Year 20.
Land of Timeless Mists.
"Are we finally gonna do this Xan?" Faith asked Xander. He was standing behind Dawn with one hand on her shoulder, while she had her hand on Dawn's other shoulder. This would be their second attempt at getting back home.
The last time Xander had aborted because he remembered something nineteen years earlier. The rest of the team was about to be attacked by a large force of Ice Giants. If this was the case they couldn't afford to arrive exhausted and unconscious like they did when they ported into 'The Land of Timeless Mists.' so the abort. Instead they spent the last year teaching the kids how to channel their cosmic energies to others. Her kids, and Dawn's kids had the ability. The kids had between ten and twenty percent of the energy reserves she and Xander were able to call on. Still between the five kids they were able to get another one hundred and twenty percent.
That energy would feed her, Xander and Dawn. They were hoping it would be enough not to fall face down like the last time.
Loki and Hilda would be coming with only Gram. Fenris had decided to stay on. He said that this was his home, but she could tell that there was something else going on.
"Alex, Jenny and Joyce. Remember stay in your Ice Wolf forms." Xander told his kids.
"But daaad! They're hot." Joyce complained.
"Not where we're going." he told her.
Joyce didn't believe him. He had a tendency to stretch the truth from time to time. Gram put his hands around her and calmed her nerves down. She smiled at him and gave him a quick kiss.
"Boys and girls make sure your gravity guns are pointing up at the sky and try not to hit anything that looks like Jackie, except in 'Red & Gold' that would be..." Clint was interrupted by his oldest.
"Jeez dad we know. Cut it out and take care of your end and we'll take care of ours." phil his oldest complained.
"Yes daddy. Now is so not the time."
"You too Tasha? I'm wounded..." he clutched his chest as if an arrow hit heart.
She laughed, "Silly daddy." she smiled. He always made her laugh.
"Enough. Everyone here?" asked Dawn.
"Yes!" everyone answered back.
"Then we're go..." she started the spell to punch through this dimension to get back to their starting origin in Joitenhiem, and not Earth.
As the energy built up in the portal machine she felt a constant flood of energy from both Xander and Faith replacing the energy she was using up.
She then twisted the handle and the portal opened, "Can anyone hear me?" she called on her Avengers com badge.
"This is the Black Widow. You're loud and clear, be advised that you'll be coming in hot into Ice Charlie territory."
"Nice to hear your voice Nat. Don't shoot the kids." and with that the entire party made the transition from one dimension to the next.
Natasha's warning was right on the money. They came out in downtown Ice Central.
05:43:11 P.M.
June 14/2012
Joutenhiem
Ice Giant Encampment
"Avengers be advised the party's back and they have re-enforcements with them. I'm sending IDs. Now. Get. Your. Butts. In. Gear!" she demanded.
Still invisible she ran to the group. On the ethereal map she could see that both Xander and Faith were almost cursing on empty.
*Gungnir start re-charging them!* she ordered the spear.
*ALREADY DOING SO! I NEED TO TOUCH THEM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE FOR A FULL ENERGY TRANSFER!*
Natasha didn't answer, but she increased her speed and went all out. She reached Faith first and became visible as soon as the spear touched her.
"Don't shoot! That's your aunt Tasha!" Clint yelled at he kids.
"Incoming! Get the magic users!" she pointed at he advancing shamans that were already on their way to start their hourly chant.
"As one all gravity canons were pointed at the shamans and with a slight hum they fired as one.
Of the shamans only three survived. They had cast shields instead of opting for attack spells. It was all that saved their lives.
Oops...Did I Do That...?05:45:02 P.M.
June 14/2012
Joutenhiem
Ice Giant Encampment
"YOU FOOLS ARE DOOMED!" one of the three surviving shamans yelled.
"Give me a second, and it won't matter to ya." Clint put away the canon and grabbed his flex bow.
"HAHAHAHA!" the shaman laughed maniacally. "We are all dead! Ymir is coming. Nothing stands in his way now!"
Clint fired his magic arrow. The one specifically made by him and with a little help from Dawn to penetrate shields. Any kind of shields.
