The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
By Ozymandias The Mad
Chapter 16
A Duel Of Devils On A Scorched Earth
Hospitality At The Dunbar Just Aint What It Used To Be
What’s left of the campus of Caltech, sits magically converted wholly to a medieval Christian monastery, sacked and vacant save for the unenchanted labs that were FSB enhanced before the Psycho Fandango hit. Dr. Jane Foster wakes up with her daughter Frigga prodding her.
Princess Frigga:
Mommy… Uncle Eric is acting weird… Weirder than normal for him… And daddy’s other friends are still passed out… Are you okay?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I think so… Eric?…
Dr. Eric Selvig walks up dressed in the robes of a medieval Christian monk.
Monk Selvig:
Repent!… Violator of this sacred keep of Christ!…
Princess Frigga:
See what I mean?… I don’t think he remembers me… I had to shock him cause he got out of hand… But now he thinks I’m a demon!… Can you fix him mommy?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I don’t know baby… I don’t know what happened to him yet…
Monk Selvig:
What happened?… I have been sanctioned as an acolyte of Avalon… This keep was to be a new beginning for our order… Now it lies in ruins… or otherwise has been taken over!… By your foul designs!…
Princess Frigga unleashes another zap and shocks Monk Selvig again, silencing him without knocking him out, as he wonders off dazed.
Princess Frigga:
Sorry Uncle Eric but you were getting out of hand again…
Dr. Jane Foster:
That’s alright… It’s nothing he’s not familiar with… But it look’s like he’s not the only one changed… And not just the scenery…
An unaltered Natasha Romanov wakes up next to her fellow Avenger, a transformed Clint Barton, with white hair and pointed fairy ears, dressed like some medieval huntsman or woodsman, with a quiver of arrows and a bow.
Natasha:
Clint?… Are you… okay?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Does he not normally do that?…
Natasha:
No…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Well I don’t know… You never really know with Thor’s friends…
Natasha:
You have a point there… But no… Clint doesn’t normally do that… not any more than Caltech normally does this… whatever this is…
Hawk Eye:
You speak of me with familiarity… But how would a Valkyrie know me?… Have I perished?… Am I to be chosen for Valhalla?…
Natasha:
Is he talking to me?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I think so… Valkyrie… You’d better go along… The FSBs seem to provide some shielding from this enchantment… maybe we can apply it as a treatment…
Natasha:
You want me to experiment on Barton?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I don’t see how we have much of a choice… this is an emergency… And I have to go and dose Uncle Eric as it is… Come along Frigga… You do know the procedure right?… Just the FSBs… Nothing complicated…
Natasha:
Right… nothing complicated… nothing like Thor being on his way here with the queen of Alfheim… and King Odin… Thor’s father… already being here in LA!… Nothing like that… That’s what we came here to tell you about… before whatever this is just hit…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Woh… That’s a lot to process…
Hawk Eye:
If you are truly friends of Thor Valkyrie… then it is an honor to fight beside you… especially to serve the queen of Alfheim…
Natasha:
That’s good to know… There’s no guarantee that these things will work for them… I heard that it can help unscramble a mind… But I don’t know about those ears…
Dr. Jane Foster:
We don’t have a choice… We don’t have any other arrows in our quiver… I’ll take Frigga and dose Eric… and I’ll leave Legolas to you…
Dr. Foster and Princess Frigga chase after Eric, and leave Natasha behind with Hawk Eye of the Fay.
Natasha:
Do you at least remember your name Barton?… Clint Barton?…
Hawk Eye:
That is my name Valkyrie… You do seem familiar to me more and more… There seems to a fog lifting… But there is still too much confusion…
Natasha:
I have something for a that… a magic gift… called an FSB… it will help with your confusion… and better enable you to serve the queen when she arrives… not to mention our friend Thor…
Hawk Eye:
Very well then Valkyrie… Let us see this magic gift… Or does this require more privacy?…
Natasha:
Cute…
Natasha places her hands on his bow and quiver, then white sparkles begin to fly colonizing Hawk Eye’s bow and quiver with his own new FSB.
Hawk Eye:
What sort of magic is that?!?… What have you done to my quiver and bow woman?… Wait… Natasha?… Oh… What the hell hit me this time?!?…
Natasha:
We don’t know just yet… It only just happened… But you seem back… upstairs at least… But I may have complicated you further…
Hawk Eye:
At least I can remember who I am… mostly…
Lightening flashes and thunders from near by suddenly.
Hawk Eye:
Yow!… That’s loud!… And I have really sensitive hearing now!…
Natasha:
Sounds like Selvig isn’t going quietly…
Dr. Jane Foster:
He’s fine… He’s just sleeping it off now… Hopefully he’ll remember who he is when he wakes up… How about you?… Uncle Clint?…
Princess Frigga:
Do you remember me?… Uncle Eric didn’t remember me…
Hawk Eye:
I remember you kid… I’m a little less certain about me… I remember who I am… and my life as Clint Barton… But I have this whole other life… with a whole life’s worth of memories… I think I know magic…
Natasha:
Kung fu… Don’t you mean kung fu?…
Hawk Eye:
No… I think I may know actual fairy magic now… But I’m too scared to try it…
Monk Eric:
I know that I know fairy magic now… I know many ancient languages… and deep history… all a part of the studies of an acolyte of Avalon… It’s like a second life we just woke up from… My apologies Princess Frigga… for my earlier bad manners…
As he stands there, monk Eric forms a matte black staff for himself with a matte black cross on top, in a flurry of the customary white sparkles.
Princess Frigga:
It’s all right Uncle Eric… As long as you are Uncle Eric…
Monk Eric:
I am… But I am also… Monk Eric… acolyte of Avalon… raised from birth… I can’t explain it… I know it’s not real… but the memories are… and so is the knowledge… It’s all a bit of a jumble at the moment… But it was a whole other lifetime… of memories…
Hawk Eye:
With some lifetimes longer than others… I think I got off easy now that I think about it…
Natasha:
Yelena!… My Sister!… I have to find my sister!…
Dr. Jane Foster:
We have to find Stark!… He and Gabriel were doing an FSB forensic deep dive on Stark’s vault… and we were assisting that in the aftermath of the MODOC attack… This could be related…
Natasha:
Or it could be Malekith… That was the other reason we came here… Malekith escaped Niflheim… Don’t ask me to explain it… He was a stowaway along with Emerald City… when they brought it back from Niflheim… along with a talkative and drunken jolly big green Dr. Banner…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Woh!… Are you trying to overwhelm me?… Or is that just your natural gift?… We should all stick together… And go see Stark and Gabriel at Stark Industries… I think Fitz was on his way to Shield HQ… So maybe he made it out to get some help…
Hawk Eye:
So we’re off to see the wizard?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
We need to regroup… meet minds… that sort of thing… And I I don’t like the idea of splitting up under the circumstances… even with Frigga in tow… especially with Frigga in tow!… We may need to rescue them and bring them back here!… Our lab and Gabriel’s lab are the only things untouched by the mega whammy… They’re both colonized by FSBs… They’re has to be a connection there… FSBs may be the only technology still working…
Natasha:
Mega whammy?… Is that the proper scientific term?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
It’s what I’m calling it till I have one… Maybe Stark will have a better one… I’m sure it will be more colorful at a minimum…
With the aftermath of the battle with AIM swept aside by seeming enchantment, all that remains is a matte black Stark Palace, and it’s high walled grounds, with the castle tower of Stark Palace grown up directly over Stark’s old vault building. Light shimmers and twists within the courtyard, and Queen Morgana materializes with Queen Pepper and their war refugees, accompanied by the whistling sound of her flute.
Morgana:
Well… That’s not what I expected…
Queen Pepper:
The palace does seem to be under enchantment… Where are the king’s men?…
Morgana:
Calm down your majesty… Remember your training… Where were they supposed to be?… before the enchantment?…
Queen Pepper:
There was a raid on the king’s vault… The king and all of his men were meant to see if they could put it back together again… The vault is directly under the castle tower…
Morgana:
Then let’s go inspect this vault for ourselves… and we just might run into this king… or at least find out why not…
Just then a matte black war shuttle shimmers into view above them and comes in to land in the middle of the courtyard. Natasha and Clint come rushing out of the back of it’s hatch first, rushing to get answers from the woman they barely recognize as Pepper Pots. Before they can get very far, Queen Pepper puts them in there place.
Queen Pepper:
Hold there strangers!… Hold and Identify!… Spies will not be tolerated!…
Matte black vines, with matte black flowers and thorns, grows out of the ground and grabs the two Avengers, holding them fast in place.
