Roswaal had disappeared on business some time ago and Emilia could barely bring herself to sleep through the night. There were times that she took to pacing the halls of the Mathers Manor with the stillness of night as her only companion.

She had let them go. She had let them just volunteer to fight in her stead and for her benefit.

The thing that they had been asked to assist with was truly for a good cause and would be to the benefit of everyone in the whole land, not even just Lugnica. But she couldn't dismiss the feeling that it was something too dangerous for even then.

The White Whale was a four hundred year old beast that had toppled untold efforts to bring it down. While she had every shred of trust that she could in Peter, Steve, and Rem this was more than they had ever faced here.

Worse still she hadn't been able to go with them. If she could have helped then it would at least have meant that they had her ice blossom to fall back on. If it would even work in this case.

With her eyes falling shut again Emilia remembered a distant time and casting her ice blossom with her little hand outstretched. She couldn't see the figure that was caught within it but she could see their blood seep up into the center of the ice turning it red.

There was a knock at the door and she opened her eyes, lifting her head from the pillow. On the one night that she had decided to try and actually stay in her room and get some rest someone had come to her door.

Though there was the possibility that it was news of Peter and the others. Maybe she had been wrong and they had defeated the White Whale already?

"Just a minute." Emilia's voice was slightly raspy from lack of use. She had hardly been able to stay awake for most of her time and it seemed her mood had even messed with Puck, he was coming slower when she summoned him and disappearing earlier.

"There is a matter we need to discuss," Ram's voice said through the door.

Emilia hurried out of the bed and made her way across the to the door. Her bare feet making a soft padded sound against the carpet. She threw the door open to reveal Ram in her nightgown with a lantern clutched in her hand, though the it was lit there was a shield down to dampen most of the light.

"What is it?" Asked Emilia.

"A rider came from the town a bit ago, Miss Beatrice noticed it and alerted me…by stepping out of my closet door. He left this," Ram handed her a note scrawled out on a damp piece of parchment.

"We're being watched," Emilia read the note in a whisper.

"That's not all. I made my way through the house in an effort to make sure everything was secure. The stables had a pair of Ground Dragons and a carriage, but the Ground Dragons are gone."

"The stable door was closed when we had dinner," Emilia said. "I took a walk after—I think I even heard them inside." It was then that Emilia noticed that clutched beside the lantern in Ram's hand was her wand.

"I would think it best if you and I stick together, perhaps we could make our way to the library just to be safe," Ram said.

"What about the villagers?" Emilia said.

"Hm?"

"Well, I just mean—if someone removed our mode of travel from the manor but made no effort to get inside it seems to me that they might actually be trying to keep us from getting anywhere. Like the village," said Emilia.

Ram thought for a moment. "That does make sense."

Emilia glanced back over her shoulder toward the tree-line that made up the forest. Over the last few weeks she had taken several walks into town, though they were never meant to be something that was done in a rush she could guess how long it would take her to get to town if she used her ice slide trick.

It was fast, but also costly on mana, even for her.

"What do you propose we do?" Asked Ram.

"First we go check on Aunt May," Emilia said. "Then we check on the townspeople. Oh, maybe we leave May with Beatrice—just for a bit while we're gone. She might try to follow us though," Emilia said pressing her index finger to her chin.

"I don't suppose that I could stop a grown woman from following us, but at the same time if there is a real danger it isn't safe…"

Ram slapped her hand over Emilia's mouth. "That was almost elegant—let's just go one step at a time and check on Miss May."

Up above the fog that covered the battlefield it was apparent that despite what little time was left in the Night Banisher the artificial light still burned with a feverous intensity. There was a kind of dull warmth that it bathed everything in, even going as far as to burn away some of the fog.

After only a few moments of being at this height Rem felt a kind of clarity wash over her. It wasn't like it was something that she had noticed, but there was a weight to her body before. A sluggish stupor had overcome her and she wondered if it had been the same for all of the others who were down in the fog.

Was this even fog? The initial waves of fog that were spread by the White Whale seemed to have induced a mana sickness, but that was something that only happened when a person was exposed to an over abundance of of mana to the the point that their body was unable to regulate it. There was a possibility that the mist itself was mana.

Knowing that Rem could guess why the White Whale might not immediately expend all of its mana—it might have needed it to fight or it might have needed to gather enough from the atmosphere on short notice to make the fog.

All of these things were of no consequence to her now as it was just Peter and her high above the everything else including the fog and the battlefield.

The White Whale groaned in pain as Rem slung her ball and chain out to the side rotating it at a blinding speed until the spikes on the ball raked through the Whale's skin digging into it.

She moved back and forth across the creature repeating this in the hopes that something weakened it enough.

The Whale went to open the pore like structures on its skin that the fog had been released from earlier and Rem swung the chain underhanded and sent her ball flying high into the air above them.

"Peter now!"

"On it!" Peter webbed the spiked ball with both hands and yanked down on it hard burying it deep in side of the Whale so that popped through the skin around the pore and caused it to sink in. The pain must have caught the creature off guard as it faltered, its body wavering side to side as if it were trying to balance itself.

"Well, Peter," Rem said as she reached up to brush the powder blue hair out of her eyes. "Do you have any ideas…besides just continuing to do this."

Peter was shaking his head against the daze, when he had looked up so fast he must have stared directly into the Night Banisher. "I can hardly think—that Night Banisher is so bright," Peter said.

Rem tilted her head back to look up into the Night Banisher as the White Whale banked to the left to turn. "We're lucky that it's still burning, why might not have much time left with it."

As the Whale twisted further to the left, Peter grabbed Rem at the wrist to steady her.

"Thank you," she said.

Perter was looking past her and she got the idea that he was looking over the side of the Whale at something in the distance.

"What is it?" She asked.

"The Whale isn't steering itself with the fins and flippers, they seem to just be doing whatever. How is it even able to fly?" Peter asked.

