Of Lesser Pantheons
Disclaimer: The respective characters and locations are all property of Marvel and DC comics companies. I own nothing.
Ch 1 Learning of the Distressed Damsel
A young man sat on a fire escape on the side of an apartment building humming an upbeat tune to himself his hands toying with the pommel of a Viking style sword that lay across his lap. The humming stopped abruptly when he heard the oh so familiar wail of sirens and saw the distinct red and blue flash of police squad car lights twenty-five stories below. The young man sighed and glanced at the digital watch strapped to his left wrist, "Yeah, I got time." He said to no one in particular. He leaned back and opened the apartment window. "Mom! I'm going out for a bit!" he yelled.
He stood up cracked his neck then, grasping the thick leather strip that hung from the swords pommel he bean to spin the weapon. The blade gained speed until it was nothing but a gray blur, then with a slight grunt of effort he went as if to throw it, only he held tight to the leather strip, the weapon launched into the air, and carried him with it.
As he soared after the sound of the sirens, a faint light gathered around him, this light intensified until he was lost within it, then just as suddenly as it had gathered the light dispersed leaving him dressed not in common street clothes but armor which glowed ever so faintly with a light blue color. The helmet was a simple dome with cheek guards coming down underneath his eyes and then curving to connect to the nose piece, hiding most of his face from view, a heavy shirt of ring mail covered his upper arms and torso cinched at the waist with a broad heavy belt stylized forearm and shin guards completed the set. "Let's have a little look-see…." He muttered, raising his free left hand a faint bluish glow encompassed his fingers which he taped gently against the eye slots in his helmet.
His sight distorted as if he was seeing the world through a fish-eye lens, even as this happened the criminal's car and the pursuing police cars seemed to leap forward in his vision, enlarging as the spell amplified his sight. The criminal's car was a windowless bright yellow van with the words "en guard!" spray painted across the sides along with a poorly depicted sword. "Joy, him again." The young man said dryly. Increasing speed so that he was above the van he then angled his sword downward, then simply let himself fall onto its hood. With a squeal of tortured metal his enchanted blade carved through the hood and through the engine, the mechanical parts shredding themselves as they continued to ram against the near unbreakable blade. A shriek of rubber on road and the smell of burning rubber filled the air as the van careened out of control and swerved into the front of a coffee shop shattering the window as patrons dove to get away.
The driver's side door swung open and a man dressed in a suit of fencer's gear dragged himself out coughing and groaning. The sword wielding villain had been a promising Olympic fencer, however his drive to face only the best opponents led him to believe that the Olympic level was beneath him, so he had sought out another blade wielding individual that he believed would offer a challenge, Nathanial Thorson The Prince of Thunder son of Thor and EMT Jane Foster. Their initial dual lasted only a few seconds when the Prince of Thunders enchanted blade had carved through The Fencers slim rapier like a twig, this followed by a mean left hook but the former medalist down for the count. The Dualist would not be denied however, after recovering he had sought out the Prince again, and again, with each defeat as quick as the last. He began committing petty crime in order to get the young heroes attention, attempting to force circumstances into his favor, in short he became obsessed.
"What is it this time Fencer? A bank?" the Prince asked as he hopped of the destroyed hood.
"I tried that, but the bitch behind the counter laughed at me, so then I figured I'd speed around a bit to get your attention. I see that my plan worked! On guard!" The Fencer said with a horribly impersonated French accent, as he raised his rapier.
"You know what? I don't think I need Ygradier for this." The Prince said, setting his sword on one of the coffee shop tables that hadn't fallen over.
The Fencer did not reply he merely lunged forward with a thrust attempting to skewer what he believed was an unprepared opponent. The Prince merely hopped to the side and grabbed the blade as it went by him, he then yanked the wannabe villain into a brutal head but The Fencer was once again down for the count. The Prince sighed, as he looked around at the damage done o the shop as he called Ygradier to his waiting hand.
Looking over in the direction of the still intact counter Nathanial said "Hey pal I got somewhere I need to be, can you tell the cops what happened when they get here?" The stunned, and possibly stoned, teen behind the counter said in a near monotone voice "Sure dude, oh…uh you want coffee or something man?"
