AN: Yaay, new chapter. Oh and it's official, I have run out of pre-typed chapters. I really need to get a move on and type up a few more. But there's this one for ya, and I hope you like it. I feel that this chapter jumps about a bit, so let me know what you think about it. I do like hearing your reviews, they make my day and it's helpful to see what you think about it. After all, I am doing this for your enjoyment :). I hope you like this chapter, and as promised, Ink will SUFFER!

Chapter twenty-one

I hadn't been stumbling through the wilderness for long. Although all around me was a white haze and the snow storm blew my hair every which way possible, I felt like I knew the way. It was the magic guiding me to a safe place. Well, I hoped it was my magic, I would be screwed if it turned out I was still kind of out of it on drugs. My head was still spinning a little. But, with every extra step, I felt my Jotun immune system working against the drug, even though I was completely drained.

I felt my strength slip away. Each foot print left in the snow got smaller, and soon I was fighting against hypothermia. I didn't have it in me to revert back into my Jotun form. Who knew a half Frost Giantess could freeze to death?

After a few more minutes of stumbling, I came to a halt. I suddenly realised that any attempts of running away from that place was stupid.

I was being hunted.

I couldn't exactly explain how I knew, as my feeble grip on my magic was guiding me to safety, it couldn't warn me of any dangers. I put in down to good old intuition.

A second before I could do anything about it, claws raked down my back, slicing my skin like paper. I screamed out in pain as the world flashed blindingly bright. At this point anything was enough to knock me out. I didn't know how I did it, but I gritted my teeth, and changed into my Jotun form. The world faded this time. I blinked and got up.

Blue mixed with red on white.

"Did you really think you could get away so easily?" Sabertooth growled at me.

"Not in the slightest." I hissed back. A second fight was unavoidable at this point.

"I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart." He said.

I huffed. "If I had a dime any one ever said that to me..." I muttered. Before Sabertooth could get ready, I punched him in the face, sending him off his feet and into the snow. I usually avoided touching anyone in my Jotun form, for fearing of killing them. I was over that by now. Besides, these guys had healing factors.

I knew I wasn't lucky enough to have that punch knock Sabertooth out right, but I had to hope. I had a few seconds at least, to get a feel for where Omega Red and Lady Deathstrike were. They were definitely around here somewhere.

Sabertooth got to his, but the others hadn't made themselves know yet.

This was all a game to them.

I almost gave way at the daunting task ahead of me. It was too risky to try magic. I could burn myself out. A burn-out is what we magic users call going over the edge. I could very well be facing a fatal burn-out, and there was no coming back from them.

I might as well go down swinging. I thought. If this is the end, so be it.

If they wanted to play then they could play. I watched Sabertooth get to his feet and roar at me, his broken and bloody nose already healing. I had to do this.

I resolved that I wouldn't be able to get away. Breath got choked in my throat as I realised I might as well die here. I blinked back tears. Now was not the time for this.

I couldn't be bothered with forming a weapon. I'd have to make do with my fists. Still I called on Yggdrasil, reaching for that feeling of warmth and some semblance of comfort as stone cold dread settled in my bones.

I'm so scared.

It was hard. I could feel myself slipping. With every hit and punch I gave, dozens more rained down on me. My connection with Yggdrasil was already fading. I was so tired, tired of everything. I just wanted it to stop. Fatigue burned through every limb, screaming at me to stop. I wanted to give in. I wanted to give in so badly that I choked on more fresh tears. But I couldn't stop. Not for one moment could I give these monsters one inch, even when I spat blood onto the snow, and when a chipped tooth came with it. I couldn't stop when the pain became almost too much to bear. I couldn't stop. I wouldn't go back there, not when I knew who they were and what they did.

I'm so afraid.

I fought with every little bit of strength I had left. I gave it my everything, but as Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike and Omega Red closed in for the kill, my everything didn't seem to be enough anymore. It had never been enough.

I'm so scared.

Darkness clouded the edges of my vision. I tried to push it back, push it away... but there was nothing left to push with. A cold sense of clarity washed over me. Utterly ageless and soul crushing despair settled over me as I realised one thing.

I would never escape.

Deadpool POV

It had taken all of one sentence to have the Avengers racing over to Canada. Only one sentence. Logan had made Deadpool do it, the bastard, because Logan thought it was his fault they were in this mess.

It was his fault, which made everything stink like it was no one's business. It was Deadpool's fault that Ink had been taken by the very same monsters that made him. Because of them, he didn't have single reliable memory from the time he had put his mask on and started calling himself Deadpool. He's had everything taken from him... He didn't get to make that many friends... No more. Deadpool wouldn't allow himself lose any more.

There was nothing to stop Deadpool from slaughtering them all. Absolutely nothing.

Deadpool couldn't bear to think of what they were doing to Ink, or if she could fight back.

Shit. Would this feeling ever go away?

