elevator reaching the ground floor. Romanov makes quick pace to distance herself from the Gang of Three out of the elevator, and makes her way to the borrowed bike that she had before. She re-hot-wires the bike and heads back to Emerald City, as the Gang of Three scope out the scene in front of the Johnson Building.
Helga:
I have never seen so people in all my life… So many boys that I’m not related to in the slightest… Not just the Black Smith… And look at all the girls… Can you guys hear me?… Oh… Never mind… You’ve clearly noticed…
Ilsa walks up behind them and taps Helga on the shoulder. Helga spins around and hugs Ilsa, delighted to see her sister.
Helga:
Ilsa!… You made it!… I honestly didn’t think you would ever leave Emerald City… How are you holding up?… You look concerned… Now you have me concerned… Did something happen?… Was it a boy?… You have that look on your face again…the ‘I have an urgent need for a private conversation’ look… Okay… We have to go have a sisterly talk… Try not to kill each other… or anyone else… til we get back… You hear me?… Never mind… Lets go…
Helga and Ilsa go off somewhere to talk, as the boys continue to stare at a young fortune teller in a white dress, with tarot cards on her table, and a hooded figure in black sitting behind her. The boys finally notice that Helga has left them, and work up the courage to check out the fortune teller up close and personal. They both take seats on folding chairs is the other side of the table from the fortune teller.
Fortune Teller:
Hello there… My name is Robin… For a small donation… I can read your future… Answer questions about love… or any other question of your heart… But I don’t do lottery numbers… So don’t ask…
Remus:
Lottery numbers?… What are those?…
Robin:
You’re not from around here are you?…
Romulus:
No… We are most severely not… We’re from Emerald City… Formerly of Niflheim… Believe it or not… It’s that big sparkly green thing that showed up in the sky earlier this evening… Although I’m probably not supposed to talk about it… But I don’t care… We’re always in trouble anyway…
Remus:
It’s not like we would know what to say otherwise… Why not tell the truth?… If they wanted us to lie… they should have told us the lie first…
Romulus:
Beside I can never remember that stuff anyway…
Dark Hood:
If you always tell the truth… you don’t ever have to keep track of your lies…
Romulus:
Exactly… Lying if for the weak anyway… That’s what dad says…
Remus:
Yeah… But he also says that deception is a part of warfare… And supposedly we’re at war now… Even though it doesn’t look like it here… We may have to get used to lying…
Romulus:
But how do you do that?… We suck at lying… We’re always getting caught… That never works for us…
Remus:
We’re gonna have to figure that out bro… This is war…
Dark Hood:
War with who?…
Remus:
Uhm… Aliens?… The Kree I think… some sort of demon cult?… I don’t remember the details… Oh… and the Black Queen Selene… the greatest evil ever to emerge from Midgard… according to our mom… Amora Laufey…
Dark Hood:
Really?… Dr. Laufey said that?…
Romulus:
Yeah… How did you know that she was a doctor?…
Dark Hood:
Who do think taught my protege here everything she knows… Perhaps she can answer some question of yours about this war… for a modest donation of course…
Remus:
A donation?… A donation of what exactly?…
Robin:
Normally… Money silly…
Romulus:
Oh… We don’t have any money… Can we donate something else?… Like blood… People donate blood right?…
Dark Hood:
Maybe later… What else do you have?…
Remus:
We have these tokens that dad uses to play poker with… They’re formed out of the walls where we grew up… They’re supposedly made of something of value here on Midgard… something called gold… an element of the periodic table… Excellent conductor… Doesn’t corrode… But mostly it’s just pretty…
Romulus:
But they work in every arcade game in Emerald City!…
Remus reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket, and pulls out a hand full of one once gold coins, with a wolf’s head etched on one side, and ‘Emerald City… 1 once Gold… One Hundred Quatloos’ etched on the other.
Dark Hood:
Well aren’t you cute… I’m sure one of those will be fine…
Remus:
Sorry… The only denomination I have is a hundred quatloos…
Dark Hood:
That should be more than fine…
Romulus reaches into his pocket and pulls out his various gold tokens, and plops one down on the table with a hundred quatloos as the denomination.
Romulus:
I got next…
Robin:
What exactly would you like to discover this evening…
Remus:
Well… uhm… do you… have a boyfriend?…
Robin:
Uhm… No… But… That’s not exactly a fortune teller question though… Are you sure that you don’t want to know the future?…
Romulus:
Oh… I got this… It’s like mom would always say… If you want the right answers… you have to ask the right questions… We have to ask a future question… like… will you be my girlfriend in the future?…
Robin chuckles slightly at the attention as she begins to blush.
Dark Hood:
Might I suggest that you ask about you own futures rather than hers… Fortune telling has it’s blind spots… No prophecy can ever be perfect or complete… And even the powerful prophecy is only as good as it’s interpretation… And personal bias will throw all of that off… She simply cannot tell you about herself that way… except to share information about her own present… Which is not fortune telling… That’s flirting…
Romulus:
Dammit your right… Mom taught us better than that…
Remus:
Well I don’t know what to ask… Do you Romulus?…
Romulus:
No…
Robin:
Perhaps a general reading then?… Give me your hand…
Remus reaches over to give Robin his hand, then sparks fly between them as their hands near each other, then they both pull back their hands. Robin looks momentarily confused and disoriented, as she turns back to look at the dark hooded figure behind her as if silently asking for guidance.