Natasha:
Pepper!…
Morgana:
That’s Queen Pepper… or her majesty… Better go with it for now… If you know what’s best for you…
Hawk Eye:
Right… Sorry… your majesty… I am Hawk Eye… of the fay… This is the Black Widow… of the Red Room… We are Avengers… Like the Iron Man…
Queen Pepper:
That’s Iron King!…
Natasha:
Right… Sorry your majesty… We were forgetting his promotion… Must be some enchantment…
Hawk Eye:
Yeah!… Some enchanted evening!…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Sorry for dropping by unannounced Pepper… your majesty… It’s a bit of an emergency… Do you remember Princess Frigga?…
Queen Pepper:
Of course I remember the delightful Princess Frigga… But we have been beset by strange magic here… and may not be in a position to render aid comfort or assistance… let alone hospitality…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I think we may be able to help each other… if we can find Tony Stark…
The magic vines wither away with a wave of Queen Pepper’s wand.
Morgana:
For starters… The Iron King himself is supposedly in… at… or near… a vault at the bottom of that castle tower… Shall we all go take a look see?… and stow the bloody melodrama?…
Black Smith:
I can take you down… The Iron King sent me and everything… We’re still adjusting here… I take it it Queen Pepper here is as you found her?…
Queen Pepper:
And what is that supposed mean master Black Smith?… A knight of the Iron King should have better manners or clearer communications… preferably both…
Black Smith:
Quite right your majesty… I’ll have to work on that… Why don’t you all come down with me… We’re still working on taking over from this crazy reality warp magical mystery makeover… FSBs are the only tech that works anymore it seems… But magic works stronger than ever somehow… Have you noticed?…
Natasha:
Yeah… Is that what that is?…
Morgana:
I would say so… in my expert opinion…
Natasha:
And what makes you so expert?… Cosplay chick?…
Morgana:
I am no Cosplay chick!… I am Morgana Pendragon of the fay… former queen of Avalon… I am no cosplay chick… I am the real bloody deal… My son Leopold Fitz was supposed to be somewhere in the thick of this… But I will not be chastised about being a bloody cosplay chick by a bloody Avenger… Black Widow… Are you for real?… Don’t sass me lassie!…
Black Smith:
Wow… You look very different with pointed ears… and younger than your picture… Fitz has a picture of you two together in his lab… Are you sure that you didn’t get whammied?… along with almost everybody else?…
Morgana:
Believe what you will… But power speaks for itself past a certain point…
Morgana begins to play her flute again, and plays the Fairy Song, and restores the memories of the queen, and the three acolyte monks.
Queen Pepper:
Woh!… What happened to us?…
Morgana:
What do you remember of your life before?… versus after?…
Queen Pepper:
Everything!… from both!…
Luiz:
Queen Morgana?… Are you really a queen of Avalon?… Or was that just an illusion?… Is Avalon Real?…
Morgana:
Avalon is real… And I really was it’s queen… But I haven’t been for a really long time… That much was enchantment… But the tradition of the acolytes that you had changed into… is none the less real… the knowledge that I suspect you now possess is completely real… That skill… and the training in magic of Pepper Pots alternate persona… allowed me to cheat a little to restore your memories from your real lives… without losing whatever you’ve been granted for better or for worse… That won’t work for just anybody… How’s that for a cosplay chick?… Do you understand now?… Miss Avenger?… I am the Morgana Pendragon… of the fay… former queen of Avalon… That much is for bloody real… no matter what the hell the rest of this is…
Monk Eric:
I was enchanted to be an acolyte of that order… I have memories of your face… even though we have never met…
Morgana:
Enchanted memories… real history… all mixed together… with details plucked out of the aether… like something out of the hippie notion of the akashic record… then grafted onto real places and real people… Whatever is at work here… I doubt very much that those responsible know what they’re meddling with…
Dr. Van Dyne:
Can you do that with Hope?… and Scott?…
Morgana:
Possibly… and these acolytes might be able to help me… even though they’re not real ones… But our new Avenger friends might have something that also works… something that helped out Dr. Selvig here… and the new fairy archer… You all seem to be shielded somehow… care to spill?…
Dr. Pym:
They’re called FSBs… Fitz Simmons Boxes… We were unauthorized recipients… I don’t know about Dr. Selvig or the archer though…
Hawk Eye:
The FSB helped… But being fairy folk seemed to allow me to see through it to begin with somewhat… the FSB just cleared up the rest…
Monk Eric:
Likewise… although admittedly… I needed the aid of the FSB more than the Hawk… to sort through the fog of enchanted memory…
Dr. Pym:
Are you sure that it helped him?…
Iron Man:
It helped me…
Black Smith:
Boss!… Your Head!…
Iron Man:
I got tired of waiting… I joined the FSB experiment… We all did… Pepper?… Are you enchanted?…
Queen Pepper:
No my love… my Iron King… I’m not enchanted anymore… except by you… But I still remember… This is Morgana… she just whammied my head back into place… How’s your head?…
Iron Man:
Okay now that it’s shielded… I got lucky with the shielding of the FSB building that was colonized… we were surrounded by it… Anyone else… anyone without one of their own… or some other means of resistance… is completely at the mercy of this… whatever this is…
Luis:
Look… Not to be ungrateful or anything for restoring our memories and all… But can you restore these too?…
The three acolyte monks hold up their severed right stumps, showing their confirmed status as ex thieves of medieval times.
Luis:
It seems as though we are ex thieves in this this enchanted world… as well as the real one… But the enchanted one is much harsher…
Dr. Pym:
Holy crap!… This magic crap cut off your hands?!?… Dammit!… Magic gives me a headache!…
Iron Man:
I know right?…
Dr. Pym:
Look… There is only one thing I can give you for that… But it’s experimental… and potentially explosive… But I took it myself recently… There are no guarantees… that this is safe… just because they theoretically worked out all the kinks… I took the chance to get back in the action… I didn’t want you guys dragged into this… But now you’re in it up to your elbows… It’s dangerous… But if you want to role the dice on the rest of this with me… then I’ll give you the rest of it…
Iron Man:
Normally I would object… But I made a similar medical exemption myself not too long ago… Unless Morgana has some better magic for regrowing limbs and hands…
Morgana:
Sorry… But not by myself… And not without the assistance of the angels…
Iron Man:
Real angels?…
Morgana:
Now don’t you start with me Iron Pants!… I’ve been bouncing around all over town looking for my Leopold!… And all I’ve found so far is a bunch of attitude!… Perhaps I should leave you all to it since you seem to have everything under control here… Iron Manlet!… Glorified iron fillings!…
Iron Man:
Wow… She is definitely Leopold’s mom… I’m not so sure about the Pendragon thing though…
Dr. Pym:
Well screw what any Stark says one way or the other… Are you ready or not?…
Luis:
You bet ya!…
Kurt:
Hit me with the best shot!…
Dave:
Ride or die bitches!… with both hands on the wheel!…
Dr. Pym doses the three with the familiar white sparkle transfer, to the obvious disgust of Stark and Pepper, recalling their own experience with regular Extremis.
