The Defenders Of Midgard, An MCU Fan Fiction:
By Ozymandias The Mad
Chapter 18
Daze Of The Dead
Cancel My Subscription To The Resurrection! Please! Make It Stop!
The Hulk and Gen. Talbot hunt for the dragon fruitlessly for hours, along with King T’Challa, Dr. Pym, and Morgana, as well as the Star God and his kids. They look in vain for a previously fifty foot tall dragon gargoyle, that started out in the palm of someone’s hand to begin with. Iron Man and the War Machine, along with King T’Challa in his shuttle, do battle damage assessment downtown. They find the Dunbar Hotel and the surrounding buildings grown back completely, almost exactly as they were before, except for a big flaming sign above the Dunbar Hotel that reads ‘The Hellfire Club.’ Grant Ward leads Robbie to one of his time vaults, dragging a floating Dr. Diablo by a flaming chain, like tethered balloon. They seal him away in stasis for safe keeping until they can track down the missing dragon.
Dr. Pym, Dr. Simmons, and Dr. Laufey continue to assess Dr. Wilkes condition, under the constant watch of Dotty. Morgana and Ilsa compare notes, in more ways than one, as Ilsa tries to refine her technique. The acolytes of Avalon continue to paranormally secure the Johnson Building and the surrounding buildings, against the more unnatural inhabitants of the downtown area. Numerous biker hooligans are assigned to search and probe the perimeter of the Black Queen’s territory surrounding the Hellfire Club, which is soon surrounded by a high matte black wall, with numerous unnatural creatures guarding it’s gates and guard towers. The Johnson Building likewise soon becomes surrounded by similar high walls, guarded largely by medieval foot soldiers, bearing the eagle crest of Shield.
In a Port Stark tavern, across the water from Emerald City, a horned humanoid pig demon creature tends bar, with rings in it’s nose and ears, and serves a pair of mugs to a pair of newly resurrected dead men at the end of the bar. The dead astronaut William Daniels tosses a gold coin to the bar keep to pay for the two dead men.
Bar Keep:
Quatloo?… What’s a quatloo?…
Will:
What difference does it make?… Gold is gold… right?… If you don’t like it… you could just let us run a tab…
Bar Keep:
What’s a tab?…
Will:
Never mind… That’s all we got… Take it or leave it…
The bar keep decides to take the quatloos and stop complaining. Next to Will, the dead Hydra cult member Nathaniel Malick takes up his mug and clanks it against Will’s, and takes a deep swig right along with him.
Nathaniel:
To resurrection!… deserving or otherwise…
Will:
Or otherwise?…
Nathaniel:
Not all of us were hero astronauts…
Will:
Don’t be so hard on yourself… You were born into a cult… and they sacrificed you to an alien false god… I think karma pretty much has to give you a pass on that one… You were a victim of that thing just like I was…
Nathaniel:
Perhaps… But I had plenty of dirt of my own… And we weren’t the only ones… I don’t know where the others wondered off to… or what for… But it can’t be good… Many of them are still true believers… made even more so with the revelations about the Black Queen Selene… like it’s some sort of crusade… Others just seemed lost… Where do they think they’re going to go?… There is no place for us… any of us… except for you… You would probably get a hero’s welcome… So… why exactly are you here with me?… instead of reuniting with the pretty doctor lady?… and playing doctor?…
Will:
That ship sailed long ago… and sunk at sea… never to be seen or heard from again… They’re happy together now… in spite of everything… I don’t belong there either…
Nathaniel:
I wasn’t necessarily talking about that doctor lady… There weren’t many women in our little black box tomb… But she was only interested in you…
Will:
She’s also the most die hard of the true believers… an enthusiastic volunteer for a one way trip to Maveth… to meet her god… an unrepentant follower of that monster… We can only hope that thing didn’t make it out as well…
Nathaniel:
But Alveus wasn’t in there with us to begin with…
Will:
We never saw Hive… But we can’t trust that… How would we even recognize him without a familiar host… If he did… then she’ll be following him… If not… then she’ll be after the queen… And I’m sitting the rest of the war out… I’ve already been a casualty for it once… before I even knew there was a war… I’m done…
Nathaniel:
Amen to that… To pacifism… peace and love… and all that crap…
Will:
To permanent vacations from crazy… as soon we can get out of Los Angeles that is… or whatever this is…
Will and Nathaniel take another drink, and quietly pray to be left alone and left out, with their fresh new skin intact and unmolested by alien parasites. In the most north western part of the effected area of greater Los, gathered together on a hill top just within it’s edge in the hills above Santa Monica, a large group of otherwise normal looking people, with normal dress pulled from various time periods for thousands of years of human history. They all congregate under the guidance of one woman. A woman in her early thirties, with long brown hair and a modern medical doctor’s lab coat, stands before the congregation, and beckons them for their attention.
Doctor Lady:
Servants of Hydra!… Heed my words!… I am Dr. Moira MacTaggert… Many of you know me already… Like all of you here… I was… and remain… a dedicated servant of Hydra and it’s cause… even more so now than ever… For I have become more than that… I have become the new host… for Alveus… the being the world knows as Hive… Alveus lives!… But Alveus is weak… and can barely whisper to me in my thoughts… And we are beset by a resurgent Black Queen… The angel of death is upon us!… And the world remains in chaos… unable to properly resist… Because we failed to restore the proper order necessary to do so!… Now… we must rebuild our forces… and bide our time… until we are ready to destroy her once and for all!… But first… Alveus must feed… On behalf of Alveus… and all of Hydra… we thank you… for your sacrifice…
Dr. MacTaggert raises her arms at the crowd, as many of them begin to run, understanding what comes next. Numerous tiny microscopic insect like creatures fly out and away from Dr. MacTaggert’s body, and swarm the gathered congregation as they flee in terror, devouring them and their bodies right down to the bones, leaving behind nothing but their bloodied clothing and bones, before returning to their host. Dr. MacTaggert shape shifts slightly, retaining her same female form, but revealing the alien face of Hive, with a somewhat skeletal appearance, and numerous writhing tentacles for hair, before returning to the normal appearance of Dr. MacTaggert.
Hive:
Finally… we are restored… But now… we must rebuild… We made mistakes before… We were careless… And we underestimated our enemies… Never again… For now we will watch you Selene… And your time will come… And we will have revenge upon our destroyers… All traitors must pay!…
Lady Sif and the other acolytes of Avalon finally return to Emerald City in the back of King T’Challa’s shuttle. Lady Sif and her niece Karnilla hurriedly exit first, quickly followed by the other acolytes, before the shuttle hurriedly takes off again. They rush through Hulk Orchard Park looking for Grant Ward and Lorelei, they make their way into the city infirmary. There they find Dr. Pym, Dr. Van Dyne, and Dr. Laufey joining Dr. Simmons and Morgana investigating the resurrection of Lorelei, and the hatching of Dr. Wilkes.
Dotty sits impatiently frustrated at Dr. Wilkes loss of the memory of her, as he sleeps peacefully. Bishop smiles as he stares at Lorelei undergoing more tests, as do Queen Karnilla and Loki, Lorelei’s parents. Grant Ward sits leaning his head against a wall, nodded off from exhaustion. Mack and Yo Yo sit and hold hands, as they watch their son staring at Lorelei, and worry for his happiness. Daisy and her daughters Emma and Amara sit in for solidarity, while the flaming Skull is out and about for another hunt along with Gen. Talbot riding shotgun, with plenty to hunt.
Karny Girl:
Mommy!… Is it true?… Are you actually alive now?… Like… really alive?…
Lorelei:
Yes… like really alive now… Now come over here so I can give you a proper hug for once…
Little Karnilla rushes over to hug Lorelei, who lifts her up off the floor for a proper bear hug.
Karny Girl:
Oh!… Mommy!… Not so tight!… Your worse than Aunty Amora!…
Lorelei:
Sorry… But I’m never letting go again…
Lady Sif:
It is good to see you properly alive sister… But you are not the only one back from the dead just now… Ward!… Wake up!…
Grant Ward:
Wa… What?… I’m awake!… I’m awake!… Are we under attack?… Who’s attacking now?… Lady Sif?…
Lady Sif:
No one is attacking Grant… We need to have a talk about the inhabitants of your private tomb…
Grant Ward:
My private what?…
Lady Sif:
The other inhabitants of your FSB… the people whose memories nearly drove you mad before my mother gave you an FSB of your own?… They’ve started showing up alive at the Johnson Building… volunteering for duty against their enemy the Black Queen… some of them at least… Given the nature of Lorelei’s resurrection… it has to be related somehow… And there could be more…
Grant Ward:
How is that possible… Will?… Will?… Damn… I thought my black box was being rather quiet… There are so many of them in there that there’s always at least a little chatter… I’ve just kind of gotten used to it… It’s just like white noise to me now… I guess I just took it for granted… like I was never alone… But Will at a minimum would always respond to me… Now he’s gone dark… just like Lorelei did…
Dr. Simmons:
Does that mean that Will is alive?…
Grant Ward:
I wouldn’t know… But my private tomb as Lady Sif calls it… seems to have been raided… and emptied… I thought that I was unaffected by the big whammy… But I guess I was wrong… You don’t suppose they’re all alive now… do you?… Even Hive?…
Daisy:
Wait… Hive?… You had Hive in your private tomb too?…
Grant Ward:
Unknown… I had Hive’s memories in my head too… not just his victims… But Hive never made an appearance among the others… in my little black box… as far as Will and I knew… If they’re all showing up alive and in the flesh now… I have to assume it’s at least possible that Hive is among them… But Hive needs a host in order to live… But I’m not assuming that he couldn’t piggyback on someone else like the parasite that he is… That could be why he didn’t make an appearance… And what would he look like without a host anyway?… a swarm of tiny insects?… quickly dying without a host?…
Emma:
Mom… Who’s Hive?…
Daisy:
He’s the thing that your grandmother always called Alveus… latin for Hive… He messed your mom up in the head real bad… He had the power to sway Inhumans… mind control… powerful enough to make people sacrifice themselves… their loved ones… friends and family… and have them worship him for it… He’s the one that your father Lincoln died to kill… so that I wouldn’t have to… I was only freed from his control by another Inhuman… who died to free me… That thing nearly destroyed the world as we know it… just so he could control it… for his conceited delusional notion… of the collective greater good…
Mack:
That dude was messed up… to say the least… It was so bad… Yo Yo had to wear an explosive vest… with the detonator trigger in my own hand… just in case she got swayed by him… Because there wasn’t any cure as far as we knew at the time… There was only the Inhuman powers of Dr. Garner… and that died with him…
Yo Yo:
Do we need to start making explosive vests again?…
Mack:
I sure as hell hope not… Only Daisy is immune… Because she had his sway mojo purged from her… And Hive couldn’t retake her…
Daisy:
Now we may have them both to deal with… Hive and the Black Queen… and the ancient civil war among the Inhumans between them… with the entire planet caught in the middle… starting with LA…
Amara:
Ancient civil war?…
Daisy:
In the very beginning… Hive and the your grandmother were both created to control the Inhumans for their Kree masters… But they rebelled and killed the Kree… once the Kree decided they were a mistake and tried to destroy them… But then the Inhumans feared the power and control of Hive… and your grandmother led the effort to banish him to a hellish planet called Maveth… But the Black Queen made endless deals with the devil to do that in the first place… and fed her own people to those devils… That… was what made her the Black Queen to begin with… Hydra was the cult of Hive… dedicated to bringing him back… which they eventually succeeded in doing…
Grant Ward leans forward and puts his head in his hands.