Remus:
Woh… What was that?… Did you get anything?…
Robin:
I… No… At least I don’t think so… It was all so confused and overwhelming… Like white noise… But overwhelming white noise… I have no idea what that means… I’m sorry…
Dark Hood:
It could be that he has a future that you can’t see… because you’re in it… Try the other one…
Romulus reaches over to give his hand to Robin, and receives a similar reaction, with sparks flying as their hands got close, before they pull their hands away. Robin begins to look even more confused and distraught.
Robin:
It’s the same thing… It’s all just an overwhelming white noise jumble… What’s wrong with me?…
Dark Hood:
Nothing a night off can’t cure… It’s getting late… But it looks like the party here is just getting started… Why don’t you take the rest of the night off and enjoy the party with these two… I’ll take the table and chairs away… I have to check on the other girls anyway… You should really get to know these two… I believe that your reaction means you may have a significant future down the road with them somehow… This is something you’re just going to have to find out the old fashioned way… By getting to know each other… the old fashioned way…
Robin:
Okay… if you say so Mistress Gallio…
Mistress Gallio stands up and steps up to Robin and places a gloved hand on her shoulder to comfort and assure her.
Mistress Gallio:
Don’t worry dear… I’ll be back eventually… No matter what… You be fine here… Trust me… Just remember to take your robin and your cards with you… And everything will work out just fine… I have every confidence in you…
Robin:
Yes Mistress Gallio…
Romulus and Remus fist bump each other in a minor victory celebration. Mistress Gallio gathers up their things as the other three explore the other vendors and performers at the street festival, and try to get to know each other better. Natasha Romanov returns to Emerald City and rides into Hulk’s orchard park, where she finds her sister Yelena, drunk off her ass and venting with Dr. Banner.
Yelena:
And she has the gall to tell me… that she has to do this… but I don’t… like I’m some rookie scrub… Who does she think she is Joan of frickin Arc?…
Hulk:
Widow knows best… She said so and everything… Just because she’s right doesn’t make it okay… It doesn’t make it all better…
Romanov:
Well… Maybe I can find something that will…
Yelena:
Like it’s just that simple…
Romanov:
Maybe not for everyone…
Hulk:
Maybe not for anyone…
Yelena:
Maybe for her…
Romanov:
Maybe your plastered…
Yelena:
Oh there’s no maybe about that one…
Romanov:
Maybe you should sleep it off…
Yelena:
Oh I get it… You want to be alone with the big guy… So you can play madhouse… You Avengers are all crazy…
Yelena stands up wobbly and begins to walk away.
Yelena:
I’m going to go help Clint find that secret stash… Wait… Clint is the married one right?…
Romanov:
With a bunch of kids…
Yelena:
Oh well screw him… Where did Lord Balder go?… He’s single… Right?…
Romanov:
Yelena!…
Yelena:
What?… He’s single… So he’s fair game… And I think he likes me…
Romanov:
And he’s in an extremely long term relationship… like immortal long… With Queen Karnilla of Nornheim… with a daughter… Lady Sif…
Yelena:
The queen huh?… Stiff competition… Now I want him even more…
Romanov:
Just don’t create any cosmic political difficulties with the Asgardian’s… You supposedly came here to help fight a war… Not start a new one…
Yelena:
I promise to be a good girl mother…
Yelena stumbles off to chat up Lady Sif about her father.
Yelena:
Mostly…
Romanov:
Lovely…
Hulk:
What do you want Natasha?…
Romanov:
I want to show you something… I want to share something with you… Do you have some place around here that you like to go?… somewhere… more private?… You know… without bitchy drunks?…
Hulk:
I’m due for a bath… But you don’t want to stick around for that… Nobody does… They made a special bathhouse for me… extra large… If you want to talk private… that’s pretty much it… Otherwise it’s the park…
Romanov:
That sounds perfect… Lead the way big guy…
As Romulus and Remus continue to chat up Robin, a loud hulk roar is heard bellowing out of the Emerald City, and echoing through the LA night sky. But not with an incoherent roar this time. This time there’s a name.
Hulk:
Oh!… Na Taa Shaaaaaaaa!!!…
Romulus and Remus hear the roar and smile, as the entire crowd around the Johnson Building starts mock roaring in celebration. Romulus and Remus high five each other in knowing celebration.
Rom/Rem:
Yeah!…
Remus:
Sounds like Uncle Brucey finally got some!…
Romulus:
I had a feeling about that Natasha chick… I knew she wouldn’t disappoint…
Robin:
I beg your pardon…
Romulus:
Our Uncle Brucey seems to have finally consummated with an old smoldering flame of his…
Remus:
I hope they brought plenty of ointment…
Robin:
I beg your pardon…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
No comments:
Post a Comment