It didn't help that the Avengers blamed him. In fact it made it worse, the ass-hats. There hadn't been much reply when Deadpool had said: Ink was taken by Weapon X , only the promise that the Avengers would some and find her. There was also an unspoken promise that they would take down anyone who would stand in their way. Ink meant a lot to them. She was like their little sister. But Deadpool felt like she was so much more to him.

At least, Deadpool could agree with the Avengers on one thing.

If anyone, anyone, stood in the way of getting Ink back, if anyone hurt her... Deadpool would slaughter them all.

He would take whatever the Avengers said about him, it was nothing he had already heard before, and he had heard worse. He would take it all and use it to fuel him, fuel the promise that he found himself thinking:

No one would be left alive.

I was in that metal coffin again. I wasn't sure how I got here. All the memories from then to now were hazy, and fuzzy. I didn't even particularly know when then was. Not that I cared. It was over. There was just no point any more.

They had put some kind of anti-freeze in the water. Smart. I guess it should have shocked me how little I cared about my current situation. But it didn't. They might've been drugging me. I couldn't really feel my body. Only pain. Pain that lingered in the back of my mind. It was the only thing that allowed me to hope that I was alive and not in some kind of limbo.

My heart thundered slower and gentler then normal, if I could ever feel it. My breathing was slow and even. My eyes were heavy. My limbs were leaden. I had already given up, maybe I should just sleep. That seemed to be the only option left to me. No one was coming to save me.

Deadpool... Wade... I was never going to see him again. Maybe it was for the better. It didn't feel that way though. There was just an empty space where I should feel something... Some longing to have had time to give him an apology to what I had said...

Time.

There was nothing left.

So I let myself drift.

I adjusted the fur cape around my shoulders. Of course the cold didn't bother me in this body, but it did seem all a bit over the top.

Jotunheim was especially beautiful and clear today. Fitting, I supposed, because today was the day when, as the future heir of Jotunheim, I had to meet the other chieftains of the other tribes that I would one day rule over. It wasn't nearly as interesting as it sounded. So far the day had consisted of waiting; waiting for all of the chieftains and their heirs to arrive.

I sneaked a glance at Farbuati. She was ever bit a queen as she was expected to be. Imposing, beautiful and terrible, she was wrapped in furs and scale of various Jotunheim dwelling creatures, and standing tall in her amazing ice armour. She didn't need a crown, or any kind of symbol to mark her power, only the simple fact that she towered over every other Jotun out there. Not in the physical sense, but the sense that she held power. Ageless, eternal, ever-lasting power. In short, you knew she was the one and only queen around here.

I shifted on my feet, suddenly at a loss of what to say. That seemed to be happening a lot to day. Instead of voicing my question, I looked down at my new ice armour. It had been given to me just as I arrived on Jotunheim three days ago. I thought it was beautiful, how all of the ice reflected the light, shattering it into amazing colours. The fur cape only dropped to the small of my back, made of some mystery creature. It was strange, being in this body, having only discovered it a few months before. What with Amora's teaching and the trip to Jotunheim sprung on me, I'd been feeling oddly isolated to everything lately. There just didn't seem to be enough time to sort through it all.

"Nervous?" Farbuati asked, snapping me back to the present.

I glanced up at her. She was a good couple of feet taller than me, even though I was 7'10". "Oh, no." I said. Did I look nervous? I mean, I still could not believe what was happening to me. Had I been making a face? The butterflies that filled my stomach fluttered, well there was that. "Well, maybe." I admitted.

Farbuati chuckled at my discomfort. "I was nervous on my first day too." She told me. "But, if it makes you feel better, today is not the day we are finding a suitor for you."

I gaped at her. "We actually have to do that?" I gasped.

Farbuati chuckled again, but didn't reply. Great, now I felt worse.

I gazed at the horizon again, comparing to the ones in my memory, more out of boredom than anything else.

There was the same boring scene from my time in the numerous care homes, all different and yet so achingly the same. The time of care homes were behind me though. In my sixteen years of living in Manchester, no one had come forward to adopt me, although I had been fostered countless times. After my sixteenth birthday, I was expected to move out of my latest foster home and find a place to live and work. I entered a sixth form and lived on my own in Manchester for another one-and-a-half years.

There was the new skyline of New York, my new home, from the windows of my apartment that had been bought with an astonishing amount of money that had just suddenly appeared in my bank account. I didn't ask questions, although my social workers wanted to. I just took it and ran, ran to a new life in America, a land of freedom, futures and superheroes.

And now, I was gazing into the sunrise of Jotunheim, from a great ice castle in desperate need of a re-building, on top of a mountain. The whole realm was open to me. I could see it all. I could explore it if I wished. Shockingly, it would be mine one day.

"Um, when are they turning up?" I asked, looking for a new topic to think of instead of the awkward one I was currently thinking of. Most of the clans had already turned up, with a massive entourage of tribal members. They were currently residing in the great ice castle, waiting for their queen to announce the future heir. But Farbuati said we mustn't start without all of the chieftains here.