Rem pointed up to the purple rune like sigil that was centered on the spot where the creature's horn used to be. "The symbol there—it's most likely a kind of extremely strong spell or Metia that allows the Whale to control its motion and fly," she explained.

Peter shook his head. "That implies that someone really did create this thing—I heard someone say it was the Witch of Envy, but how could someone—"

Peter stopped and Rem turned and looked at him. "Peter?" She turned to ask him.

"Before you said 'the Whale would be attracted to you for sure' and that mabeasts are in general drawn to it," Peter said.

Rem hadn't really thought about the initial revelation that she had caught a whiff of the scent on him just the other day. Its influence seemed to fade with time and it wasn't at a level the Whale was too effected by it from what she could tell.

"If you're thinking about using the scent to draw the creature to somewhere, you don't seem to have a strongest scent of it currently," Rem said. "Before, when I mentioned this to you originally, you did make it stronger somehow."

There was a pause where Peter turned his head to think. The Whale cried out as it continued to lazily fly in circles. Far below, in the thickest part of the fog another one of the Whale copies answered with a cry of its own.

"Wait—I've got this," Peter said. "Rem, could you tell me if the witch smell thingy get's stronger."

"Um, sure—" Rem said.

Peter too a deep breath and released it. "Okay, here it goes. Right," he said at a volume that Peter could barely here. "Rem, I have to tell you that using a check—"

He froze for a split second, the words caught in his throat and then grabbed for his chest. His other hand was out stretched toward her, as if he needed help. "Peter!" Rem cried out before rushing to his side.

In the moment before she reached him there was a burst of fresh, thick miasma. The smell coated the air and Rem believed that she could almost see it, could feel it making her sluggish. Her eyes widened, the words almost caught in her throat and before she could release them Peter spoke.

"Did it work?"

Rem made a small pained grunt and nodded her head.

"The Whale is going to make a steep dive," Peter explained. "Can I—can I pick you up?"

Rem nodded.

"Hang on, Miss Rem," he said as he ran for the end end of the Whale's snout. The creature seemed to tense up beneath them, the pores on its skin opened again but this time it was to release an ear splitting screech that sounded like millions of higher pitched crickets chirping at once.

Peter dove off of the nose, holding Rem tight against him and falling out into the open air. The ground was an unknown thing somewhere below them through the thick fog.

The Whale creaked, a teeth clenching, ground shattering sound that rippled through Rem's body so violently that she felt it in her bones. She clutched her arms around Peter and looked back to see the Whale's nose arc down and it's tale go up as it dove to chase.

"It's working!" Rem yelled.

They weren't falling fast enough to outpace the Whale, at this rate it would overtake them in mere seconds.

"Al Huma!" Rem raised her hand back over Peter's back and a huge crystal of ice formed slightly ahead of them and rocketed back to pierce through the Whale's face spear through one side of its mouth. That was probably the most serious wound it had sustained from one attack, but Rem couldn't afford to use that kind of mana again.

And it was by that same attack that the Whale slowed considerably. Though, as it pressed on it seemed that its chase was more out of a need to pay back the attack it had received and not just to catch up to the With's scent.

The Spider-Suit that Peter wore began to chime and beep. There was a red flash emitting from between Peter's body and Rem's like a bright crimson fire was being lit and extinguished rapidly.

"What's that?" Rem asked.

"Karen, now!" Peter shouted and a huge tarp attached to strings erupted from the back of the Spider-Suit snatching them back up into the air dozens of feet and slowing their fall.

Below Rem could see the ground coming into view, how could Peter tell? It had to be his strange Metia that was part of his suit somehow. Behind them the Whale was gaining again and then it opened its mouth to fire out a torrent of white fog that raced toward them.

The fog dropped rapidly in a column and Rem braced against Peter.

"Look out!"

Peter tried to jerk against the tarp that was strung out behind them, in an attempt to steer but it wasn't enough. He webbed for the distant ground to try and give himself something to pull against.

She could feel his grip around her slipping, was he planning to drop her in an attempt to keep her safe?

A thin, whip like strands of aired raced at them from the side, slicing into the fog and halting its advance. Then a volley from the canons smashed into the Whale's flank causing it to twist and pull up. At the last moment the tarp that had slowed Peter and Rem broke free and flew back to block the Whale's face.

"This is it Rem," Peter yelled before he dropped her the last few feet to the ground. Then he did something she didn't expect. As the Whale was pulling up, he webbed himself up to it, doubling, tripling, then quadrupling his web to make sure they held.

"Peter wait!"

"Everyone get ready!" Peter yelled. "It's really big and I won't be able to hold it long!"

Peter zipped back up onto the ice shard that Rem had fired through the Whale's open maw. The ice was half soaked in cold blood that had begun to slush over from the temperature of the ice mixing with it. He glanced back to see how deep it went and found that it had come out near where the missing eye had been.

The whale was twisting and thrashing, still trying to free itself of the parachute that he had released in its face. He had to admit that when he tried that dive he had completely forgotten its main trick right before he did the one thing that would leave him utterly vulnerable.

"Okay, gotta figure out a way to do a murder. Real quick. It's like killing aliens, you've killed aliens before—"

There was a thought Peter had about the Night Banisher. It had to be very hot, like when they were up there still several feet from it the thing managed to give off the heat of a sunny day. Could he pull that thing down or drop it on the Whale, it was totally out of reach since he brought the Whale back down to ground level.

"Are we just going to let Peter's penis joke go!" Peter heard Wade's voice yell somewhere through the fog.

Peter shook his head and decided that he had to try the original thing that he wanted to do.

He jumped launching himself over the Whale to land on its snout. Again, it felt like he was barely managing to hold on. Then he jumped again to land on the ice and balance there. As quick as he could right his stance Peter began to fire webs rapidly at the Whale's mouth trying to stick it shut. He started longer strands fired from bottom to top jaw or vice versa that tightened and pulled the mouth closer as he filled the space in the crack of its mouth with web.