Grant Ward:
This can’t be happening…
Daisy:
Tell me about it Ward…
Grant Ward:
We still don’t know how I managed to come back from the dead in the first place… I was the host for Hive… That was the last thing I remembered before coming back… And it was Hive that brought me back as his host to begin with… after Coulson killed me on Maveth… I feel a headache coming on…
Emma:
Wait… my dad died… killing you?… While you were a host for this Hive?…
Daisy:
Lincoln trapped Hive with him in a shuttle… along with a nuclear warhead on board counting down… which blew them up in orbit…
Grant Ward:
Yeah… Although I don’t remember that part exactly… just waiting for it to go off… and then a flash of light… and then nothing till I woke up butt naked in the ruins of my family’s old home… Lincoln and I were just sitting there admiring the view from orbit… unable to stop the countdown… and then flash…
Emma:
Are you sure that you died the second time?… A flash of light could be anything… But you made it out… Could my dad still be alive?…
Daisy:
I saw the flash of the explosion my self…
Grant Ward:
Teleportation has been known to occur with a flash of light accompanying it… I’ve seen it… I’ve done it on occasion… When I came back… we spent so much time trying to figure out how I was resurrected… it never occurred to me to think of how I might have escaped… But there’s still nothing to go on either way…
Dr. Laufey:
If you were not resurrected from the dead… teleportation would not be enough to explain how you were free of the Hive… Hive would have had to have been purged from your body… with some way of regenerating your body without Hive… in order to show up as you did… It just begs more questions…
Emma:
Well… What’s more likely?… Lazarus?… or beam me up Scotty?…
Lady Sif:
Resurrection is actually more common than most mortals realize… The real miracle of Jesus resurrection… was less the resurrection itself… But the fact that it didn’t result in some horrific tragedy… More often than not… your average zombie movie paints a more realistic picture of the horrors involved… not to mention vampires… Necromancy is the foulest of the foul when it comes to dark magic… But even Jesus was not entirely unique in having or performing a resurrection without tragedy in it’s wake… just exceedingly rare… beyond rare… Thus is it beyond forbidden… and almost always beyond foul…
Dr. Laufey:
The Hand uses necromancy… Most of their foot soldiers are zombies… of a sort… Many members of their cult volunteer to be turned into such creatures… just to live forever in any way… to any extent that they can manage… at any cost… including the cost of their own enslavement…
Daisy:
And the Hand was founded by my mother… Great… It’s the family business… Why couldn’t she just be a gangster or something…
Lorelei:
Do you think the Black Queen may have had a hand in my resurrection?…
Daisy:
Doubtful… If so… why bring back so many followers of her enemy?… If she can’t control it well enough to avoid that… I don’t see her doing it… It all just seems so… random… like an unintended side effect of something else… like drunken monkeys playing with a loaded revolver…
Dr. Laufey:
Or just extremely reckless and callous experimentation… without any concern or thought for consequences…
Daisy:
Never mind Russian roulette… It seems like someone’s playing drunken monkey roulette… in a playground full of children… just to see how it turns out… It’s just sheer dumb luck if anything turns out short of tragic…
On a hill top above Santa Monica, Robbie Reyes and Gen. Talbot stand horrified at the aftermath of a frustrated hunt. Having failed to catch the evil, they can only survey it’s bloody handy work. Hundreds of bodies litter the hillside, with bodies devoured down to the bloody bones, still wearing their bloodied cloths from different time periods.
Gen. Talbot:
I’ve seen this before… from the file on the Hive creature… but with no where near this many bodies… This is how Hive feeds…
Robbie:
The same Hive that messed with Daisy’s head?… He’s supposed to be dead…
Gen. Talbot:
Yes… But Grant Ward was his host at the time… and he made it… somehow… We gotta report this… Gen. Fitz… We’ve got a major problem… Yeah I know… Now we have another one… This time… it’s Hive… Hive is alive… and here in Los Angeles… And we’re staring at the remains of his latest blood soaked massacre…
Reyna and Hogan search a remote part of the city, with Snoopy and the rest of the Warriors Three providing secure escort, plus chaperons.
Hogan:
Do we know what we’re looking for?… Mistress Reyna?…
Fandral:
Besides some privacy I suspect… for some… We could always just search separately… Right Volstagg?…
Volstagg:
Sure thing… Any time…
Hogan:
Shush…
Reyna:
I’d rather not say… But Queen Karnilla suggested action rather than talk… might be a better way for me to handle my prophecies… while still writing them down for her… Quite often… proper interpretation is impossible… So actions are better than words that may go awry… But for now… I feel we may have luck finding something… that I can’t talk about yet…
Fandral:
Well that clears everything up…
Hogan:
Shush…
Fandral and Volstagg glance at each other, smirking at their colleagues hopeless infatuation. They come to a watch tower along the outer wall, looking out at Catalina Island in the distance. Reyna begins to slow down, and raises her hand up at the others, indicating for them to halt and wait. Hogan repeats the gesture to the others, to the chuckles of his friends as they repeat the gesture to each other mockingly. Reyna proceeds slowly with delicate care, as if sneaking up on something. Then she pounces on what appears as little more than birds nest, and captures something in her cupped hands. Reyna begins to whistle a tune similar to Ilsa’s, as she slowly opens her hands, revealing the tiny shrunk down dragon gargoyle that had laid the Dr. Wilkes egg, before Reyna stops her whistling.
Reyna:
There you go… It’s okay… All is forgiven… as long as you don’t burn my face off that is…
Hogan:
That is… the dragon?… the same one that attacked here?…
Reyna:
Yes… Whatever made it attack however… seems to have been counteracted by Ilsa’s flute song… Now he’s a perfectly innocent creature… if a bit wild… But I don’t believe that I have any real reason to fear this one… compared to the one in Grant Ward’s vault… We should take this one to the queen and Dr. Laufey…
Snoopy comes up and lowers it’s head to lick at the dragon in Reyna’s palms, to which the dragon responds by blowing a small plum of fire at Snoopy’s face, just missing it, but still making his point.
Reyna:
Now now you two… Can’t we all get along?…
Helga and Ilsa accompany Gen. Fitz, as they enter the infirmary.
Gen. Fitz:
Mr. Ward… I have some bad news… that you’re really not gonna like…
Grant Ward:
Hive is alive… right?… That would be the other shoe to drop right now… wouldn’t it?…
Gen. Fitz:
How did you know?… I only just got word from Gen. Talbot… He and Mr. Reyes have found a hillside covered with bloody remains… of what looks to be hundreds of people… killed in a manner identical to the feeding habits of the Hive creature… Gen. Talbot says he recognizes the M O from the picture in the file on him… I’ve seen those pictures… And right now there’s an entire hillside covered in that… I need Dr. Simmons to help verify the matter… Since she wrote most of the bloody file to begin with…
Helga:
Dad?…
Grant Ward:
I’m fine Helga… or I will be… I think I’m going to be sick first though… We we’re just talking about that theoretical possibility… Since everyone in my little black box tomb seems to have been resurrected… I suspect that the people on that hillside… were the true believers of the Hydra cult… resurrected out of my tomb… just to be slaughtered and fed upon by their own god… That’s what Hive does to his own followers… They’re just sacrifices for his greater good… the delusional conceit of a collectivist control freak psychopath… The rest are probably scattered all over Los Angeles… a bunch of them showed up at the Johnson Building to volunteer for the fight against their ancient enemy… But if Hive really is back… the cult is the least of our problems… Swayed Inhumans… That’s the real threat now… The only question I have is whether or not he comes after us first… or the Black Queen…
Daisy:
He’ll start small at first… From the sound of this massacre… he was just building up his strength… unavoidably showy by necessity… not his style normally… from here… he’ll be more subtle and discrete… also unavoidably… If he sends swayed Inhumans at all… it will be as spies… at first… If he acts out of revenge… it’ll be piece meal… Pardon the unfortunate pun… I don’t suppose any astronauts showed up at the Johnson Building… did they?…
Lady Sif:
Not that I’m aware of…
Dr. Simmons:
You don’t suppose that he would take revenge on Will do you?…
Daisy:
Revenge on a past meal?… or a previous host?… No… But as an actual traitor who tried to kill him however… I’m more likely to get a personal visit than Will or any of you…
Snoopy comes rushing in to greet Daisy with a quick tongue lashing. Reyna and the Warriors Three follow in behind the giant dog.
