Jason Fuller & The Elementals: The Convergence Crisis (Book 2)

by Andarion The Storyteller

Over a year after the destruction of the Stones of Olympus, the Convergence of the Nine Realms approaches, and ancient powers long thought buried rise with it. Jason and his friends must work with new allies to uncover the secrets of the Nine Realms, and save them from annihilation. Can The Elementals pull together to save the day, or will the universe collapse under their failure?

5. Chapter 4: Enter The Valkyrie

Chapter 4: Enter The Valkyrie

(Delilah's Perspective)

Delilah Vallery. That is the name I chose when I was made to live among your kind. Over the years I have learned a great many things from the denizens of Midgard. Arts, histories, mathematics, and sciences from your contemporary masters. Martial arts ranging from the dark ways of The Hand, to the divine teachings of K'un-Lun. The ways of magic from the greatest sorcerers to have walked the earth. I have learned to respect you mortals strongly over the years. I have been fortunate enough to call a select few of you friends, companions, and comrades. Still, I am not one of you. I have never been one of you. I was not born on a humble Mojave reservation in the middle of Arizona. My true home is the Realm Eternal. The golden kingdom of Asgard. My mother is not a humble seamstress, but Brunhilde herself, the queen and greatest of the Valkyries. I am Delilah of Asgard. Slayer of the dragon Uvryr. Valkyrie. Iron Fist. Master of the Mystic Arts. And now I must rescue my friends, despite the All-Father's decree.

At first I believed I would be able to maintain my anonymity. Despite the surprise ambush, The Elementals adapted and responded with barely a hitch. The civilians were quickly shuffled into various campus buildings, and placed under the protection of quite impressive blood magic. While the attacking forces were formidable, The Elementals had beaten worse odds, and were not showing signs of failure any time soon.

A simple scrying spell, invisible to those around me, made it easy to keep tabs on the battle, which had seemingly little to be concerned over. Jason and his comrades had the various altercations well in hand for the most part, and continued to gain the advantage as they coordinated their abilities to bottleneck oncoming enemy forces. Even as more challenging combatants entered the fray, my friends rose to their respective occasions.

Jason took on and defeated Ulik in single combat, which was no small feat, before combating Malekith and Dario Agger soon after.

Grant was currently battling against Skurge, who was also not one to underestimate. While The Executioner's enhanced abilities were all too apparent, the Idiot Titan continued to power through the former's various abilities, and kept the pressure on.

Allyson was the only one I was worried about, as she and a couple of her mortal companions were abducted into the Mirror Dimension to do battle with The Enchantress herself.

I nearly intervened, as Amora was easily one of, if not the most dangerous of the current combatants, but I had underestimated Allyson and her friends, as they quickly adapted to their new environment, and actively gave Amora a more than decent challenge. The manner in which the mortal Nico utilized the Octessence principalities was nothing short of ingenious.

While The Elementals did battle, I patrolled the auditorium, where I was bunkered up with about one-hundred other mortals. I made the rounds, smiling, hugging, and doing anything I could do to otherwise console my fellow classmates; some of which were understandably distraught that one of the most seminal moments of their mortal lives had been ruined.

I felt a twinge of guilt, as it was my world, my problems that were negatively affecting their already short, and relatively small lives. I was a goddess, and theoretically would live for 2,000 more years. I would struggle to remember this moment after a quarter of that time had passed, much in the same way i'd imagine you would be hard pressed to remember a specific moment from when you were seven. It was not a perspective my mortal colleagues were capable of sharing, and I did my best to comfort them as best as I could. With any luck, The Elementals would have this battle won within the hour, the Convergence Point would pass, and we could salvage the day.

Unfortunately, while events had transpired favorably up to this moment, it only took the slightest deviation to turn 'favorable' into 'complete and total disaster'.

Said complete and total disaster came in the form of Jason, who had emerged victorious in a hard fought battle against Malekith, on the ground, defenseless, getting beaten to death by Agger!

He was not moving, and no one seemed to be privy to his predicament. I was so close to intervening. I could slip out, kill Agger, and resume incognito before anyone was the wiser, but it would seem that The Norns were particularly mischievous when threading this moment in their tapestry, as the truth of my identity was to be revealed in the most dramatic way possible in all the realms.

I felt the sudden, powerful, but fleeting cosmic event, known as a Convergence Surge. This event occurred during an oncoming Convergence, when the respective runoff energies of the Nine Realms coalesce in a great, yet nigh undetectable surge of cosmic energy. Such phenomena were frequent, random, and ultimately harmless in of themselves, but were known for their ability to awaken dormant forces, no matter how deeply buried or inactive. As this Convergence Surge ran its course, the Valkyrior Force, the shared power of the Valkyries, took hold of me, slowing down one heartbeat of a moment into a thousand, allowing my arcane senses to register three devastatingly powerful energies being awakened, none of which belonged to Allyson, Grant, or Jason; all of which threatened to be the end of myself, and at least three-hundred mortals across three different campus buildings!

In the auditorium, barely 50 ft away from myself, I sensed the unmistakable power of Apollo beginning to manifest from within Mrs. Grace. About five miles to the west, inside Cyruss Hall, the power of Hercules, which my friends colloquially refer to as 'God Steroids', was beginning to rise in Mrs. Jackson. The respective energy surges from either party was more than enough to completely annihilate the buildings they were in, along with everyone inside, and while they were perfectly suitable threats in their own right, it was the energy signature I felt emanating near three miles to the north, in Ambrose Hall, that nearly froze my blood solid.

It was as if the Nine Realms themselves had been condensed into a single mortal, and were violently trying to claw their way out! The first of these emerging energies was the Aether, which was inconvenient, as the darkness shrouded the mortal of interest from my senses. The only thing I knew to be certain was that I had to act quickly, lest hundreds of innocents perish in what was sure to be the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Fortunately, I had just the solution.

The blood magic barriers were the first, and most important of my troubles. I had to give proper kudos to Sister Grimm, as few sorceresses could perform such formidable blood magic. Indeed, nothing short of the power of The Vishanti would suffice.

First, I performed the respective hand signs of the arcane trinity. For Oshtur, my index fingers and thumbs formed a circle on either hand, with the remaining fingers pointing outwards as straight as possible. I then crossed my hands over my chest, with the two forming a butterfly-like symbol. For Hoggoth, my hands raised to either side of me, with my ring fingers bent inwards, and my remaining fingers and thumbs pointing upwards as straight as possible. Finally, for Agamotto, I created an infinity loop via connecting my index and thumb fingers of either hand around the other, and connecting either middle, ring, and pinky fingers to each other, creating a series of triangular arcs.

I felt a small surge of the trio's power ripple through me, and after taking a moment to consolidate/focus the energies, I threw my arms outward, and with a voice like rolling thunder, shouted my first spell:

"Kraftarnir sem vakna munu setja hina dauðlegu í fyrstu grafhýsi! Með krafti Vishanti, eyddu blóðtöfrum, og burt með þá með vindum Watoomb!" (The powers that awaken will place the mortals in early tombs! By the might of The Vishanti, dispel the blood magic, and away with them by the Winds of Watoomb!)

High octane/arcane winds, nearing 200 mph, engulfed me in a swirling barrier, before shooting outwards in humanoid-like apparitions that transformed the mortals they encountered into silverish-gray wraiths. At the same time, the power of The Vishanti dispelled all of the blood magic barriers across the campus, allowing the Winds of Watoomb to collect and evacuate other mortals in various other buildings. The plan was to round the mortals in one place, and use a Sling Ring to portal them to safety, but a singular, grave error would make matters much more complex than wanted.

I knew I would be caught in the initial blastwave of Mrs. Grace's awakening, hence using the Winds of Watoomb to create a shield around myself, but I had greatly underestimated the force of the ensuing explosion, which sent me flying several miles, particularly towards the campus tennis courts!

My wind barrier held long enough for me to careen violently out of immediate peril, but I was unable to regain control of my momentum, and smacked head first into a lamppost, before crashing into one of the aforementioned tennis courts. The collision didn't hurt all that much, but the temporary break in concentration was enough for me to lose control of my spell. This caused a two fold problem, the immediate, and most concerning of which were the now corporeal mortals, numbering in the hundreds, scattered across a turbulent and perilous battlefield. The second was the significant drop in my chi. Magic is unpredictable that way. Sometimes you feel a consistent loss of energy, other times the cost of your actions will hit all at once in a delayed effect. I was currently experiencing the latter. A 20% drop in my energy that had me sweating profusely, breathing heavily, vision slightly spinning, and feeling as if I had raced around Midgard full sprint. This would be the equivalent of a mile run for mortals.

I powered through my fatigue spell, and struggled to my feet. My eyes and ears were picking up the unfettered cacophony of hundreds of mortals in distress, and dozens upon dozens of Death-Glows, an aura only visible to Valkyries, that highlighted when a person was nearing death. It was too much to deal with using my base abilities alone, and I immediately took to enhancing myself.

First, I harnessed a substantial portion of the Valkyrior Force, enhancing my speed and perception so much, time seemed to be encased in invisible amber. Next, I activated my Augu Bifrosts, the Eyes of Bifrost. This technique was accomplished by achieving and maintaining a perfect balance of ambient Bifrost energy, and the power of Heimdall with my chakra network. From an aesthetic perspective, my eyes had transformed to have seven, rainbow colored irises, with pupils that resembled a night sky filled with stars. I understand that this was easily analogous to Dojutsu, and while i'm sure Jason and Grant would have a field day with the jests, it would be a hot day in Niffleheim before I referred to my hard crafted technique by such drivel.

