The first thing Bruja had to deal with upon her arrival to Asgard: Horses.
Specifically the fact she had to ride one as a human rather than as a cat. And she knew better than to make it a flying horse, because the animal would likely panic.
Sighing in her head, Bruja reluctantly got onto the large beast...but rather than ride side-saddle, which was far more convenient given she was stuck in her usual white dress, she chose the smarter option.
She switched her dress into a pair of plain jeans and a white shirt that connected to her collar.
All her years riding a broom (and a few other things in her cat form) made it easier for her to pick up on riding the horse. It wasn't that much different from riding a hippogryff.
Half an hour later...
Loki took one look at the evil cat who had so mercilessly pranked the hell out of him and scooted as far back as he could away from her. She grinned.
"Someone has a long memory. Good," said Diana a little too smug.
Loki winced.
"You'll be happy to know I've been brought here to show you who the superior mage is. No physical attacks unless they're magic based."
Loki perked up at the implied challenge, but not at the fact he would be facing her.
"What are the rules?" asked Loki, almost warily.
"We're going to a dead planet where we can go no-holds-barred on our magic. Meaning you can go all out with your powers without having to worry about collateral damage... at least that's the idea anyway."
"And what's in it for me?"
"We break you of those ridiculous daddy-issues you have and get you to focus on something other than proving you're better than Thor, you get to leave Asgard for a while. And really Loki, why are you so dead set on Thor anyway? He's a blond, for crying out loud."
"What does his hair color have to do with anything?"
"There's a bit of a stereotype on Midgard stating almost all blonds are complete idiots. Dumb blond, is the term I believe," stated Diana flatly.
"And what's in it for you?"
"Misplaced aggression and a chance to compare myself with a real magic user, not those pathetic stick wavers. Besides, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s little magic group never has anything for a straight out front-line attacker and her tank of a boyfriend."
"...Tank?"
"Video-game term. Means they can take heavy damage and then deal it out in return. If I'm the one who deals the major spells, then the 'Hulk' is my shield, the one I stay behind while he destroys the enemies who simply can't take a hint and stay down."
Loki thought that one over, and realized she had a point.
"Besides... Hel really doesn't want to deal with seeing you sulk for a century again," she added as an after-thought.
Loki choked.
The realm of the Dark Elves. A dead world. A world where there would be no interruptions of any kind, where they could unleash their most destructive of magics.
Loki approved.
Thor reluctantly went back to Asgard, where he would stand watch with his mother using her scrying mirrors.
Diana allowed Loki to make the first move. And he did so by testing the waters...with a massive fireball.
If there was no reason to hold back, then he wouldn't bother to.
Diana smirked, and leaned back to allow the blast to pass over her. She wasn't in her usual white gown that Bruja wore to keep Pepper from annoying her about her nudity.
Diana was in the full garb of what would be traditionally worn by a Master Sorceress. One who generally rivaled any goddess of magic in power and knowledge. It was a long dress that changed color depending on who looked at it.
In Loki's eyes, it shined an immortal silver, almost like pure moonlight. Her eyes shimmered like liquid pools of green...almost emerald in quality, but more alive than any mere stone or gem. Her skin was a healthy golden color, that of someone who spent a good amount of time in the sun, but not so much that her skin burned. Her feet were almost bare, save for the sandals that were in the shape of a large cat's paw.
She wore no belt, for her tail snugly wrapped around her waist. Her eyes flicked this way and that, catching every sound, even those too low or high for a human to hear.
Diana's retaliation for the blast was quick, and to the point. Hurricane winds whipped up in a fury surrounding her. Loki's flames could not hope to match such power, as she sent them towards him with whip-like qualities.
Loki shielded as best he could, but her winds were unrelenting.
Realizing a direct assault was pointless, Loki shifted to his best moves.
Outright trickery and illusion.
With no reason to hold back, Loki's grin was downright evil as he began his assault on the sorceress.
Magic filled the air. Winds whipped around with all the fury of the strongest storms and the most terrifying gales. Chunks of earth were thrown apart, transformed, destroyed, obliterated. Illusions were cast, ignored or turned aside.
Terrifying transformations of the mages were seen as great beasts slammed into each other with every intent to kill the other, only for some new trick or spell to turn away the killing blow at the last possible moment.
There was a reason why Diana insisted that the fight between master level sorcerers be held on a dead planet. The sheer damage done would have made even the most cynical person quake in horror.
Thor was given a sobering realization that Loki could have done far, far worse if he had been given the chance. Had he chosen to destroy, rather than simply rule...the consequences would have been devastating.
Thor wasn't the only one watching the battle. All over Asgard, the scene of the least-favored Prince against the unknown cat-earred woman was being watched.
Mages all over the realms were being vindicated as they watched Loki cause such devastation using nothing but magic, rather than simple brute force.
Then came the final, massive clash of magic...and Loki was left kneeling at the feet of the unknown sorceress.
"Do you yield, God of Mischief?"
"I yield," he said, though in his tone was something he did not give lightly.
Respect.
The woman held out her hand, and helped Loki up.
"It's been a while since I was given a real challenge of my skills. You were a very worthy opponent...especially given that I wasn't pulling out my very best tricks on you."
"Who are you?"
"My name is Diana... the mortal Priestess of Hel herself," she said formally. "For I shall become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."
Silence.
Back in Asgard...
"You asked Hel's Chosen to challenge Loki?!" hissed Frigga.
All gods sensed the moment Hel claimed her Avatar among the humans, for she could not leave her realm so freely. However her Chosen, a witch of Midgard, could enact Hel's will without breaking the celestial laws.