Happy Hogan:
We don’t have to do that too… do we?…
Iron Man:
No… Most definitely not…
Dr. Pym:
Now don’t get carried away with that stuff… no superhero business for you guys…
Iron Man:
You don’t really have the option of telling them that now… I know the feeling though…
Luis:
He’s right… but he’s wrong… We’re super soldiers for god yall!… for a modest fee of course… We have to up our game!… I bet we could totally do an exorcism!… Who ya gonna call right… I mean… I think that’s taken but… who ya gonna call right?… We gotta practice our stuff!… And come up with our own catch phrase…
Kurt:
Could the for real queen of Avalon tutor us for real?…
Monk Eric:
Indeed…
Morgana:
Well… Sure… We may need all the help we can get… to try and get us out of this… whatever this is…
Iron Man:
I just got word through the FSB grapevine… the only working com system… by the way… that Yelena has gone full flight of the Valkyrie… even flying around on one of their winged horses… Apparently she’s a very gung ho Valkyrie…
Natasha:
Great… As if she wasn’t enough of a handful…
Queen Pepper:
Before Morgana broke me out of it… I thought you were a Valkyrie…
Iron Man:
She might have changed into one if it hadn’t been for her having her own FSB when this thing hit… Of course you wouldn’t be behind this… But someone else in your condition might also consider themselves immune… Sorry… active puzzle… still piecing…
Black Smith:
No need to puzzle too hard on my account… I know my baby mama is a prime suspect… Right now I’m just trying to work the problem in front of me in my own mind… But I’m starting to feel like I may have aided and abetted this… I think I recognize some of this code… This is Framework code… something Fitz was working on… We were playing around with a cheesy dungeons and dragons game… and Fitz insisted on adding all kinds of stuff he heard from his parents growing up… I showed it off to my hot mess baby mama… trying to get her to be enthusiastic about helping out… But how the hell did they impose that upon all of Los Angeles?… The Framework is just simulation software… requiring a cerebral interface…
Iron Man:
Running on hybrid dark magic nanotech quantum supercomputers… with a telepathic interface… At least someone’s been doing there homework… unfortunately… it hasn’t been us…
Black Smith:
It’s like a city wide experiment in applied human chaos theory… She must have used the D&D simulation of the Framework for the control template… From then on… it’s like a magical monsters of the id makeover marathon…
Iron Man:
Cue medieval forbidden planet…
Black Smith:
But where’s the reset button on quest world?…
Iron Man:
I don’t know… But the Black Queen is setting up shop at the Dunbar Hotel… according to Yelena… and Brunhilde… the real Valkyrie with her…
Morgana:
That’s where we came from… That place has become a death trap… But some of us have missing people there still… It’s a bit a sensitive subject… But without actionable intelligence… it’s just a death wish waiting to happen…
Iron Man:
Actionable intelligence?… Death wish waiting to happen?… Are you Morgana of the fay?… or agent Morgana of Shield?…
Morgana:
My son Leopold was a Shield agent… and my ex husband Alistair is the head of the Black Air Unit… So I pick up a bit of the lingo… So sue me… And I’ve had more than my fair share of battle in my own right…
Iron Man:
Do they know that yet?…
Morgana:
No… But they soon will… I was hiding out in the bloody Dunbar Hotel trying to work up the courage to tell poor Leopold all about me… Then this bloody thing hit… whatever this is… You have to keep everyone out of that deathtrap of a hotel!… She’s already taken it over utterly… with her minions… with her aura… with her evil… Attacking the Dunbar Hotel now is a suicide mission…
Iron Man:
Well… Don’t sugarcoat it for us… Tell us what you really think?… especially since Yelena took off in that direction when she learned that Lord Balder was riding there now… in the back seat with the Ghost Rider…
Natasha:
What?…
Morgana:
The Ghost Rider?…
Iron Man:
The current host for Zarathos… a spirit of vengeance supposedly…
Morgana:
Oh… Well… I’m sure the host will be fine… I cannot vouch for the others…
Natasha:
We have to go after them!…
Iron Man:
And some of us will shortly… Not all of us are Avengers here… or necessarily expendable… with or without princess dresses… Why don’t you guys stay here and protect the princess… and me and Gabe will check out the lair of the witch… King T’Challa is on Coms with me… they’re chasing after Yelena… Yelena is chasing after Lord Balder… And Lord Balder is chasing after the Ghost Rider… who is presumably chasing after something other than a wild evil goose… I need someone sane to stay here and make sure nothing gets crazier here… Banner barely noticed this… But Cap has been whammied too… He’s with the king… chasing after Yelena… And I got a bad report about Parker… I need to go and be able to leave this here to you…
Natasha:
Okay Tony… You got it…
Iron Man:
King Odin is fine in Emerald City by the way… But he’s currently succumbing to a bout of prophecy… whatever that means… he’s indisposed but fine… according to Loki of all people… who’s with him there… alive and everything…
Princess Frigga:
Uncle Loki is alive?… with Grandpa?… Neat!…
Morgana:
I can take this group to Emerald City… I’m still looking for my son Leopold… and my ex for that matter… perhaps we can consolidate our concerns… and let Iron Pants deal with the wayward ones… I’m starting to get the hang of how things work in here… it seems like magic is somehow being amplified… while regular tech is somehow suppressed… everything but those fancy devices my son made… But they’re their own special kettle of fish… aren’t they?…
Iron Man:
That they are… Alright… You take this lot to Emerald City and Gabe and I will bust some chops downtown… But do it now so we can watch before we go…
Morgana:
Oh… You’re even more of an incorrigible child than your reputation suggests… Very well then… Oi… Class of Avalon… gather round and pay attention…
Everyone but Iron Man and the Black Smith, War Machine and Happy Hogan, shimmer away amid twists of colored light.
Iron Man:
Cool!… That’s mommy Fitz?… Did you know that?…
Black Smith:
I don’t think even they know that yet…
Iron Man:
No kidding… Let’s go… strict buddy system… Johnson Building first… Maybe we can head some of this off… But it looks like everything is heading to the old Dunbar Hotel… and not in a good way… No jazz on tap for this trip…
Mommy Fitz shimmers into view in Hulk Orchard Park, with Princess Frigga and her royal Avenger escort intact. The Star God transforms in a flash with his guard up, as Daisy and her daughters rise to their feet.
Natasha:
Hold it!… Hold your fire!… And hold your horses!… Hold whatever you’ve got!… It’s me Natasha!… Uncle Brucy’s friend!…
Star God:
Right… You haven’t been whammied… What about your new friends… Looks like you’ve got some new elves with you…
Hawk Eye:
You’re one to talk!… Wolf King!…
Star God:
I was like this before…
Hawk Eye:
Fair enough… This… is Leopold Fitz’ mom… She was like this before too… according to her…
Star God:
You’re Fitz’ mom?!?…
Daisy:
Morgan?… Is that really you?… We met once in the UK… But you didn’t have those ears on at the time… Either you’re a closet trek fan… or you have some explaining to do… Actually… either way you have some explaining to do…
Morgana:
I am Morgana Pendragon… of the fay… the real fay… born of Avalon… the real Avalon… I was disguised for the sake of Leopold having a normal life… or relatively normal…
Gen. Fitz:
And what about the sake of your husband?… I don’t recall you ever telling me about any of this… Morgana… I’m afraid Leopold isn’t here just now…
Gen. Fitz walks out, matte black plasma pistol at the ready in his right hand, and with his great grandmother’s sword strapped to his belt on his left side.
Morgana:
Alistair!?!… I’m sorry Alistair… I had been hiding among humans for centuries by the time Loki asked me to help out one of his descendants… discretely… I am half human you know!… We were never meant to get together that way… it just happened… But deception was always the real wall between us wasn’t it?… going both ways… But now that you know the full extent of it… can you forgive me?…
Gen. Fitz:
Well… I doubt that I know the full extent of it… even now… But I always forgave you… even if I couldn’t trust you… I gave as good as I got in that department… But does Leopold know?…
Morgana:
No… I was building the courage up to tell him at the Dunbar Hotel…
Gen. Fitz:
But Loki knew… But never said… not even to Lady Amora?… My grandmother…
Morgana:
He told her… But by then… she was out of the picture by necessity… I met her… Ursula too… before we were married… Loki arranged it… I’m sorry… But besides Leopold… you’re the last to know…
Queen K:
Not quite… My own daughter neglected to tell me… although I should have known… Ursula has much to explain here as well…
Daisy:
So you hid all of this time… due to the fact that Fitz was part fairy?… I’m an Inhuman… Ward here is the Wolf King… what else have you got?…
Morgana:
Not just part fairy… fay royalty… I was the queen of Avalon… Before I abdicated the throne for numerous personal reasons centuries ago… I’ve been hiding and living among humans ever since… as a music teacher… and music therapist…
Gen. Fitz:
As an anarchist hippie!…
Morgana:
I’m a Christian!…
Gen. Fitz:
A Christian anarchist hippie then!…
Morgana:
Royalty is always a target… even abdicated royalty… Politics are poison… and when you’re royalty… the poison is in your blood… and it never goes away… The best you can do some times… is to hide… Do it long enough… and it just becomes second nature… a defense mechanism among many of the fay… Habitual deception… pathological even… is a symptom… of the poisoning of politics… I was trying to treat your poisoning when we first met… but then I brought a poison of my own with me…
Gen. Fitz:
And a child as well… a grown man now… a man without a clue to any of this…
Morgana:
I know!… That’s what I came here for!… But I keep missing him!… Do you know where the hell he went?…
Gen. Fitz:
Last Information I had… was a hurried and somewhat distorted series of messages about heading to Shield HQ to download data about the AIM attack… then I got a series of panicked and distorted messages about time compression… and shape shifting spacial distortions… I don’t know what that means… But I know that sonny boy’s on it… and he’s most likely not in here with us for that… But we’ll be seeing him again… but perhaps not for a while though… His girlfriend should be here in Emerald City though… But we’re still doing headcounts… with some people running off… riding along with flaming skull vengeance demons… Lord Balder of all people…
Daisy:
Wait!… Lord Balder went with them?… How do you know this?…
Gen. Fitz:
Because I was there when he… Gen. Talbot… and some man who looked like pictures I had seen of your father… all jumped into that flaming Hell Charger… and burned off into the distance… I know enough to know that the Ghost Rider must be hunting something worth going after… But I felt the need to stay here… out of duty…
Daisy:
Wait… Someone who looked liked picture of my father?…
Gen. Fitz:
He looked like his file picture… his ID photo… normal… his old normal… I don’t know why… That’s just what I saw…
Natasha:
Is that why Yelena took off after them?… Because of that report about Lord Balder?…
Gen. Fitz:
I wouldn’t know why that would provoke your sister Yelena in particular… But King T’Challa himself reported… that it was Yelena herself who made her own observation of it… from winged horseback!… As a trained Valkyrie!… Don’t worry about her agent Romanov… Worry about what comes next… The Spider Man has already been severely compromised… as has the Falcon… Both turned to serve the enemy at the Dunbar Hotel… Others have been compromised by enchantment… And we may yet be called upon to provide back up… and we still don’t have this place properly secured…
Dr. Pym:
Secure your own oxygen mask first… I can help out with that… with my ants… but it may take a while…
Star God changes back into his human Grant Ward form.