From a practical standpoint, the Augu Bifrosts at their most powerful allowed me to hear and see anything and everything on a singular planetary body, down to the most minute detail. I could hear the grass growing around me, the heartbeat of a pigeon three-hundred miles away, and the blood running through any living being, as loud as a raging waterfall. My eyes could see through anything, be it concrete, iron, lead, etc. I could see in infrared, X-Ray, gamma rays, cosmic rays, and a vast array of visions on the electromagnetic spectrum, undetectable to nearly every human or god. I consolidated my senses to just the campus, conserving a tremendous amount of energy, and canceling out irrelevant feedback. I most definitely had my work cut out for me. Hundreds of mortals, dozens of which were quite literally half a second away from death. They were innocents, and were in danger because of the All-Father's paranoia if my suspicions were correct. I would not tolerate even a single one of their deaths, and quickly set to my rescue operations.

Well, after one final preparatory step, ala a wardrobe change.

With a snap of my fingers, my badly singed graduation gown and dress were exchanged for attire befitting of a Valkyrie. I was now wearing the standard uniform of my sisters-in-arms. Black, sleeveless spandex hugged my body, with six Uru discs covering my chest and mid to lower abdomen, with each respective pair shrinking in size as they descended. Uru shin and knee guards covered my lower legs, with the former embellished with skull designs. Uru gauntlets, elaborately decorated with leaf/vine engravings, covered my wrists to mid-lower arms. The leaf/vine designs snaked around a key-like symbol, with wings on either side of the circular head, and a Valknut inside said circle. This symbol was known as a Lykill að Valhöll, a 'key to Valhalla'. Around my upper left bicep, a golden arm ring, capped off with miniature wolf heads on each side, was locked into place. Around my head was a full faced black helm that had metallic wings stretching upwards along the sides, with white, blue tipped feathers cascading outwards in the style of a Native American chieftain headdress. Finally, around my neck was a golden dream catcher pendant, with multicolored feathers adorning the leather band. With my attire set, I activated the invisibility charm that was latent in my armor, and made haste to rescue the mortals.

My first act was to rescue the humans directly within the Svartalf's crosshairs. Even at my incredible speed, the Dark Elves could feasibly keep up, especially with their enhanced power levels. More so, Dark Elves were the only beings in all the realms that could see through a Valkyrie's invisibility glamour. From a tactical perspective, they were the most prominent threat, and had to be eliminated with haste.

As I possessed the initiative, and element of surprise, I accomplished this first objective with relative ease as I dashed about the campus, cutting down Svartalfs with a pair of silver katanas, and rounding up any mortals I encountered along the way.

The next couple of minutes followed suit, as I was on a mad dash to rescue many mortals that were in danger of being crushed, trampled, or flat out eaten by trolls. My Sling Ring was put to frequent use as I portaled a great number of Midgardians out of the jaws of death, some in a very literal sense. I simultaneously receded the amount of trolls, Dark Elves, dragon hybrids, and demons with the help of my Svipul, Star Treader.

The spear was a 7 ft tall, specially enchanted Uru weapon that was a standard issue to Valkyries upon the completion of their training. The silver shaft was adorned with a swirling band of gold engraved into it. The base of the spear was a serrated, arrowhead-like blade, with golden runic designs decorating the lower part of the shaft just above it. The same runic designs adorned the upper shaft, and continued along the center of the spear blade as winding lines of gold. The spear blade itself was decorated at the base with an elaborate rendition of Yggdrasil, with sharpened, miniature blades traversing upwards along the spear blade in the shape of wings. While standard issue, each Valkyrie had a unique bond with her Svipul, allowing for the potential to develop abilities and techniques exclusive to the pair. In my case, Star Treader possessed the ability to pierce multiple targets, no matter how far apart, with deadly accuracy, before returning to my hand, all within the blink of an eye. A few throws of the spear quelled a sizable portion of the chaos, and was most crucial in felling dragon hybrids that were all of a sudden dead set on capturing live mortals, and flying with great haste towards Convergence Points destined for Muspelheim. My stomach turned at the wretched experimentations the daughter of Surtur most likely had in mind for the Midgardians should they have fallen into her clutches.

I safeguarded my collected mortals inside of a barrier made from the residual Winds of Watoomb energy, nestled in the safety of plain sight in the middle of the battlefield. Admittedly, I nearly failed my mission, as I would have been too late to save a mortal security guard, who shot a War Force crazed Jason in the face. Thankfully, Mass Master intervened, sparing me a trip to Valhalla, where the aforementioned security guard would have earned a rightful seat.

After securing him with the other mortals, I portalled them all into the lobby of Avengers Tower, where i'm sure She-Hulk or Wonder Man would distract them from the trauma of experiencing otherworldly perils with selfies, autographs, and a tour. In the meantime I took stock of the current situation.

Mass Master was occupying Jason at the moment, so I could afford to cross that bridge at a later time. Allyson had already gotten a handle on her power level spike, and was airborne, trying to deal with her mother, who was very much not in control of herself. Another affordable deferment. Grant had succeeded in wrangling his mother under control, and was now locked in brutal combat against the daughter of Surtur. If his track record was any indicator, this was yet another plot that could be allowed to play out for a little while.

That left me with the lone proverbial can I could not kick down the road, ala the massive, tumultuous, Aether storm cutting a swath of carnage through the campus, as it slowly made its way towards the football field.

As I flew to intercept the cosmic force, I took note of how much more formidable this Aether storm was compared to other common displays of the cosmic power. It was in a constant state of flux, shaping and reshaping itself as various beast heads such as dragons, lions, dinosaurs, etc. For the three seconds the beast heads were in focus, they seemed genuinely alive, as if they could break free from the collective, and lead their own existences. Other fleeting constructs were that of Lovecraftean creatures, mystical principalities, and genderless, praying figures from the waist up. Black flames and red lightning rippled across the primordial mass with a noise that rivaled any of Thor's post-battle celebrations. An odd, ancient, damn near extinct dialect of Svartalf language permeated the darkest recesses of my mind, as if fear itself had learned to speak. There was no mistaking it. Whoever this was, however they were doing it, they were tapping into the purest, most powerful levels of Aether, the likes of which had never been seen in over half a million years!

I forced my Augu Bifrosts to pierce the veil of seemingly infinite darkness, until I was finally able to make out the rough aura of the mystery human soul from before. Their glow was faint, and was getting dimmer by the moment. However they had acquired this power was of little matter. The only certainty was that it was too much for their mortal body to handle, and was killing them. I once again taxed my Bifrost eyes, forcing them to bring the soul into focus, until I was finally able to deduce the identity of the mortal.

I almost wished I hadn't, as it made matters even more complicated than they already were. I will bury the lead no longer. Somehow, Doris Campbell was at the epicenter…..was the generator and the fuel of the Aether Storm.

The easiest option was to kill her. That may sound cold and heartless, but it was a reasonable, highly pragmatic decision to make. Mrs. Campbell was somehow channeling one of the oldest, most destructive powers in all of creation, and if the energy signature from her awakening was any indicator, this was just the tip of the spear. Her soul was unprotected and untrained. I could duck behind some cover, send my astral projection outwards, and destroy her soul, thus eliminating the threat. Still, she more than anyone was a victim in all of this, and I made a vow that no mortal would pay for Asgard's mistakes with their blood. Additionally, with how I was most assuredly going to hijack their summer vacation, it would do much better to save someone so dear to my friends, rather than obliterate her spirit. With a trepidatious sigh, I prepared myself for what was sure to be a grueling experience.

First, I summoned two spell seals to either hand. On my right was a rainbow colored spell seal with a Vegvisir, a Norse compass, at its center, surrounded by a ring of runes. On my left was a spell seal that consisted only of one outer ring that contained various Nordic symbols relating to gods, weapons, and creatures of power from across the Nine Realms. With the foundation set, and the distance between myself and the Aether Storm shrinking, I summoned my opening salvo via activating the northeastern stave of my Vegvisir, which was a conduit to channel the power of Alfheim.

The allt-ljós, all-light, manifested around me as a bright, vibrant energy field of hot pink, sunset oranges, and fleeting glimpses of red and blue. The rapidly growing energy was somehow a solid, liquid, and a gas all at once, and seemed to enhance the saturation of life itself. Colors around me resonated three times as bright, the smell of grass and flora native to Alfheim pleasantly graced my nostrils, and a soft rendition of elven pipes, string, and drum instruments resonated at the back of my mind, filling me with a sense of peace and joy. Recommended qualities to have on hand when challenging a malevolent force that was as old as the universe itself.

I put the finishing touches on my initial assault, ala infusing the allt-ljós with the Kenaz and Laguz runes.

All runes have multiple meanings which can be used at the behest of the magic user. In this instance, the Laguz rune was for 'life energy'. This rune doubled the already formidable amount of all-light around me, using a set portion of my life force as fuel. The Kenaz rune in this context was for 'creativity', allowing me to shape and better control the Alfheim energy. I immediately put these arcane boosts to good use as I constructed a cavalry of charging Valkyries, Einherjar, wolves, dragons, elves, and samurai to smash full force into the Aether Storm!