He expected the web cartridges and changed them out before leaping onto the Whale's nose and beginning to wrap his way around. Peter crawled as fast he could around the White Whale's head wrapping it in web to further tie the mouth shut. It couldn't make anyone else disappear if it couldn't open its maw.

The best part was that the Whale's own defense worked against it: the hairs that kept his webs from getting as good a grip would also mean that the Whale couldn't easily torque its mouth and work the web against itself to snap it. The wrapping would stretch and shift as needed to avoid breaking for the time being.

"Gotta position this thing right, need some way to make it move where I want it."

"That trick with the Witch Scent seemed to work before," Karen said.

"Yeah, any news on what Rem is smelling—I've been bathing everyday," Peter said.

"It seems to be something to do with a key phrase or type of word you're saying, she is definitely detecting something judging by her elevated heart rate, pupil dilation and so on, but I can't pick it up on any scans," Karen said.

"We're flying blind, nothing new," Peter said.

Something crashed onto the Whale's back with a sizable thud that rippled over the surface of the skin hard enough that Peter felt it. He glanced up, the suit's eyes wide and on alert, only to see Steve Rogers landing with his shield dug into the Whale's back and Wilhelm van Astrea and Elsa on either side of him.

Steve sat the shield onto his back where it clicked into place as he stood back to his full height. "Hope you don't mind if we drop in on this little party," Steve said.

"Dad jokes, okay, okay," Peter said locking his hands behind his head seemingly in distress.

"Good work, young man. You seem to have wrapped things up nicely for us," Wilhelm said.

"Oh not you too," Peter said with a sigh not sure if that was meant to be a pun or not.

Then Elsa licked her lips, Peter noticed that she looked wilder than when he had last laid eyes on her, Elsa looked the way she had when she lost control and earlier and he had to calm her down. She was barely holding onto herself, her cheeks reddened and her thin lips curved into a smile so sharp it almost formed a V.

"The Whale is slowing down—at this rate it may bleed out before we even get a chance to open it up and see what's inside," Elsa said.

"Okay…" Peter said.

"You can tell all of that from just the speed of this beast?" Wilhelm asked.

Elsa turned to him, her dark eyes narrowing with delight. "Watching things die slowly is kind of a hobby of mine. At this point it's just a war of attrition."

"I see," Wilhelm said.

Peter didn't notice in that moment, but a split second later he realized that Wilhelm didn't seem to bothered by Elsa's unhinged behavior. He didn't find fault in her love of killing either—just what kind of man had Wilhelm been?

"Let's not give it time to flex out of the web, okay?" Peter called over the wind whipping past them.

Steve nodded. "Right, we take advantage of what Elsa said—cause more bleeding, make more wounds; the bigger the better in this case. We need to help weaken this thing as much as possible." Steve looked to the few of them that were gathered around him.

"I know it's not all of you," Steve started, "but Avengers…Assemble."

Elsa looked to Wilhelm and then back to Steve and nodded. Then she was off dashing over the surface of the beast's back for any target where she could do the most damage.

Wilhelm followed a second later taking the paths she hadn't. Soon they had taken a fin on either side. They moved back and forth rapidly, slicing through the thick flesh of the Whale's extremities. The thing groaned and twisted to the side in response. It was close enough to the ground that it might roll full over and and crush them.

The others were coming up along side the Whale now, Ricardo, Mimi, and Hetaro with the rest of the Fang of Iron members who still had a mount and were in the fight. They came up on both sides of the Whale, flanking it and beginning their assault with precision target blows on the right and left.

The Whale let out another low screech and the Fang of Iron members, responding to a call from Mimi, leaped onto the creature's flanks with what looked like spears made of thin light. They jabbed them into the Whale and the Ligers kicked off to land them safely back on the ground.

Ricardo was the one exception; he rammed his sword into the Whale's exposed skin and used it to steady himself and pull up onto its back. Wilhelm was there to meet him, grasping the beast man's hand and helping him aboard like he was getting into a boat.

"Thanks," Ricardo said. "Damn, I would have thought this thing would have dropped from exhaustion by now."

Wilhelm nodded. "It made a mistake when it exposed its trick," Wilhelm said with a reborn determination in his eyes. "There's only one White Whale," he repeated Peter's words from earlier.

Ricardo smiled, his sharp teeth barred pressed together as he nodded. "Then let's go ahead and see just how much more it takes before we break this mabeast!" He shouted.

Sam Wilson flew past, dropping what looked like small glowing crystals from above. They landed in a wide scattered pattern exploding on impact with the tail end of the Whale.

Then Sam circled around and dropped down to land with the others near the top of the Whale's head. It was slowly beginning to climb out of the little kill-box that they had formed around it and worse the copies of the Whale were closing in from both sides to protect their maker.

There was a burst of something behind the Whale and from the direction they had just come from and then a gruff scream peppered by curses. Rocket Raccoon landed in a lump on the Whale's back with one of his homemade weapons dropping at his side.

He climbed to his feet, grabbed the contraption that was almost as long as he was tall.

"Pete, they tell me these, uh, things are just copies of the other one," Rocket said looking toward Peter.

Peter didn't respond.

"Well, let's see how they respond to pain," Rocket's voice became a slight growl at the end of the sentence. He raised the weapon up, shouldering it and aiming it off at the Whale to the left of the one that stood on the back of.

There was a flash of something inside of the weapon and then a projectile was lobbed out through the air smoking. It slammed into the copy Whale's eye engulfing it in what looked like black fog and probably taking the only good eye these things had left with it.

In response the Whale rolled over, rubbing its smoking eye against the ground in a bid to put it out and at the same time slowing itself down.

"On your left!" They turned in time to Deadpool shouting from the back of Crusch's Ground Dragon, although they were definitely to the right.

Lady Crusch sent sharp gusts wind to slice into the pursuing Whale and cause it to pull away.