Grant Ward:
My kids should have the broad strokes of that taken care of shortly… They know the city better than anyone… But it’s a big city… and people keep wondering off… And they’ve already had some of their own encounters with the inhabitants of this new maze… Nobody should be wondering off… but spirits of vengeance will be spirits of vengeance…
Morgana:
Even a spirit of vengeance might have a hard time surviving an assault on the Black Queen at the Dunbar Hotel right now… I don’t believe that the Black Queen herself is responsible for this… whatever this is… But she is taking advantage of it… and she’s acting as if she knows there is no help coming anytime soon… She’s nesting and fortifying at the Dunbar…
Gen. Fitz:
The flaming skull and company may be in need of a rescue evac…
Natasha:
Along with reinforcements to buy time…
Daisy:
That flaming skull is my baby daddy!… And with my daddy riding along with him… And probably for that stupid reason…
Amara:
And now they’re all headed to grandmother’s house… Reyna?… What do you see?…
Reyna:
Oh… Don’t ask me!… Prophecy is dangerous!…
Reyna shimmers away.
Hogan:
Reyna!…
Morgana:
Who’s Reyna?…
Daisy:
She’s not a real fairy… She’s been enchanted… But she’s a real Inhuman… with real power of prophecy… And some real issues to go along with that… So please bear with her… She’ll be back…
Morgana:
Well… If we’re preparing for a rescue mission against the Black Queen… in the lair of the witch no less… I will have need for my acolytes of Avalon to assist me
Monk Selvig:
But we are only fakes… Do you think we’re really ready for that?…
Morgana:
I think we’re gonna have to ready ourselves regardless… Because I believe that the Black Queen is right about one thing for sure… There are no reinforcements coming any time soon… We’re it… Now… Time to practice!…
Lady Sif:
May I join you?… I was an acolyte of Avalon for time as well… After I failed to become Valkyrie… after many years of training… I sought solace and inspiration in the ways and the traditions of Avalon for a time… before returning to service as a warrior for Asgard…
Morgana:
Sure thing… Do I know you?…
Lady Sif:
No your majesty… I was in Avalon well after your abdication… But I was just another acolyte then… You knew my sister… Lady Amora… from your marriage to her grandson…
Morgana:
Right… Sounds like quite the story… that we don’t quite have time for…
Elsewhere, numerous spider minions scurry about in the shadows surrounding Dr. Simmons and Lorelei, as the undead Dr. Simmons examines the resurrected Lorelei with her other spiders.
Lorelei:
Are these things really necessary?…
Dr. Simmons:
They are if you want me to examine you under these circumstances… The city no longer seems to respond to you… since you no longer seem to be a part of it… So I have to use the mobile diagnostic capabilities of my spider minions… Now shush… You seem to be completely normal… for a living Asgardian female… How is another question… But given the condition of the Emerald City… Your previous vessel being the partly magic FSBs of the city itself… the effect of whatever has befallen the city… has managed a physical resurrection in your case… under a most peculiar set of circumstances… But I cannot assure you that Malekith had nothing to do with it… because I don’t know yet whether or not he had anything to do with this… whatever this is… And I cannot vouch for it being permanent without knowing more about the nature of it… and how it was done… I’m afraid that’s all I can tell you at this point… You’re going to have to face your family at some point… They’ll be worried about us at a minimum…
Meghan:
You bet they will!… Just like I was!… But now… the Daughters Grimoire are back together again!…
Meghan shimmers into view suddenly kneeling on the floor next to Lorelei.
Lorelei:
Meghan!?!… You startled me!… That sent my heart racing!… I forgot what that was like!…
Dr. Simmons:
I still remember… We should rejoin the others… and share the good news… and just face whatever comes of this… whatever this is…
Cuckoos:
Good… Then you’ll come quietly and without undue fuss… Aunty Meghan… Aunty Lorelei… Congratulations on your resurrection by the way… Aunty Lorelei… whatever it’s nature… and for however long… Leopold Fitz’ mom is here… looking for her son… with much to explain to him…
The Stepford Cuckoos walk in on the gathering in single file.
Dr. Simmons:
Fitz’ mum is here?!?… Now!?!… Oh extra bloody hell!…
Cuckoos:
Do you not get along with Leopold Fitz’ mum?…
Dr. Simmons:
Oh… We get along… She’s adorable… But she doesn’t know about me being a vampire yet… among other things… I haven’t even told my own parents yet… And there’s no telling what this enchantment has made of her…
Meghan:
Come on!… Brian says that we have to face our mommy issues!…
Cuckoos:
Dr. Simmons’ mommy issues are currently waiting in Hulk Orchard Park…
Dr. Simmons:
Wait… Give your Aunty Lorelei here her own FSB… the FSBs of the city are no longer responding to her… and weren’t bound to her in the normal way… Her having her own FSB as a living being in her own right may not effect anything… But she’ll probably need one just to deal with this… whatever this is… The Niflheim Protocols alone… require it… And there’s still Malekith to be concerned with… She will need to be able to protect herself…
Meghan:
Well why don’t you do it then?…
Dr. Simmons:
Are you kidding?… She’s a notorious war criminal!… I’m not taking responsibility for that!… I’m a bloody vampire!…
Meghan:
Give me one too!… I need to be able to protect myself so other people don’t have to worry…
Cuckoos:
Okay Aunty Meghan… Brace your selves… both of you… and relax…
The white sparkles fly for Lorelei and Meghan, as Cannibal Creed moves in for the supposed kill on the blind monk in black at the Dunbar Hotel tavern bar. The blind man effortlessly bends back out of the way of Creed’s clutching claws, then spins around and smashes Creed’s back with his staff as Creed flies past him, smashing him into the bar.
Cannibal Creed:
Damn you trickster!… Are you playing me for a sucker?…
Blind Man:
It’s called skill… I can see now why Ogun refused to teach you… You were too much of a beast even for him… Even he can only do so much… Your dog collar suits you…
Cannibal Creed:
That name!… How do you know that name?… Ogun?… Who is he?…
Electra:
He was a powerful sorcerer of the Hand… turned traitor… and still worth more than you… son of the Black Queen… But Ogun turned you into ordinary hell hounds… because you and your brother were dangerous to him otherwise… He placed those collars on you… to keep track of you… separate and apart from the pack… as a bargaining chip against the Black Queen… should it ever be needed… Victor Creed?… Where’s the other one?… Logan Creed?… Or did you kill him?… I hear you two have a tendency to do that… You didn’t eat him too did you?…
The disembodied voice of Electra cuts off, interrupted by poof of black smoke, materializing Electra behind the blind man, with her arm around him.
Blind Man:
Is that a thing?… If you can’t beat em… eat em?…
Cannibal Creed:
If you come a little closer… I can give you a demonstration… Or perhaps just your lady friend… I would say that you could watch… But I guess you’ll just have to listen to her scream… I’ll just have to out do myself to make sure that her performance is memorable…
Selene:
Now now Victor… Please try to get along with my friends dear… I’m afraid you’ll have to take them off of your menu… I’ve been known to eat people too… But here in the Hellfire Club… we don’t eat our own… but if you insist… I’ll be more than happy to finish you off… son… Where’s Logan?… Seriously… did you eat him?…
Venom:
Would you like him to eat the other one?… Is this supposed to be a good thing or a bad thing?… It’s hard to tell with your family…
Selene and Venom creep into the tavern from the front entrance.
Selene:
It may be of use… perhaps even amusement… to thin out the brood a bit… But if that is to be done… then it will be done by me…
Lilith:
Not even a taste?… My protege reports great results from drinking the blood the Black Box Extremis patients… like this one…
In a poof of black smoke, the vampire Lilith materializes behind Cannibal Creed, then she grabs and bites him from behind, and begins to drain him. Creed grabs one of the arms restraining him, then bites it himself, drinking the blood of the vampire.
Lilith:
Kinky… unwise… but kinky… I like this one… Can I keep him?…
Selene:
You’ll have to housebreak him… But I know that you have experience with that…
Lilith:
Oh… He’s already broken… He just doesn’t know it yet… He broke himself the moment he drank my blood… Vampire blood is not just some exotic delicacy fool!… I may not be able to kill and turn you… But you are now as much my slave as if I had… But I have other uses for you… And you’re tasty…
Cannibal Creed:
Yes Mistress Lilith…
Selene:
Wow… I know a similar trick…
In another room of what used to be the Dunbar Hotel, in what used to be Dr. Wilkes own apartment, Ava holds and restrains a beaten and barely conscious Dr. Wilkes on his knees, before a smiling Malekith.
