Chapter 9: Battling For The Princess of Mischief
The moment the Leviathans appeared, not out of the portal, but literally coming through the atmosphere, DC immediately had the citizens evacuate the area. To the surprise of the Avengers, none of the giant flying whales aimed for the city. Instead, they landed roughly onto the Potomac, causing giant waves to crash on land and bridges, and lazily waited. The Chitauri didn't seem to be in a rush to get out of the giant beasts, but some did perk their heads out when blue portals started appearing. Soon enough, a massive coldness dramatically dropped the temperature all over downtown as hundreds of Frost Giants stepped out on the roads bordering the Potomac.
"Well, this is a fine sight." Angerboda was at the lead of her battalion, with Utgard-Loki and Gerd at her side. They still had on the attires of their human disguises, but Angerboda had adopted some sort of cape made of diamond-shaped bone fragments. She might as well be carrying the bone of war victims. "A bunch of giant fish… with hundreds of Chitauri." Angerboda held out her left arm and a giant machete of spike ice came out. "My kin! Let us spread their blood on this mortal capital to mark the day they failed to steal our ruler, who will bring back to life the legacy of Laufey! In her name, all hail the Princess of Mischief!"
"ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS OF MISCHIEF! ALL HAIL THE PRINCESS OF MISCHIEF!" The Frost Giants banged their icy weapons on the ground just as some Chitauri emerged out of the Leviathan and started coming straight to the mainland.
"It's as I feared," Thor said when the Avengers saw the two alien races charging at each other. "Angerboda seeks to have my niece lead the Frost Giants into another campaign to conquer and trap Midgard into another ice age!"
"Speaking of the chosen one, where is she?" Iron Man asked as he scanned the faces of the different Frost Giants stabbing and pounding some Chitauri while one out of five got their faces burned off. "You'd think that the Angry Bride would have brought her along."
"We know she's with Cap," Black Widow said. "And wherever they are, Loki ran off in a massive hurry."
"Maybe not in such a hurry after all." Hawkeye pointed at the direction of the Capitol, where sure enough, he saw Loki pounding angrily at the front door. "Either the Frost Giants are dense or they're not paying attention. Steve and mini-Loki must be in there."
"Then we split the goods," Iron Man decided. "I ward off the Leviathans, Thor and Hawkeye take on the armies, and Hulk and Black Widow intercept Loki before he ignites the worst family reunion ever!"
The teams split up to take immediate action. Black Widow got a ride from Hulk, smashing his way to the Capitol just in time for a golden blast to catapult Loki way from the Capitol. The front door glowed and figures stepped out, primarily Frost Giants in human clothing, a bare-chested, tattooed rugby player with a giant hook, a wildly dressed party man with a golden pinecone scepter, and a World War II Egyptian soldier with a glowing ankh. In a strange way, it looked like an insane supernatural roleplay where Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Mena Massoud were the main actors.
"If it isn't my ex!" The ankh scepter wielder sneered as he made his way down the steps while the others held back. "How've you been since we broke up 400 years ago, Loki?"
"Still bearing bruises…" Loki grimaced. The blast he had received in the stomach was agonizing due to its heat.
"Yes, good old memories." The god noticed Black Widow pointing his gun at him. "Natasha Romanoff. SHIELD's personal venomous spider. I've heard much about you, but on the scale from 1 to 10 lethal redheads, my wife is deadlier than you."
"I guess I get why Loki would have dated you," Black Widow commented. "You got his sense of polite insults. So, you're the golden-eyed god we've heard about."
"Anubis Sethson," the god slightly bowed his head. "Son of Seth and Nephthys, adopted son of Isis, nephew of Osiris, cousin of Horus, ex-boyfriend of Loki, mentor of Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Lokisdottir Ikolson, husband of Marion Romanson, and father of Kebechet Anubisdottir Romanson, Rosetta Anubisdottir Romanson, and Otis Anubison Romanson. You mortals used to worship me as the god of mummification, but most people call me the Big Guy."
"Mentor?" Loki scowled.