Daisy:
I suppose I’m gonna need a guard dog more than ever now… huh Snoopy…
Reyna:
Your majesty?… I followed your advise about actions… And I found something that might help Dr. Wilkes…
Dotty:
Dr. Wilkes?…
Upon hearing Dotty’s voice, the small dragon gargoyle creature flies up out of Reyna’s hands, and flies over to land on Dotty’s lap.
Dotty:
Well hello there… Are you here to help Jason?…
The small dragon creature then flies up and over to land on the head of the sleeping Dr. Wilkes.
Dotty:
Jason?…
The small dragon gargoyle is quickly absorbed into Dr. Wilkes head, as if by oozing osmosis. Dr. Wilkes wakes up and shoots up off the bed where he was resting, as if due to electric shock.
Dr. Wilkes:
Dotty?…
Dotty:
I’m here Jason!…
Dotty and Dr. Wilkes practically run at each other, as Dr. Wilkes memories of Dotty seem to be restored at a minimum.
Dotty:
So you do remember me?… Jason?…
Dr. Wilkes:
Yes… But it’s all still somewhat fragmented… like there are still pieces missing…
Dotty:
A lot of your memory seems to have come back when you absorbed the mini dragon gargoyle thing back into your head a second ago…
Dr. Wilkes:
Mini dragon gargoyle thing?…
Dotty:
The same one that enlarged to fifty feet tall and laid an egg with you inside… Don’t ask me to explain it Jason… I’m just glad you remember me finally… That dragon gargoyle thing originally came out of the palm of some red devil drone… that called himself Dr. Diablo… We have him in stasis!… Maybe he has some of those missing pieces…
Grant Ward:
Maybe… But we need Robbie and the Ghost Rider to handle him if he can’t just be reabsorbed… And are we sure that’s even a good idea?… I’m game if you are…
Dr. Simmons:
We have some time to consider things… Since I have a crime scene to examine… and an old M O to verify… Ward?… Can you do me a favor?…
Grant Ward:
Sure thing… I have to track him down for my own piece of mind anyway…
Dr. Simmons:
Thank you Ward… Dr. Wilkes… Hang in there a bit longer and bear with me for some additional tests… I’ll leave you here in Dr. Laufey and Dr. Pym’s capable hands…
Daisy:
I’m coming with you… I’m not letting you out of my sight with Hive on the loose… And you two aren’t even leaving home again while Hive is still alive…
Emma/Amara:
Aw… Mom!…
Daisy:
No arguments!… You’re riding with me Dr. Simmons…
Grant Ward:
And you’re taking Helga and Ilsa along as armed escort… No arguments…
Emma:
Mom!… Ilsa’s the same age as I am!…
Grant Ward:
Yes… But she’s well trained… and experienced for her age… You just have powers… which are are effectively as brand new to you as anybody… So you have a lot a learning and training to do before your mother or I trust you in the field… And my kids aren’t Inhuman… I hate to put it that way… But they’re not subject to Hive’s sway… If Daisy wasn’t already immune… she couldn’t go either…
Daisy:
Exactly…
Mack:
Then I’m going too… I’ll take care of this for the family that can’t…
Yo Yo:
My hero…
Daisy:
Come on… Lets go…
Grant Ward:
Gen. Fitz?… Could you signal Brian and bring him here for a special side mission… I could also use the Warriors Three here for some perimeter securing duty at the Port Stark tavern… I did some recon earlier… I suspect I know where to find an old friend… and we have to secure it for other reasons…
Gen. Fitz:
Very well then… lead on Wolf King…
Grant Ward:
You don’t have to call me that…
Gen. Fitz:
King Odin says I do… He made a special proclamation of it earlier… in front of my great granddad Loki as a witness… So yes I do… Now let’s get going… Wolf King of Emerald City…
Loki:
It’s true your majesty… I’m a witness…
Queen K:
As am I… your majesty… as am I…
Hogan:
Your majesty… We are yours to command…
Fandral:
For Asgard and Midgard… and for Emerald City!…
Volstagg:
And for the honor of the Hulk Busters!… I heard the kids saying that earlier…
Grant Ward:
Cool… Just what I always wanted…
Daisy drives Dr. Simmons in her flying car, as Mack, Helga, and Ilsa fly escort with flying armed hover quads. Grant Ward, Gen. Fitz, and the Warriors Three take a short ride out along the causeway to the mainland, and pull up outside the Port Stark tavern.
Grant Ward:
We have have to own this place… completely… and visibly… I need you three to dominate this place… as well as keep an eye on it… I want everyone to know this is our territory…
Hogan:
We shall see it done…
Fandral:
And be seen doing it!… Hell!… They can’t miss Volstagg!…
Volstagg:
Certainly not!…
Grant Ward:
We can expect refugees… as well as spies… I have to see if I can find one refugee in particular… And Hogan… you may want to give Fandral and Volstagg their own FSBs… It seems to be the only technology working… and one of the only working protections available in here…
Hogan:
Agreed…
Grant Ward:
Reyna… I know you’re there Reyna… And I know why you’re there… If you’re going to leave Emerald City at all… please remember that you’re a target too… Remember… light elves principle defenses are magic and deception… escape and evasion… Hogan… Make sure she practices…
Hogan:
You’ve got it…
Reyna:
How does he know I’m here?… Snoopy found me out too…
Hogan:
You’ll just have to practice… but inside perhaps…
They make their way inside to scope out their new territory, with Hogan and Reyna lingering behind a moment, as Reyna shimmers into view next to Hogan.
Hogan:
Reyna… you will need this weapon… as much if not more than me and my brothers in arms… Queen Karnilla says it also has the power to assist in prophecy…
Reyna:
Very well Master Hogan… I will accept this gift of yours… But we’d better hurry… or your friends might get the wrong idea… on purpose no doubt…
Hogan and Reyna are joined outside by Cap. Britain, flying in and landing beside them, as Reyna joins the FSB club.
Cap. Britain:
You must be Reyna?… We shouldn’t should be out here exposed… not visibly… You are a target after all… Miss Reyna…
Reyna:
So they keep telling me… Let’s go inside then… But expect renovations if I don’t like the scene…
Cap. Britain:
Fair enough… But I suspect there will renovations for security reasons… before you even get to it…
The three of them make their way inside to join a conversation in progress between the Wolf King and his old tomb tenant Will Daniels, with Gen. Fitz assisting the Wolf King in a little second coming career intervention.
Wolf King:
Come on Will… No one’s asking you to go anywhere near any thing resembling a front line… We’re talking about being an astronaut… for real… like we talked about… not just as a cover for alien parasite feeding time…
Astronaut Will:
In the middle of a space war…
Wolf King:
I can’t help that part… None of us can anymore anyway…
Astronaut Will:
Now you sound like the cult members…
Wolf King:
They’re not completely wrong!… Not on this!… They just take that enemy of my enemy thing way too far… with the devil they think they know…
Gen. Fitz:
The Black Air unit is not… and never has been Hydra… and the Weird Happenings Organization is said to be older than Britain… by it’s own legends mind you… And is said to have been already fighting against this evil by other names… We’re still comparing notes… Or we were before this latest insanity… which you are already a part of… And it is only because of your special circumstance… and Cap. Braddock’s recommendation… that I’m even willing to consider it… rather than just considering you to be irrevocably compromised…
Nate Malick:
Like me?…
Gen. Fitz:
That depends… Who are you?…
Wolf King:
This is Nathaniel Malick… Ex Hydra… Ex sacrifice… If you have a problem with him… then you have a problem with me too…
Nate Malick:
He doesn’t have any real problem with me… He’s just doing his job… as he should… I was Grant Ward… before Grant Ward was Grant Ward… Except I knew it… And I was in the Weird Happenings Organization at the time… before being sent to Maveth…
Wolf King:
You were Grant Ward?… before Grant Ward?… was Grant Ward?…
Nate Malick:
I’ve read your memoirs Grant… Trust me… I was you… before you were born…
Astronaut Will:
Are you’re considering going back into the fire?… after already getting burned?…
Nate Malick:
I’m not go anywhere near any fire… But I want what I went through to mean something… as a cautionary tale if nothing else…
Wolf King:
Hive is back…
Astronaut Will:
What?!?… You’re just telling me this now?…
Wolf King:
I was getting to it… I didn’t want the news to skew your judgment…
Astronaut Will:
Skew my judgment!?!…
Wolf King:
You’re right!… You deserve to be free of that fight… But there is no free of it… And we have to be clear here… with ourselves more than anyone else… especially in here…
Cap. Britain:
Especially since I just came from a hillside littered with the remains of Hive’s latest feast of friends…
Astronaut Will:
Alive she cried…
Nate Malick:
She did cry it at the time… the doctor lady… before she left… with a bunch of us… She was going on and on that ‘Alveus lives!’… If she’s still around in anyway… She’s his host…
Astronaut Will:
She’s his host… or she’s part of his lunch…
Wolf King:
If you’re talking about Dr. MacTaggert… you can’t break yourself up over the fate of true believers… You can’t save everyone… certainly not every cult member… Come on Will!… I’m no astronaut… So I need you to be… And everybody concerned… would be less concerned… if you spent your time somewhere with better security… Or at least took one of these black boxes… or better yet some combination…
Gen. Fitz:
I’d be very much interested in hearing about Nathaniel’s exploits as well now… And may have use for him for other purposes… if he’s to be believed…
Nate Malick:
Knowing what I know now… just try and keep me out of it… now that I can have my revenge…
Wolf King:
I can vouch for some of that… Even though everyone’s pretty much vacated from my black box tomb… I still have a lot of the highlights of their memories… He was just like me… just for the Weird Happenings Organization… But he was just like me in all the worse ways… and he used to be a true believer… But more in family than in Hydra… Then one betrayed him to the other…
Nate Malick:
One fed me to the other… And now that I have chance at the damn thing… I want revenge…
Wolf King:
You want revenge?… Write your memoirs…
Nate Malick:
I’ll do that… I think Gen. Fitz may need to clear a good deal of it for publication though…
Gen. Fitz:
We can talk about that after you write them… After I get to read them… After I decide what to believe about them… And after we get out of this enchanted trap of… whatever this is…
Werner Von Strucker stumbles into the Port Stark tavern desperate for a drink of something, smelling of blood and smoke, without bleeding or being burnt.