"Wait, you're on our left—this is right…whatever!" Deadpool was riding with one hand wrapped around Crusch's midriff a little too enthusiastically. "Look what I found under Pip's dead body!" He added.

Fasted to Deadpool's shoulders with a makeshift sash made of what looked to be a belt was a large black cylinder. A canon.

Deadpool patted himself down looking for something. "It turns out that unloaded canons aren't that heavy," he explained. "Where did I put that-there's too many pouches."

He fished a zippo lighter out of one of the suit's pockets and slung the canon around so that it was at his back. He leaned forward to tell Crusch something. For a moment she looked disgusted, but she stuck her fingers into her ears.

Then Deadpool lit the fuse at the back of the canon and there was a thunderous boom. A canon ball ripped through the air finding its mark near where the Fang of Iron had attacked. It caused such a massive hole that Elsa, who was near the spot turned and glanced down at it. She looked to the others as if she was thinking about something. Then she licked her lips, and stepped into the hole sliding inside of the White Whale.

"What is she doing?" Peter asked.

"She's not dissecting people, so I'll call that an absolute win," Steve said.

Peter had to wonder how Wade had managed to get multiple canon balls and a working canon made this quickly. He imagined that a canon wasn't the hardest thing to make once you knew the properties of the ingredients you needed. The same way that Peter had made an approximation of web fluid, Wade could have rigged a kind of close-enough-canon.

The Whale was still twisting, unable to open its mouth or cry out at full volume. Any sound that it made now was muffled behind a closed mouth and tightened web. But the web was beginning to give and loosen. It would eventually give.

A volley of arrows rippled down the side of the Whale's form in a long line. Kate Bishop was riding past loosing arrows into the Whale in a pattern that had to be deliberate, though for what purpose Peter didn't understand.

"I'm a little off, I've fired from a moving car, but never a moving Ground Dragon, you know?" Kate yelled as she passed.

Then they explode in a timed succession and the burst caused the Whale to squirm violently. Peter could feel the heat on his face, he could feel it right through the suit. Then he remembered the Night Banisher.

Peter couldn't take his mind off of it.

"What would happen if we drop the Night Banisher?" Peter asked.

Ricardo looked to him. "It would probably burn whatever it hit," he reached up scratching his head. "Might explode. I don't really have the best idea what's actually inside of there—but it's for sure dangerous."

They were too far down to reach it anyway, but maybe they could lure the creature back to where the thing had been and let it fall on it? It was an idea, that was for sure. He just needed a way to make it actually workable.

"Sam—Falcon, sir, do you know where Bucky is?" Peter asked.

"What's the play here?" Steve asked. He and Wilhelm had never stopped attacking the Whale.

"I need Sam to drop Bucky from above the Night Banisher so he can punch it out of place and we can drop it onto the White Whale," Peter said.

"That's going to take incredible timing," Rem said.

"It would, but that's why I'm going to lure the Whale directly under and bring it to a dead stop," said Peter.

The Whale was circling around, bringing itself back to the center of the fog and headed toward the spot below the Night Banisher.

Peter looked out across the field, narrowing the iris of his suit's eye to look across the field for his Ground Dragon. He saw her following along, chasing after the other soldiers as if she had been waiting to help out. "Just get Bucky into position," said Peter to Sam. "We'll do the rest."

Sam shook his head. "Yeah. Sure, whatever you say, sir." He blasted off from the back of the Whale and flew off across the field.

"The ice sticking up from the Whale's head is probably enough to slow it down if it's pushed into the ground and dragging," said Peter. If Steve and Wilhelm and Ricardo can handle that, Rem and I can lure the Whale out until they were under the Night Banisher.

Peter lifted his mask up to his nose and pulled his glove off with his mouth. Then he whistled with his finger jammed into his mouth and called out. "Over here, girl! Come on!" He pulled the glove back onto his hand.

"Rem, are you ready?" Asked Peter.

Rem got closer to his side and nodded. "Yes."

"Wait, why are you luring it in?" Asked Wilhelm.

"I'm the only one who can," said Peter as he pulled his mask down. He wrapped a his arm around Rem's waist and fired a web to the ground to pull himself out over the field.

Rem pinched her nose tight. "The Witch's scent got strong again. Did you do that thing again?" She asked.

"I did," said Peter. "We probably need to move."

They were already on the back of the Ground Dragon with Rem sitting up front and taking the creature's reigns. Rem nodded and then stirred the Ground Dragon forward and as if it were aware of the situation it raced off from the mark at a quicken pace.

The Whale was still flying low to the ground with the others still on its back. They were already working the spike of ice, trying to push it lower through the Whale's eye. Steve and Wilhelm had rammed their swords into the sides of the huge ice spike trying to use them as leverage to move it.

They broke away from the pack of the other Ground Dragons making a b-line for the center of the battlefield where the Night Banisher was hanging in the air. The Whale made a slow laborious turn to follow Peter. Its body scraped along the ground as it turned everyone on its back braced themselves.

"Do you think Miss Elsa is dead?" Rem asked.

"No." Peter glanced back over his shoulder to see where the Whale was. "I doubt it. She's probably too crazy to die that easily."

Peter tightened his grasp around Rem's waist suddenly. "Look out!" He yelled.

From their side there was a jet of fog that burst through wall of fog. The Ground Dragon leapt forward to dodge the fog of its own accord. One of the Whale copies burst through the fog at their side moving diagonally on an intercept path. Rem slung here and back over her in the direction of the creature.

"Huma!"

Jagged spikes of ice raced through the air and hit the Whale copy in the side and causing it to pull away from them. Rem turned back to grasp the reigns of the Ground Dragon, trying to steer it to the particular area where the Night Banisher would be liked to fall.

"Do you think Misters James and Sam will be ready when we get there?" Rem said.

"They're going to have to be, because we'll only get one shot at this," Peter said.