"Oh, I forgot!" Anubis tapped his forehead. "Instead of killing your daughter like Odin asked, I spared and invited her into my tutelage. I'd love to chat about how I succeeded at your own job, but I got a bunch of nybergynnere Frost Giants who'd love to clobber your head!" Anubis turned and pointed his ankh scepter at Loki. "Folks, he's all yours!"
"SMASH!" The Frost Giants ran their way towards Loki, who actually had to make a run for it when the dozens ahead of the mob started growing icy spikes out of the ground in the hopes of killing him. They chased him as far away from the Capital, which is a good thing, because the Frost Giants who idolized the Hulk might have been pissed if they saw Anubis blasting the Hulk into a tree when the green beast tried attacking him. Hulk grunted and got himself back on his feet, only for golden roots to emerge from the ground and cuff him down. He angrily roared as he failed to break free. Black Widow shot some bullets at Anubis, who merely snapped his fingers and had the bullets transform into golden scarabs that flew off.
"I did tell Captain America that the Avengers would be no different than the rest of humanity," he rolled his eyes.
"What did you do him after you brought him in?" Black Widow demanded, keeping her gun aimed at him.
"You should know, considering I found that fried up speaker of his when I had him healed. But you wouldn't care about that, would you? In the end, it doesn't matter if I saved his ass from Angerboda's mindless clowns or refused to have him mind wiped him to forget everything because he's one among the limited poisonous mortals out there. Honestly, had I done nothing, Kory would have been shattered and I don't want to deal with another March 1945 scenario." His golden eyes stared at Natasha's with disdain. "Compared to Odin, Loki, Angerboda, Thor, and the pathetic morons of any immortality or mortality out there, I actually care about the well-being of my pupil!"
Black Widow kept her gun up, but after many seconds of hesitation, she put it down. Anubis frowned in surprise. "I didn't actually think this would work," he admitted. He snapped his fingers, releasing the Hulk just as it calmed down and shifted back to Bruce Banner.
"What did you do?" Black Widow rushed to check on Banner.
"What, the ridiculously golden aloe vera roots?" Anubis shrugged dismissively as he followed her. "I keep these planted around my house as a first-line of defense against brutes."
"How sensitive of you…" Banner grumbled as Black Widow helped him up. "Usually I get missiles shot at my direction."
"Nah. It sedates violent intruders so I don't have to unleash my babies. They get particularly hungry when enemies are extremely feisty."
"I'm going to ignore that." Black Widow shook her head. "So where are Steve and Kory?"
"Certainly not inside my house. Anyone I didn't want on the battlefield, I had them evacuate through the back door. As I'm talking, they should have arrived in one of my safehouses."
Meanwhile, in Georgetown
Steve had to recognize that he had seen a lot of strange things, but for some reason, driving motorcycles all the way to Georgetown to stay clear of an alien battle wasn't even the first thing on his list of strange things. The Big Guy's wife, a red-maned mortal woman named Marion Romanson, had escorted him, the Ikolson sisters, and her own three children to an underground hangar. Apparently, she and her husband collected vehicles for any possible situation, so by the time the Big Guy and the others had gone upstairs, three motorcycles had gone out: a dark red Harley Davidson for Captain America, a dark blue Vincent Rapide driven by Kory with Aaricia as her passenger, and a white-and-gold Vespa motorcycle that Marion Romanson drove on while the triplets rode on the matching sidecar.
The driving was rather rapid and the ladies really knew how to dodge cars, so they all got to Georgetown from the National Mall in less than 15 minutes until Marion Romanson had them stop in front of the Old Stone House.
"Why do you always find safehouses in the middle of nowhere?" Aaricia commented when the adults parked their vehicles on the street.
"Because hiding in the Marriott wouldn't have raised any red flags?" The redheaded tuxedo dressed woman asked drily.
"I'm just saying."
"Just help me get the triplets inside."
Aaricia muttered something in Norwegian as she helped Marion lift the four-years-old triplets off the sidecar and head towards the back of the Old Stone House, probably in some back door hidden to the mortal. Kory and Steve still remained on their seats, probably uncertain if they should park for real or stay out if something comes up or just… stay there.