Ava:
Are you sure that this is what the Black Queen wanted?… She wanted to use the scientist… not transform him…
Malekith:
Using without transforming is boring… There is no value added there… No personal contribution whatsoever… It lacks the personal touch to say the least… This one has had a long problem with being solid… I will make sure he never has that problem again… The Black Queen will have use of him through me as her ally… For he will be mine… with all of his knowledge of zero matter for the taking… These FSBs are incredible devices… They make easy so many new forms of damnation… like the fate of someone that I learned of just recently… known as Dr. Golem…
Malekith’s FSB body begins to emit numerous white sparkles that fly over and completely cover Dr. Wilkes’ body, as Ava lets go of him and backs away, and Dr. Wilkes becomes completely matte black in appearance. Dr. Wilkes’ face takes on a distorted and demonic looking appearance, with vivid red skin, and with a bald red head, black horns, and pointed red ears. He has black claws on each hand, and is dressed in matte black robes, with solid black eyes, and a single matte black twenty sided polyhedron embedded in the middle of his forehead. Large hairless vivid red skinned bat wings protrude outward from tears in the back of the new devil’s black robes, and a pointed vivid red devil’s tail sticking out from under the back of his robes.
Malekith:
Now you can continue your research for me… Dr. Diablo… forever…
Dr. Diablo:
Yes Malekith… Down with the abomination of light… And death to all of it’s champions…
Ava:
Right… I’ll let the queen know of your success… while you two get acquainted…
Back in Madame Masque’s penthouse suit, Elias Morrow pours over a book with a featureless and unmarked cover, made from blackened skin. The contents seem to shift as he reads them. Numerous figures clad in red robes kneel and chant all around him and Madame Masque, as he reads the book.
Elias Morrow:
Oh… I see… Gabe’s hot mess girlfriend and her merry band of zealots are responsible for this… what they call the Psycho Fandango… An experiment in the scientific control of magic… Quite interesting really… And like the queen says… very convenient… based on similar principles to what we’re working with here… I suspect your mother’s influence as well… This book has it all!… We could even fix it if we wanted to…
Madame M:
Can we accelerate?… Like the queen said?…
Elias Morrow:
Oh yeah… With this Psycho Fandango… and the Darkhold… It will only take months… which will happen in days… We would have had to act out and force the issue to accelerate things to this extent… As it is… your daughter and the new AIM… did all the hard work for us… There won’t be any hiding now… But once the gateways are formed… they cannot be easily unformed… The best they can do is block the openings… and buy time without reinforcements… But while we’re at it… we can always add more power and capacity… Time to pull the lid off of Pandora’s box!…
As vengeance and various tag-alongs race towards the Dunbar Hotel, the Valkyrie on winged horseback, Iron Man and his iron air squad, and the occupants of the Wakandan shuttle, all bear witness to a sudden rainbow sparkle flurry storm. The Storm emanates from the Johnson Building on one side, and the Dunbar Hotel on the other, then swirls as a vortex between them, colonizing everything in site, and digging down in the space between the two buildings.
A large circular depression forms in the space between the two main FSB centers at the Johnson Building and the Dunbar Hotel. Around the edge of the depression, a lower ledge begins to form, with numerous glowing circular openings lining the wall forming beneath the top of the wall. The circular openings form complete perfect circle enclosures except for the bottom edge of the circles being buried a few feet beneath the surface of the ledge being formed. The Iron Man, the War Machine, Guardsman #1 Happy Hogan and the Black Smith, all fly in and land in the middle of the pit, as Iron Man begins to take readings.
Iron Man:
One of these things is not like the others…
Black Smith:
This is definitely not a part of the medieval D&D Framework software… not unless Fitz added a si fi hell pit…
Happy Hogan:
Or a rainbow tornado…
War Machine:
A Rainbownado?…
Iron Man:
We’re definitely not in Kansas… But this is still just barely LA… from what I can tell… LA is here… mostly… but we’re cut off from the rest of the world like this… I can’t even check the stars… But this seems to be creating other distortions… like some sort of wormhole readings… like the kind Dr. Foster specializes in… But they’re incomplete… like rainbow bridges to no where…
Black Smith:
Can we destroy them?…
Iron Man:
Unknown… I’m not even sure that we can block them… should they actually open up to anywhere… or from anywhere… Maybe the Black Queen is seeking reinforcements…
Back in Hulk Orchard Park, Dr. Foster gets a live update from Iron Man via her FSB.
Dr. Jane Foster:
Wow… Somebodies been busy… It looks like someone’s using this enchantment to make wormholes with FSBs downtown… In a big pit… a whole bunch of them… Could this be an invasion?… If so… why the magic makeovers?… As cover for an invasion?…
Gen. Fitz:
Or as cover for an escape… We unfortunately have no shortage of powerful enemies Dr. Foster… Any powerful attack by one… creates an opportunity for another… In fact… if they’re not allies currently… they may soon be… If this is FSB related… so is the AIM issue… like the attack by MODOC and AIM… right before all this happened… This magic makeover as you call it… has certainly rendered us sidelined at a minimum… Who knows who’ll be behind whatever else may come along in the wake of whatever this larger enchantment is to begin with… taking advantage of blood in the water…
Amara:
If someone is digging a pit… can’t we just fill in the pit?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
It’s just not that simple… Filling in the hole doesn’t block a wormhole… It can’t… It can only block access to it’s opening on our end…
Amara:
Well… Can’t we do that temporarily?… I could do that… probably… I’ve never done anything all that big necessarily… But I can make a volcano!…
Daisy:
You can make a volcano?… Now I’m jealous…
Dr. Jane Foster:
That pit is set to become a battle field as it is… or battle field adjacent… And you want to make a volcano right in the middle of it?…
Star God:
That’s one way to end an argument…
Gen. Fitz:
And it might make for good cover to get our people out of harms way… or at least pull back to the cover of the Johnson Building… also battle field adjacent at the moment… Along with countless innocent civilians no doubt enchanted themselves into being and believing who knows what… We must see to the securing of King Odin… But the Johnson Building must be secured as well… But how can you create a volcano downtown… without destroying all of downtown?… I’m guessing that’s a process that you can’t just stop…
Jack Frost:
I could stop it… I’ve done it before… Although only for Mara’s sculptures…
Dr. Foster:
Super cooling would lead to near instant solidification…
Iron Man relays something of a plan to his fellow inhabitants of the pit, as creatures of all sorts, both human looking and not so human looking, gradually filter into the pit to take ownership of the Black Queen’s new creation.
Iron Man:
Seriously?!?… A volcano?!?… Alright… Alright… We’ll get it done… You’re not gonna believe this… We came here on a rescue mission… And now we’re stuck in a holding action on ground zero…
War Machine:
In the ultimate kill box?…
Iron Man:
Waiting for a volcano!… They have some kind of weird plan involving Inhuman powers… The volcano is on the way I’m told… But we have to hold this spot here waiting for it… and try and secure the Johnson Building while we’re at it…
Black Smith:
I know the Johnson Building pretty good… I could take care of that part…
Iron Man:
Sure thing… solid plan… But go with him Happy… Watch his back… I want strict buddy system adherence here… And be careful of who you find there… They may be innocent and still be extremely problematic… Assume everyone is like the raging Hulk from the big bad olden days… Stun first… and ask questions later…
Happy Hogan:
You got it boss…
The Black Smith and Happy Hogan fly over to land in the front of the Johnson Building, and are greeted by numerous medieval style armed men, bearing the crest of the eagle from the Shield logo as a crest of arms. The leader of the guard addresses Happy Hogan as his superior.
Guard Leader:
Master Hogan… My most extreme and humble apologies… I have no explanation for me and my men sleeping on the job… I can only say that I suspect some enchantment based on the way some people are acting… But enchantment is no excuse for the dereliction of duty…
Happy Hogan:
That’s alright Gen. O’Neil… There’s a lot of that going around… Just make sure that the guard is ready here… We’re about to see action here… And we’ll be expecting reinforcements…
Gen. O’Neil:
Yes sir…
Black Smith:
Are you sure that we should be humoring his enchantment?…
Happy Hogan:
That’s Gen. Jack O’Neil… He was only in town to serve as part of the diplomatic team for the bigger war… As it is we’re lucky to have him in that position… it could have been much worse… The entire city is like that… and we have to pick our battles here… And we can’t explain everything to everybody…
Black Smith:
So you know this dude?…
Happy Hogan:
Yeah… as part of a secret program that I can’t talk about… from before I left the Air Force…
Cap. Britain and Chief M’Baku land in the pit next to Iron Man and War Machine.
Iron Man:
That was quick!… They only just said that you were coming…
Chief M’Baku:
We were already on the way for other reasons when we got the call… But Princess Shuri is safe… so the Spider Man can wait…
Iron Man:
So you heard about him too huh?…
Chief M’Baku:
Do not distress your self unduly man of iron… I have faith in the man of spiders… And we may yet get a chance at capturing that particular wayward child… With Princess Shuri safe… I don’t have to kill him now… So all sorts of things are possible now…
Iron Man:
Well that’s one way to look on the bright side…
The Hulk drops in from out of nowhere, with Natasha Romanov in one arm, and Clint Barton in the other.
Hulk:
Someone call for a code green?…
Natasha:
And company?…
Various hell hounds, Hand ninja, and other creatures pour into the pit and head towards the waiting combatants in the center.
Natasha:
Have you seen my sister?…
Iron Man:
I think that’s her right there…
Iron Man points up at a pair of figures riding winged horses, barely distinguishable in the dim flickering red and orange light from torches below.