Werner VS:
That’s it!… I’m never going downtown again!… Next time… start the revolution without me…
Wolf King:
Werner?… You made it!… What happened to Logan?…
Werner VS:
He started chasing after that Sabretooth character again… and lost me at some point… when all holy hellfire hit… literal holy hellfire… I suspect Logan is okay… but I really couldn’t say… But I’m not chasing hellfire any more… I’m gonna be mister boring lab assistant from now on… Speaking of which… where is my boss?… Dr. Simmons?…
Wolf King:
She’s verifying the return of Hive… the evil Hydra space god…
Werner VS:
Of course she is…
Dr. Simmons verifies Hive’s handiwork in quick fashion, and uses her spider minions to scour the hillside of remains and dispose of them, quickly cleaning up the grisly mess, mixing it in with the soil, and planting flowers to mark the mass grave. Gen. Talbot rides back quietly with Robbie in his charger, while Helga and Ilsa ride escort back to Emerald City visibly shaken. In light of revelations regarding the return of Hive from the dead, Morgana, Ilsa, and Pepper the sorceress shimmer their way over to the Johnson Building and a special consultation with Iron Man, and some old friends of Happy Hogan’s, accompanied by Lady Sif and the other acolytes of Avalon, shimmering in along with them.
Waiting for them in the gallery are King T’Challa, Princess Shuri, and Gen. Okoye, with the White Wolf Sgt. Barnes helping stand guard over Lord Balder, still recovering in the gallery along with Chief M’Baku on a pair of cots. Joining them are Gen. Jack O’Neil as the head of the guard at the Johnson Building. Next to him stands a scholarly acolyte monk of Avalon with long brown hair and pair of primitive eye glasses, and a fairy woman with long blonde hair wearing blue and silver armor without wings, wielding a traditional wooden recurve bow and a quiver of arrows. Waiting with them are the Iron Man, along with an eager and anxious Happy Hogan.
Also waiting with them is the transformed Wakandan diplomat Nakia, wearing all black robes with the hood withdrawn, revealing two small white horns protruding from the top corners of her forehead, pointed elf like ears, and long white hair. Next to her is the transformed American diplomat Everett Ross, wearing the monk’s robes of an acolyte of Avalon. Next to him stand Cap. Rogers, knight of Avalon, clutching a silver rosary, sword sheathed, as he stands there along with his old friend agent Romanov, and her sister Yelena the Valkyrie.
Iron Man:
Pepper?… When I asked Gen. Fitz to give you an FSB of your own… it wasn’t so that you could join the Avengers…
Witch Pepper:
I’m not joining the Avengers… I’m accompanying my mentor… on her mission of mercy… And I have already fought a dragon I’ll have you know…
Morgana:
My new protege’s are accompanying me as an extra security detail under the circumstances… as well as for instruction… So are these the patients?…
Iron Man:
Yes… Although one of them seems to have recovered partially on her own…
Morgana:
Let me guess… the one with ears… or the horns… or both…
Fairy Archer:
Just me I’m afraid… Col. Samantha Carter… US Air Force… Although this strange enchantment would have me believe that I’m some fairy of Avalon… your majesty… It’s so weird to have memories that seem completely real… even though you know they’re fake… But that’s nothing compared to having to explain to my former C O… that we were never married…
Morgana:
Oh dear… Which one is that?…
Gen. O’Neil:
I’m the disowned one your majesty… disowned by enchantment… or pretend enchantment!… For crying out loud Samantha!… If you’ve changed your mind about having children… you don’t have to engage in this petty subterfuge… I know you’re stronger than this… You will never convince me that you’ve succumbed to any enchantment…
Col. Carter:
I’m flattered sir… I mean Jack… But I’m afraid that you’re the one whose been enchanted…
Morgana:
For the record… do you want to be married to him?…
Col. Carter:
Do I want to be?!?… I never even thought about that before!… I mean… not seriously… He was my former commanding officer!…
Morgana:
Not seriously?… Because he was your former C O?… emphasis on former?… sounds like… eh lassie?…
Col. Carter:
Can you please just restore him quickly?… Before I have to explain things to him on our honeymoon?…
Morgana:
Honeymoon?…
Col. Carter:
Please… According to our enchanted backstory… we were literally just married before the fight began…
Morgana:
Well I bet he’s very eager to get on with things then…
Gen. O’Neil:
I am quite anxious your majesty… Cold feet is one thing… But vows have been made before God… And now so must children… Or so I thought… Or so we had dreamed… as we have spoken about many times before…
Col. Carter:
Please help him…
Morgana:
Well okay… if you insist on breaking his enchanted heart…
Chief M’Baku:
You’d better hurry… or you might break King T’Challa’s…
King T’Challa:
Enough M’Baku… We are just friends…
Chief M’Baku:
Now you are…
King T’Challa:
Hush… Let the queen work…
Morgana:
Now all of you hush… Acolytes?… Let us begin… as instructed…
Morgana begins to play her flute, as Ilsa joins her with her own flute, and the other acolytes begin to chant for few moments. After the music and the chanting stops, Gen. O’Neil just stares with concern at Col. Carter, but the Ross monk seems to awaken with a start, as the horned Nakia reacts to his expression of mild shock.
Horned Nakia:
Master Everett my love?… Is something wrong Master Everett?… Did the treatment not agree with you?…
Master Everett:
No… my love… I am fine… for now…
Horned Nakia:
Have I offended you again?… I steered well clear of the fighting this time… just like you said… But the fighting came to us… and they had it coming…
Master Everett:
You have not offended me… And my problems are mostly over… But you may have more to be concerned about… Although… an old friend may have reason to be cross with me… But hopefully not too much… for my sake…
Horned Nakia:
Friend or no friend… I will not allow any harm to come to my master…
Master Everett:
I appreciate that Nakia… I really do… especially right now…
Natasha:
Yelena?… Do you feel any better?… any more yourself?…
Yelena The V:
Any more myself?… Get a hold of your self sister… You are the one who is not your self…
Natasha:
What about you Cap. Rogers?… How do you feel?…
Cap. Rogers:
Do not concern yourself with me… Mistress Natasha… I am under no enchantment… save for grief… for which there is no cure but time… And time is no cure… only a treatment…
Natasha:
Who are you grieving for?…
Cap. Rogers:
My late wife Peggy… long since past… But I am still in mourning… So while I may sincerely appreciate the attention… and seriously I do… My heart is still spoken for… and will most likely continue to be so… for quite some time…
Natasha:
Woh there… At ease soldier boy… I’m spoken for too… I would tell you all about it… But you wouldn’t really fully appreciate it as you are now…
Scholarly Monk:
Wow… Is it just me… Or did everything just go crazy for everyone else in the metaverse as well?… Sam?… Jack?… Did I take something a bit too strong at that last Halloween party we had?… I think I’ve let my sabbatical go too much to my head…
Col. Carter:
Daniel… Do you remember who you are?… who I am?…
Monk Daniel:
Of course I remember you Sam… Your Col. Samantha Carter… granddaughter of agent Peggy Carter… Or so you like to remind us… I’m Dr. Daniel Jackson… linguist and anthropologist… Beyond that I can’t really talk much more without violating national security… or even the Sechovia Accords probably… and not without betraying a confidence among strangers…
Col. Carter:
Don’t worry about it Daniel… You’re clearly you again… What about you Jack?…
Gen. O’Neil:
I am the man I have always been… I am the man who married you before God… And before God as my witness… I will make as many children with you… as you and time will allow…
Col. Carter:
Wow… That does sound kind of romantic… in a way…
Dr. Jackson:
It was a lovely ceremony… fresh in my enchanted memories… Wait… You’re not actually going through with this… Are you?… Oh… You are… Aren’t you?…
Col. Carter:
He’s not my C O anymore!… And I resigned from the air force!…
Dr. Jackson:
When was that?…
Col. Carter:
Effectively immediately!…
Morgana:
So… who are my new acolytes?… I’m afraid that I can’t explain much of what’s going on here… But you seem to have the memories of actual acolytes of Avalon… the knowledge of which I assure you quite real… even if you are not real acolytes of Avalon…
Dr. Jackson:
Wow… I didn’t think I could get any nerdier… But I think I’m an even bigger geek in my enchanted second life… an advanced adept at demonology… necromancy… purification rites… healing and portal magic… My alter ego was actually a relative slacker in languages… and he still knew more than I did… Is it weird to be jealous of yourself… and ashamed of yourself for being a slacker at the same time… for not measuring up… to yourself…
Col. Carter:
Yes… It’s weird… But you were that way before…
Master Everett:
Well… I may not have had any where near that much in languages and magic… But I’ve learned a lot of history… a lot of history… that I don’t think I can believe…
Morgana:
That’s true of most history… But most people forget it… And like to forget it… But real history is not just the record… Records can be destroyed… as well as the people that keep them… or just faked entirely… Real history… is the process of sorting through lies… buried or destroyed evidence… and the fragmented psyches that produce them… to make our way through the world as it is… as best as we can… with what little concrete knowledge we have… without deluding ourselves that we ever have the full picture… We must always proceed forward with the best information we have at the time… no matter how wrong or right… because there is no other way… Even prophecy is no unproblematic short cut… from having to sort through a lot of bloody bullshit noise!…
Sgt. Barnes:
Not to be all self centered… but what about me… I don’t know what I was expecting… given that I didn’t have any memory issues… so much as manscaping issues…
Morgana:
Then I suspect that may be something you had going on to begin with… You could be wolfkin… Most wolfkin on Midgard have no knowledge of this… as they are cursed to seal away their ability to change… I canna say for sure… But I suspect that it’s just the curse that was broken in your case… which might be why your cloths and fancy tech weren’t effected… in addition to your memories… If that’s the case… then you should be able to change at will…
Lady Sif:
Grant Ward had a hard time controlling his changes at first… But his daughter Karnilla was a natural… Some of his other children can’t change at all… even though they were never subject to the curse… But I couldn’t tell you how it’s done… It’s something you’re probably going to have to feel your way through…
Gen. O’Neil:
Speaking of… All that is fascinating and all… But we have some pressing private matters… that can no longer wait… not for any war… We never really know when war may take us… We must seize the moment while we can… Just like you said to me… when you asked me to marry you… Remember?…
Col. Carter:
Yes… I do… actually… Take me with you then… before my senses take me back…
Gen. Jack O’Neil escorts his new bride upstairs for their honeymoon, and leaves the remainder to sort things through without them. Cap. Rogers takes the opportunity to wonder off alone, as the others continue without him.