Through the wispy fog, Bucky could see the movements of the third whale as it were beaten back by Peter and Rem. They were a little off course for the drop zone where the Night Banisher would land, but they curved back toward the center of the battlefield.

"Hey, uh, Sam, we need to hurry," Bucky said.

"Yeah, well, I'm carrying a full ground man who's got one arm made of solid vibranium," Sam said out of breath.

Bucky shook his head. "Vibranium is light."

"You're not!" Sam said.

"It's an extremely light metal," Bucky added.

The wind that carried Sam and was part of his Divine Blessing did allow him to move at am ore even speed and maneuver at least as well as he had when the wings were powered by the miniature engine that Stark had built. They continued on their steep climb while headed to the target.

"We're going to have to get above it," Sam said.

"Yeah, of course."

"But we can't count on your fall speed…so I'm going to dive with you and let you go so that you can use my speed to have a better chance here," Sam said.

"Right," Bucky said. They were coming close enough to the ball and even at the end of its lifespan it was still impressively hot and bright. While on the ground it was hard to tell just how much heat was given off by this thing. It was really was an impressive feat.

Even if, in part, it had something to do with this world's strange magic that Bucky still had no understanding of.

The pair of them passed the Night Banisher close on one side. Sam glanced over at it, squinting back at the light, even though his darkened goggles. "That thing seems pretty hot; are you sure it's safe to get this close to it?"

"Not at all," Bucky said. "Are we ready."

"Almost, yeah."

Sam banked around to circle above the Night Banisher up in a pattern that resembled a steeply angled cone. When they reached the apex of the cone Sam flipped over, trying to maintain the momentum he had built up and did a dive straight down on to of the Night Banisher.

"Okay, here we go," Bucky said.

"Okay," Sam said.

"Now!"

Sam released Bucky into a free fall and Bucky went down fist first falling through air toward the massive glowing ball.

Would this be too hot?

It was probably saying something about him, but Bucky hadn't even considered it before the two of them got right near it. With the wind streaming past him as he plummeted toward something that might have the power eviscerate him, he had to wonder what his lack of worry about this kind of thing said about him.

He guessed that it wasn't worth dwelling on.

Bucky felt the heat move through him and wrap around him. It was a thick dense head that felt more intense from above than it had from the sides or below. Then his vibranium fist connected with the surface of the small artificial sun. There was a thunderous crack and a wave of energy swept out from the point of impact.

He was too centered on the Night Banisher and it wasn't dropping as fast as he had thought. Falling directly on it would not be an option. Bucky pressed the metal arm down onto the surface of the ball and curled his feet under to catch himself. He only let his boots touch for the split second that it took to kick off of the Night Banisher.

Then Sam caught him and pulled him up away as the Night Banisher began to drop. It moved slowly at first as if it were held in this specific altitutde by some invisible force. Suddenly it picked up speed just as the Whale neared the spot where Peter said he would lead it.

"Let's see if the kid keeps up his side of the bargain," Bucky said.

"Now!" Ricardo yelled as he saw the Night Banisher dropping. They probably wouldn't be able to bring the White Whale to a dead stop, but they could slow it down enough to buy just a little time for this to work.

The three men were bunched in shoulder to shoulder pushing down on the massive ice spike Rem had left in the Whale's useless eye. Their most dependable handholds were the swords that they had pushed into the ice, but it was hard to put all of your weight on the top of a sword while leaning the ice out to catch the ground. For a moment the tip of the ice melted under the extreme friction of the Whale's weight dragging it over the ground, but it dug in and causing the massive creature to lose some speed.

"You're doing it!" Peter yelled from ahead of them. He and Rem had slowed down, trying to stay just ahead of the Whale to draw it in from the look of it. If they ran too fast it might lose interest.

A small divot had formed in the ice from where Wilhelm was pushing against it trying to gain any ounce of leverage that he could.

"Gentlemen, we're holding for now, but I fear the creature will pull until we give out," Wilhelm said.

Ricardo grunted against the force. The ice might splinter and break up if this kept up. "The Old Sword Demon is right," he said.

Steve glanced to either of them. "There is something," he said reaching onto his back for his shield. His hands were wet enough that it slipped way and clattered against the ice landing face down on the Whale.

He stomped down on it, causing it to flip into the air and then, he stepped on the swords that they had jutting from the ice and used them to gain height. Then he stepped onto Ricardo's shoulder and flipped into the air.

Steve landed on the shield as it landed on the top of the ice. The force was enough that with the other two men pushing the ice found purchase in the earth below them and the Whale came to an abrupt stop.

Ricardo and Wilhelm thumbed down the front of the Whale, rolling to the grass below before catching themselves.

Steve was crouched atop the ice, precariously balanced on his shield. "We got you…you bastard," he said.

Below him he could hear the Whale's labored breathing and hear it struggling to cry out. It had been scared earlier, but some part of him could just feel that it had accepted that this was the end. Or it was just too tired to carry on.

"Steve!" He heard a voice that was almost too distant to tell.

"Steve!" Another voice. Sam?

He glanced to one side and then he heard Rem. "Steven!"

Steve cast his eyes on the direction where she and Peter had last been. Her legs were pounding against the dirt and her arms dangling behind her as she charged full force forward. She had dismounted the Ground Dragon and was coming right for him and the White Whale.

Then the red horn grew from her forehead and she pounced. "Look out!"

A second later Steve felt the heat, sudden and intense. Then he turned upward to see the Night Banisher racing down right on top of him. Rem crashed into him a second later and carried him off of the shield and to White Whale's surface.

The Night Banisher landed directly on top of the ice and rammed it down so far that the magical artificial sun was sitting in the hole where the eye had been and the ice was almost completely down inside of the Whale holding it in place.

Rem stayed on top of Steve for a moment. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, thanks."

Rem smiled a big dopey smile, her cheeks reddening. It was kind of odd to see her like this with the horn out.