"Clint hold up. I wanna hear this..." Xander was a little late, as Clint had already fired.
The shaman waved his hand negligently and deflected the arrow. It hit his neighbor. The shaman shrugged.
"What do you mean we're all dead. Usually when someone says that, they don't include themselves as part of the body count."
Natasha had reached the party by this time and pressed Gungnir into Faith's hand. Faith pushed the spear away, but the contact was enough to flood her body with cosmic energy. Her body spasmed, but she bit down on the scream that tried to leave her mouth. She gave Nat the look.
"No choice. You needed it." Natasha shrugged. Faith let the matter drop. She was curious as to why Xander was doing the parley thing.
"Ymir is coming. We are all dead. We have been slowing his arrival for days, but now..." the shaman looked around him at all the dead and shattered remains of his colleagues. Whoever defiled the holy spot. Summoned Ymir. We've been trying to convince his dormant spirit to stay dormant, but the Fates deem it otherwise. A new age of destruction is coming. None here shall survive to see it."
"RUN!" Xander shouted and commanded everyone to vacate the area. The Ice Giants started to arrive at the spot. The kids laid down another volley to slow them down and they all ran in the direction the Black Widow came from.
"Xander where's Loki?" Nat asked as she pressed Gungnir into his hand.
Xander yelled, "Aarrgghh!" he caught his breath and said, "Damn it Nat. A little warning next time. I'll never get used to that burning feeling."
"She said." the dead pan delivery was perfect.
"Joking in the face of an Apocalyptic nightmare? I'm so proud of you Nat. We'll make a Scooby out of you yet."
"Over my dead body." she told him as anther crack in the ice appeared.
"What's the story?"
"Gungnir said that they were summoning this big 'Old One' type being called Ymir."
"The original Ice Giant?" Xander asked for confirmation.
"So he tells me. But if the shaman is telling the truth, and they were trying to keep him asleep...", *Hey. Spear of misdirection any reason why the shaman shouldn't be telling the truth *
*...ONE!*
*One what?*
*ONE WORD. ONE MEANING CONFIRMS. ANOTHER DENIES. IT WAS A FIFTY-FIFTY CHANCE!*
"What did he say?" Xander asked as they ran for the wall.
"How do you know I was talking to him." she held up the spear.
Xander shrugged, " Been there, done that type thing. After a while you start recognizing the signs. Give..."
"He mistranslated a word. One meaning is positive, the other negative."
"Oh! I can see how that can happen." Xander nodded sagely.
"You mean you believe him?"
"Oh sure. Happens more often than you know." he smiled even at a time like this he would rather keep joking and making sure his friends, didn't let the gravity of the situation affect their actions. It used to be his main contribution to the effort, even though he was cosmically powered up the wazoo, it didn't mean that he should slack off at what he saw as his main job. The job of making sure the big guns, and all guns for that matter were firing on all cylinders and doing their job of saving the world. He would never lose sight of that.
*THE KNIGHT IN BLACK IS WISE. LISTEN TO HIS ADVICE!* Gungnir knew that the Black Knight was giving him an out. He would be less willing to sacrifice him in the future.
On the Move...05:45:39 P.M. June 14/2012 Joutenhiem Avengers Base Camp.
"They're back! Fliers grab the nons and let's get gone." Tony looked at the assembled Avengers and Asgardians plus Betty, "What are you waiting for? An invite?"
Volstagg nodded, "It would be the polite thing to do."
"Where. The. Fuck. Are. You?" Tony piped in Natasha's voice through the speakers.
"That will do." Grin Hogan told Frandal. He checked his mace while Frandal smiled.
"Yes it will. Come my friends. We have Ice Giants to smite. Er, um..." Volstagg didn't know how to put the next part delicately. After all there was a non combat type female present.
"What troubles you Mighty Volstagg?" Thor asked.
"Shouldn't we do away with the..." he pointed at the unconscious Frost, "You know?"
"Out with it rotund one." Fandral joked.
Tony and Fandral had got on like a house on fire. Hey had the same temperament. "Do away with him since we all will be gone." Volstagg clarified.
"I don't like killing helpless unconscious prisoners." Tony looked at a Hulked out Bruce accusingly.