"I'm really sorry I dragged you into all of this," Kory sighed. "I have no control in all of this."
"I know," Steve said quietly.
"Something still perplexes me though." Kory got off her motorcycle and finally decided to chain it on a nearby post. "I gave you my reasons for not telling you what I really am, but I have a hard time understanding why you'd hide about being Captain America."
"I know." Steve decided to park and chain his motorcycle as well.
"Don't get me wrong. I didn't think Captain America was real because the first time I heard of you, it was part of war propaganda, but…" Kory fidgeted her fingers nervously. "You're a hero and everything. Aren't you like… America's golden boy? You know, hopeless admired and venerated like Thor except you lack the ego?"
Steve smirked a bit at her comparison. "True… But being the 'American golden boy'? I was afraid that if you immediately found out… Well, I was scared that it wouldn't have been real…"
"You thought I would have preferred the poster hero than the guy behind the mask?" Kory's tone had layers of disbelief. "Steve!"
"I'm being serious!" Steve leaned on a lamppost. "That's the way it's been ever since I got the serum! 1940s or 2010s, people only see me as Captain America! National symbol, soldier, and…" He grumbled in frustration. "That shallow secretary I told you about? Only this interested her!" He waved his hand up and down at his direction. "I mean, there was the dame I told you about who had faith me in me, but she moved on when I went in the ice! I wake up and I feel yet again like a walking relic who doesn't fit!" He lifted his head up to see Kory, who looked stunned at the frustrated expression he now bared. "So yes, that's why I didn't tell you. Unfortunately, the media had my real name plastered everywhere after New York, so you can imagine that I was shocked when you didn't connect the dots right away."
"To be fair, it's a common name…" Kory said. "And again, I only associated Captain America with American propaganda."
"I'm going to go on a limb here and guess that you didn't pay full on attention to the names brought up on the news, then." Steve crossed his arms.
"Obviously." Kory looked sternly at him. "Between the possibility of my devil-father conquering the world or the girly fandom, my priorities were obvious. That reminds me." Kory crossed her arms as well. "You want to explain to me why the Avengers didn't kill Loki? Because I had hoped the Hulk broke his skull when he smashed him!"
"Thor took him in for Asgardian justice and he got life imprisonment!" Steve stood upright.
"Right, I forgot!" Kory coldly laughed. "Rather than inviting the executioner over, Odin sends his least favorite son into the dungeons! I forgot how charitable he was! You know, I'm kinda surprised he hasn't sent any assassins after me yet… or maybe he just expects me to lose it in the grand scheme of things!" Steve took a step back when Kory turned into her Jotun form and kicked the Vincent Rapide, both crushing it into a crumbled state like a wasted soda can and trapping it ice that eventually shattered into perfectly cut out cubes. The sight scared some pedestrians away, but Steve kept his ground. Kory crumbled onto her knees, tears dripping their way to form small specks of ice that shattered onto the bricked sidewalk while her fists balled up. "I don't even understand why you are so charitable… Despite the talk in the elevator, I don't understand how… Damn it, I don't even understand why your inhuman levels of kindness even tolerate a pest like me…"
"You're not a pest, Kory." Steve bent down and pulled her up.
"Steve… Don't you dare tell me otherwise…" Kory took a step back. "I'm…"
"I meant what I said in the elevator!"
"I know! And that's the problem!" Kory finally snapped, her eyes transforming into their hybrid form when she did. "You said it yourself, you're a relic who doesn't fit in, but millions adored you, before and after serum, regardless of their reasons! You've seen me as I am! I didn't ask God or anyone else to make me who I am, but I am many things that give billions of reasons to dislike just because it doesn't fit their 'interest'! A Frost Giant-human hybrid, a demigoddess, Loki's child, the daughter of an unmarried Jewish woman, the descendant of too many deities, an outcast, a sorceress, a shapeshifter, a biromantic ace, and a capraphobic! You can't change nearly a century of crowd hatred and self-hatred!"
"Kory…" Steve didn't get to finish his sentence when Kory pushed him onto the road. A purple blast went at her direction, and though she made a run for it, Kory's arm took the hit. She screamed in agony. "KORY!"