"They should be here soon," Farbuati murmured, her burning red eyes sweeping over the horizon and on her realm. I shifted on me feet again, not exactly comforted by this. My gaze slid to the sky, onto the gathering clouds, my thoughts now on the dragons that I had left behind.

Something flashed. I blinked. Was it a thunder storm? There it was again. No, definitely not lightning. I glanced at Farbuati, but she was still looking at the ground, not the sky. I glanced at the skyline again. Whatever it was, it was coming closer by the second. I thought about telling Farbuati. Would she dismiss me? Would she laugh me off? It was at this point when I realised about how stupid I sounded. This was my grand-mother, not the head of some cheerleading team in high school.

But then again, Farbuati did have that sense of humour.

The flashing thing still came closer. I glanced at the many, many guards posted around the courtyard, slightly worried now. They didn't seem to be noticing anything odd. They didn't give anything away if they did.

Then I heard it: a roar that shattered through the calm of the day. A roar that made me freeze. I looked at Farbuati, my eyes wide with fright. She hadn't even blinked. A slow smile spread across her face and a look of knowing spread across her features. The guards tensed, there armour groaning and weapons shifting, but they stayed where they were. Only now did everyone shift there eyes to the sky.

A thought dawned of me. What if Drakki and Hiss somehow got here? I had left them on Midgard with the promise that I would be back soon. My heart thundered, suddenly worried for my two companions. I heard the roar again. No, no, that wasn't Drakki or Hiss. Which begged the question: what was it?

My question was answered a few minutes later when two gargantuan beasts landed in front of Farbuati and I in the courtyard, I stumbled back a little panicked with the confrontation of such large creatures. Whereas Farbuati did nothing, she didn't even bat an eyelid.

The two beasts were pale blue in colour and had blazing red eyes, like that of a Jotun. But that's where the similarities ended. They had two pairs of wings, one large muscular pair, with a large claw at the main joint, and then a second set of wings under their main ones. As I saw them fly through the air towards the castle, the wings had been splayed in an X.

They stood on this second set of wings and their hind legs. They had a very muscular and sturdy build, and looked capable of crushing me with no effort at all. Their face had two long spines that branch off at their noses and out towards the sides of their head. They had quite a flat face, but it was wide. I saw that the creatures had a three-finned tail, which was long and clad in muscle. They also had many spines down their back that make them look intimidating, but with the large finned crown on their heads made them look even more menacing. They both stood over fifty feet tall. I didn't even know how big their wings were.

One of them had a metal helmet on, with had the blade of an axe stuck where the beast's nose was. It seemed a little unnecessary to me. It didn't look too happy with it either. They both had me pinned with those huge, red eyes. It was hard not to be scared witless.

The beasts shifted, and I realised that the feeling of intimidation had already just begun. I felt myself leaning a little closer to Farbuati. The two Jotun riders on the creatures backs both looked down on us.

"Your Highness," One bowed, then leaped off his mount, the one with the metal helmet. He was definitely the chieftain. He easily stood around twelve feet tall and bound in muscle. There was a wrap around his muscular shoulders that looked like it was the same kind of skin as the scaled beast he was riding. A circle of talons and teeth decorated his neck and chest. But the most striking thing about him was that he was absolutely covered in scars, from head to toe. Some were long and slender, others were jagged and gruesome. They twisted all over his face, standing out starkly against his blue skin. However, I could tell that he wore them the way a general would wear his medals.

"Drafilie, how nice to see you," Farbuati said. She made it sound like this was anything but nice to see him. "This is my grand-daughter, Ink."

Drafilie's eyes slid to me. He nodded his head briefly, but his gaze quickly returned to Farbuati. I was glad. His gaze made me think of battles so bloody the history books had forgotten about them.

"In that case," He said with a thick accent that I couldn't quite place. "Let me introduce my son, Tritan." Drafilie held his hand out to the Jotun rider still seated a top his mount.

Tritan held my gaze, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. His expression was soft, and unlike his father, he bore no scars. His expression was soft, though he was clad in furs, scaled skin and necklaces of teeth, and although his eyes were a burning red like everybody else's, they held none of the rage that I saw so often. He was unlike I had ever seen before. I felt myself smile back at him.

I opened my eyes and blinked, suddenly ripped from the memory. It was somewhere I hadn't been to in a long time. There was a pain in my chest, that for so long had slumbered, but rose at the memory of the Jotun rider. Tritan. The closest friend I ever felt like I had had. Tritan, who had died not that long ago.

I had no idea what had triggered the memory. I hadn't thought about him in a long time. I hadn't let myself think about him. I had almost forgotten the ache in my chest, but it was steadily returning. It was probably the reason I didn't have friends. It had been too hard when I lost Tritan.

Tritan.

I didn't know how long I'd been floating in that metal coffin, at the hands of Weapon X, but it felt like long enough that no one was coming to save me.