Initially, the battle fared moderately well as my more focused attack gave me the advantage. Mrs. Campbell's Aether Storm sporadically attacked with shadow tentacles, clawed hands, and various beast heads, but my constructs easily blocked and/or overpowered the attacks, and proceeded to attack the Aether directly; diminishing it bit by bit with each blow.

As the battle continued, the Aether Storm increasingly solidified a foothold on the conflict as it constructed fully realized Dark Elves, Bog Tigers, giants, demons, and facsimiles of Great Old Ones to give more than a proper challenge to to my constructs. For every one of my victories, I suffered two defeats. Morse so, while my power was great, it was not infinite. With my arcane stamina continuously dwindling as it was I could not hope to outlast the Aether Storm, and summoned more effective magicks to my aid in the form of the symbols of Huginn, Muninn, and Mjolnir from my left hand spell seal.

The symbols for Odin's ravens, which resembled Native American depictions of birds, leapt off of the spell seal, merged with the allt-ljós, and grew into three story tall, fully fledged ravens of light. The cosmic birds corralled the Aether Storm from either side, and began to flap their wings. Each stroke unleashed tremendous waves of allt-ljós flames that crashed violently against the Aether, which was now in a state of retreat. At the same time, the Mjolnir symbol, which was in the style of a traditional Norse design, had grown into an all-light construct the size of a school bus, and was repeatedly slamming into the Aether Storm with enough force to crumble a skyscraper.

With the Aether Storm trapped, my attacks were exceptionally effective as the primordial darkness retracted in size and strength against the onslaught of allt-ljós, until it had condensed to barely the size of a soccer ball. It seemed as if I had the situation under control, and if I had just a few more seconds I could have gained access to enough of Mrs. Campbell's soul in order to apply the arcane blocks that would revert her to normal, but just as quickly as the battle swung in my favor, so it was in the opposite direction as the Aether Storm began to recover its lost power, and gradually increase in size as it was no longer affected by the allt-ljós!

No matter how many waves of flame my ravens generated, nor how mightily my Mjolnir struck, the Aether was unhindered in its growth! Hel, the dark energy was starting to eliminate my enchantments one at a time as it constructed a copy of my Mjolnir, that smashed the former, and ravenously attacked my ravens, who were now outstretching their wings fully, generating a shield that was just barely holding the burgeoning Aether Storm at bay!

Using my Augu Bifrosts, I was able to quickly deduce the cause of my renewed troubles. Mrs. Campbell was absently absorbing a steady supply of Aether from the Convergence Point that connected this realm to Svartalfheim. I could have attempted to do the same, but without an equivocal access point to Alfheim's energies, I would sooner burn myself out, achieving nothing in the process. No, I had to finally cut the snake off at the head…..even if it killed Mrs. Campbell.

I shrunk my current spell seals and moved them upwards either arm, where they rested just below my elbows. Shortly afterwards I constructed two extra sets of arms, sprouting out of my upper back/mid-lower torso respectively, and took up a meditative position, with my palms outstretched and pointing upwards. On each hand I generated six palm sized spell seals that had the image of a stag's head in the center. From my right to left/top to bottom, the spell seals were colored: red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and orange, with the final spell seal, hovering just ahead of my chest, colored white. With my spell preparations completed, I began to recite my incantation in High Alfanum, the language of the Light Elves.

"Nhamashal, Gisir Ath Quarlani'har! Alas, Ilaerothil Ath Adon! Aelrindel, Sentry Ath Compassion! Reluvethel, Fera Ath Arranaseer! Aubron, Preserver Ath Har! Lathai, Gisir Ath Kindness! Jhaeros, Warden Ath tho! Sal call teague Tel' Deshu'khovaia Stags Ath Ryul lor aid tel'quiet aul salen Adoe Ath Akh!"(Nhamashal, Guardian of Love! Alas, Sentinel of Peace! Aelrindel, Sentry of Compassion! Aubron, Preserver of Wisdom! Lathai, Keeper of Kindness! Jhaeros, Warden of Truth! I call upon the Seven Stags of Ryul to aid me in my time of need!)

My spell seals flew towards the sky, above the Aether Storm, combining into one, giant, rainbow colored magic disc. A bright flash of light ensued, and the spell seal split into seven balls of light that cratered into the ground, forming a circle around the Aether Storm. From these craters emerged 7 stags, each as big as an eighteen wheeler, with fur that was as if roaring flames, antlers and hooves that gleamed of pure silver, and seven eyes on their faces. The stags moved as one, trotting a few steps towards the Aether Storm, materializing an orb of energy between their respective antlers, and bowing. The results were instantaneous as the Aether Storm was engulfed in a brief flash of multi-colored light, and began to dissolve in what looked as if a massive pile of ash! Even better, because Mrs. Campbell's soul was pure of goodness, the magic of the stags did not affect her. I should have guessed, but mortals are frustratingly hard to predict in that aspect. Once again, my intent was to apply a series of arcane blocks on her soul, and revert her back to normal, but once again my plans fell through as Mrs. Campbell, who was still engulfed in just the slightest amount of Aether, changed the board as she converted herself into a raging blastwave of ice and wind from the depths of Niffleheim!

Deathfrost, as it was colloquially known across the Nine Realms, was no laughing matter. Easily one of the most dangerous forces in the universe, the icy winds of Niffleheim were cold enough to kill a mortal in seconds. Hel, without the proper wards, Deathfrost could fell an Aesir, Infernir, and even a Jotun in as little as a few hours. Its cold was so penetrating, it could dig down to the soul, and trap its victim in a prison forged of their own sins, regrets, insecurities, and fears. Easily the worst of its destructive capabilities was its ability to multiply, using the misery of its environment as fuel. Seeing as Midgard was a cesspool of violence, hatred, and suffering, the relatively small burst of Deathfrost had more than enough potential to plunge this realm into frozen wasteland that would make the Ice Age seem as if it were a brisk fall day. Believe you me, I was fast at work nipping this predicament in the bud.

I quickly dispelled my current enchantments, brought my original two spell seals to the forefront of my hands, and alternated my Vegvisir to the southeastern stave that pointed to Muspelheim. I thanked the Great Spirit that one of the Convergence Points made gathering Muspelheim fire so easy, and quickly engulfed the burgeoning Deathfrost blizzard in a dome of it. The Deathfrost blizzard attacked the flames like a rabid, caged animal, but was unable to make much of an impact. More so, every time the sentient icy winds made contact with the Muspelheim flames, a small reaction of energy was created. A fraction of a percentage of the original mixture of the two elements that resulted in the creation of the first living beings at the beginning of the universe. This energy, Ymir's Breath, was useful for a great many purposes including creation, destruction, and fuel for spell casting. I absorbed whatever energy I could from the fleeting reactions to replenish most of the arcane fuel I had expended up to this point.

After getting a solid grip on the Muspelheim flames, which is another substance not to be used lightly, I summoned the glyph for Twilight, the sword of Surtur, from my left hand spell seal, and projected it directly above the fire barrier. The glyph absorbed a steady stream of Muspelheim fire, growing from the size of a butcher's knife to a city block sized facsimile of the Infernir King's jagged, flaming sword that was the bane of the very Nine Realms itself. I thrusted the sword down into the fire barrier, which quickly made contact with, and annihilated the Deathfrost blizzard. I absorbed quite a hefty amount of Ymir's Breath from the evaporation of the blizzard, but did not see Mrs. Campbell's soul when I peered through the fog! I quelled a slight bit of rising panic as I reconciled with the possibility that I had killed her. That notion was all but forgotten upon realizing that the mortal had merely transitioned to the next pain in my ass, as noted by the intense earthquakes, and spires of Jotun Earth rising out of the ground!

Like seemingly everything from across the Nine Realms, Jotun Earth was one of those substances that you had to quell within a narrow time frame before it grew out of hand. The gray stone was strong enough to withstand blows from Thor's hammer, and coursed with a green, arcane, energy known as Ymir's Hunger. Native only to the realm of Jotunheim, Ymir's Hunger was damn near extinct even to the Jotun, as the Earth Giants had been driven to extermination's doorstep over the millennia. The substance was harmless to their realm, but was unable to sustain itself on any other, and thus was a literal parasite on the environment. Even now, I could sense a massive amount of Jord's life force being siphoned into a focal point that was 1,000 ft below the football field. I was quickly able to locate the source of this disturbance with my Augu Bifrosts, and balked at the sight of an Earth Jotun's heart. Shaped like a human heart, coursing with an abundance of Ymir's Hunger, with a multitude of green spell seals and runes orbiting it. The heart was already fortifying itself in a cocoon of Jotun Earth as it continued to feed on this planet. More so, the Jotun Earth was growing; spreading underneath the ground like roots. If left unchecked, the foreign element would spread across the entire earth like a cancer, causing an unfathomable amount of destruction on the surface world, before eventually draining the planet down to it's very core and consuming it from the inside out. I could not allow it to spread even past this campus.

I maintained a frantic pace as I worked. First I summoned my Smargard Hamar, literally Emerald Hammer. Shaped to resemble the thunder god's mallet, made completely of enchanted emerald, this weapon could attune into the energy of Jord, and harness a limited amount of her power. It was just one of a greater collection of armaments magically combined into one mighty arsenal, called an allsherjarvopn, or all-weapon. I quickly attuned the hammer to the Geo-Force, threw it towards the edge of the campus, and willed it to circle the area as fast as it could. As the hammer flew around the school grounds it generated a subterranean Geo-Force superstorm that attacked the Jotun Earth faster than it could absorb the energy, and kept it corralled to the campus area. The Jotun Earth didn't like being confined, and could apparently sense me through my invisibility charm, as the foreign element splintered to the surface as jagged spires, clawed hands, fists, and misshapen constructs of dragons, all trying to kill me and/or stop my hammer.