Nathanial glanced up from his watch "Nah I gotta go."
Spinning his sword he took off. After several city blocks had been covered he stopped, his head cocked slightly to the side when he heard a distinct thwip thwip. Turning slowly in the air the armor clad teen saw a distinct spider themed hero about his age swinging on web lines along other side of the street.
"Hey web-head!" Nathanial yelled "Better hurry up or your gonna be late!"
Spider-man yelled something back but it was lost in the blare of traffic and the never ending sound of New York. Nathanial chuckled and then turned and continued on his earlier course, while picking up speed.
"I have to beat him there, man he'll be so pissed!" Nathanial said to himself with a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. As Nathanial rocketed around the final corner to his destination he jerked to a halt as something latched onto his leg.
"What the…?" he said, he glanced over his shoulder in time to see a red and blue blur swing by him.
"To slow dude!" Spider-man said as he passed.
"Damn it Webs!" Nathanial said as he cut the webbing with his sword.
He flew after the arachnid themed hero, catching him as he reached a door at the back of a building, in one of New York's many alleys.
PAFF in a telltale puff of smoke a blue skinned demonic looking teen appeared on a dumpster near them.
"Dudes! Zer you guys are!" Nightcrawler said warmly.
"What we late or something?" Spider-man asked.
"Or somethink." Nightcrawler said grinning.
The Prince of Thunder and Your Friendly Neighborhood Wall crawler both groaned, when Kurt was grinning it usually didn't mean anything was funny from anyone else's perspective.
"Well time to pay the piper I guess." Nathanial said as he pulled open the door. Inside this seemingly nondescript entrance was one of the greatest of any teen guys dreams.
"Oh shit!" Nathanial yelled as he swung his sword up to block a fireball that was going to try its hardest to turn his face into hamburger, the flames circled around the enchanted blade before being absorbed into it.
"What the hell Johnny!" he all but yelled, Johnny Storm the Human Torch stood in the middle of a vast room that was that teen guys dream partly on fire and fuming.
"The pizza is almost cold and the games already on!" he yelled.
"It's on already!" Spider-man said "Dibs on the recliner!" he yelled as he web zipped to the other side of the room, on the wall in front of several chairs and a couch was a massive flat screen plasma TV. A table stacked with snacks, drinks, and pizza sat in between the seats and the screen. The large room was full of things that could hold a teen guys attention for hours individually but combined they made the greatest hideout in hero history, at least according to them. Old arcade style games were packed into one corner while in the other there was a smaller TV hooked up to a console gaming system. Along one wall was a bar stocked with (non-alcoholic) drinks, and a set of pool and air hockey tables completed the awesomeness.
"Remind me again Johnny, how did you got all this stuff?" Nathanial said.
"Oh, you know, bugging my insanely rich sister and brother in law until they give in, the usual." The Human Torch said with a shrug as he walked toward the couch.
"Sweet." Nathanial said following, his armor disappearing with a faint humming sound.
"Oh by all means leave me to lock ze door." Kurt said annoyed as he turned to a numerical electronic lock that sat on the wall to the side of the door. After he punched in the appropriate code a robotic voice said "Security measures activated."
PAFF…..PAFF Kurt disappeared and reappeared on one of the smaller chairs.
"Turn it up dude!" Spider-man said to Johnny, The Torch grumbled but obliged. The sound of electric guitars and heavy drums filled the room, pouring out of the massive audio system to hammer their ears.
"Welcome folks to the 50th annual-" the announcers voice was cut short, in fact all sound in the room stopped.
"Johnny what the hell man?" Nathanial said, when he received no response he turned fully intending to smack his friend upside the head. He froze, Johnny wasn't there, in his place sat a woman dressed in a Greek style toga with a crown made out of golden leaves on her head.
"Gah!" Nathanial said jerking backwards only to come to an abrupt stop as he ran into another woman this one wearing an ornate breastplate and holding a helmet in her hands. Making another less than manly noise he jerked away falling of the couch and onto the floor scrambling up and over the table, knocking over bowls of popcorn and pizza boxes in the process, he grabbed Ygradier and pointed it first at one then the other woman.