Natasha:
Yelena!… Yelena!…
Hulk:
Ye!… Le!… Na!…
Up in the saddle of the winged horses, Yelena puzzles at the attention, but largely ignores it.
Yelena The V:
Why is my sister carrying on so much with her ogre friend?… Lord Balder needs me!… I cannot be distracted by my sister’s melodrama with her ogre suitor…
Brunhilde:
Perhaps we should join them and let Balder the Brave… be Balder the Brave…
Yelena The V:
He can be just as brave… if not braver… with me at his side…
Brunhilde:
It’s not necessarily so simple as that… if he has any genuine feelings for you… Do you even know?…
Yelena The V:
I don’t even know what you’re talking about… I simply must come to his aid!…
Brunhilde:
I’m sure you must… among other things…
Yelena The V:
His car is pulling in to the lair of the witch!… We must go!… Hurry!…
Natasha:
Dammit!… She can’t hear me… or she’s ignoring me… Can’t you just go and grab her?… Iron Man?…
Iron Man:
I am not trying to tackle your sister off of a winged horse in midair…
Hawk Eye:
Besides… based on my experience… if she has any Asgardian strength to go with her new outfit and her riding skills… Tony would be lucky if she didn’t bash his skull in just for trying…
Iron Man:
Valkyrie or no Valkyrie… Your sister is just going to have to look after herself for a while… and Valkyrie or no Valkyrie… she actually can… in case you’ve forgotten… again…
Natasha:
You got an earful of that too huh?…
Iron Man:
Yeah… She was venting before… Besides… Cap has been whammied too… but he’s on his way there now to assist… We’re just going to have to trust our people for now… whammy or no whammy… I’d be more worried about poor Dr. Johnson riding in the back seat behind the Ghost Rider… That dude must have gotten into the habit of having a death wish…
Outside the front of the Dunbar Hotel, the Ghost Rider and company pull up and exit the vehicle, as it’s flames die down slightly upon the Rider’s exit. Dr. Johnson holds his duel plasma pistols at the ready, muzzles pointed down towards the street. Dr. Diablo floats through a second story wall and hovers there for a moment. Dr. Johnson levels both pistols at Dr. Diablo’s head, then fires both of them, with both plasma bolts passing right through his head harmlessly.
Gen. Talbot:
I appreciate your killer instinct doctor… But I thought you had moved past the point of shooting first and asking questions later…
Dr. Johnson:
I was just trying to scare him…
Gen. Talbot:
Well he’s really scared now…
Ghost Rider:
We are vengeance… not warnings… We are to be feared… But we are not fear…
Dr. Diablo:
I am far beyond fear fools… and I am above humoring mortal insects… or errant spirits of vengeance…
Malekith shimmers into view standing behind Dr. Johnson, who then spins around and starts to light up Malekith with plasma bolt fire from both pistols, to no effect save for Malekith’s amusement.
Dr. Johnson:
So much for fancy space guns… glorified Kree space junk…
Dr. Johnson tosses aside the Kree space junk, then swings at Malekith as hard as he can, knocking him backwards several meters through nearby building wall.
Gen. Talbot:
Holy crap doctor!… I thought you were cured… Have you been juicing again?… with something else?…
Dr. Johnson:
A few things… Black Box Extremis is nothing compared to what I would do to myself on a regular basis back in the day… Back during what I thought were crazier times…
Selene:
It certainly looks better on you then what I did for you…
Dr. Johnson:
Did for me Jia Ying?… And I thought you were dangerously delusional before…
Selene:
That’s not my name!… And when it comes to being dangerously delusional… you would know… wouldn’t you Cal?… even Jia Ying would know more about that than I would… I harbor no illusions… I am the angel of death… beyond death… That is no illusion…
Ghost Rider:
You are beyond reason Selene… Not death… We shall see to it…
Gen. Talbot:
Well I’m no doctor… But I know what I hear… and she sounds like a clinical case to me…
Dr. Johnson:
Professionally speaking… I concur with that diagnoses…
Dr. Diablo:
Physician heal thyself… if you can…
The Ghost Rider conjures forth flaming black chains from out of the palms of his hands, then stalks after Selene. Numerous tiny matte black masses erupt out of what passes for Dr. Diablo’s flesh. Wherever they land, they enlarge to take the shape and size of various nightmarish matte black gargoyle like creatures. Malekith emerges from the building that he was knocked into, with a number of white wolf drone creatures accompanying him, each with solid matte black eyes, claws, and teeth.
Yo Yo. Mack, and Bishop arrive on their bikes, just as the street battlefield in front of the Dunbar Hotel starts to get crowded with monstrous looking drones, hell hounds, and Hand ninja. The Black Queen’s Archangel flies down and grabs Selene, then flies over with her to Lord Balder, and allows Selene to grab Lord Balder, before flying up into the air again, and beginning to drain him.
Yelena The V:
Lord Balder!… Release him witch!…
Brunhilde:
Mistress Yelena!…
Knowing what happened to the angel Samuel, Yelena leaps off of her winged stead, spear in hand upon seeing this, and impales the Black Queen and her Archangel straight through the torso from the front with her spear, causing Selene to scream in agony and release Lord Balder. Both Selene and her Archangel drop down onto the pavement below, along with Lord Balder, as Yelena lands on her feet, and stalks after the Black Queen for the finishing blow with her spear, still presently in Selene’s chest. A number of Malekith’s wolf drones rush Yelena, and prevent her from retaking her spear and finishing Selene with it. Brunhilde dismounts and lands next to Yelena to help her fight off Malekith’s white wolf drones. The Archangel pulls the spear from both of their torsos and flies away injured, with an injured Black Queen cradled within his arms.
Dr. Diablo:
Where are my manners… I must also see to our guests in the pit…
A small figurine of a gray gargoyle like figure, grows up out of Dr. Diablo’s palm, with bat wings, a reptile’s beak, and large tail, but with a large bald cranium. Dr. Diablo tosses the small figure up in the air, then it enlarges to become twenty feet tall, and flies off towards the pit.
Gen. Talbot:
Hey!… Where’s that thing going?… Don’t think that you can just look past me just because my skull doesn’t catch fire… or have horns…
Gen. Talbot reaches into his uniform pocket and pulls out what looks like a small matte black toy robot, then Gen. Talbot jumps up as high as he can with his Black Box Extremis strength, as his little toy then enlarges to a full size, twenty feet tall, an FSB colonized Hulk Buster battle mech from the old Hulk Buster task force. He slides himself into the cockpit, as it fires it’s thrusters and flies up and over to the pit, chasing after the giant gargoyle. As Gen. Talbot makes his way over the pit, he finds the battle in full swing, with a thirty foot tall white furred gorilla swiping and kicking at numerous monstrous foot soldiers. The Hulk smashes his hands together and decimates a large swath of hell hounds and Hand ninjas with a shock wave from his hands. Iron Man and the War Machine go back to back, as they try to hold the center, clearly in danger of being overwhelmed by shear numbers of the monstrous hordes.
The giant gargoyle creature lands next to the giant white gorilla, then unleashes a fiery dragon’s breath at Chief M’Baku, severely burning him, and causing him to pass out from the pain and revert to normal form. Cap. Britain flies in from out of nowhere and smashes the giant dragon gargoyle in it’s beak, knocking it away from Chief M’Baku in the process. The Hulk jumps up onto the dragon’s face and begins to smash at it with both fists. The dragon unleashes another torrent of flame from it’s beak, and severely singes the Hulk for a moment, then the dragon swats him away into some nearby building.
Gen. Talbot flies in and lands on top of the dragon’s head with his battle mech, then the battle mech tumbles away and rolls back up to it’s feet, as it was designed to do. Then Gen. Talbot unleashes a full force fire barrage against the dragon, pinning him down, as the Hulk comes flying back into the fray with the dragon, and smashes the dragon across it’s beak, knocking the dragon away into some nearby building. Gen. Talbot and the Hulk continue after the dragon, as the others remain fighting in the pit. Cap. Britain grabs the injured and unconscious Chief M’Baku, and flies him up to the roof of the Johnson Building, where the Black Smith and Happy Hogan wait for him with Romanov and Barton, trying to fend off Hand Ninjas and flying harpy drones, clearing them from off the top of the building. Hawk Eye tends to Chief M’Baku’s wounds using some fairy healing magic that he picked up from his magic makeover.
Natasha:
How much longer are we supposed to hold this roof?… for a volcano delivery?…
Happy Hogan:
You were there when they made this crazy plan… Don’t you believe in it?…
Natasha:
I’ll believe it when I see it… And my patience is starting to wear thin with the seeing part…
Light shimmers and twists on the roof of the Johnson Building, as Morgana, Queen Karnilla and Dr. Amora Laufey shimmer into view next to them on the roof. Accompanying them are little Karnilla Ward and the acolytes of Avalon, including Lady Sif, the Monk Eric, and the three super soldiers for god, already chanting something. As they arrive on the roof, there is a subtle flash of light, and the various Hand ninja scaling the sides of the building are knocked off of it’s sides, falling down and perishing in a conflagration of the characteristic black flames of their passing. Little Karnilla pulls out her Siren Blade and begins to chant something into it, as if it were a microphone.