Steve got up and saw the Chitauri who had pointed its gun at Kory. It dodged the flying shield, but it didn't miss the electric blast that came from the gardens of the Old Stone House. "Kory!" Aaricia ran out into the open, with small bits of crackling energy still glowing through her golden locks. "Kory, are you OK?"
"No…" Kory took off her coat. The inside had a massive, wet stain that went even into the sleeves. She turned inside out the sleeve where she got hit, revealing a destroyed motherboard the size of her hand. "I mean, I didn't get burned, but my liquid nitrogen system got busted."
"You put liquid nitrogen inside your coat?" Steve exclaimed.
"Well duh," Aaricia said. "Frost Giants are weakened by fire and heat. Same thing for hybrids, except the weakness of heat also comes with a weakness to insane levels of cold. The liquid nitrogen circulation systems helps her control her body temperature depending on the environment's temperatures and also protects her, but without it… the aliens might as well turn Georgetown into a Norwegian midsummer bonfire."
"Yes, well I'm not ready to lose my coat yet." Kory waved her hand over her coat, causing a blue aura to shrink it and vacuum it into the eyes of her wolf pendant. Her shirt was vaguely soaked as got up. Marion Romanson came out of the Old Stone House, carrying a massive dark yellow machine gun just in time to see a dozen Chitauri emerge on the road. The sight of the aliens caused civilians to run for cover while in the distance, explosions and screams of war echoed from downtown.
"Something's not right." Steve tightened his grip on his shield. "The last time I fought the Chitauri, they were a whole armada and randomly attacked anyone."
"Well I'm attacking before they can randomly attack my babies!" Marion fired her gun at the nearest Chitauri. Steve didn't know what her bullets were made off, but the moment it hit the neck of the alien, the bullet electrocuted the Chitauri, killing it from within. The other remaining eleven aliens took their cue and started attacking. Marion kept firing her gun while Aaricia used the underground telephone cables to create electric land mines, killing a couple in the process. Steve blocked a Chitauri with his shield, but just when another Chitauri was about to strike him on the back, the Chitauri suddenly lost its head. The body dropped to the ground, revealing that Kory had decapitated him with a silver-colored, curved sword that almost resembled a sickle. Steve squinted and realized that the color of her weapon was very familiar to him.
"Is that vibranium?" He asked.
"Hold on!" Kory pushed him aside and pushed her sword into the gut of a Chitauri. "Yes, it's a vibranium mambele!"
"I thought Howard Stark got the last of it when he made my shield!" Steve threw his shield at an upcoming Chitauri. For some reason, the first dozen that had been killed were being replaced by a dozen new ones. At the stage they were in, Marion varied from shooting bullets to whacking Chitauri heads off by using her gun like a heavy club. Aaricia did a similar thing by both electrocuting and throwing cars at the Chitauri.
"Well obviously not! I knew a Wakandan back in the 40s a bit after my first existential crisis!" Kory created a patch of ice to cause a Chitauri to slip and get a concussion from Steve's shield. "The first mortal before you who didn't treat me like some sort of freakshow! The main difference is that we were in an underground Norwegian Resistance squad and my partner died because of me! I kept the weapon in honor of my partner's memory!" When a Chitauri got too close to them, she sent it flying with an icy gust of wind.
"We really need to figure a time after this to sit down and talk about what happened since the 40s!" Steve pointed out.
"Hey! When you're done fighting like some old married couple from a CW show, can you give a hand here!" Marion smashed the head of another Chitauri until one came from behind her, snatched her gun, and crushed it in its massive hands. That didn't stop Marion, who pulled out a golden sword from her tuxedo (how she managed to fit in it was a mystery) and immediately struck the Chitauri with it. "When guns fail, use your husband's wedding gifts!"
"Right, I forgot!" Aaricia shouted sarcastically as she threw an empty ice cream truck at two Chitauri. "Nothing screams perfect union than giving your wife a khopesh!"
"Any update from the Big Guy?" Kory shouted.