Smargard Hamar had absorbed too much ambient Geo-Force, and had accumulated too much momentum to be stopped, so that was nothing to be concerned about. While I was more susceptible to falling victim to the onslaught of Jotun Earth, I was not to be counted out, especially as I summoned another fragment from my all-weapon, the Eldingarspjot (lightning spear).

A simple weapon made of a golden/silver patterned shaft, with a golden ribbon adorning the shaft just below the base of the spear. The hilt of the spear was an ornately carved golden piece in the shape of a cloud, with a golden gem dead in its center, and a thunderbolt shaped blade jutting upwards. This weapon, while no Mjolnir, possessed enough power to wipe the entirety of Los Angeles from the face of Midgard. As the Jotun Earth onslaught threw itself at me, I summoned a multitude of golden lightning strikes, unleashed continuous volleys of voltage crescents, and generated lightning explosive waves and shields whenever the onslaught became too overwhelming.

For the six minutes we were locked in combat, Mrs. Campbell became increasingly adept at constructing soldiers, engines, of war, and creatures of myth to throw at me, until I was actually in danger of being overrun. Thankfully, six minutes was all the time I needed to stall for, as my emerald hammer had generated enough of a Geo-Force powder keg that would clear the battlefield, as well as launch the Jotun Heart to the surface.

I quickly summoned my hammer and struck the ground as hard as I could, generating a relatively small geyser of Geo-Force that disposed of my assailants, and sprouted the Jotun Heart 100 ft into the air. The heart was still protected inside a moderate layer of Jotun Earth, but a quick throw of my hammer, which was filled to the brim with runoff Geo-Force, solved that problem for me in a loud, green explosion.

I'll lay my cards on the table, I had no idea how to handle this transformation. As I said, Jotun Earth magic is so few remaining in the Nine Realms that its ancient ways have been all but lost to time. I had no way to alter Mrs. Campbell in this state, and was banking on the gamble that the pattern of her changing forms whenever she was in significant danger would continue. For once, the fates were abundantly kind.

changed forms once more, this time to a Storm Giant, or the beginnings of one at least. I say this because while the mortal's soul had become a 60 ft tall, humanoid construct of golden lightning, this was what essentially amounted to a Storm Giant's nervous system. Whether Mrs. Campbell lacked the strength necessary to make the final transformation was irrelevant. At the moment she was an easy target, and I made haste to take advantage of that.

With a snap of my fingers, I changed my Augu Bifrosts to Augu þrumunnar; the Eyes of Thunder. The aesthetic of my eyes changed to pure black orbs, with blue outlines of classic Mjolnir depictions, handle side up, with said handle topped off with a ram's head. In this form, the power of Thor coursed through me like a barely subdued maelstrom. I could feel the very elements eagerly waiting to heed my command. I bolstered my advantage by consolidating my all-weapon, opting to make use of only one armament for now: the Sterkur Hamri (Strong Hammer).

A magnificent weapon, constructed as a living embodiment of what the mortals imagined of the thunder god's hammer to be in ancient times. The hammer head was a fifty pound chunk of Uru, engraved with runes, and embedded with three golden gems on either side. The base of the hammer head was gilded with a layer of gold that almost resembled ram's horns. The shaft of the weapon was wood, harvested from Yggdrasil itself, embedded with three golden gems on either side, with a heavily gilded base. While not even having a fraction of Mjolnir's power, these weapons could absorb an unlimited amount of electricity in their gems, and lay waste to entire battalions. It was quite the favorite among those that served as guardians of Asgard's rear wall.

With my weapon in hand, I flew towards the living thunderstorm, and willed the hammer to start absorbing massive amounts of voltage into it, while also absorbing an equal amount just as fast through my eyes. This process lasted for about three minutes, in which I was mostly unperturbed in my efforts, as I absorbed the majority of Mrs. Campbell's desperate shockwave blasts, and avoided her just as desperate flailing about. As she decreased in both power and size, I soared into the sea of voltage, guided by the ever present pinging of her soul. The voltage storm fought me as I drew near, as it felt like I was trying to swim against a riptide that had the force of a tsunami. I was just barely able to reach out and touch Mrs. Campbell's soul, before the parameters of my struggle changed for what I vowed would be the last time.

The blinding, white hot voltage storm transformed into a dark, cold, though just as turbulent collection of black, frantic, greedy arms reaching out to rip the very flesh from my bones! I recognized them as fragments of the souls of Hel. Neither blessed nor damned, the souls usually existed in an endless dream, but were now stirred at the presscene of the living. Of a chance to consume my flesh and remember for a brief moment what it was like to live and feel. On one hand, this was the worst scenario I could hope for, as while Mrs. Campbell was safe from the chaos, finding her soul was akin to the proverbial needle in the haystack. It would take too much time to try and find her, especially since she'd more likely than not change again. No, it was time to put her in a safe little corner, and come back to her a little later.

It took nothing to gain a little breathing room, as I simply unleashed a blastwave of Jotun lightning from Strong Hammer, maintained the voltage surge to create a barrier around myself, and began to generate an advanced mystic technique known as Annulos Vyxll. The Rings of Vyxll.

The spell's overarching purpose was to be an instrument that could boost and/or combine various magicks that would not normally meld together. First, I constructed the base, a bright orange ring of magic, glowing with the runes of Vyxll, floating horizontally around my body. Next, I constructed three, palm sized variations of the same ring, floating vertically over my head. Inside of the small ring on my right was the golden symbol for the Eye of Ra. In the leftmost ring was a golden lyre to symbolize and channel the power of Apollo. Finally, in the center ring was the symbol for Balder. A circle, with a small diamond in the center of said circle, and four long ovals extending outwards from the diamonds four points. With my spell seal complete, I channeled the power of the two sun gods to feed into Balder, via turning their respective spell seals in sync, like cogs, weaving and winding their respective music, light, and rejuvenation into one beautiful symphony of music, light, and fire. Upon finishing the preparations, I unleashed a continuous stream of blastwaves into the hordes of Hel. As the flames cascaded across the dour landscape, the oppressive cold and misery was replaced with warmth, joy, and celebration as the dead were not burned by the flames, but briefly rejuvenated. They rejoiced as they remembered for a brief moment what it meant to be alive, and passed peacefully once more into their endless dream.

I was actually able to find Mrs. Campbell's soul once enough of the Draugr had returned to Helheim, but even from initial glance I knew it was a lost cause. She was now in a constant, brief flux between many elements at once. Fixable to be certain, but much too dangerous at the moment to try and do so with anything less than my full attention. Without further delay, I summoned the necessary spells to put her in a much needed time out.

First, I created a spell seal known as the Ora Saturnia (The Mouth Of Saturn). The spell seal consisted of an outer, indigo ring embedded with black runes of the Titans. A thicker ring of identical runes was the next layer, with a psychedelic pattern of glowing lines and circles that created an optical illusion of a pit burrowing downwards inside of that ring. Finally, at the base of the spell seal was a collection of bright purple, overlapping, spinning squares. Once the spell seal was completed, I flung the disc onto the ground, where it locked onto Mrs. Campbell's energy signature and began to absorb her various, shifting energies into itself. The spell seal was designed to be able to absorb and hold up to the energy of an entire star, though that was dependent on the strength of the spellcaster. I wasn't quite at that level yet, but I could easily absorb ten solar flares into my spell seal without straining myself.

Mrs. Campbell began to fight, as I expected, but it was too late. I summoned the final part of my temporary sealing technique ala summoning a Sterkur Læsingur (strong lock) rune. Shaped like a sideways hourglass with an X on the left side vertical line, and a sideways slant on the opposite side. The Sterkur Læsingur combined with the Ora Saturnia and worked in unison as I used the Ora Saturnia as a battery source to constantly feed the Strong Lock with Mrs. Campbell's energy, making it all but indestructible. With that obstacle put on ice, I reverted my eyes back to the Augu Bifrosts, and set to dealing with the task of mitigating these Convergence Points.

Finding the dimensional tears were not hard. They were all encompassing, and swayed constantly like branches in the winds, which they technically were. Judging from their size and intensity, there was still at least a good hour and a half of life in them. Mitigating them would be hard enough, much less shutting them down prematurely. On my own I did not have the power to do the latter, so I focused on doing the best I could with the former. Still, my Augu Bifrosts were not strong enough to see the movements of the World Tree on a universal scale, so I summoned an extra boost ala opening my amulet to reveal a shining blue eye. You see, once a sorcerer achieves the rank of Master Of The Mystic Arts, they are allowed the options of obtaining an arcane item of power, or creating one for themselves. Stephen Strange inherited the Eye of Agamotto, his assistant Wong inherited the staff of The Living Tribunal. Upon achieving the coveted rank of Master, I went on a quest to create my own amulet of extraordinary power that ended in me diving into the Mimir's well to retrieve the eye Odin sacrificed for infinite knowledge. I used the Eye of Odin to boost my Third Eye a hundred fold, and assess the situation.