Horned Nakia:
Take me away too… I do not like the way the panther man looks at me… He seems familiar… But he acts far too familiar…
King T’Challa:
Now wait a minute!… This is clearly beyond acceptable!… You are clearly enchanted!…
Horned Nakia:
You do not command me panther man!… I am the storm!… None may command me but Master Everett!…
Witch Pepper:
Look out!…
King T’Challa lurches towards the horned Nakia as if to stop her from leaving with monk Ross, then horned Nakia unleashes a lightening bolt without warning. Anticipating Nakia’s reaction, Pepper places her crystal shard spear between King T’Challa and horned Nakia, blocking it by essentially catching it, and harmlessly redirecting it.
Witch Pepper:
Mistress Nakia!… No one… is attempting to get between you and Master Everett… Nor would they if they knew your back story the way I do… At least the enchanted one at any rate… Mistress of the Storm…
Storm Nakia:
Very well your majesty… my apologies… But the cat man better learn his manners around Master Everett…
King T’Challa:
Master Everett?… May I hear this enchanted back story?…
Master Everett:
Well… believe it or not… it’s a bit of a long enchanted back story… even more so for her than for me… I only have one separate lifetime of false memories to sort through… She has thousands of years… She was a magical princess of Wakanda… according to the story… transformed with the power of the storm… then enslaved by an enchantment from some creature known only as the Shadow King… to serve the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II… But then she was considered too powerful and too destructive… Even the pharaohs feared her as their slave… So they sealed her away… eventually being simply deposited in the Library of Alexandria… along with endless other artifacts… eventually to be discovered and freed by a scholarly acolyte of Avalon… You have to understand… even in our enchanted backstory… I was only just learning to manage… It’s like some extreme form of Stockholm Syndrome… When you spend thousands of years as a slave… even without the derangement of the senses from some enchantment… you become so habituated to slavery… it becomes hard to relate to people any other way… Her slavery was so extreme… and for so long… and her gratitude so great at her liberation… that she virtually worships me as her god… and serves me as if she were my eager and dutiful slave… even though she is free…
Storm Nakia:
You are the god of my heart Master Everett… I am your slave forever…
Master Everett:
There is nothing I can say to her… even now that I know the real story… which I only just learned myself…
King T’Challa:
Well… This enchantment can’t really be helped… But you don’t really have feelings for her now do you?… You don’t don’t plan on taking advantage… do you?…
Master Everett:
Well… I’m not sure what you mean by taking advantage…
Chief M’Baku:
He means sex!…
Lord Balder:
That much is fairly clear… even if the rest is not…
King T’Challa:
Certainly you would not use this opportunity to take advantage of her enchantment… to gain something of value that you didn’t have coming to you before… or did you before?…
Master Everett:
Well… It’s funny you should mention that…
Gen. Okoye:
I knew it… I didn’t know about Ross specifically… But I told you… Make her your queen… or someone else will make her theirs…
Master Everett:
It just kind of happened recently… late hours… working alone together… getting drinks… It was just plain self indulgent and unprofessional really… something that we both knew we had to stop doing… while we kept doing it… And you two weren’t together!… I’m not sure how I feel about it myself really… It was still fresh and new to me… before it got an enchanted makeover… And I can’t really talk to her about it now… Are you sure that we don’t have anything else that we can try?… FSBs?…
King T’Challa:
FSBs have proven too dangerous and unreliable… I will not take that risk with Nakia’s soul… with an experimental technology… that could make things worse for her…
Sgt. Barnes suddenly manages to finally turn back, to his own great relief, and to a surprisingly great relief of princess Shuri.
Sgt. Barnes:
I’m back!…
Princess Shuri:
Sgt. Barnes!…
Shuri forgets herself and runs up to Sgt. Barnes without thinking, and hugs and kisses him with more relief than for just a body guard, as he returns the relief, before catching himself and pushing Shuri away.
King T’Challa:
Sgt. Barnes?…
Gen. Okoye:
I told you about that too… And so did your mother…
King T’Challa:
Alright general…
Cap. Rogers finds a quiet place alone in the dark, and kneels down to pray. An angelic and glowing translucent figure of Peggy Carter shimmers into view, with a set of angel wings and white robes.
Angel Peggy:
You know that it’s true… I’ve told you myself… When your own phantasm tells you it’s a phantasm… maybe you should listen…
Cap. Rogers:
If you were truly only a phantasm… then why would you tell me so?… if you didn’t care for real?… I may be enchanted… But I am not beyond reason… just because I am with faith… And there is clearly more to you than any mere phantasm or enchantment… Even this reality warping you speak of… cannot explain you… Neither can I… But I will… And I will bring you back… from whatever purgatory is keeping you here… I will bring you home… or I will set you free…
On the rooftop of the Johnson Building, the Black Smith stands alone watching the cooling magma of the newly made volcano, and all of the various fires in the distance. He retracts his visor and reveals his crying eyes, as he gazes out at the flames. A flash of lightening strikes the rooftop next to him, and Helga materializes next to him on the roof, as Gabriel wipes his tears.
Helga:
Hey… What are you doing here alone on the roof?… Don’t you know that a strict buddy system is in effect?… There be literal monsters in the air here…
Black Smith:
The buddy system?…
Helga:
It’s a perfectly legitimate security protocol…
Black Smith:
Yeah… for third graders on a field trip to the museum…
Helga:
Did you ever get to go to a museum?…
Black Smith:
A few times… here and there… Haven’t you ever been?…
Helga:
Born and raised in Niflheim… Remember?…
Black Smith:
So this must look familiar then… homey perhaps?…
Helga:
I do think it looks pretty… Niflheim was always just so dark and gray and dull… As hells go… this is at least prettier… Although it does resemble descriptions of Muspelheim that my mom gave me… She went there once with Thor and the Warriors Three… She loves to tell that story… For what it’s worth… she said it was pretty too… but that it stunk like hell… And it definitely required the buddy system…
Gabriel busts up laughing at Helga’s extremely unique perspective.
Helga:
Were you crying before?… When I first showed up before?… I don’t mean to pry if it’s something personal… But you seemed distraught… I saw you wipe your eyes… You must really love this city…
Black Smith:
I hate this fucking city… But mother always used to say that LA was an ugly city… with beautiful people… But even the ugly city looked good from a distance at night… lit up like the night sky… not like a bonfire… or a funeral pyre… I can’t help thinking about how many of those beautiful people… are caught fires that you think are so pretty… I try to do my best to see LA the way mom did… She used to take me and Robbie up to the observatory… She wanted us to aspire to the stars… But she also wanted to give us a glimpse of something beautiful about the city… that couldn’t be seen otherwise… I wonder if the observatory is still there… under this enchantment… Now it’s probably some medieval cult’s secret hideout… slash sacrificial temple…
Helga:
If you like… we could use the buddy system… and check it out ourselves… That way your not alone…
Black Smith:
You’re alone… Bruja Pequena…
Helga:
I’m actually ahead of the pack… Incoming!…
Princess Frigga flies in and hits the rooftop, landing in a flash, on what seems like a pillow of charged plasma, settling down onto the surface of the roof next to them.
Black Smith:
Woh!… Your wing man… is the princess?…
Helga:
More like showy tag-a-long… But yeah… and not just her…
Princess Frigga:
Mommy’s slow… Because she can’t ride the lightening…
Black Smith:
Who’s mommy again?…
Dr. Jane Foster flies in on her own hover quad, with Romulus and Remus flying escort on their own racing hover quads, modified with plasma cannons.
Dr. Jane Foster:
That would be me!… Dammit little girl!… We’re in a war zone!… A military escort does you no good if you don’t let them escort you!…
Princess Frigga:
Sorry mommy…
Black Smith:
Nice to see you too again Dr. Foster… But you probably shouldn’t be here either…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Do I know you?… I’ve seen you at Cal Tech before… haven’t I?… or what used to be Cal Tech…
Black Smith:
I have seen you on campus… Dr. Rappaccini said that you were doing something super secret and confidential… or you got knocked up with an alien love child and needed to hide out somewhere… or some combination of both…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Well… It was both… as it turned out… And now Stark and I have something of a plan in the works… to start working the problem of… whatever this is… You and your lab have been drafted… as has Dr. Selvig… We have to go back to Cal Tech to set up our part of it…
Black Smith:
I was told to wait here for you guys… to help secure the roof… then to go as a group… strength in numbers… I believe Dr. Selvig is still downstairs… utilizing his new skills… I’m almost jealous…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Tell me about it… I’d better go get Eric… now come along with me… and leave the Black Smith to his watch…
Princess Frigga:
I want to stay with Helga… She’s fast… She can help me… with hints and stuff…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Well… Okay… She’ll be fine with you Helga… right?…
Helga:
Uh?… Sure?…
Dr. Jane Foster walks down to fetch her colleague, followed by the stern looking escort of Romulus and Remus.