Little Karnilla:
Remember… Come home… Remember… Come home… Remember…
The various hell hounds in the pit suddenly stop fighting and flee the battle of the pit, as little Karnilla continues to chant.
Natasha:
Volcano delivery?…
Morgana:
We’re just here to help secure the building… and prepare the battlefield… The volcano delivery is incoming…
Morgana raises her flute up to her mouth and begins to play something that seems to augment what the Acolytes are chanting, spreading the effect throughout the pit, causing many of the remaining enemy combatants to flee the pit as well, fleeing to the Dunbar Hotel. A flying matte black convertible impala flies in with Daisy at the wheel, Emma Frost riding shotgun, and Amara riding in the back, while Uncle Frosty keeps Amara company in the back and sips on some of the Wolf King’s secret stash. Spartan and Loco fly escort with flying hover racers in their unlimited racing configurations, but fitted with plasma cannons. Spartan and Loco perform a strafing run on the center of the pit, surrounding Iron Man and War Machine on either side with a fire barrage, clearing out most of what remains of what they were fighting. Daisy flies in and lands next to Iron Man and the War Machine.
Daisy:
Someone called for a volcano delivery?… Time to clear out if you don’t want a hot foot… Okay Mara… You’re up… Just do your best… Remember… it’s only Los Angeles so… no pressure…
Amara:
Ha… ha…
Iron Man and the War Machine fly away to the roof of the Johnson Building, and leave Amara behind to make a fiery mess, as Daisy takes off and hovers nearby out of smoke and ash range. Amara begins to make her fiery mess, filling the center of the pit with her new and growing volcano, while the Ghost Rider is only getting warmed up back at the Dunbar Hotel. Dr. Johnson tends to the condition of Lord Balder after his draining by the Black Queen. The Ghost Rider’s hands are full with FSB horror drones from Dr. Diablo and Malekith, when Bishop jumps off of his bike and chases after Malekith at first site, causing concerned parents Yo Yo and Mack to chase after him. Malekith sees them, then turns and walks over to the nearby wall of the Dunbar Hotel, and oozes his way into the wall, as his FSB body seems to melt into the substance of the wall, and fades away to nothing outside of it. Bishop draws a matte black plasma pistol from concealment behind him with one hand, as his other hand begins to glow.
Bishop:
Malekith!…
Mack:
Lucas!… Hey!… Lucas!… Bishop!… Dammit!… Wait up!…
Yo Yo:
Bishop!… Wait for us!…
Bishop raises his hand at the wall where Malekith oozed into it, and unleashes a blast of pure energy from his empty palm that blows a massive hole in the wall of the Dunbar Hotel. Bishop rushes into the hole, with Mack and Yo Yo rushing after him. Werner Von Strucker and Logan Creed arrive shortly after that, with Werner in awe of the spectacle he finds.
Werner VS:
Wow… That is beyond memorable… Who do you think the big bad is?… The devil looking guy floating there with the wings?… Or is that too obvious?… Logan?…
Logan:
I smell something kid… something familiar…
Werner VS:
Well that’s rude… I smell things too ya know… memorable things… But do I say anything…
Logan:
I smell Victor!… He’s here!…
Werner VS:
Victor!?!… Cannibal Creed is here?!?…
Logan:
Yes… and he’s bleeding…
Werner VS:
Bleeding?… Well that’s good… right?…
Logan:
That depends on how and when it stops…
Logan takes off running into the front entrance Dunbar Hotel, followed closely by an eager but confused Werner, struggling to keep up. Left behind by most of the action, Dr. Johnson watches over an unconscious Lord Balder, as Yelena, Brunhilde, and the Ghost Rider battle the horror drones, ninjas, and hell hounds, as well as vampires and other creatures that bump in the night, under the seemingly amused observance of Dr. Diablo.
Dr. Johnson:
So… Dr. Diablo is it?… Is that an honorary doctorate?… Or did you actually study something?…
Dr. Diablo:
I was a doctor of physics… But now I have earned a doctorate in pain… that I will use to teach the world… Life is only pain… And death is the release… from the torment of light…
Dr. Johnson:
Well… that sounds… interesting… But I bet the devil is in the details… right?…
Dr. Diablo:
Your petty efforts at provocation will do you no good with me… You are as good as dead already… I don’t feel the need to take you out personally… And you can’t make me care… not anymore… least of all about you…
Dr. Johnson:
Is that so?… Maybe some friends of mine can change your mind about that…
The Star God shimmers into view, in full leaping flight, high in the air just above Dr. Diablo’s head, then he fires a powerful lightening strike from his shield downward against Dr. Diablo, forcing him crashing down onto the pavement, and shattering his FSB form, now seemingly solid. The shattered parts of Dr. Diablo ooze and reform into his red devil appearance, as he levitates up off the pavement again. King T’Challa’s shuttle shimmers into view as it lands down next Lord Balder and Dr. Johnson. The hatch opens and the Black Panther, the White Wolf, and Cap. Rogers rush out, with the white wolf firing a matte black belt fed 5o cal machine gun firing matte black zero matter bullets at all the various drones.
Black Panther:
Remember Sgt. Barnes… the hell hounds are slaves… and many have been freed… and many more can still be…
White Wolf:
Not if they get in my cross hairs they can’t… Even if I may be wolfkin myself…
Star God:
That’s how I do it… You can’t afford to hold back… even if you want to capture them alive… Kid gloves don’t work… You have to go hard and fast and hope for the best… Hell hounds won’t behave themselves just because you want to pat them on the head… and say good boy…
Cap. Rogers:
We must still endeavor to save those that can be saved… Like Samual hopefully…
Star God:
Are you okay Dr. Johnson?… What are you even doing here?… You’re cured right?… Or at least you look like it…
Dr. Johnson:
There are no sidelines for me… or for anyone in my family… not in this war… not until Jia Ying is dead!… And I don’t care for a cure so much as the ability to protect my family… So make no mistake… I am not helpless… And I will not be sidelined…
Ned and Gen. Okoye exit the shuttle last and rush over to Lord Balder. They lift him up with Dr. Johnson, and carry him into the shuttle.
Black Panther:
We must go… We are only here to rescue you from the lair of the enemy… the enemy that you rushed after before knowing who or where… right into their lair…
Dr. Johnson:
But we can’t leave yet!… Other people are missing!… And the flaming skull won’t leave!… And I’m not leaving the father of my granddaughter!…
Black Panther:
Who’s missing?…
Dr. Johnson:
Mack and Yo Yo… and some other dude I don’t know… ran into the Dunbar Hotel after Malekith… And Werner and Logan were here too for some reason… They took off inside too… but I don’t know why… Gen. Talbot took off after some giant monster… But I don’t know where… some pit I think…
Star God:
We know all about that part… This isn’t the only fight happening right now… It’s just the one that we can’t win right now…
Numerous otherworldly creatures begin flooding back in the Dunbar Hotel Vicinity, fleeing the pit due to the actions of the acolytes of Avalon at first, then the actions of Amara with her newly forming volcano second.
Star God:
That’s it!… You’re leaving!… The flaming skull is the flaming skull’s problem!… You are mine!… I’ve got enough baggage with Daisy as it is…
The Star God loses patience with Dr. Johnson and disappears in a flash of lightening, to reappear behind Dr. Johnson. The Star God knocks out the stubborn Dr. Johnson, and drags him into the back of the Wakandan shuttle. Brunhilde pries Yelena away from the battle more easily now, with Lord Balder safely in the back of the shuttle, and Yelena joins her with Lord Balder.
Star God:
Time to clear out!… I’ll stay with the flaming skull!… You have to get the rest out of here!… I’ll deal with the others here!…
Black Panther:
But you can’t expect me to abandon you here!… The honor of Wakanda simply will not bear it!…
Sgt. Barnes:
We can fight!… You’re not he only wolf man at this Halloween party!…
Star God:
Sorry your majesty… But this is strictly a monster’s ball… Monsters only!… Sgt. Barnes here doesn’t quite make the cut… And we don’t need to have to deal with a royal rescue on top of everything else here…
Cap. Rogers:
I may not be a monster… But I can still fight monsters… And I am no king…
Star God:
And your duty is to protect the king here… right?… your majesty?…
Black Panther:
I see your point Wolf King… We will leave you to it… But you are not as expendable as you think you are… Be careful with this new devil…
Star God:
The glorified cosplay drone?… I’m way scarier than he is…
The shuttle takes off, and the Star God rushes over to the Ghost Rider’s side, speeding his way through the horror drones surrounding the Rider, accompanied by bolts of lightening for additional thrust and force. Dr. Diablo grins at the spectacle, and fades back into the Dunbar Hotel, phasing right through the wall.