The Convergence Points I had to bottleneck, and eventually close were of Svartalfheim, Vanaheim, and Muspelheim. In the order listed, their counter forces were Alfheim, Asgard, and Jotunheim. Alfheim would be the hardest of the bunch to maneuver, as the respective Yggdrasil branches that it and Svartalfheim were swaying on, were on opposite ends, and traveling in the same…..let's say counterclockwise direction. I would have to either slow down, stop, or reverse the courses of one of the branches to begin closing that breach. The branches of Asgard and Vanaheim were relatively easy enough, as they were currently traveling parallel to each other, and just needed a slight nudge to begin dissipating that dimensional rift. Finally, the branches of Muspelheim and Jotunheim were traveling towards each other from opposite sides of the world tree, but the lower branch of Muspelheim needed to be sped up and lifted to successfully begin the closing of that Convergence Point. To say that this would be difficult would be such an understatement, it would border on a lie. This would easily be the greatest challenge of my arcane abilities, and I could only hope that my tampering with the forces of the World Tree would not result in any more damage to the universal balance than was currently being wrought.

I englargened my right hand spell seal, and sequentially created three palm sized spell seals made of the respective energies of Alfheim, Asgard, and Jotunheim. Once the spell seals, white, pink, and blue, were completed, I summoned the Wand of Virk Leyndardómsins from my all-weapon, and enlarged them to the size of apartment complexes by running the spell seals up the wand.

The Wand of Virk Leyndardómsins, a black staff, embellished with gold rings, an ornately decorated higher shaft, and topped off with a golden circle that enveloped a set of golden wings draping either side of a bright blue gem, was the ideal tool to both harness and boost universal energies. I continued to make use of this Item as I willed the spell rings to twist and spin around each other in the vein of a gyroscope, and quite literally drew a large, reality warping amount of power from my Eye of Odin, before beckoning to Yggdrasil itself:

"Yggdrasil, hið mikla tré níu ríkja, láttu greinar þínar sveiflast að duttlungi mínum! Með hinu almáttuga auga Óðins, við allar nágrannar Bifröstsins, býð ég, Delíla, dóttir Brunhildar, Valkyrju og Ásgarðsbarn, að hjálpa mér við að stöðva þessa ógæfu! Þannig hef ég talað! Látum svo vera!" (Yggdrasil, great tree of the Nine Realms, let your branches sway to my whim! By The all-powerful Eye of Odin, by the all reaching tendrils of the Bifrost, I, Delilah, daughter of Brunhilde, Valkyrie, and child of Asgard, bid you aid me in halting this calamity! Thus I have spoken! Let it be so!)

As I chanted, the image of an eye manifested in the center of the twisting/turning spell rings. Upon finishing my spell, the eye blinked with the indescribable sound of the fabric of reality straining and bending amidst the completion of the arcane contract. The toll hit immediately afterwards, as even with the wand and the Eye of Odin taking most of the cost, I collapsed to the ground in a fatigue that could only be acquired after physically holding back a tidal wave, cleaving a star in two, and swimming against the current of a Black Hole. It was all I could do to turn over, get to my knees, and press my right hand, balled into a fist, against my opened left palm, and focus on summoning my Iron Fist.

My fatigue made concentration on such a task annoyingly difficult, but I swiftly managed to push through, and felt the surge of a considerable portion of my chi consolidate in my fist, along with the bright purple glow of the winding dragon tattoo that materialized around the entirety of my right arm. Upon manifesting the Iron Fist, I used its power on myself to completely revive my stamina. This of course meant that it would be a full 24 hours before I had the power to summon it again, but it was more than a fair trade.

With my vitality restored, I reactivated my Augu Bifrosts to make an informed decision on my next move.

I had to strain my Bifrost Eyes a bit to find Allyson and her mother, who were currently battling on the moon in an ever escalating battle that would soon require my intervention, but something I could tentatively keep on hold. Jason, now engulfed in an armor of Minotaur bones and War Force, was seemingly putting the finishing touches on his battle with Power Pack. That would have been the dead ringer for my next mission if not for the last second steal that was Grant Jackson quite literally on the verge of death.

His battle with Surtur's daughter had clearly not gone as well as he would have hoped, as he was currently stuck in a metallic form, with wounds that would not heal, and his chakra network completely blocked. That's not to say he was completely helpless, as he had clearly given Syndr everything she could handle and then some. Their battle could have concluded for either side, and while it was considered bad etiquette to interrupt a feud mere seconds away from reaching its dramatic conclusion, I made an exception as I used my Sling Ring to summon a portal right below the spot Grant and Syndr would have made impact, and flew upwards with Strong Hammer in hand.

I let loose a blast of lightning that would have split a mountain in two, hitting the daughter of Surtur square in the chest, and sending her flying a mile backwards; pieces of her splaying about. I followed, closing the distance in half a second, and slammed my hammer into her face with a blow that splintered the ground, caused a shockwave that could be heard for miles, and to my keen ears, the sound of metal and bone creaking and/or snapping under the force of my attack. I took to the sky, engulfing my hammer in enough lightning to lay waste to several city blocks, and hurled it at the critically wounded creature. Syndr just barely managed to whisk herself away via some sort of teleportation mechanism she most likely had installed amongst her vast sea of techno-organic upgrades. She would return, hopefully much later, and now I had to deal with the barely more appealing task of first revealing my identity to Grant of all people. The imbecile would most likely have an aneurysm from the shock of it all.

Geo-Titan had already unblocked his afflicted chi points, as his metallic form was swiftly repairing itself. I landed just in time to see him revert to flesh and blood, almost a little too much of the latter, where the earth rushed to heal the remainder of his wounds. He was cautious as I approached, and justifiably summoned his axe, but all it took was me dematerializing my mask to disarm him completely.

"DELILAH?!" he shrieked, before realizing he had inadvertently revealed his 'secret identity'. "I mean, like, yeah, I remember you from-"

"I'm a Valkyrie," I cut him off. "I've been keeping tabs on you and your friends since we met, all of which are in mortal danger at this very moment. I will explain everything at a later time, but for now eat this, and get ready to knock some sense into your friend, Storm-Lord."

I summoned a black pouch and pulled out a slice of one of the golden apples of immortality. Responsible for the longevity of the Aesir, the apples also made for suitable healing/stamina restoration, especially on those of mortal origin. One slice of the divine fruit, and Grant's chakra reserves has been completely restored, which he demonstrated by slamming his fist into the ground in triumph, causing a mile wide tremor. I quickly linked us telepathically, opened a portal about half a mile away from Jason, and took flight.

"Now come on," I bid him follow. "And do not pester me with a thousand meaningless questions!"

Grant and I rushed back to the campus grounds, and made haste towards Jason. The Fates were really walking a tightrope between having fun and being cruel, as we had arrived just in time to witness Storm-Lord slice Power Pack's fusion beast in half, resulting in the various mortals scattering across what was left of the school's parking lot.

"STORM-LORD, NO!" Grant shouted as he rocketed full speed into his friend's chest.

While he went at it with Jason, I quickly attended to the Power Pack members as I scooped them up, moved them out of harm's way, and after a quick wellness check to ensure they were alive and had no pressing injuries, portaled them to the Avengers Tower lobby, which had become my defacto dumping grounds. With Power Pack out of the way, I turned my attention back to the battle, which damn near trampled me underfoot!

Grant had taken to his golden 'Ultimate Avenger' construct, and was having a grand time blasting his friend with Iron Man's repulsors, hitting him with Thor's hammer, and blocking attacks with Captain America's shield. Jason was still putting up quite a fight, as the two matched each other blow for blow in terms of strength and weapons. I had to duck behind some rubble and erect an arcane barrier around myself, lest I catch a stray rocket and/or skateboard sized bullet. I did notice a significant change, as Jason, just as recent as 30 seconds ago, adorned black, metallic armor that shaped his War Force essence in the image of a giant Minotaur. Now his armor was made of bone.

"What became of his armor?" I asked Grant.

"Emergency Override Code Zedd!" he responded. "A just in case contingency if Storm-Lord got mind controlled. Temporarily shuts down his A.I. helper for 12 hours, which keeps him from accessing his Olympium reserves. Trust me, we're in for a fight, but i'll take these odds over my bro with Olympium. By the way, I got a plan to take him down!"

I was surprised. I would never have pictured Grant Jackson as a tactician, but then again, I would never have pictured Grant Jackson as the champion of Jord. I decided to hear him out.

"Storm-Lord may be a raging mass of War Force right now," he continued. "But I can still sense his chakra points. If we can somehow manage to get him contained in like a ball or something, I can shut down his chi flow and revert him to normal. I'd need to destroy his bone armor completely tho, and besides being damn tough, it regenerates hella fast. Any input, Valkyrie?"

It was strange to be referred to by a superhero-esque title as if I was now a part of a team, but I suppose I would have to allow it for the time being.

"Your plan is rudimentary, but on the right track," I responded. "Keep him distracted for a little while. I shall join you shortly."

I made swift work of creating a giant, red, sorcerer's seal below me, and performed the hand gesture of Hoggoth, after which the visage of a tiger head manifested in the middle of the spell seal. A quick scan of the battlefield allowed me to locate a Bog Tiger, a giant, winged white tiger, native to Svartalfheim, which I bound in arcane shackles, and opened a portal to plop the falling tiger in the middle of the spell seal. It filled me with great regret for what I was about to do, but I steeled myself as I summoned my Svipul, and began to chant a sacrificial spell to Hoggoth.

