Welcome to chapter six of Ragnarok! Since this is all prewritten, I don't know how well it's being recieved, but I hope it's doing well! The plan is coming along nicely. Also, as of this writing, I saw Doctor strange almost an hour ago and my mind is blown. Like, tiny pieces of it are floating around in my skull. As such, this chapter may be much better or much worse. However, you can trust that my mind will have been reassembled by next upload. Duct tape is wonderful stuff.
"Again!"
Razorre was currently in the middle of training with his new weapons. Well, training may not be the best word. He was currently locking blades with Sif, who Thor and Loki had convinced to help with his weapons training. He wasn't allowed to use his speed during this fight, which had immediately put him at a clear disadvantage. While his armblades were able to act as both a shield and weapon, he had little experience with them outside of cutting the ice man down to size. Thor was still a little bit salty from that encounter.
Razorre yelped and leapt back as Sif delivered a powerful hammer blow with her sword.
"This is getting ridiculous! Are you trying to kill me?!"
Sif just spun and made for another slash. Razorre brought his blade up to block and activated the two small blades that folded from the primary one. He caught Sif's blade in between the blades and twisted, trying to force her to drop her sword. Sif simply jumped and pulled the blade free before kicking him in the side and bringing her blade to his throat.
"Dead."
Razorre shrugged.
"Surprise, surprise."
He sheathed the blades and went to sit on a bench. Sif just walked off. Thor shrugged.
"You lasted twelve seconds longer this time. Thats a decent improvement."
Razorre shrugged.
"Still, I think it would be better to train at full speed. If i'm fighting someone, I'm going to do it on my terms."
Loki shook his head.
"What if you need to avoid your enemies knowing about your powers?"
Razorre shrugged.
"I think the arm blades would be a dead giveaway."
"True perhaps, but if you should still know how to fight without your speed."
Razorre rolled his shoulders.
"That's going to take too long. It's only a matter of time before another one of those maniacs with powers shows up and starts attacking again and when they do, I'm going to need to be at full speed to stop them."
Thor and Loki shook their heads.
"Sometimes you have to walk before you can run." Loki responded. Razorre shook his head and started walking off.
"I'm gonna go for a run. I need to loosen up after that beating."
He vanished in blue flash and a crackling noise. He sped through Asgard, crossing the bridge and coming to a stop beside Heimdall. Heimdall didn't seem fazed by his sudden appearance.
"You seek news from Midgard?"
Razorre nodded.
"Kinda would like to go back to visit at some point soon. With all these nasties with powers that keep showing up though, I'm not sure how much time I can spend there. Also, there's the issue of me having to explain to everyone back on Berk that I was zapped up to Asgard, gained powers from a lightning bolt that not even Thor can control, and that there are people out there that want me and Asgard six feet under."
Heimdall seemed amused by this.
"True. That would be an interesting conversation."
Razorre stretched his arms back and yawned.
"Man, all that training today really wore me out. It's going to be time for final meal soon, so I best get back. Thanks for the conversation!"
Heimdall didn't even answer as Razorre took off again. He sped back down to the mess hall and grabbed his reserved meal. His speed also came with a heightened metabolism, so he needed to eat alot more. The other warriors of Asgard had gotten used to him showing up in the mess hall with a gust of wind and a flash of light, so he ate in peace before heading back to his quarters to get some sleep. Sif had been pasting him most of the day and, while his body mended wounds much faster, he still felt sore from beatdown after beatdown.
He only got a few hours before he was summoned by Odin and Frigga. Being summoned by the pair of them only meant that there was another one of the invaders in one of the realms.
He met up with them and found Thor there, but no Loki.
"Heimdall informed us that there was another breach opened, allowing one of our enemies to enter Alfheim. We do not yet know what they are capable of, so be on your guard. Thor will be accompanying you."
Razorre nodded and looked at Thor, who looked very excited.
"Shall we race to the bridge?"
Razorre was already gone. Thor rushed out and launched into the air, flying towards the bridge, watching the blue streak trace a line through Asgard, easily pulling ahead of Thor. He was waiting smugly beside Heimdall, making sure his armblades were adjusted properly. Thor lightly cuffed him as Heimdall opened the gateway to Alfheim. They entered and came out in a vast, green forest. Thor explored from the ground while Razorre sprinted up the trees and leapt from branch to branch, using his speed to make sure he had secure footing, as well as working off the sudden charge that travelling through the bifrost gave him.
They explored for a while before they came across something startling and terrible. There was a small band of elves, all dead. Blood was leaking from each of them, specifically their backs. Each one had two holes punched in it's back, obviously made by a knife of some sort. However, they had all fallen in a way that indicated they should have seen their assailant coming. So, why had they collapsed this way?