Below they could hear the subtle sound of footsteps through wispy blades of grass. The light from there Night Banisher was dying now, though the fact that it was closer now still allowed it to light the area immediately surrounding where it had landed.

Wilhelm drew one of the swords that was still left at his side with one handed and dusted his clothes off with the other hand. He approached the White Whale with a determined look in his eyes.

"We had better get down," said Steve said. "Best to let him have this."

Rem nodded and the two of them jumped down the side of the Whale and slid into the grass below.

Wilhelm approached the Whale with the sword down at his side. He made sure to stay on the side where the Whale's remaining eye was, as if he wanted the beast to see him. He raised his sword up, holding the side of the blade between his eyes in a kind of salute. He thumb was pressed against the hilt as he tilted the sword out toward the Whale's face.

"This is for my wife," he paused.

There was still the matter of what had become of his wife. He had told them she was dead but they had seen her right here today on this battlefield.

Wilhelm repeated himself. "This is for my wife, Theresia van Astrea!"

The old man charged the Whale with a renewed energy that seemed to dwarf what he had hours ago. When he reached the Whale he kept running, sword out to the side as he dragged it through the Whale's flesh cutting deep. The creature let out a first cry so powerful that it reverberated through everyone around.

Wilhelm cut down the side of the Whale, over its back and down again. He slice through whole sections of the blubber unit the slid free in great chunks. A huge swatch of the Whale's back where the fog had come from exploded as Wilhelm passed over there.

The Whale was unable to struggle now; the life had been so drained from it that the only way to tell that it still lived was the remaining large eye. At some point it had changed back from the blood red to the deep yellow. Rem and Steve sat on the ground next to the Whale's eye as Wilhelm climbed its back and stood over it.

The yellow eye pivoted as much as it could to stare up at the man who had spent the last forty years waiting for this moment. And as it saw him raise his blade into the air, his face marked with blood and grim determination, the yellow eye began to quake with fear.

Genuine, deep fear.

"Sleep for all eternity," Wilhelm brought his blade down burying it in the Whale's flesh and twisting it hard. The blood poured out and ran down over the eye as it went dark and slowly sank closed.

With one more high pitched cry the Whale let out a final breath and fell silent. The fog that it had summoned and the mysterious Whale copies that had aided it were nowhere to be found and on the horizon there were hints of the sun's approach and a new day.

"It is finished, Theresia," Wilhelm said. "I will find some way to bring you home…" he added.

A trickle of the able bodied soldiers were coming toward where the Whale had fallen and pressing in around the creature's carcass. There were murmurs and muted excitement, held back by disbelief.

"We did it," Rem whispered.

Steve glanced down at her and nodded, though neither of them was too badly injured they stayed resting on this spot for now at least.

Peter jogged up, ripping his mask off. Though the Whale had stopped moving and there was no detectible respiration or signs of life, he still regarded the mabeast with a wary eye. It nearly had them several times and then there was that whole trick with the copies.

"Are we sure this thing doesn't have some, uh like, super secret Final Form or something?" Peter asked.

Kate was walking up with Deadpool at her side. "This isn't Final Fantasy, Spider-Man."

"Yeah, besides, you've got to get to the final dungeon in under forty hours to get that ending," Deadpool said.

Peter chuckled. "Right," he glanced over at the Whale and to where Wilhelm was standing looking off into the distance.

"The White Whale has breathed its last!" Crusch yelled as she marched down the front line between the soldiers and the White Whale.

"The mabeast which has terrorized the world for four centuries has been defeated by Wilhelm van Astrea!"

A thunderous cheer went up. There was hugging and some people even through their hats, helms, and scarves into the air. The Fang of Iron, several of Crusch's regulars, a group of volunteers, and some people displaced from their universe took the time to come together in a small celebration.

Crusch didn't try to clam it or quiet them and instead let their celebration taper off naturally.

Steve had walked up with Rem, but stepped away from her to approach Peter. "Have you seen Elsa?"

Peter turned to him. "Oh shit!"

The two of them moved toward the White Whale as the last embers of the congratulations were dying out. The way Wilhelm had left the whale after his last attacks had created something of a smell, blood was running down from all sides of the creature's massive white form. In the distance they could hear heavy breathing.

When the Whale had passed its belly had been tilted to the side just enough to be exposed and it seemed obvious then where she would be. Peter and Steve approached what had been the underside of the Whale to find a person sized slit cut in the creature and Elsa sprawled out on the dirt and surrounded by Whale entrails.

Her body was entirely crimson and bits of other whale parts that were completely foreign to them. They couldn't see the color of her face through all of the blood, but she was for sure red with glee under all that. She was clutching the skirt of her dress between her hands, writhing around.

"You okay, Elsa?" Asked Steve.

She let out a giggle.

"Do you need a moment?" Steve asked.

She didn't answer.

"Should we just leave her here?" Peter asked glancing over at Steve.

"Yeah, I think that she might need some time," said Steve. "We'll just keep an eye on her."

Lady Crusch Karsten walked down the rows of injured line up on the grass in the shade of Flugel's Tree. There were a lot of wounded, many of them the normal types of scrapes and broken bones that would be associated with falling from a moving Ground Dragon.

A good deal of the wounded had suffered from the White Whale's mana poisoning. It had caused them to lose control of themselves; those wounds were mostly self inflicted.

Crusch tucked her hands behind her back, clasping onto one wrist to hold them there. The half plate clinked and clanged with each step.

"It's a wonder that we came out this at all," she muttered to herself.

Under the worst of circumstances Crusch was a confident and driven woman. She knew that there was always something be said about hard work and a high level of skill being keys to success, but a lot of this plan had been ideas that she wouldn't have come up with or knowledge she didn't possess.

"Lady Crusch," Ferris had sidled up next to her and Crusch could hear the fabric of his dress as he moved along in lockstep with her. "I have an update: I am still trying to get a complete picture of the losses," he said.