"Be at peace, Child of Thunder." The first woman said, "We do not wish to harm you."
"Who are you?" Nathanial said inwardly wincing when his voice cracked.
"You know the answer to that question already." Said the woman wearing the breastplate.
Nathanial's eyes narrowed to slits as he extended his senses beyond the physical, his eyes shot open wide. He quickly lowered his sword and gave a slight nervous laugh.
"A thousand apologies Lady Hera, and to you as well Lady Athena" he said to the first and second women respectively.
"None are needed young Thorson." Hera said, "We surprised you, your reaction was to be expected."
"Well…uh…what can I do for you ma'am?" Nathanial asked, mentally patting himself on the back when his voice didn't crack.
"You are aware of the existence of Amazons, yes?" said Athena.
"Um…yes ma'am." He said, his hands towing nervously with the hilt of his sword as he shifted his weight uneasily from foot to foot.
"One of our daughters will soon come to a grueling series of trials, that she is fated to fail, we will not see that come to pass." Athena said, "However as the Fates have decreed this we cannot intervene, but that does not mean we cannot seek help outside Olympus."
"So you go to Asgard for aid." He said nodding as he began to understand, "But wait…why are you coming to me surely Baldur or the Warriors Three would gladly take the chance of an adventure."
Hera nodded and said "The one of which we speak is relatively young and new to Man's World, those who you name while they are near peerless in bravery and skill will not be able to relate to her and be the type of companion that she will need."
"It must be you young Thorson, your father and king have granted consent that this also serve as your coming of age trial." Athena said, one of her hands toying with the horsehair crest on her helmet.
Nathanial grunted, "Two birds one stone, I get it."
"There is a…hiccup…if you will, the one that we speak of does not live within this dimension." Hera said.
"So that means I have to pack an extra pair of jeans? Or maybe extra-dimensional socks?" Nathanial said grinning, "I have experience with trans-dimensional travel ma'am."
"To other forms of this dimension perhaps, but the one of which we speak lies in whole new territory for you, with its own heroes, while it is not unlike this one we wished to make sure that you were forewarned." Hera said with a slight smile tugging at her lips.
"Well, I'll just have to pack a toothbrush then won't I?" Nathanial said with a grin, his confidence coming back in spades.
"Excellent." Hera said, she waved her hand and his travel bag appeared beside him, "All you will need is within."
Nathanial Thorson cracked his neck, shouldered his bag and gripped Ygradier tightly, "Let's do this!" he exclaimed.
Hera nodded slightly and raised her hand, a golden light encompassed him and when is vanished so did he.
"He certainly was…enthusiastic." Athena said, chuckling slightly.
Wonder Woman sat at a table in the Watchtowers mess hall her younger sister Donna sat beside her as they talked about life on Themyscara since Diana's banishment. A golden light appeared above the table and a young man fell from it, "Yikes!" yelled the teen, with a loud bang his head connected with the edge of the table and he fell off to the side.
Both of the Amazons moved quickly Donna moving to check a pulse while Diana mentally contacted J'onn and told him to gather the League.
"Is he alive sister?" Diana asked her sibling.
"Yes but he is unconscious." Donna replied, her head cocked slightly to the side as she saw his face up close she was surprised that she found him somewhat attractive. Her vision shifted to include the rest of him; she hummed in curiosity when she saw the sword that had fallen through with him. She reached over and gripped it by the hilt, when she went to lift it however she found that it would not move, no matter how hard she pulled with her impressive strength. Glancing up at the sound of footsteps she saw her sister and several other members of the League approaching. Batman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkgirl, and Green Lantern had all been on the Watchtower when he had fallen through so they had responded to J'onn's telepathic summons.
"Were did he come from?" Batman asked roughly.
"That's just it Batman, we don't know." Wonder Woman replied.
"we had best get him to the medical wing, see if he's alright, then we can question him when he wakes up." Superman said.
The Caped Crusader merely scowled.