Princess Frigga:
So… Are you two gonna make out?… You two were totally gonna make out before I got here… right?… No need to let me stop you…
Black Smith:
What?!?… What are you talking about?… What would… or should… a little girl… know about making out?…
Helga:
Don’t encourage her… Do not engage… I have numerous little sisters like this one… Don’t let her bait you… But if you wanna to make out…
Black Smith:
Now who’s encouraging her…
Helga:
I’m just saying that… if you wanted to… I wouldn’t be opposed…
Black Smith:
Is that… supposed to be flirting?…
Helga:
No… I don’t know… Why?… Am I doing it wrong?…
Black Smith:
Well I’m no expert… But you might want to start by knowing whether you mean to or not… and whether or not you want to do… what it is that asking someone to do with you… however indirectly… or haphazardly…
Helga:
What do you mean?… What do I want to do?… What do you want to do?… And what do mean haphazardly punk?… I’ll have you know… that I can still race circles around your trick riding punk ass!… Any time!… Any race!… Any rules!… Or no rules at all if you like… if you can handle sticking to a track at least long enough for unlimited racing!…
Black Smith:
You’re much cuter when you’re trash talking…
Helga:
Uh?… Cuter?…
Helga starts to blush, then transforms spontaneously into her wolfkin form, giving her the appearance of a humanoid black furred wolf girl.
Black Smith:
Woh!…
Helga:
Oh crap!… Not now!…
Black Smith:
So you transform too?… I don’t know why I’m surprised… I’ve seen your dad do that a number of times… Little Karny Girl does that effortlessly… likes to show off with it… Is that your first time?…
Helga:
Yes!…
Black Smith:
I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to upset you… I just thought that because of your family… that you would be cool with that… It never occurred to me that you might just want to be normal on occasion… to blend in if nothing else… I think it’s cool… scary… but cool…
Helga:
Cool?… I wanted this!… I really did!… Just not like this!… Not right now!…
Black Smith:
Because of the war?… Because of the battle?…
Helga:
Because of the kiss!…
Black Smith:
The kiss?… So you did want to make out…
Princess Frigga:
Told you…
Helga:
Aaww!… I can’t change back now!… I don’t know how yet!… I could even be stuck like this!…
Black Smith:
For what it’s worth I think your a very cute wolf girl…
Helga:
Aawgh!… Wolf girl!?!…
Helga starts to run off to some near corner of the roof as if running away, and running out of room. Gabriel takes a step out of his armor as it opens up to let him out, and he runs over to calm Helga down and comfort her.
Gabriel:
Now calm down!… Don’t spiral!… There is no need to spiral!… Just calm down and relax into it… It’s probably just something psychological… Come here… If you’re concerned about being turned down for a kiss… I’ll volunteer for the service… even with wolf girl lips…
Helga:
Wolf girl Lips!?!…
Gabriel:
Relax… Let me help…
Gabriel holds Helga’s wolf’s head in his hands, then starts to lean in to kiss her on her wolf lips. As he gets in close, Helga’s wolf snout begins to morph and shape shift into the normal shape of her face, but still covered in black fur with wolf’s ears.
Gabriel:
Looks like we may be onto something…
He leans in further and begins to kiss Helga’s furry face. The fur recedes from her face, and the wolf girl’s ears return to there normal human shape, as Gabriel stops kissing her to examine the results his experiment, testing his theory.
Gabriel:
There… No need to panic… But if you want to be free of that concern… you’re gonna have to practice more…
Helga:
Excellent suggestion…
Helga jumps Gabriel with a hug and lip lock, as Helga returns completely to normal.
Woman:
Well it’s good to see you making friends… my little angel Gabriel… Are grandchildren soon to follow?…
Gabriel:
Grandchildren?… Mama?!?…
Helga:
Mama?…
A glowing translucent apparition of a middle age Hispanic woman, with long black hair and a pair of angel wings, shimmers into view standing next Princess Frigga.
Princess Frigga:
Eeek!… Are you a ghost?… or an angel?…
Mama Woman:
Well… I don’t know about any of that… But my name… is Amara Reyes… I’m Gabriel’s mother…
Gabriel:
Mama?… How?…
Mama Amara:
I wouldn’t know how exactly… But I know about the other one… about Monica?… That woman is dangerous Gabriel… dangerous to you… and dangerous to everyone around you… including your new lady friend… And you are?…
Helga:
Helga!… I’m sorry mam… My name is Helga… Helga Ward… Misses Reyes…
Mama Amara:
Well… It’s nice to meet you Helga… Both you and Gabriel need to be especially careful when it comes to Gabriel’s baby mama… She is beyond dangerous… not because she means to be… but because she doesn’t necessarily care not to be… All risks are acceptable to her for the sake of her zealotry… even risks to those she supposedly loves… She supposedly loves you… and carries your children… But you were still caught up in her trap… along with all of LA… But she is nothing compared to my own brother Elias… My brother definitely does not mean well… He doesn’t care to… He never has… He has always been reckless callous and self indulgent… even more so than I had ever realized while I was still alive… Your father and I were killed… with his knowledge… because your father had investigated him… and Shield’s Project Insight… as a journalist… uncovering connections to Hydra… that then had to be buried… It was because of him… and his involvement in Hydra… that you and your brother were targeted by gang bangers… plausible deniability for a hired hit by Hydra… trying to clean up lose ends… He only just survived the hit on himself… Then he even used what happened to you and him… to sell his own innocence… But he is no innocent… and never has been… I never wanted to see it while I lived… But it has been undeniable to me in death… Your father always saw it… He and Elias never got along very well… Your father never trusted Elias to be involved with anything Shield related… without something bad coming from it… That was why he started investigating him and Shield to begin with…
Gabriel:
How?… How can you know that?…
Mama Amara:
Let’s just say… that contrary to the saying… the dead actually do tell tales… Often they’re tall tales… But they do talk… including the various victims of Elias Morrow’s career path… You’d be surprised about how many of us there are… I don’t know how I came to be here… But before… Let’s just say that there is little for the dead to do… accept watch the living… and tell stories… and remember… for better… and for worse… and for everything in between…
As the dead woman tells her tale on the roof of the Johnson Building, Ned Leeds searches alone, riding on a hover quad, surveying the damage from the new volcano and a whirlwind of hellfire vengeance, and desperately looking for one potential victim in particular. Ned Leeds coughs and sweats profusely, as he wipes the sweat from his forehead and his eyes, trying to keep his eyes open and searching. Ned begins to lose consciousness, and falls off of his hover quad, high up in the air. As he falls to his certain death, a massive web is spun and spanned between the buildings on either side of Ned’s presumed point of splat. Ned falls harmlessly into the resulting web net, as a lone dark figure swings in to land on the net next to Ned.
Ned:
Peter?… Is that you Peter?…
Peter:
I… I think so… everything is just all so jumbled… I can’t think straight… I think some fairy chick whammied me with her pixie dust… Or just her dandruff… Is that what pixie dust is?… magical fairy dandruff?… What happened to me?… Did I… attack Cap. America?… and kidnap Princess Shuri?… and Ilsa?!?…
Ned:
Yes Peter… You did… But it was some alternate persona… that called itself Venom…
Peter:
Venom?… As in spider venom?…
Ned:
I would have to assume… But I don’t know why he did that… But that wasn’t you!…
Peter:
Bull!… We both know enough about psychology… to know it’s just not that simple… Some part of me did those things… There’s no way around that!…
Man:
Perhaps not… But there may still be a way through it…
Ned:
Mr. Parker!?!…
Peter:
Uncle Ben!?!…
A glowing translucent figure of Ben Parker with angel wings shimmers into view in sight of Ned, just over Peter’s shoulder, as Peter spins around to see for himself.
Uncle Ben:
Looks like you’ve hit a bit of a rough patch there Peter… But you’re never too far gone… if you can at least remember that you’re lost… Because then you know to keep searching… for a way home…
Venom:
I am not lost!… Winged phantasm!… I am Venom!… And Peter Parker… is nothing but a lingering echo of an after thought!… Now go back to hell!…
Venom swings away leaving Ned with the angel apparition of Ben Parker.
Ned:
Are you really Ben Parker?… Are you supposed to be an angel?…
Uncle Ben:
Well… I don’t know about being an angel… but I am definitely Ben Parker… And I definitely need to follow that boy… Are you going to be okay?…
Ned:
Uh… Sure… I think so… If you can really help Peter… you have to after him… He needs you…
Uncle Ben:
I know… But you need to take care of yourself… Because he’s gonna need you too…
Ned:
Don’t worry about me… I’ll be fine… now…
Uncle Ben:
Very well then Ned… Take care of yourself… And good luck…
Ned:
You too Mr. Parker… You too…
The angel Ben Parker shimmers away as he flies away after Peter. Then the Wolf King flies in on his own hover quad and hovers just above the webbing of the net.
Ned:
Did you see that?…
Wolf King:
I saw something… But there’s a lot of that going around tonight… Are you okay?…
Ned:
Yeah… But that was Ben Parker!… Peter’s dad!… As an angel!…
Wolf King:
I don’t know about any of that… But we can’t talk about that now… You do realize… that this web… is in enemy territory… right?… Just look around you…
Ned looks around him at where the web connects to the surrounding buildings. Crawling out from the surrounding buildings are various actual spider goblins, slowly making there way out onto the web towards Ned and the Wolf King.
Ned:
Holy crap!… I see what you mean…
Wolf King:
Time to go Ned… And then we’re going to have a long talk about your rogue solo rescue mission… that nearly got you killed just now… with you and me… and Mr. Stark makes three… And your hover quad is still hovering by the way… You might want to wrangle that…
Ned:
Oh… Sorry… I’ll get that…
Ned’s hover quad stops hovering and flies down to pick up it’s master from Peter’s web, as the Wolf King hovers on guard. They take off back to the roof of the Johnson Building.