"Over here!"
Razorre called Thor over and they saw faint traces of a black dust on the ground.
"Could it have been some sort of smoke bomb?"
Thor shook his head.
"No, we would have smelled it on our way here. It must be connected to this somehow."
Razorre checked the bodies again and found similar residue around them.
"Let's keep moving."
They forged ahead, keeping their eyes peeled for anything that might move. Suddenly, Razorre thought he saw movement. He became very still and focused on that spot. He could see a branch shaking slightly.
Then he heard a rustling sound above him. His speed immediately kicked in and he turned to see someone wrapped entirely in black plunging toward him with two knives ready to sink into him!
He backpedaled out of the way and the person missed their strike, stumbling. Razorre charged forward, his body sparking. However, just as his fist reached them, they had vanished in a puff of black dust!
He stopped and started looking around, seeing the person reappear on another branch nearby. He sprinted up the tree and kicked off, leaping towards the assassin. They just disappeared again. He landed on the branch and started looking again.
He saw the assassin appearing in thin air, straight above Thor! They started dropping towards him, knives at the ready. Razorre darted down the tree and kicked off again, his right arm blade extending. He landed a blow, striking the assassin across the stomach. They yelped in surprise and vanished in a black puff. Thor brought Mjolnir up to strike, but saw Razorre appear in a flash, his arm blade held out in front of him.
"We have a teleporter."
Thor groaned.
"The most difficult of quarry."
They saw the figure reappear briefly before vanishing again.
"We aren't going to be able to catch them if they just keep warping away like that! See if you can spark 'em. I'll look around and try to smoke them out if I find them!"
Razorre sped up a tree and began leaping from branch to branch, looking for any evidence of the assassin. Hopefully, their teleportation was just limited to short distances, so if he could find them or evidence of a teleportation, such as the black dust, he might be able to find a trail. All the while, he kept his ears open for the sound of the assassin popping out of thin air to stab him in the back.
He kept going until he saw a company of elven warriors, this time alive, walking through the woods, weapons drawn. He ran back to Thor and informed him of the situation.
"Let me speak with them. As the prince of Asgard, they will be less likely to attack me."
They met the company, who immediately wanted to kill both of them. Thor managed to talk them out of the precarious situation before explaining why they were here, and who had killed the previous company that the duo had come across. The elves seemed suspicious at first, but they went along with it. They weren't very trusting of Razorre, however. They kept their weapons at the ready, seemingly daring him to make a move. Suddenly, he heard a snapping noise and immediately sped up as he looked for the source. Looking up, he saw the assassin plunging downward towards one of the elves!
Razorre rocketed forward, pulling the elf out of harms way, bare seconds before the black knives plunged into his back! The assassin snarled at him and tugged their weapons clear as Razorre charged. The assassin vanished and Razorre ran through a cloud of black dust. He kept going and sprinted up at tree, knowing that the assassin would make for higher ground. He looked around as he ran, noticing a cloud of black dust starting to form on one of the branches. He changed course and arrived just as the the assassin finished materializing, leaving them wide open for a superspeed knuckle sandwich straight to the head!
The assassin flew into a tree and started falling to the ground, Only for Razorre to catch them on the way down and drop them at the feet of the elves.
"Man, they are going to have a dragon-sized headache when they wake up."
One of the elves shook their head.
"They won't be waking up."
They raised their blade to strike, but Thor stopped them.
"As much as me and my friend agree with the sentiment, we still need to question them about why they were attacking Alfheim in the first place. Our last capture has not been very cooperative."
Razorre had busied himself with removing the suicide capsule, just in case the assassin woke up. He also made sure that their eyes were covered, knives were confiscated, and arms bound to ensure they didn't escape. It was entirely possible that they needed to see their destination or have a visual point of reference.
Him and Thor bid farewell to the elves, who gifted Razorre with and enchanted hood that could stay up even while he was running as fast as possible, and had Heimdall open the Bifrost. Razorre took their captive and ran them back to the palace, locking them in the dungeon. They had analyzed the cryomancer and the corpse of the aeromancer to find a way to prevent them from using their abilities within their cells. Since the same method worked for both of them, it was reasonable to assume that it would work for the assassin. They tossed them inside and activated the cell. At that moment, they began to stir.
Razorre watched with crossed arms as they stood up and looked around.
"Where am I?"
Somehow, their voice was distorted. Razorre could do something similar by vibrating his vocal cords, but this sounded a little more... mechanical.