Star God:
Ghost Rider!… Ghost Rider!… I have a scent!… Zarathos!… Robbie!… I have the scent of evil!… Can we please go kill the evil now?…
Ghost Rider:
We are vengeance!…
Star God:
We are wasting time here!… You’ve become nose blind to evil!… Because we’re surrounded by it!…
The Ghost Rider continues his destruction of the horror drones unmoved, then another blast from Bishop’s power blows a hole through a third floor wall. Then the Ghost Rider starts to burn himself a path through the horror drones, to enter the hotel and chase the evil inside, followed by the Star God.
Star God:
Now we’re talking!… Although technically speaking… I don’t actually have the scent of evil… I don’t think Malekith actually has a scent… But Bishop does… and he was after Malekith… But no one needs a scent to follow this trail… But I’m also smelling a lot of freshly spilled blood for some reason… There may be vampires…
After the volcano is completed, Daisy swings by in her flying car, and picks up her daughter Amara from the top of the new volcano, then drops off Amara’s Uncle Frosty to take over, and use his powers to super cool the volcano, rapidly cooling and solidifying it. A volcanic steam bath smoke screen fills the area surrounding the volcano with a smelly smoky steamy miasma. Daisy flies over and lands on the roof of the Johnson Building with her flying car, followed by Uncle Frosty landing on the roof next to her car in a whirling snow flurry.
T’Challa’s shuttle shimmers into view as it closes in on the roof to land, then lands next to Daisy’s flying car. The hatch opens with King T’Challa and Sgt. Barnes under each of Lord Balder’s arms, helping Lord Balder walk out of the back of the shuttle, Yelena follows after them with a concerned look, overly concerned for a proper Valkyrie, with a concerned Brunhilde watching over her new involuntary recruit to the ranks of the Valkyrie. Natasha Romanov rushes Yelena the moment she shows her face out of the shuttle hatch, and bear hugs her errant twisted sister.
Natasha:
Yelena!… Have you finally gone completely crazy?… What were you thinking?…
Yelena The V:
What was I thinking?… I was thinking that I am Valkyrie!… as are you sister!… We are duty bound!… And Lord Balder was in danger!…
Brunhilde:
She did in-arguably save Lord Balder’s life… from no less than the Black Queen herself…
Yelena The V:
From no less than the Black Queen herself…
Lord Balder:
It is quite true… I owe Mistress Yelena my life… irregardless of what she was thinking at the time… or why…
Natasha:
Oh there is no way I’m having this!… Sorry Yelena… But this is for your own good…
Natasha holds her sister’s hand in her own, and holds her other hand over the empty palm of Yelena’s other hand, as white sparkles begin to fly from right out of Romonov’s empty hand, and forms a matte black spear to go with her new Valkyrie armor.
Natasha:
How’s that?… Are you feeling better?… feeling like more of you old self?…
Yelena:
My old self?… What are you talking about sister?… And when did you learn such magic… Is this spear magic?…
Natasha:
I was hoping… But I suppose that was just too much to ask for with us… too much karma under the burning bridge…
Lord Balder:
Karma?… Under a burning bridge?…
Natasha:
We’ve got blood on our hands… a lot of it… We were cold blooded assassins… and we were very good at it… Perhaps being lost to enchantment is karma for us…
Yelena The V:
No one here is lost to enchantment… save for you…
Brunhilde:
It’s interesting… that she still recognizes you as her sister… But also recognizes you… as a fellow Valkyrie… Lord Balder has told me of this Red Room program that you and your sister were a part of… The disposition of a cold blooded assassin… as you say… is not that different… from that of the Valkyrie… required by other hard necessities… If there are others such as your sister here in Los Angeles… They may also be similarly enchanted… There are limits to enchantment… And the requirements of the Valkyrie have never been so easy to enchant… or anyone could serve as Valkyrie… Recent developments may have led me to reassess these requirements… But I do not believe that she would have been so enchanted… if she did not already have an inclination and a talent for it to begin with… and as such… anyone else with similar characteristics… may also end up similarly enchanted…
Ned:
The FSBs only seem to work prophylactically… Not as a cure… They went horribly wrong with Spider Man… We don’t know enough to keep giving out FSBs… They’re too dangerous… and under the circumstances… too unpredictable…
Iron Man:
Agreed… But I’m definitely giving one to Pepper… now she’s got her head whammied back into shape… I want to keep it that way… But for the time being… the star spangled knight… stays knighted…
Natasha:
Agreed…
Cap. Rogers:
Are you referring to me?… Iron King?… Does my unusual armor strike you as so… unbecoming?…
Iron Man:
For a knight?… Yes… It’s not very subtle… not enough for practical war purposes… Never was… But there was a reason for that… once upon a time… Do you remember why?…
Cap. Rogers:
I do not know the esoteric symbolism of it… or where it comes from originally… But my armor and my shield represent something more important than my life… more than mere survival on the field of battle…
Iron Man:
And that is?…
Cap. Rogers:
Freedom… from the darkness of slavery… whether of the body… or of the soul… in death… as well as life… That is the creed of Avalon…
Iron Man:
Close enough… I’m sold… knight of Avalon… Is that really the creed of Avalon?…
Morgana:
Rephrased slightly… but yes… And the colors of Avalon… are the same as the British flag… a color scheme which the Americans inherited… and Cap. America right along with them… Perhaps he became a knight of Avalon… because that fit his character to begin with… not just his color scheme… Cap. America without the history of America… with a different struggle for freedom transposed into his memories… to replace the ones that are missing… the memories that made him who he was to begin with…
Cap. Rogers:
If you say so my queen…
Natasha:
A different struggle for freedom?…
Morgana:
Of Avalon… and the Christian fay… versus the corrupted church… corrupted by a woman that purported to be an Italian noble woman… who went by the name Lady Jennifer Kim Gallio… Whom I have only just learned was actually the Black Queen Selene… It seems that Cap. Rogers has chosen a very appropriate banner to adopt as his own… But I’m biased… So sue me…
Sgt. Barnes:
What about Sam?… Did he secretly just want to be an angel really bad?… Isn’t that made up?… I mean… angels aren’t real… right?…
Morgana:
I have met real angels… worked with them… fought along side them even… But angelic encounters are exceedingly rare… their realm was sealed off a long time ago… There are very few in the wider universe at all… I haven’t known an angel’s presence… since Avalon… during the time of Camelot… At least not knowingly…
Natasha:
Knowingly?…
Morgana:
Angels cannot be detected as anything other than human… if they don’t want to be… and they can watch you completely unseen… and undetected… and travel all the nine realms effortlessly… The winged horses of the Valkyrie are said to be… according legend… an attempt to magically replicate part of what the angels do naturally… in order to travel to and from Niflheim… as well as navigate it’s maze… They are also very powerful beings in their own right… fierce and powerful warriors… with tremendous powers of healing…
Natasha:
And a tendency for being fallen… They do that too… according to legend…
Morgana:
Yes… That they do… But I haven’t met any that have done so… You’ll have to ask someone else about that… I just know the angel of death… is no angel… fallen or otherwise… But now she has one serving as her pet… We can only consider ourselves fortunate that Sam doesn’t have the full potential powers that an angel could have…
Sgt. Barnes:
Because he’s not a real one?…
Morgana:
Because the true power of the angel can only be manifested by faith and virtue… Corrupted spirits cannot wield some powers… because the nature of their corruption precludes access to those powers… By corrupting him… the Black Queen has weakened him…
Ned:
So that’s what happened to Spider Man?… He seems to have been corrupted by something… calling himself Venom?… But he doesn’t seem weaker… if anything he seems stronger… So that’s not necessarily the case… is it?…
Morgana:
That depends upon the nature and source of his powers… And isn’t he supposed to be some sort of menace anyway?…
Iron Man:
You can’t believe everything that you read in the papers… Right?… Morgana Pendragon of the fay?… You’ve had some fairly bad press yourself… haven’t you?…
Morgana:
You could say that… And I’ve even earned a lot of it too… So don’t push your luck with me… ironing board… Or I might just have to press your pants… with you in em…
Iron Man:
Ouch… And me without a safe word…
Morgana:
You could always just shut the bloody hell up… Maybe you need an iron muzzle…
Queen Karnilla:
Queen Morgana… You may have abdicated the throne of Avalon… But if you insist on taking responsibility for mentoring these new acolytes of Avalon… you might want to set a better example for them… I looked up to you you know… You were still queen of legendary Avalon… when I was only a princess of Nornheim… I looked to you… even more so than my own mother… as an example how I should be queen… Your principled abdication only confirmed this in my view… But I find your behavior now… disappointing…
Morgana:
I am no one’s bloody role model!… The legendary queen of Avalon… of any legend… simply doesn’t exist as such… I am all there is… And I’m no bloody hero or villain… All of that is just dueling political lies… political propaganda… in the modern vernacular… turned to legend by virtue of lingering on long enough without challenge… so that it either becomes unquestionably true on the one hand… or unquestionably mythological on the other… or even a confused combination of both… as something for ignorant fools to fight over… And I will not be your excuse… yours… or anyone else’s…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
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