Wolf King:
No more solo crap Ned!… I want to get him back… almost as much as you… for Ilsa’s sake… But we’re not going to be able to do that individually… He’s too strong for that… And I don’t have time to spend rescuing you just because you can’t wait!… No more solo acts!…
Ned:
Yes sir… Sorry sir… I just needed to know that he survived… There was a literal whirlwind of hellfire for Christ’s sake!… He said that some fairy chick whammied him with pixie dust… or some sort of dandruff… Do think that might have helped?…
Wolf King:
I don’t know… But he did try to kidnap Reyna earlier tonight… That might have been her… But I’ll tell you one thing for sure… That web… is one hell of a good sign… He could have just let you drop… But I wouldn’t take it for granted that he’ll be doing too much more of that…
Ned:
No sir… Nothing for granted sir… But we should probably ask that Reyna chick about her pixie dust powers… or just a sample of her dandruff…
Wolf King:
Well… We don’t have time for that right now… Stark and the other scientists are gearing up to work the problem… And Stark needs you to help out with that… And that is the least of our problems at the moment… Hive is alive… and here in Los Angeles… He makes those things back there look more like minor pests by comparison… or even cuddly pets…
Ned:
I’ve heard of Hive… I thought he was dead… But then again… so was Ben Parker…
Wolf King:
Yeah… There’s a lot of that going around at the moment… We can’t really tell if any of this is real… But it’s definitely real enough to kill you… But under the circumstances… you might actually come back from that… But you might come back as something that you don’t want to come back as… There are fates worse than death after all… like being a host for Hive!… So no reckless hero business!… not unless you want to come back as a golem… and not just a Golem Master…
Ned:
You got it sir!… No heroics!…
Wolf King:
That being said… you might want to work on your piloting skills… like maybe try staying in the saddle at all times throughout the ride… for starters… If you’re going to be the man in the chair as you like to say… you gonna have to be able to stay in the chair… And you’re gonna have to train on how to be useful in the damn chair… starting with better piloting skills… which I will teach you for the sake of making you useful to me in helping out Ilsa… just so we’re clear… rookie… You may be an avowed side kick… But good piloting skills and good driving skills… all go hand in hand with being a good get away driver… Which I will also teach you… all fair game for keeping a good side kick out of the fray…
Ned:
And pulling a good hero out of the fray…
Wolf King:
Worst case scenario!… No heroics!… Remember?… Team player only from now on… No flying solo!… You’re my wing man from now on… till I say other wise… I’ll work it out with Stark… Then we’re gonna have a long talk about what to do about Peter… For now… stick with me on this security detail… and I’ll let you play with the other scientists… But out side of that your rookie butt is mine… I’m drafting you for the Hulk Busters detail to take down Venom… and bring Peter back… as soon as we figure out how to do that… In the mean time you’re on flight training detail… whenever you’re not in the lab that is…
Ned:
Yes sir…
Wolf King:
And remember… we share the skies with the enemy here… However clear things may seem now… we can’t take that for granted… rookie…
Ned:
You got it your majesty…
Ned and the Wolf King come flying onto the rooftop of the Johnson Building. They land as the translucent angel figure of Gabriel’s mother shimmers away.
Gabriel:
Mama!?!…
Helga:
Aw… Bad timing dad… That was the Black Smith’s mom… She died years ago when he was young…
Ned:
We just saw Peter’s dead uncle Ben!… also as a glowy angel thing…
Wolf King:
There’s definitely a lot of that going around… We have no way of knowing how much of that is real… But there are some real resurrections happening here… communing with angels of the dead doesn’t really seem like that much of a stretch… Either way… I don’t think that we’ve seen the last of Misses Reyes… or Uncle Ben…
Iron Man:
Misses Reyes?… Uncle Ben?…
Wolf King:
Something about this enchantment is thinning the veil between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead… kind of like Niflheim… The spirits of the dead are among us… for real it seems… even if this fantasy realm is not… I’m drafting Ned here for my Hulk Buster detail to go after Venom by the way… largely to keep him from getting himself killed flying solo… like he nearly just did when he fell off his hover quad…
Iron Man:
Fell off his hover quad!?!…
Wolf King:
Right into a web spun for him between the buildings by Peter…
Iron Man:
By Peter you say… Interesting… But that doesn’t excuse your solo Icarus routine!…
Wolf King:
Let me take care of rogue one here… I could use him with Venom… since he knows Peter so well… Let me sharpen up his piloting skills… teach him some escape and maneuvering… help keep him out of trouble by giving him something constructive to do…
Dr. Jane Foster:
I can give him something constructive to do… but that probably won’t help with his friend… But better flying skills might help with my work… since he’s being drafted anyway…
Princess Frigga:
Can I learn to fly too mommy?…
Dr. Jane Foster:
You already know how to fly Frigga…
Princess Frigga:
I want to learn how to fly spaceships!… So we can track down daddy!…
Dr. Jane Foster:
Your daddy’s coming here little girl… But mommy wants to learn too… so we can both have something to work on together…
Wolf King:
Helga… and my other kids and I… can probably help with that… I’ve trained them obsessively during their time in Niflheim… just in case that became the only way to break out of that hell… Although now I can probably find a few astronauts to help out as well… We should probably train up as many people and pilots as we can… We’ll probably be in here a while…
Gabriel:
Are you suggesting actual astronaut training?… in the middle of the enchanted D & D malware attack?…
Wolf King:
This is just one battle field in this war… But there are many to come… with multiple enemies… only some of which are in here with us… or even on this planet… most of the people caught up in this battle field… don’t even know the real nature of the battle… or why there’s a battle to begin with… We’re all just stepping into a fairy tale fantasy version of the real battle that almost no one knows about… But we still have to plan and train for the wider war… We can’t let ourselves get lost in the confusion of enchantment… That’s how we dealt with Niflheim… Sure you have to deal with the monster in front of you… but never forget the monsters to come…
Helga:
Yeah… There’s always another monster…
Gabriel:
You’re pretty in punk…
Helga:
Uh?… Pretty?…
Helga suddenly has a full transformation into her wolfkin form.
Wolf King:
Helga!… You got your wolf face on!…
Romulus:
Yeah!… The Gang of Three is a proper pack!…
Remus:
I don’t think we’re large enough to be a real pack without the others…
Romulus:
Shut up!… Don’t be so technical!… I’m thinking of the band!…
Helga:
Right!… The band!…
Helga begins to howl like a wolf at a full moon that no one can see, joined by Romulus and Remus as they both transform as well.
Dr. Jane Foster:
Wow… real werewolves… Any vampires?…
Wolf King:
Dr. Simmons is… But there are probably more…
Dr. Jane Foster:
You’re serious?…
Wolf King:
Yes… She’s working on a cure supposedly… Helga… Do you know how to transform back yet?… Or do need the attention of a boy for that too?…
Helga struts over to Gabriel and defiantly lunges at Gabriel with her full wolf’s head, as it rapidly transforms back to her human Helga face, before she makes lip contact with Gabriel. She breaks off her lip lock and looks at her dad with a defiant smirk.
Helga:
At the moment… that’s the only way I know how to do it…
Wolf King:
Well you’d better work on that…
Helga:
Oh I intend to…
Wolf King:
You know what I mean…
Outside of Port Stark Tavern, four Hellions are lined up on their bikes, drinking from canteens. Numerous medieval patrons come and go on horse back. Then two woman come riding along on matte black motorcycles. Lilith, rides one of the bikes, accompanied by a young woman, with blood red lipstick and shoulder length blonde hair, riding on the other bike. Neither wear helmets, but both wear matte black hooded cloaks. The two woman draw the attention of the Hellions as they pull up and park along side them outside Port Stark Tavern.
Loco:
Woh there hot ladies… I know where we got ours… But where’d you get a pair of still working motorcycles?…
Blonde Woman:
We got them the old fashioned way… by stealing them…
Lilith:
My protege Dr. Simmons gave me the technology… along with other updates from her research… Is she here?…
Spartan:
We don’t give out that information to just anyone… You two are definitely vampires though… But that doesn’t mean you’re the friendly kind… like Dr. Simmons…
Loco:
How do you know that they’re vampires?… Maybe they’re just hot goth chicks…
Spartan:
I can smell the dried blood… It’s always there with them… the smell of dried blood… if not fresh blood… These two are fairly fresh… Stay here… I’ll contact Dr. Simmons from here… Then we can get to the bottom of who’s who… and who’s friendly…
Blonde Woman:
I’m not friendly… I’m ex Hydra… born and raised… freed by Mistress Lilith… and the blood of the undead… My own mother sent me after her… a suicide mission for sure… Or it would have been if not for Mistress Lilith seeing promise in me…
Lilith:
Hush Ruby… That’s enough story telling until my protege gets here… I don’t suppose you could locate Dr. Simmons lab assistant for me?… and notify him as well?… Werner Von Strucker?…
Spartan:
Von Strucker is inside right now… self medicating after a rough day… If you want… you can wait inside… But they don’t serve blood on the menu here… And our dad was Hydra… not only was our dad Hydra… he was the host for the thing that Hydra worships… So your monster credentials… don’t impress me… kid… Lilith on the other hand… the would be queen of the vampires… is a somewhat different story… It is an honor… But neither one of you are getting any closer to Emerald City without my dad’s authorization… and he’s busy…
Lilith:
What do you mean ‘would be queen’?…
Spartan:
Nothing personal… I just heard that the throne was in dispute… for like a very long time… But what do I know… I was literally born yesterday… born and raised in Niflheim… That’s Asgardian hell to the ill informed…
Loco:
Straight out a Niflheim!…
Ruby:
Gangsta! Gangsta!…
Spartan:
Strucker’s inside… And Dr. Simmons says she’s on her way here now… Do you have a lot more with you?… In your faction?…
Lilith:
Unfortunately… Not anymore… I was playing a double game against the Black Queen… But I was outed by a fortune telling Inhuman girl… along with my work towards a cure… and my reasons for it… I lost the trust of my own people… along with that of the Black Queen…
Loco:
That sounds like Robin…
Lilith:
That was her name… Ruby here is all that I have left besides Dr. Simmons and her research… I’m queen of nothing now…
Spartan:
If you expect us to believe any of that… then tell us what you were after with the Black Queen…
Lilith:
I do not care what you believe…
Ruby:
Don’t presume to interrogate my queen…
Dr. Simmons:
Ordinarily… that would be a very bad idea… But I’m afraid that I must… given such a drastic change of plans…
Dr. Simmons and Daisy shimmer into view riding on a hover quad, just as Werner actually comes out of the tavern, mug of mead still in hand.