"Hoggoth, mikill og voldugur tígrisdýr, þriðjungur hins helgaða Vishanti, ég leita valds þíns, styrks þíns, svo að ég megi sigra yfir sveitirnar sem rísa gegn mér! Fyrir þessa blessun færi ég þér þessa fórn!" (Hoggoth, great and mighty tiger, one-third of the hallowed Vishanti, I seek your power, your strength, that I might prevail over the forces that rise against me! For this boon, I offer you this sacrifice!)

I bright my spear blade down in a swift motion, piercing the Bog Tiger's heart so fast, it died before it knew it was impaled. The results were immediate, as the tiger head of my spell seal roared, and after consuming the Bog Tiger whole, spat out a geyser of energy that was a mix of the tiger's blood and fire directly from Hoggoth himself. The Vishanti lord's appeasement was all but apparent as the sheer amount of power given to me was beyond anything he had ever bestowed beforehand. More so, the energy formed around me as a giant, humanoid construct, wearing samurai armor, with the head of a tiger, just large enough to be on par with Jason and Grant. I wasted no time in joining the fight as I slammed into Jason with a flying kick that sent him careening an entire mile backwards in a crater of dirt and pavement.

"WHOA!" Grant gushed like the idiot he was. "Nice Susanoo! Hell, I noticed that rainbow Rinnegan you rockin' too! So what now?"

"We keep hitting him. Go for maximum damage. After i've siphoned off enough of his power, i'll be able to destroy his shell, compress his raw energy form, and hold him steady while you block his chi."

"Your plan is rudimentary, but on the right track. Tag team for the win! Let's go!"

The tag team was indeed for the win, as Grant and I stalled Jason quite adequately.

My Hoggoth construct had limited ranged capabilities, so while Grant and Jason were trading energy blasts and artillery constructs, I darted across the battlefield, absorbing stray War Force into my battle construct. Grant eventually managed to shoot Jason down by way of knocking his equilibrium off with a barrage of missile explosions, ending with him summoning a bolt of Geo-Force from above that brought Jason down to earth. Admittedly, I underestimated Grant's intelligence, as the Geo-Titan reshaped the earth and plant life into a series of mortal artillery that bombarded Jason with a perpetual barrage of weaponry that kept him dazed, confused, and unable to take to the sky again. With Storm-Lord grounded, Grant and I moved in for close quarters combat.

For as gauche as it was, I could not deny that the Ultimate Avenger was more than useful, as Grant's head on attacks against Jason were relentless and disorienting. The Geo-Titan struck his war crazed comrade with an unceasing barrage of hammer attacks, shield bashes, Unibeam blasts, and front kicks. His attacks kept Jason off-balance, allowing me to attack from multiple angles, making use of various Kunai and katana constructs to slash and stab at his joints, back area, and head. My attacks yielded limited results, as my weapon constructs were able to pierce Jason's bone armor, but the wounds only lasted for five seconds at most before closing up. I managed to make good use of said opportunities as my Hoggoth combat avatar gorged on the bloodlust incarnate, and while its effects were strong enough to affect even myself, my training in K'un-Lun helped me keep my mind and actions clear and focused.

Jason of course was not going to make this easy on Grant and I, as he gradually managed to find his footing in barely half a minute, and pushed us both back simultaneously as his strength and skill was enough to match and occasionally overpower Grant, while transforming his back into a series of holes that ejected an unending blitz of War Force charged bone missiles my way!

The first volley hit me hard, sending me careening half a mile backwards, but Hoggoth came to my defense as my Combat Avatar sprouted a pair of bat-like wings that enveloped the entire body in a cocoon. The shield was strong, as the impact of Storm-Lord's missiles was damn near completely nullified. A most fortunate development that I took full advantage of as I steeled my position and absorbed the onslaught of energy. I feasted for all of twenty-four seconds, before Jason took control of the battle again, as he transformed his arms into Railguns, and blasted Grant point blank in the chest with a salvo that sent car sized chunks of his golden fanboy armor flying! I was sure he was alright, but with him temporarily out of the fight Jason locked onto and charged in my direction. My wing cocoon would not be strong enough to effectively fend off whatever attack he had in store, so I willed them away in favor of summoning two katana constructs and matching his momentum.

I waited until the last possible millisecond before contact to leap into a twisting side flip over Jason's shoulder, slashing one of his horns off with my katanas. He admittedly caught me by surprise as he nearly landed a donkey kick to my face, just barely deflected by my wings, which had a mind of their own when it came to my defense. Jason pressed his attack with an offensive rush of slashes and stabs from his cleaver. I was put on the defensive for a bit, dodging at least thirty slashes a second, while getting in a good handful of slashes and stabs on his forearms, thighs, and abdomen. I succeeded in pushing him back quite a bit, as well as acquiring half of the needed War Force for my 'ultimate attack', but as we continued our exchange of blades his defenses and reflexes continued to improve until neither of us were able to land even a scratch on each other. Just as it seemed as if we had reached a stalemate, the Storm-Lord seemingly faltered as he raised both of his arms overhead, opening himself up for me to stab him clean through the chest! I should have known such a blatantly obvious trap when I saw it, and was quickly, and brutally reminded of the importance of not underestimating one's opponent.

Jason wrapped my combat avatar in a bear hug so tight, it would have easily snapped a skyscraper in half. His bone armor changed entirely, taking me for a slightly nauseating ride, until I found myself fighting for life in a snake's maw that was a chasm of bone fangs! Once again, we were locked in an impasse, as all of my strength was dedicated to keeping the maw from crushing me in the sea of sharpened bones, and the strength of said maw was not able to overcome mine own. The stalemate lasted for ten seconds, before Jason's inner workings changed once more, as a sea of bones shifted in a mesmerizing dance, until the back of his throat had been converted into some kind of cannon device that looked like the union of a jet turbine and an arc reactor. My combat avatar tried to rush to my defense ala deploying the wings as a shield, but were not able to envelop me in such a confined space. I had no choice but to brace for impact as Jason charged up a blast in the back of his throat, and forcibly ejected me from his maw with a blast that sent me hurtling five whole miles until I crash landed in the school's fitness center, which had somehow remained untouched until now.

I was practically seeing the Bifrost after that hit, and Jason was not in a chivalrous mood, as I could hear him cutting a swath of carnage through the campus on his way to finish me off. I rose to my feet in time to see him, reshaped as a giant bull, crashing through the weights section of the building on his way to me. I held my ground and slammed Jason in the face with a tornado kick once he got close, sending him careening back the way he came, and charged after him with swords drawn. He had already changed form once I closed the distance, and I found myself fighting a two story, medieval bone dragon just outside the premises.

I dashed, dipped, dived, and sprinted around the dragon's surprisingly lightning fast swipes, War Force fire blasts, and tail whips. I was able to get in a few slashes in at the front leg joints, and a big cut across his underbelly, which had gotten my needed War Force accumulation to 70%. These were the only attacks I was able to get in as Jason upped the ferocity of his attacks, including constant volleys of bone spikes, as big as flag poles, that kept me on the defensive. This dance did not end well for me, as Jason eventually managed to catch me mid-air with a tail swipe that damn near broke the sound barrier, sending me careening back towards the original battlefield.

The bone dragon caught up to me, but I had already recovered ala rolling with the momentum, and spreading my wings to slow myself down. Jason, unable to divert himself in time, ran into a right fist that I slammed so hard into his face, I damn near spit it in two! The dragon's momentum worked against him as he began to somersault over myself, in which I quickly flew upwards, grabbed him by the tail, and after swinging him around a few times, sent him crashing back into the original parking lot we started our battle in.

Jason reverted to his original Minotaur form, sword already in hand, and derailed my flight path with a barrage of missile constructs that locked onto and chased me around the sky until I had no choice but to wrap myself in the wing shield, and use my momentum to torpedo in his direction. Jason batted me away with his sword, in which I recovered, summoned my katanas, and engaged in another exchange of swords.

Jason gave me no openings, and I gave him none. For about five minutes we crossed blades in a seemingly never ending dance of slashes, thrusts, parries, and feints, seamlessly shifting between offense and defense all the way. Indeed, it seemed as if this fight was at best doomed to a stalemate, until the voice of my until now absentee ally resonated in my mind.

"VALKYRIE, BACKFLIP NOW!" Grant mentally shouted.

I did as he instructed, already sensing a massive amount of Geo-Force hurtling my way at Mach 5! I just narrowly managed the frisbee of death, and even before I landed heard a sickening crunch, and a blood curdling roar. The sight was more or less what I expected from Grant, as Jason's upper left chest plate was pierced by the former's Captain America shield. Before Jason could attempt to pull it out, Grant willed the shield to spin in place at what had to be at least one-hundred rotations a second. The almost nuclear levels of Geo-Force did wonders as it tore Jason apart from the inside out by way of energy bolts cracking, splintering, and occasionally breaking through his bone armor. The most important development that damn near brought a smile to my face was the truly obscene level of War Force hemorrhaging. In barely ten seconds I had acquired the remainder of needed energy to construct my finishing attack.

"Keep him distracted for a little while," I thought to Grant. "This will be over shortly."

"No prob, Val," he responded. "I definitely owe ya one anyway!"

By Thor's hammer, he was already creating nicknames! Will these humiliations never cease?!