"You're in the dungeons of Asgard, facing execution for killing seven elves, but most of all, you're here because I want answers. You're the third person to come through a breach into one of the nine realms and tear up the place. I want to know what's going on."
The assassin laughed.
"I am a merely here to correct a flaw in the grand design."
Razorre narrowed his eyes.
"Cut the yak dung and tell me straight. Who keeps sending people like you to the nine realms to just cause mayhem, and why?"
The assassin just kept talking crazy.
"The grand design is perfect, but someone is attempting to tear it down. I merely answer to those who would maintain the natural order of the worlds."
Razorre stared at them, unamused. He turned and vanished in a flash of lightning. The assassin leaned back against the wall, smirking under their mask. The time to strike was very soon.
Razorre sped up to where Thor had told him to meet when he finished locking up the prisoner.
"They woke up when I got down there, so I asked a few questions. All I got back was crazy. Much more talkative than the walking glacier and less helpful."
Loki leaned forward a little, seemingly intrigued.
"What did they have to say?"
Razorre shrugged.
"Something about a 'grand design' and how someone wanted to tear it down, and a bit about maintaining the natural order of the worlds. All a bunch of crazy."
"There is nothing natural about it." Loki muttered.
"What?" Razorre asked. Loki shook his head.
"I'll explain later. For now, we have to find out how to stop them from coming through those breaches."
Razorre shrugged.
"Well, I don't know what to tell you. That person is just talking a load of crazy."
Thor looked thoughtful.
"I find that introducing prisoners to a bildshnipe often convinces them to talk."
Loki shrugged.
"True, but these ones seem rather resilient. They may end up getting rather torn up before they make their choice."
Razorre pinched his nose as they kept discussing how to extract the desired information when he heard a loud boom and felt the ground shake. The brothers stopped and rose, heading for the entrance. Razorre was already at the bottom of the stairs, having run along the wall of the stairwell, and made his way to the dungeon. He took the moment to employ some of Gobber's more choice curses as he saw both the ice man and the assassin were both loose.
"Well well, speedy. Looks like you have time to chill out after all!"
The ice man formed his ice armor and fired twin blasts of ice at him. Razorre darting across the wall to avoid the ice, but found that he was now missing an escape route. The assassin bowed and vanished, seemingly appearing on the other side of the ice wall.
"Oh great. And seriously, what is with all the ice puns?"
He extended his armblades and charged, running past the ice man and raising the blades in front of him, thus allowing him to smash through the ice wall and sprint after the assassin. He saw two Asgardian warriors trying to fight them, but they were being utterly humiliated. They kept teleporting around the guards, delivering quick hits before vanishing again. Razorre darted forward and slammed his shoulder into the assassin, launching them away. He then charged after them and pinned them against a wall, tearing off the black fabric covering their face.
Underneath was a woman with deathly pale skin and black lines on her face, seemingly some sort of decorative makeup or, more accurately, war paint. She had jet black hair that was tied back. She kicked him away and teleported back to the guards and swiped two knives from them. She teleported back to Razorre and made a show of spinning the knives before twitching one of them in a 'bring it on' motion. Razorre raised his fists and edged closer, not wanting to use his speed quite yet. The assassin vanished and reappeared on his right, making to stab him in the back of his shoulder, but Razorre turned and blocked with his armblade before delivering a speed punch. The assassin tumbled backward, rolling with the punch before throwing one of the knives. Razorre's hand shot up and caught the knife, bare centimeters from his chest.
"You'll have to be faster than that."
He took off into the palace, leaving the assassin very confused. That was until he came careening around the other side, grabbed her and dragged her for a lap around the same circuit before slamming her forehead against a railing, knocking her straight out.
Suddenly, he heard a loud exlosion from behind him. He turned to see Thor, Sif, and the warriors three all fighting back against the ice man. Razorre rolled his shoulders before he started sparking before breaking into a full-on sprint, straight at the ice man. He leapt into the air and crossed his arms in front of him, making a plow-like blade in front of him. The momentum allowed him to smash clean through the icy shell and grab the ice man before pinning him against the wall and knocking him out with a speed punch.
"Next time, let's make sure they've been shaken down properly before we lock them up. I think I saw a missing tooth in one of their mouths."
He turned to Loki.
"Given that they just attempted a prison break, maybe we should have that discussion you mentioned earlier."
Loki huffed.
"Fine. Besides, it looks like we have less time left than we originally anticipated."
This turned out much better! So, how's everyone enjoying?
Creativity: BURN IT DOWN! KILL IT ALL!
Author: I told you to not play video games while I'm addressing the audience. Besides, I want to hop in!
Anyway, here's to furthering the plan! Oh yes... the plan...