Werner VS:
I’m here!… I’m here Dr. Simmons!… And I’ve never met this woman before in my life…
Lilith:
Oh stow it Werner… I don’t know why exactly… But the Black Box Extremis treatment… seems to make someone like you immune to my thrall… Victor broke free of my control too… and fairly quickly… But he returned to his mother’s side after that psychic girl Robin outed me and my plans before the Black Queen and all of my followers… former followers… A vampire cure isn’t exactly as popular among vampires… as your average normie would assume…
Werner VS:
Good… my memory condition seems to make it really difficult to lie… or even just pretend… and I seem to have become something of a motormouth… and I seem to be getting worse… and I don’t think that I was ever fully under your thrall… That’s another side effect of my condition probably… I was just going along for the ride for the most part… to see what happens… I don’t know about the other one…
Dr. Simmons:
Did you at least see it?…
Lilith:
No… I know she’s using it here… to piggyback on something that Dr. Elias Morrow says is called… the Psycho Fandango… some sort of AIM terrorism…
Daisy:
Dr. Elias Morrow?… Robbie and Gabriel Reyes’ uncle?…
Lilith:
I don’t really know the man… But he’s been using the book for the Black Queen… and for quite some time it seems… Selene would never trust me with it… or even near it… But Elias likes to brag… and to explain… especially to attractive woman…
Daisy:
I don’t know how I’m ever going to tell Robbie… even less so for Gabriel… Gabriel seriously looks up to the dude… I’m gonna need some proof of that… not just the queen of the vampires say so…
Werner VS:
Lilith… You seemed to know Logan… and Victor… from before… Are they really the Black Queen’s sons?…
Lilith:
Yes… They are… And I do go way back… way too far back… with both the Black Queen herself… and her various offspring… and their cult of zombie followers… allies of inconvenience… to say the least… and unavoidable ones from time to time… Given that my enemy was almost always an ally of Hydra…
Dr. Simmons:
So now that our little subterfuge is finally over… you might have some better luck with Dir. Mace and Shield… He was very interested in your desire for a cure… and I have been sharing some of our research with him… Some of the treatments that I’ve developed… while not serving as a cure… nonetheless serve to help potentially allow vampires to lead somewhat normal lives… if they want to… And since Shield knows of their existence… they won’t be able to hide very effectively any more anyway…
Spartan:
Did you know about this Dr. Simmons?… This alleged double game against the Black Queen?… What for?… specifically?…
Dr. Simmons:
Yes… I knew… I even suggested it… The target… was a book… a book known to have been used to create the vampires of earth to begin with… by sorcerers in Atlantis of all things… according to legend… The Black Queen herself is known to have used it on numerous occasions… It’s called the Darkhold… And according to the legend… it can even be used to undo the curse… Much as I may not like to admit it… there are limits to the scientific method… and the cure for vampirism may well be beyond those limits… You should know by the way… that Morgana is here… She says that you can’t be trusted… She’s Fitz’ mum… if you can believe it…
Lilith:
She’s right… on all counts…
Spartan:
Okay… Got it… You got it dad… We’ll handle it… Okay… Here’s the rundown… Dad doesn’t trust you guys… But he trusts Dr. Simmons… So we’re gonna set you guys up on what’s left of Cal Tech campus… They’re gonna have to reclaim part of it for her lab… her vampire lab… among other things… No arguments… and no trouble… We’re your escort… You’ll meet back up with Dr. Simmons there later… Nobody trusts you in Emerald City with King Odin… They barely trust Dr. Simmons here… and only by medical necessity… Nothing personal…
Lilith:
Nothing personal taken…
Ruby:
I can’t agree… I think I will take something personal…
Ruby runs up and surprises Spartan with a kiss on his lips.
Ruby:
Just in case I can’t repay you for your escort later…
Daisy:
Emma’s gonna hear about this later… and Ward…
Lilith:
Don’t play with the child Ruby… Clearly he’s led a very sheltered life…
Spartan:
Born and raised in Niflheim… If you can call that shelter… then you go live there…
Ruby:
I like him… Can I keep him Mistress Lilith?…
Lilith:
Careful Ruby… The pretty ones are usually taken… or gay…
Spartan:
I’m not gay… But I may be taken…
Ruby:
May be?… Don’t you know?…
Spartan:
It’s new… and started under false pretenses…
Daisy:
You didn’t seem to mind at the time…
Loco:
But we’ve lead sheltered lives in Niflheim…
Dr. Simmons:
I’ll leave you to your escort Mistress Lilith… I’m sure they’ll be full of questions though… But I have to attend to an experimental procedure… It’s unrelated… But it has promising implications… as a new line of research… of resurrection… in various forms… under the peculiar influence of this… Psycho Fandango…
Lilith:
Where is the other one?… your friend agent May?… I made you turn her to assist you… and to help to protect you… As my protege… you are now a target yourself by association…
Dr. Simmons:
They can get in line… May is in Malibu with Coulson… and probably won’t even notice this thing till it’s all over…
Daisy:
Anyone who wants a piece of Jemma… will have to go through me first… whether they’re friend or foe… And don’t think for a second that I’m forgetting what you did to May and Simmons… just because you’re still undead to talk about it… I’m letting you stay in one piece for May and Simmons sake… But I wouldn’t take that for granted if I were you…
Lilith:
I never do…
Ruby:
Come on Werner… You don’t seem to have a ride of your own at the moment… You can ride with me… Do you remember me?…
Werner VS:
Yeah… I remember being beaten because of you… when we were kids… But yeah… I remember you… I remember everything… whether I want to or not…
Ruby:
Well… Come ride with me… And maybe we can make some better memories…
Loco:
She got over you quick…
Spartan:
Shut up loco… Lets go…
Daisy and Simmons return to Emerald City on Daisy’s hover quad, as the vampire escort gets under way for Cal Tech. Robbie and Gen. Talbot are hoping for better news for Dr. Wilkes, as a distraction from what’s still fresh in their memory when they pull in to Emerald City. Dr. Van Dyne, Dr. Pym, and Dr. Simmons greet them when they arrive, along with Dr. Wilkes and Dotty, eager for resolution. They are led through the city to the time vault where the Wolf King put Dr. Diablo in stasis. Dr. Laufey stands there waiting with Morgana and Ilsa, and the other acolytes of Avalon, except for Dr. Selvig who’s off getting started with the science of the bigger problem.
Robbie Reyes:
Are you sure this a good idea?… I mean… that thing wasn’t overwhelmingly evil… But he was more than enough to be of concern…
Dr. Wilkes:
I can’t get my head together as it is now… I feel like I need to be… complete… There’s nothing else I can do right now…
Dr. Laufey:
The persona of Dr. Diablo may simply be the dark side of Dr. Wilkes own psyche… Whatever the effect of leaving him apart may be… Dr. Wilkes may never be complete without him…
Dotty:
Well I’m not afraid of his dark side… I’m way darker than he is… You know what I mean… If it were me… I might leave him out… But I’m not Jason… I’m no scientist… My brain is not nearly so crucial… It might be worth the price to me… But not necessarily to Jason…
Morgana:
Not necessarily to anyone… Such bifurcation of the human soul… whatever the reason or the method… is never without consequences… sometimes of an extreme… and extremely unpredictable nature… The risk of separation… is greater than the risk of unification… in my view… whatever the nature of this darkness may be…
Dr. Laufey:
Dr. Wilkes?… What will it be?…
Dr. Wilkes:
Lets do this… I need to be whole… So how do we do this?…
Dr. Laufey:
That remains to seen… This is unprecedented no matter how you look at it… If it were simply a question of magic… it would be chancy enough… But this is the product of a hybrid process… the kind of hybrid process that we are only just beginning to study… We’re essentially attempting an experimental technological process… with magical assistance… And we don’t have the process… The little dragon gargoyle just reabsorbed himself into your head… We didn’t do anything to make that happen… But I suspect our Dr. Diablo friend might put up more resistance
Morgana:
Lets just start with a general healing to facilitate the other process… and improvise the rest when we open up the vault… Maybe we’ll get lucky… Either way… there’s nothing to be gained by talking endlessly about it… Especially when we have nothing else to go on… Ilsa… Follow my lead… and the rest of you begin the purification ritual… But keep your eyes open… and be ready for anything…
Morgana and Ilsa begin to play their flutes, as the others begin to chant. Dr. Laufey presses some buttons on the controls of the time vault, and enters a code into the key pad. The vault door cracks open, and steam escapes through the crack, as the vault door swings open. Dr. Diablo floats there with the flaming chain still wrapped around him. He’s smiling as the door opens, then stops smiling when he sees Dr. Wilkes.
A small ant sized dragon gargoyle crawls out of Dr. Wilkes right ear and jumps out onto his right shoulder. The dragon enlarges to hulk like proportions as it flies off of Dr. Wilkes shoulder, and grabs Dr. Diablo with both hands. The dragon’s hinged jaw opens wide, and swallows Dr. Diablo whole, to the shock of everyone, as the music and the chanting stops.
Morgana:
Well that’s one way to handle it…
The dragon shrinks down again to the size of a fly again, and flies back into Dr. Wilkes Right ear.
Dotty:
Is that handled?…
Dr. Wilkes:
I think so… I remember now… what happened to me… Malekith did this to me… after the Black Queen’s new slave Ava handed me over to him on a silver platter… He tried to colonize me alive as a means of killing me… and making me his FSB zombie slave… I don’t know exactly how I survived… But as I was held kneeling before him… and I dosed myself with Black Box Extremis… A treatment that I had turned down because I thought that it might destabilize my special condition… But as I thought I was going to die… or something worse… I took my chances with the full treatment… Then I lost consciousness… But it seems to have worked… with a little help…
Dotty:
More like a lot of help!… and a minor miracle!…
Dr. Simmons:
It seems to me that… the Black Box Extremis infused your living tissue… with enough of the stuff for your FSB… to eventually reconstruct your body in response to Ilsa’s flute… when some of that very same tissue ended up within the dragon creature… a miraculous convergence of circumstances for sure…
Morgana:
But some part of him had to hang on… well enough and long enough… just to make that miracle possible…
Politics Are Poison!
Poison That Never Ends!
Battles Of Shadows And Mist!
That Forever Never End!
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