I shrugged off the mild assault to my very soul, and retreated into the sky as Grant tagged me out of the fight. He more than made up for his unannounced sabbatical from the fight in full as he thrashed Jason by way of slamming his hammer into the ground, making a 60 ft tall geyser of Geo-Force erupt under the Storm-Lord's feet! The self proclaimed Titan followed said attack up with an ongoing series of his usual punches, kicks, and hammer swings, all while keeping that shield of his grinding away at Jason's stability.

While he worked furiously, seemingly trying to break every bone of the Minotaur armor, I took up a meditative position, and began to absorb my Hoggoth combat avatar directly into my chakra network. It felt like swallowing a dozen elephants into every one of my cells! More so, absorbing such volatile energy, such rage incarnate from both the War Force and Hoggoth threatened to overtake my mind in a sea of bloodlust, but my sheer will carried me through this ordeal, as my mind and chakra control remained strong through the worst of it.

After absorbing and integrating the first wave of energy into my native chakra, I added another light infusion of magic from Valtorr to make up for my depleted Iron Fist reserves. I let the energy cocktail churn inside of me for a little while, letting it build in power and intensity, until I approached the limit of what I could safely hold, and diverted all of the built up energy into my right arm, which was immediately illuminated in a brilliant bright purple, before flying downwards at the speed of sound towards Jason.

"I'm ready!" I thought to Grant. "Get clear and standby for chi blocking!"

Grant responded immediately as he threw his hammer at the shield still lodged in Jason's chest, sending the golden disc clean through. I was not far behind, and before the wound could close, I punched into Jason's sternum while releasing all of my collected power in the form of a giant, purple, eastern dragon that had the head of a tiger! And yes, the Dragon Fist technique was not lost on me.

My initial attack shattered straight through Jason as if his armor was made of glass. I quickly guided my dragon upwards and into a loop heading straight down towards Jason for the finishing blow. I severed the arcane tether to the construct, allowing it to harmlessly pass over me, as it careened into the Storm-Lord one last time, shattering his armor, and unleashing his War Force form in its pure, unadulterated intensity.

I worked swiftly, using the Valkyrior Force to slow time to a crawl, as I held onto my Valtorr/Hoggoth fusion, and used my magic to split the energies into two separate entities, ala a more or less dragon creature for Valtorr, and a giant, purple tiger for Hoggoth. I willed the entities to contain the blast zone that was Jason as they rotated around the ever increasing dome of carnage. It was by no means a perfect defense, and would no doubt fail if left on its own, so I made haste in utilizing my trump card, ala opening my Eye of Odin, and willing the orb to convert into the netted weave of a dreamcatcher. I shot said weave at Jason, with the arcane net growing to match the gargantuan size of the blastwave. Upon making contact with the War Force, my dreamcatcher net burrowed into it, and with the help of my Augu Bifrosts, wrapped around Jason's soul. It took everything in my power, including a great deal of screaming, to force the War Force into a consolidated state, roughly in the shape of a person.

"NOW, GRANT!" I mentally shouted to him, as I could not hold this spell for very long.

I had my eyes closed in concentration, but heard the Geo-Titan hit Jason with one-hundred different chi blocking strikes all over his body, and felt the nothing short of orgasmic relief as Jason reverted to normal, passing out from the shock, and relieving me of the burden of stopping this particular world ending threat. I just barely managed to land with some semblance of grace next to Grant, who put his friend in some sort of foliage filled golden cocoon. While Jason was unconscious and chakra blocked, his powers were nowhere near under control as no sooner than the cocoon had enveloped him, the Storm-Lord expelled a small blastwave of War Force that rattled his confinement.

"Not perfect," Grant said as he willed the earth to swallow the cocoon. "His chi's all f*(#^& up, and isn't processing the War Force well. Doesn't make any sense. Thought he didn't have it anymore. Don't suppose you know anything about that?"

I tried not to take offense to Grant's slightly accusatory tone and glance. I had lied to him and his friends for the better part of a year, and had given him no reason to think I was a friend. Hel, that was not exactly an untruth.

"I have a few theories," I said. "But that comes later. Sunbird is also in danger. We have to help her. Can you survive in outer space?"

"I can conjure up a G-Force aura to protect me."

"Good."

I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled a high pitched tune that carried for miles. Barely five seconds later, a dimensional tear opened just a few yards ahead of me to reveal my trusty Unicorn-Pegasus.

He was about as large as a school bus, with a cinnamon brown coat. A glorious, muscular beast that looked like it could trample small houses underfoot, with a wingspan of 35 ft, and a glimmering unicorn horn on his forehead. A gift from my mother on my 8th birthday. He neighed and galloped around me frantically, as we hadn't seen each other for quite some time.

"Nice pony," Grant said, remembering to be the most annoying thing in the Nine Realms again. "What's his name?"

"Ser Cinnamon Starblur," I said.

Grant sniggered, but I shot him a steely glance, and he ceased all buffoonery on a dime. I quickly mounted my steed, grabbed his reigns, and waited as Grant also took his place behind me.

"Hold onto me," I said. "And close your eyes. The speeds that a Valkyrie's mount can travel are disorienting at best, permanently blinding at worst."

Grant shrugged and grasped me by the waist. I bit down the rising bile, thrashed Ser Cinnamon Starblur's reigns, and after the Unicorn-Pegasus reared for a second, we were off into the great void.

To put it in perspective, the length of time it took for my steed to reach the moon's orbit was 1.5 seconds exactly. Asgardian Pegasi have the inherent ability to fold space and bend time to their will, allowing the rider to traverse great lengths in mere blinks of an eye. An average Pegasus could fly from one end of the Milky Way Galaxy to the other in seven days, if flying non-stop. Ser Cinnamon Starblur's record was five days, fourteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and seventeen seconds. Needless to say, he was a very fast pony.

Getting to the matter of interest, Allyson was currently battling with her mother in what looked like an artistic depiction of the Black Death trying to corrupt an angel. Allyson, completely overtaken by the strange phenomenon, was just barely keeping her mother, clearly being controlled by Loki's magic, at bay. In not even an hour, Mrs. Grace had surpassed Allyson's own powers, and if her still spiking power levels were any indicator, was barely a stone's throw away from achieving whatever Allyson's current form was. Seeing as Allyson was barely treading water as it was, and especially not wanting to deal with another obscenely out of control nuisance, there was no other option but to end this in less than five minutes.

I steeled myself for what I had to do, as I slowly extended my telepathic signature to Allyson, so as to not surprise her too greatly. I admit to being somewhat fearful at how she would handle my deceit, as while she and her friends were my mission, Allyson Grace was someone who I would truly call a friend. From the day we met she showed me unyielding, damn near aggressive levels of kindness that was something of a rare delicacy. Every movie night, karaoke session, beach party, and even sporting event was a cherished memory. For brief moments she allowed me to forget what I was. She made me feel like I mattered. It would be quite a shame to lose such a friendship, but things of substance are scarcely built on lies, and I was prepared to deal with the consequences. Admittedly, I did something of a play on her sympathy as I flooded the mental connection with a collage of said treasured memories, before finally solidifying the link.

"Delilah?!" Allyson initiated the conversation. "What?! How?!"

"I'm afraid i've been somewhat deceiving you, my friend." I responded. "As i've already told Grant, I will explain everything at a later time."

"She's a goddess, Sunbird!" Grant killed all sense of tact and timing. "Like a Valkyrie from Asgard! Don't worry, she's chill. She's on our side. Wait, is that your mom?! My mom got powers too! And wait, so if you're a goddess, is that why you weren't into me? Like is there a forbidden love thing between gods and humans? Cuz I would personally try and get that-"

"Shut up, Grant!" Allyson and I thought to him.

We all shared a mental laugh together, immediately diffusing the tension. Never let it be said that imbeciles are not without their uses.

"But yes," I continued. "He speaks the truth. We've already handled Jason, and Ms. Campbell is awaiting further action. Your mother is a relatively simple fix if you are willing to trust me."

"You're my best friend on the girl list, and you saved the love of my life," Allyson immediately responded. "We definitely have some things to talk about, but I trust you, D."

"Her temp superhero name is Valkyrie!" Grant uselessly contributed to the conversation.

"Stand fast, Sunbird, and do not be afraid," I said as I started to move my arms in a rhythmic, dancing gesture. "Neither you nor your mother are in any danger."

Granted, it was probably not the best course of action to follow that statement up with reality shattering, Icelandic spell chanting that defied the laws of physics, but one must play with the cards they are dealt. My spell went as such:

"Ég kalla fram hið mikla tómarúm frá fyrri tíð! Hið óendanlega ekkert sem var á undan Yggdrasil sjálfum! Með dómsdagssverði Surtar, við frosið hjarta Ymis, býð ég frumskuggum Ginnungagaps að hlýða kalli mínu og hlýða vilja mínum!" (I call forth the great void from before time! The infinite nothingness that preceded Yggdrasil itself! By Surtur's Doomsday sword, by Ymir's frozen heart, I command the primordial shadows of Ginnungagap to heed my call, and obey my will!)

For the purposes of this spell, it was most fortuitous that we were in outer space, and on the moon especially. The great void was summoned by way of shadows, pitch black darkness, and voids between worlds. Fairly difficult to summon, and disastrous if you did not have the strength to control it, but Ginnungagap was not inherently malicious, and as it enveloped the entire moon in its shadow, stemming from the dark side, Allyson's arcane immunity kept her safe from the effects of the void.