There was a moment when he was silent and then he looked back toward the trunk of the tree where countless people were lying, waiting for their treatment.

"The thing is that even with the counts we took before hand I think some entire groups were wiped out in those fog attacks," Ferris said.

"We lost entire groups to that?" Crusch asked.

Ferris nodded. "Early on when the mana poisoning was still effecting some people and the fog blasts started I imagine that so many people were unable to move that…"

Crusch held a gloved hand up to silence Ferris. The joints of her armor rattled from the movement. "We will just have to go over things more closely when we are back at the manor," she said.

"Right," Ferris said. He made a small sound, reminiscent of a cat sniffing and then turned to walk away. "I've got more wounded to tend to."

Wilhelm was approaching her. "There was a lot of them. The wounded, I mean," he said.

She nodded. "Enough that we can't get an accurate count."

"Hm," Willem looked toward the edge of the sky where the Sun's light was just beginning to become more pronounced at the edge of the horizon. "Part of me thinks it foolhardy to have chased the dream of this Whale's death so hard. And to think that so many more died to see it brought down."

He turned and looked toward the massive body of the White Whale in the distance. Crusch stared to it with him and she couldn't help but think that from this far away and with its form limp and broken it didn't seem like a creature that could have terrorized an entire would for four lifetimes.

She started to tell Wilhelm that it wasn't his burden carry. So many of the people who had been here had come simply for the thrill of being part the beast's end.

"I suppose," Wilhelm started. "That we saw to the end of a blight on this world. And I was finally able to avenge my wife."

Crusch stared over at him. "You know, I heard something interesting floating around after the battle. It would seem to be true from the number of people talking about it: was Theresia really here?"

Wilhelm didn't answer, which was all of the answer that Crusch needed.

"How is that possible?"

The old man shook his head and then slumped his shoulders forward. "I don't know. She looked exactly as she had the day I last saw her," he said.

"And she was with the Witch Cult?" Crusch asked.

"She called herself an Inquisitor," Wilhelm said.

Crusch closed her eyes. "So it's the same as that day…"

"I'm not certain to which day it is you're referring, my Lady," Wilhelm said.

"The start of the Royal Selection, we were attacked by someone calling themselves an Inquisitor. Peter and your—Reinhard chased them away and they haven't been seen since."

Wilhelm considered what she was saying for a moment and she wondered if the mention of his grandson had upset him. "These Inquisitors might special, higher ranked members within the Witch's cult, something akin to the Sin Archbishops, perhaps even higher."

The Witch's cult was the kind of thing that many didn't speak about out loud. Even among those who spoke about them it was usually in hushed tones or in the pursuit of battle planning. She hadn't really given much thought to rank with in the cult, though she had heard of these Archbishops in passing.

"It sounds like you know something of these Archbishops," Crusch said.

"Mmhm," he nodded. "Only what I have gleamed from various stories and writings over the years—and the little bit I know about a man named Stride Vollachia."

Due to her intimate knowledge of matters of state, she knew the Vollachia family name would denote someone as belonging to the Imperial family in the Sacred Vollachia Empire. There were a fair number of named people she had heard about here and there from that family, Stride was not one of them.

"The Witch Cult seems to have become emboldened as of late," Crusch said. "No doubt this has to do with the Royal Selection."

Wilhelm looked off toward the horizon. "No, it's not just that."

Crusch rested one hand on the hilt of her sword, pulling the weapon closer to her body so it wouldn't hit a pair of men as she passed. "There's a lot going on here that we don't understand."

She turned her head slightly to look toward the towering Whale carcass in the distance. "Still, today feels like it could be a new beginning for all of us."

"Do you plan to enter the Mathers Domain and investigate what further objectives that the Witch Cult must have?" Wilhelm asked. "There must have been a reason for them to block off the route."

Crusch shut her eyes. "Under normal circumstances I would, but with Roswaal Mathers backing Emilia for the Selection and me recognizable as a member of the nobility and a rival Royal Candidate it is best that I don't involve myself personally. It could look to outsiders like I am trying to make myself look better and prove Miss Emilia weak," she explained.

"And all of this after she lent some of her strength to our efforts here today," Crusch said as she glanced to where Peter was standing grouped together with Steve and Rem.

"It is as I suspected," Wilhelm said. "I must ask, if you would allow me to accompany whatever force there is going forward, if there is any."

Crusch gave one solemn nod of her head and then looked to where Steve was furiously trying to wipe the shield down. "I imagine that we would need to consult with someone else about what happens next."

Rem gasped, her pale hands tightened into fists at her side. "M-my deepest apologies," she said taking a deep bow in front of Steve. Her maid's uniform was in tatters and even by the torchlight that had been set up around the camp it was easy to see the streaks of dirt and blood littering her body and clothing.

"It's okay, Rem. Really." Steve held out his hand gesturing for her to stop.

The grave injustice that caused her to apologize like this was saving Steve from the falling Night Banisher, but leaving his shield behind.

"I'm just lucky that it didn't get stuck beneath the Night Banisher itself. That thing is still hot and we would have never gotten it out of there," Steve said.

Rem stood up straight. "It's pretty fantastic that we were able to do this," she said. "The whole idea of stopping the White Whale seemed top fantastical to be true just a days ago."

"Well, this is all thanks to Peter here," Crusch said as she walked up with Wilhelm at her side.

"Oh no—no ma'am, I mean I couldn't accept thanks for all this. Like, it was Wilhelm who struck the final blow."

"Indeed, but it was you that guided my sword. Were it not for your ability to solve complex riddles I would have never gotten a chance to see my dream realized," Wilhelm said.

"You did kind of make this whole thing possible. If we had split into two groups and tried to catch the Whale off guard imagine what would have happened when the thing split into three like that," Steve said.

Peter glanced at his feet, avoiding eye contact. "Yeah, that could have turned out bad," he said.