"It was an accident." Bruce defended his actions.
"You bitch slapped him. How was that an accident?" Tony wanted to know. He really didn't care about the fact that Bruce did it. Just why he did it.
"He was looking at Betty funny."
"Funny, ha ha, or funny, just you wait until we're all alone my pretty?" Tony wiggled his eyebrows at the last part.
"The other one." Bruce growled.
Betty ignored the two clowns. Frost was just asking a question and she was having a hard time coming up with an appropriate answer. Bruce cracked his skull with that bitch slap. 'This'll take hours to heal.' she thought.
'Uh oh! Dial it back Stark! You know S. H. (Savage Hulk) only comes out when you attack or bad mouth his hotties.'
"Okay. I believe you..." Tony lied through his teeth, 'Like hell, but there's no time bring out the beast. Not here, not now...'
"Good." Bruce replied.
"Great. Now let go kick some Ice Giant butt!" he turned to Sif and grabbed her around the waist, " Need a lift?" he asked. He didn't wait for an answer, he jetted out of the cave with JARVIS carrying Fandral and Grim Hogan right behind. Thor carried the fat one and Hulk brought up the rear.
05:47:22 P.M. June 14/2012 Joutenhiem Ice Giant Encampment.
"Clint! Make me a hole." Xander and Natasha covered the retreat. He used his Uzi and she the spear.
The Uzi rounds blew small chunks where ever they hit on an individual target. Gungnir blew away rows of warriors at a time.
"Kids together. Don't waste the shot."
The teens kept discipline and waited until everyone was ready to fire. Clint was proud of them. He and Xander had trained them to the point where they'd make a SHIELD special ops team cry in shame and envy. He knew when they were all ready, "Fire!"
The south wall crumbled under the combined high energy volley. They ran for the breach.
Every member of the party was armed the same, almost. There were exceptions, but most had the same equipment. Swords and daggers, made by Xander. Bows and arrows made by a master, Clint. The 'Gravity Canons courtesy of Jackie. Mithril Armor covered the weak spots; on top the chests, backs, shoulders, elbows, hands. On the bottom; thighs, knees, chin pads and armored boots.
"Phil, Tasha, Jake, Kelly, Tony and Rupert. race ahead and drop grab cover behind the ice rubble. Alex, Jenny, Gram and Joyce keep going for the next ridge and set up the net fallback position. Cover us when we pull back. Jackie, Faith and Dawn, reach for the sky. I don't see anyone up there yet, so keep them pinned with fire from above. GO! GO! GO!"
"He didn't give us any orders." Natasha said as she help position and continued to drop the closest threats, while Xander used the hose called a mini-Uzi to spray a stream of lead to slow the rest down.
"Would you have obeyed?" Xander started to group his shots and do a bit more damage as they continued to stand their ground.
"No, but it would have been nice to have been included."
Xander snorted, "Yeah. I hear you, and all I can say is sell it someplace else sister. This fool ain't buyin'. Say Nat, where's the rest of the team?"
"You have been gone for days. After the fourth Ice Giant unit we had to destroy, we couldn't all stay. With the help of the spear I stayed behind, hidden and invisible. To make sure you had warning of the build up."
"Any idea why they kept coming?" Xander reached into the jacket covering his armor and lobbed a grenade.
"Napalm?" Natasha's raised eyebrow spoke volumes.
"Yep. I even have a case of nitrogen, if we run into any fire elemental types."
"How long have you been away for? Are those really your children? where's Loki and his wife?" she asked as she continued to fire energy bolts, " Let's start our own withdrawal. The children have reached the first barricade.
"We've been gone a long time. At least a couple of decades if not more. Yes they are all ours. Loki and Hilda are part of the wolf pack. You can never tell those guys to do anything. Suggest yes, maybe even lead by example, but never tell. By the way, Loki thinks he's a friend of ours. Some how he arrived at the place we were at without his memories, and in the twenty one plus years we've known him he has yet to show any sign of getting it back. So mums the word and make sure to pass that on..." He walked backwards in step with the Black Widow. The muzzle of the machine pistol was red hot from all the bullets he was using, but then what choice did he have.