Mrs. Grace, who had no such protection, was engulfed in the dark, vapory mass, which consolidated around her like a cocoon. I could feel her struggling inside of the sliver of Ginnungagap, but the primordial essence simply canceled out the flames. The very atoms that the golden inferno consisted of ceased to be when met with the great nothingness. I used the shadows to contain Mrs. Grace's flames, while slowly consolidating a significant portion of them around Loki's mind control crown. Begrudging respect to the God of Mischief, as his spell was formidable enough to where Ginnungagap required a whole ten seconds to consume it, but the results were no different than expected as the spell was destroyed, followed by me constructing a Jera rune, which looked like an interlinking seat of 'greater than' arithmetic symbols, for 'peace', and shot it through the darkness. Upon impacting Mrs. Grace, the mortal's flames fully extinguished, and she fell into a deep slumber. With Allyson's mother off of the gauntlet, I put my hands together, twisted them counter to each other, and muttered a spell of transportation. The shadows of Ginnungagap became a twisting, ominous whirlwind that was perfectly harmless, and would simply plop us in the closest shadowy area near the school.

"Allow yourselves to be taken by the portal," I thought to Grant and Allyson as I urged my Unicorn-Pegasus forward. "Mrs. Grace will be waiting for us. Worry not, no harm will come to either of you."

Grant and Allyson were understandably skeptical of diving headfirst into a vortex that looked like a gateway to the Underworld, but Allyson set a positive example as she made the leap first, with Grant and I right behind her.

We emerged in a small section of forest, just outside of the campus golf course, where Grant put Mrs. Grace in one of his golden pods, and safely buried her. Allyson had already reverted to her normal state, and looked at me with eyes that could have bored through solid Uru. I removed my mask to assure her that it was indeed me, and was admittedly caught off guard when she tackled me with a hug.

"You look good, Val," she said. "Glad to have ya aboard! Now, you said somethin' about Doris?"

I put on my helmet, and opened a portal to Mrs. Campbell.

She was still comfortably locked in her temporary prison, violently shifting between a raging whirlwind of Aether, Deathfrost, All-Light, and Jotun Lightning. I was frustratingly at a loss for potential solutions, but Allyson, not at all bothered by the spectacle in front of her, outstretched her hand, hummed an angelic melody, and caused a visible reaction as Mrs. Campbell's erratic form momentarily calmed, and a significant portion of her spirit began to take hold of the power.

"I'll take it from here," Allyson assured me as she started to sing.

Her song of choice was 'Stand' by Donnie McClurkin. No surprise there. It was her comfort song. I'd always hear her softly singing and/or humming it when things were clearly getting difficult in her superhero and/or personal life. I imagine it was a shared ballad between herself and the elder mortal.

Allyson performed the entire song, all the while Mrs. Campbell's erratic form gradually calmed into a gently flowing mass of pure white energy, which itself consolidated into a humanoid shape, before reverting fully to her human form. I quickly dispelled her makeshift prison, and placed a series of arcane locks on her soul so as to prevent her from shifting into any more cosmic storms. She was surprisingly stable and strong for an ordeal that should have left her physically and spiritually broken, though her nervous system was still coursing with the arcane energies. I could see it paradoxically strengthening and weakening her heart, muscles, bones, and neurons. The fact that she was alive at all was remarkable, but if this energy feedback did not end in some way her death was an inevitability. Her body was simply under a level of constant stress that mortals, especially her age, were incapable of dealing with. Grant and Allyson clearly shared my concern, but remained silent as Grant placed her in a pod and sent her underground for a brief slumber. With Ms. Campbell settled, the only remaining obstacle was that of the Convergence Points.

Using my Augu Bifrosts, I could see that my ongoing spell was performing moderately well. The branches of Yggdrasil were slowly moving towards the desired outcome, and while nowhere near sufficient enough in its own right, the incantation would have closed the dimensional rifts in half of the natural time frame. An adequate start to help get the chariot moving for the final solution.

"I require your aid," I said to Allyson and Grant. "I can close these Convergence Points and put a temporary stop gap in the troubles that ails your realm, but I require power that only the two of you can lend me."

"We got your back, Valkyrie," Allyson said. "Do what ya gotta do."

I nodded, and began my preparations.

First I summoned a runestone that was an ambient sponge for the energies of the Moons of Munnopor. A few simple finger gestures and a spell of awakening released the energies as a thick, white fog, which quickly shaped itself as a collection of twelve, jumbo beach ball sized moons orbiting around each other like an incorrect depiction of atoms in American science books. Next, I summoned the Ora Saturnia spell seal, and withdrew all of the cosmic energy extracted from Ms. Campbell. I silently thanked the elder mortal, as the sheer amount of raw power, difficult for even me to safely harness, was more than enough to create the Judicium Olympi spell seal without falling into a twelve hour coma. I consolidated said energy into a sphere of brilliant, iridescent light between my hands, and began chanting my incantation in Latin.

"Virtutem neptem Apollinis invoco. Invoco vindicem Terrae robur. mando vi kalendarum Munnopor! Hac virtute Olympi Iudicium invoco! Celer Mercurius! Venus iracunda! Mars nobilis! Iuppiter omnipotens! Aeterni Saturnini! Arcanum Neptuni! Dira Pluton! Vim appello planetarum et fabularum constellationes ut mihi vires reddant universum sicut visum est reformare!" (I call upon the power of the granddaughter of Apollo! I call upon the might of Terra's champion! I command the power of the twelve moons of Munnopor! With this power, I invoke the Judgement of Olympus! Swift Mercury! Passionate Venus! Noble Mars! Mighty Jupiter! Eternal Saturn! Mysterious Neptune! Dread Pluto! I summon the power of the planets and constellations of legend to give me the strength to reshape the universe as I see fit!)

I clapped my hands together, creating a wave of magic large enough to cover an entire football stadium that formed itself into the spell seal.

The outer rim of said seal was quite literally an event horizon, engraved with words of golden flames that said: Que Postulai Hinc Omne Qu Od Coelo Subest Ortum Exitum (That I have demanded from here everything that is under heaven, the rising exit). The second innermost ring was a wide ring of pure, outer space, embezzled with various constellations, and astrology symbols for the planets, all rotating clockwise at 50 mph. Inwards of that circle was the core. I was at the center of the mix, holding onto my wand, engulfed inside a 30 ft tall tree made of nebulae clouds. At the bottom, below the roots of said tree, Grant was ensnared inside a glowing, transparent sphere made of Geo-Force, that resembled an image of the globe. His power flowed up the roots and into myself. Allyson was inside of a similar sphere, with golden fiery lines shaped like a cartoonish depiction of a sun, which orbited the central tree opposite of the twelve Munnopor moons, all nestled inside an orb of silverish-white energy that waxed and waned to show the full cycle of the moon.

The power that flowed through me was beyond description. Even when wielding the fullest extent of the sliver of Odin-Force I had access to, a cosmic force that made its wielder nigh omnipotent, it was simply a glance through a keyhole. An impossibly narrow vantage point that made one incapable of grasping the picture vastly larger than they could comprehend.

Performing the Judgement Of Olympus was the closest approximation to said omnipotence I had ever tasted in my entire life. I could feel the rhythm of the universe. I could extinguish stars with a thought, and rewrite reality with a snap. Anything and everything I could possibly want was within my grasp for all of ten seconds. The temptation to run amok with this power was admittedly a strong one, but I managed to focus on the task at hand, reach out to grab hold of the very branches of Yggdrasil itself, and move them to my will as if rearranging brooms in a cupboard. Within the ten second timeframe, the rifts were canceled out by their opposites, the Convergence Point passed, and with my last cognizant thought I managed to properly close the Judicium Olympi before I collapsed into the dirt.

I know not how long I was out, only that I felt a comforting warmth flood my entire body, before awakening in Allyson's arms. Despite her best attempts to rejuvenate me, I was still very weak, dripping with sweat, and barely able to breathe. Thankfully, my friend had the foresight to remove my helmet.

I was just strong enough to reach into my pouch and scarf down my remaining golden apple slices, which restored enough of my strength for me to sit up straight, think in complete thoughts, and breathe normally. As you can see, the Judgment Of Olympus is not a spell one performs trivially, nor without steep consequences.

I looked around to see Grant attending to Jason and the mothers of his group, all of which had been unearthed, with frantic attention, as their energy levels were once again spiking.

"Can't regulate all their chi!" he shouted. "They're gonna go berserk again in like five minutes if we don't get some help here fast!"

"We can do nothing for them here," I said, looking at Allyson.

I used my Sling Ring to open a portal to the Avengers Tower lobby, where the evacuated mortals were indeed being soothed by She-Hulk and Wonder Man, pulled Mr. Grace and Mr. Jackson through it, and mind wiped the other mortals to forget the two were even there. Secret identities and such. Very important.

"We need to go," I continued to Allyson. "My home is the only place capable of treating them."

Allyson understood immediately, and accessed her team communications.

"This is Sunbird, assuming emergency command," she said. "Storm-Lord, Titan, and I are going off-world. Patriot, you have immediate and total command of The Elementals until we return! Stay safe everyone, we'll be back as soon as we can!"

"To Asgard, Heimdall!" I shouted.

"Wait, WHA-"

Grant was cut off as the Bifrost engulfed and whisked us upwards to the Realm Eternal at the speed of light.