"National Mall's a mess. The good part, Anubis actually got some sense out of the Black Widow!" Marion decapitated an alien.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Steve held out his shield so Kory could jump on it and stab a Chitauri that tried to attack by jumping off a building.
"He convinced her not to shoot him! The bad part, the other Avengers are really screwing up. Obviously, when two alien species fight for someone who's not even interested in their pathetic Trojan War, it's hard for them to decide which side to fight! Oh, and Loki is being handled by the nybergynnere leaders!"
"Handled like getting his head chopped off or handled like the stuff that should only be on Rated-R movies?" Aaricia asked. Apparently, her question caused some of the remaining Chitauri to hiss in shocked disgust.
"For God's sake, I really need to limit your liberties! Steve, shield! Everyone else, brace yourself!" Kory made a run towards Steve, her mambele sword tightly held in a position ready to strike. Steve immediately recognized it as the movement Thor had used to strike the vibranium shield with his hammer. Placing his shield above him, Steve braced himself as Kory swung her weapon at his. The vibranium tools clashing against one another like a gong caused a massive ringing that propelled the Chitauri away by at least a mile and caused Marion and Aaricia to crash on a wall. Steve dropped his shield to cover his ears; the ringing might as well have pierced through his skin and give him a horrible hammering feeling in his brain. He couldn't even hear his own screaming until a chilling feeling went through him and the pain ceased.
"Are you alright?" Kory removed her blue hands from his head.
"What just happened?" Steve asked.
"Protective brain freeze." Kory tapped her forehead. "Handy against hypnosis, siren calls, and cancelling out noises that you don't want to hear. Took me thirty years to perfect it so that I have a thick, mental iceberg protecting my thoughts and nobody can penetrate my head and brainwash me."
"That's effective." Kory helped Steve get up and the two rushed to Marion and Aaricia, both receiving a taste of Kory's protective brain freeze.
"OW!" Aaricia yelped. "Thank god it's over! Now I know what it feels like for a bird to deal with ultrasounds!"
Steve checked the streets. He'd lost count of the amount of Chitauri who came by the dozens, but so far none of the corpses that were lying around Georgetown had been replaced by new, armed, and living ones. In the distance, a Leviathan was dying in the Potomac. "I don't like this," Steve repeated himself. "There's got to be only a limited amount of Chitauri in DC compared to New York. I don't know how many there are downtown, but judging by the sounds, I'd almost say that it's a slaughterhouse right now."
"Obviously not." Marion grimaced when she saw the cut on her arm. "This is probably only a field test battle for both armies to figure out how much lives their leaders would waste until one of them gets their hands on Kory. The mess is primarily coming from the Frost Giants, but the aliens aren't here to conquer Earth but to seek vengeance on Loki, so of course they wouldn't send an entire armada just to capture Kory. Thus, why we don't have a New York-level carnage." Marion turned towards the Old House. "We must go. With the Georgetown safehouse compromised, we got to move to the next furthest one in Friendship Heights."
"Yeah, before the aliens go hydra on us," Aaricia commented. Her comment caused the adults to freeze in their tracks and stare at her.
"What did you say?" Steve asked.
"That the aliens went hydra on us. You know, the monster that Hercules slayed? I thought about it because each time we killed a dozen aliens, twelve more came to replace them. Sure, it deviates from the 'cut one head off, two more grow' basic, but…"
"We get it!" Kory exclaimed in a panicked tone. "But if we just sliced off a bunch of heads, where is the body?"
Out of nowhere, purple blasts struck Aaricia, Steve, and Marion. They electrocuted and slithered around them, trapping them in burning coils. The clouds darkened as a portal appeared and Kory saw the dark robed, armored, and muzzled alien with red fangs and an extra pair of thumbs. It stepped out of the portal, which automatically disappeared behind him.
"Koryanna Evangeline Lottie Lokisdottir Ikolson," the alien smiled cruelly. "Child of the Asgardian who has failed us. The Princess of Mischief."
"Who's asking?" Kory questioned.
"I am the Other. And shattering you to punish your father will be my greatest masterpiece."