Thanos, the Mad Titan in particular, wished to find and either convert the Chosen or eradicate her before she threatened his attempts to court Death herself.
It was rumored that the Chosen asked for a favor of her Goddess, but no one knew what the favor had been.
Now they had a general idea. Thor had been quite vocal about what he knew of the oddity that was Bruja, the feline companion of the "Hulk". What little he knew about her, what little Tony had been able to find... she was quite the mystery, because Loki had recognized the feel of the magic that kept her in feline form, but could not identify who had done it.
For Hel to lock her Chosen in the form of a cat... it was quite unusual.
Loki eyed Diana warily. In Asgard, she had yet to revert back to her lazy, if rather playful self as Bruja the cat-eared witch. Instead she was the sadistic and utterly vengeful Diana, which was really worrying Thor.
Fortunately for the hammer-heavy blond god, Diana was on her best behavior.
Well that and they were able to politely ask her to direct her surprisingly bloodthirsty nature towards the bandits.
She apparently got off on overpowering her opponents and sending them sky-high.
If she had been Bruja, she would have compared Diana as a combination of Lina Inverse (for sheer magical power and casual disregard for life) and Akano Himejima from High School DxD (for how much she enjoyed acting as the Master Sorceress she was and torturing weaker bandits).
On the plus side, Loki had yet to hear a single word about how magic was lesser compared to brute strength. The Warriors Three were actually respecting him again as a fellow warrior, even if it was only because Loki demonstrated exactly what he could do when he was both pissed off and not in the mood to hold anything back.
"So tell me, Chosen, exactly what is that great brute to you anyway? A foot soldier?" asked Loki.
"Hardly. The 'Hulk', as the mortals call him, is my consort. Like him, I draw my greatest reserves from my rage, except I know how to channel it better," said Diana with a scoff. "However Bruce has yet to cop onto the fact that Bruja genuinely cares for him as more than just a 'pet-owner' deal."
If one were to compare the relationship Diana had with the Hulk, or more specifically the fact that in terms of sheer magical power she could be his rival, then the easiest word to use would be consort.
Husband and wife was a mortal concept, and the bonds between them far too easily broken. Lovers was too impersonal. A 'mistress' meant that the Hulk was superior to her in some way. However a consort was considered the equal of their partner.
Diana happened to like the Hulk. Bruja, the part of her that still felt love, cared for Bruce deeply.
In short, Diana considered the Hulk worthy of her affection. Enough that she would stick by him when the mortals finally decided they were too 'afraid' of his presence.
"Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to find anyone worthy of my attentions?" said Diana.
Loki took one look in her eyes and shivered, glad that he had not been unfortunate enough to garner her attention.
Bruce felt nervous...for more than one reason.
Thor had practically dragged him to the gate and brought him to Asgard without much explanation. At first he thought something had happened to Bruja, and that Thor needed the Hulk's help to get her back.
Then he found out the real reason.
Bruja/Diana didn't need saving...the Asgardians needed Bruce to save them from her.
Bruce honestly had no idea Diana was into S and M, or that she could be so terrifying without someone to reign her in. Seeing her blast bandits into whimpering puddles of flesh crying for their mothers was somewhat horrifying.
Her evil laughter was more than a little disturbing. He was honestly more surprised she wasn't wearing some leather outfit designed to emphasize her body to complete the look.
"So let me get this straight. She scared Loki into behaving and earned him the respect he should have gotten centuries ago...but now you can't get her to leave?" said Bruce, incredulous.
Thor winced.
"Diana said that she had been sleeping for too long as it is, and she didn't want to give up on having fun, since she knows full well that the humans of Earth would frown upon her real self," said Thor, emphasizing her name.
Bruce had known there was a split personality in his feline girlfriend...he just had no idea it was their personalities were this far apart.
Bruja was a lazy, mischievous cat who would like nothing better than to sleep all day.
Diana was an absolute nightmare who got off on the pain of others and who wouldn't hesitate to blast people just because she was the most powerful witch in existence.
Loki appeared, and gave Diana a wide berth.
"Could you please take the Chosen back to your planet? At least until she switches from Diana back into your pet witch?" pleaded Loki.
Bruce almost winced. He just hoped he didn't get blasted for approaching her.
Diana's feline ears perked up at the sound of someone approaching.
She turned, her hands glowing in preparation to blast whoever was interrupting her fun. Her eyes softened and slowly bleed back to the lazy green of Bruja.
"Nya... Took you long enough to figure out she wasn't going to stop 'playing'," said Bruja.
Bruja looked at the baffled expressions of the bandits.
"Playing with weaklings like you is boring, nya. Diana must have been really, really bored to 'play' with you losers," said Bruja with a contemptuous look.
"Bruja?" said Bruce carefully, hoping she didn't blast him or anything.
"We like you, so you're safe from her 'play'. But you two should have called him in sooner, before her sadist side came out so much...she doesn't really have that much restraint because of the conditioning," said Bruja cryptically, pointing at the two Asgardians.
Dumbledore wanted a savior, a martyr who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice herself to his greater good bull.
And he got it...in spades. However thanks to the fact the Dursleys never showed Diana any real kindness or humanity growing up, and the pressure placed on her by the very people she was supposed to save, Diana's 'Golden Gryffindor' image snapped.
Like a brittle twig.
By the end of the war, Diana had no patience for others, and developed a sadistic personality to make Bellatrix Lestrange look like an innocent school girl. She just didn't draw it out as much as the older witch.
If Diana had stayed in England after the war was over, she would have easily cast aside her Light image and turned into the most feared Dark Lady.
She would much rather be Bruja.