"Before you mentioned that there must have been an issue in the Mathers Domain. The Whale was an attempt to restrict the Kingdom's ability to send reinforcements where they are needed, correct?" Crusch asked.

Peter nodded.

"Then it would stand to reason that there is still something for you to do out there," Wilhelm cut in.

Peter really needed to hurry along before it was too late. He couldn't tell them of the things that he had seen.

"Yeah, the sooner that I get there the better," he said.

Crusch touched the chest plate of her armor. "I would like to offer my support," she said.

"You're coming with us?" Peter asked.

Crusch shook her head. "That I can't do. It would make Emilia look weak and while that would benefit me it wouldn't be the honest thing to do. I can ask for volunteers that want to go with you."

Peter's head sunk. "Oh, do you think anyone would go for that?"

Wilhelm stepped forward and planted his sword scabbard tip first toward the ground. He leaned down on it and got into a single knee. "You've already had one," he said. "This is all that I can do to repay you," Wilhelm said.

He didn't know what to say, but he couldn't very well refuse the man.

"I accept," Peter said.

"There is the other problem, Rem especially used a lot of mana. I would be surprised if she could continue on in this state," Crusch said.

Peter saw the reluctance to accept the truth written on Rem's face, but she ultimately lowered her head. "There is a risk that my gate could take permanent damage if I continue to use mana," Rem said.

"Wait, what happens again if her gate breaks?" Peter asked.

"She won't be able to use magic anymore," Wilhelm said.

Peter shook his head. He could't really risk putting Rem into a situation where she would be forced into a fight or made to defend anyone else. He knew that if he did she would probably attack with total disregard for her own wellbeing.

"Lady Crusch is heading back to the city," Peter said. "It might be best if you went back with her—just for now," Peter added.

Rem sighed, but said nothing.

"If your gate breaks then you're going to be completely without magic," Peter said. "I just know there's going to be more trouble where we're headed."

Crusch nodded. "There's still something that you can help with, we're going to have to begin the process of breaking down the Whale's body to move it and getting the injured out of here," she said.

Steve glanced to the side. "Elsa is in no condition for more fighting today either, plus her little sister got hurt pretty bad trying to take control of the White Whale."

"Ferris was seeing to her," Wilhelm said. "She will just need to rest now."

"I know, but it would be for the best if we shuffle some of our players off the board—I just wish we could bring in some fresh ones."

Crusch folded her arms. "There is a supply contingent coming from the rear, they were instructed to wait until the fog cleared and make their way here. More men should be coming with them."

In the loop where he and Steve made it to the house, Peter couldn't tell what had happened with Steve. It seemed almost like he could have died, but then there was also the risk of sending Elsa to the city with all those soldiers. Steve was probably the only thing that could keep her if she lost control.

"I'm not really winded and I've got plenty of web left," Peter said. "Wilhelm has agreed to come with me and there are probably other volunteers coming too—Steve could you maybe see that the convoy gets back safe?"

Steve looked at Peter for a long time and it was clear that he wanted to say something.

"I'm just going to go in and out, I will get May, Emilia, Ram, Roswaal, and Beatrice and the soldiers will secure the townspeople. After that…"

"You're not even sure of that much yet," Steve said.

"I'm sure Roswaal will have some idea," Peter said. He knew that alone wouldn't make Steve much more comfortable after what Roswaal had done back at the Royal Selection Ceremony.

"Besides, Ram and Emilia are both more than capable of taking care of themselves. Together we can easily make for the capitol or whatever," Peter added.

Steve sighed. "Look, I know you're just worried about the others, but you can't rush in there by yourself."

"Not going by myself, but time is a big part of this. If they blocked the road off and didn't come to assist the White Whale in larger numbers it means that whatever they are planning is going down right now," Peter explained.

"Right. That does make a lot of sense," Steve said. "We could just as easily send one of the refreshment soldiers back with the convoy."

Peter leaned in close to Steve to whisper. "Elsa is still kind of on the fence, we can't risk leaving her with new people or even just Rem in this state."

Steve nodded. "That is—strategically mature, Pete. I would have to agree to that. But Bucky should go with you, just in case."

"There shouldn't be very much to worry about in terms of force. Wilhelm will be accompanying him as will some others. And there's a special guest who has fallen in with the rear guard of the Fang of Iron group, just in case," Crusch said.

Peter guessed that he could accept the Bucky thing. He folded his arms. "Don't worry," he said looking at Steve. "It sounds like even Crusch has faith that this is going to work out."

"I'll admit, I didn't know what to think of you even after the attack on the Royal Selection Ceremony. It could have been all for show or for the benefit of making your charge look good, but if that were the case you wouldn't have taken the risks that I witnessed here."

Crusch offered out her hand to shake his. "What I mean to say Peter Parker is that you truly are an impressive individual and soon the whole Kingdom is going to know it."

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"Your work was essential to defeating the White Whale, though Wilhelm struck the killing blow your contribution is going to be known by all," Crusch explained.

Peter wasn't sure how he felt about his actual name being associated with the things that he was doing. No one really knew who he was back on Earth except May, Ned, and a few of the Avengers and other heroes. And Adrian Toomes—that might have come back to bite him in the ass later.

He chuckled. "I guess it will bring some notoriety to Emilia's cause," Peter said rubbing at the back of his head.

"You deserve the credit. I mean, who knows how many lives stopping this thing saved," Steve said.

"Right." Peter nodded slowly, trying to take in what they were saying.

"And it does make sense for you to be the one who goes to the manor, Emilia's going to be real happy to see you." Steve smiled and playfully clamped his hand down on Peter's shoulder. "You got this."

What he was up against didn't leave him time to rest, they would have to strike out the second that enough able bodied volunteers signed on. Despite fighting the White Whale, he would drive in the Mathers Domain much faster than he had before.

He just hoped it had been enough and that he was ready for whatever it was the Witch Cult were planning.