"We can take these idiots." Victoria sneered as the assassins advanced. "Ghost get James back on-line." she commanded. Ghost responded by diving at James only to be intercepted by a wall of sand knocking him back.
"Rhodes, you'll get yours for what you and the lying HYDRA Agent did to me in Botswana." Sandman growled, his voice whistling around the hall. "As for you, you're just a bug waiting to be squashed."
"He your one to talk," Wolverine replied slashing at the sand-giant's exposed back only to be tackled by Daken. "What are you doing here?" he growled "Don't you have something disgusting to do for Osborne."
"I'm on hiatus." Daken replied stabbing his bone claws into his father's chest as Toxin dodged several high speed Gattling Gun projectiles, the bullets carving out chunks of the chamber's walls. "Besides I'm not in this for the money, I'm just here for revenge."
"Vengeance this." Wolverine replied kicking Daken up, the strike leading into a rising slash cutting through his son's genitals and left elbow. "Come on son you can do better then this."
"I can," Daken roared extending his bone claws even further out. "Victoria my love, go run harry-karri into Janissary's line of fire and be all suicidal and shit."
"Okay," Victoria said weakly as Janissary fired a round of incendiary grenades at Toxin as Airborne chased him round the ceiling. Quickly she threw down the pair of javelins she was carrying before running straight at Janissary.
"Now father do something heroic, go rescue little Ms. Super Attorney." Daken growled. Wolverine snarled and ran on an intercept course as Janissary's armor activate a module that popped out of his suit. As Wolverine intercepted Janissary fired and a bolt of energy impacted on his body causing him to spark and smoke. "When will you learn father, heroics are antiquated, Osborne is the future and when he least expects it he'll find my claws in his gut." Daken towered over the unconscious Wolverine as Victoria struggled to free herself from under his body. As Daken stabbed through his father's upper thorax and into Victoria's leg she smashed him in the face sending the mutant reeling a few steps back.
"You stupid dyke." Daken snarled, "God knows I have wanted to do this ever since Osborne introduced you to me."
"The feeling's mutual." Victoria replied as she dodged Daken's slashes landing body blows ever time she moved to evade his blows. With each blow she felt a sense of dark satisfaction, she was enjoying this fight more then she should. Looking into Daken's eyes she saw an emotion that he had never shown before, he was feeling fear and she was enjoying it, the more frightened he got the more powerful she became until with a quick punch to the face the Dark Avenger went smashing into the wall before being buried by half a ton of rubble. Victoria let out a cackle, a sound more terrifying then the recorded laughter of the Green Goblin.
"Forget this the money isn't worth it." Janissary yelled as he turned tail and ran as Airborne opened fire on Victoria who quickly moved out of range as Toxin swung in slamming her to the floor.
"Light's out," he hissed as he shattered the armour's face-plate and knocking the mercenary out. "Is that all of them?" he asked only to be replied by a massive wall of sand slamming the Task Force HAMMER members.
"What the hell are you freak?" he asked Victoria as she attempted to crawl out of the torrent of sand that was pinning her to the wall.
"A nightmare." Victoria cackled as she saw Ghost float up to the comatose Geode before the villain removed the disc embedded on her chest dropping her to the floor, "Think of me as Norman Osborne with a bad attitude." she said grinning to reveal sharpened fang like canines.
"But she's not the one you should worry about." Geode said as she got to her feet, "Time for you to leave." she told the Sandman before he slammed a massive hammer shaped fist into her, although the effect was mooted as the sand melted away. Pressing the advantage Geode dived through the villain and turned to see his form shrinking down to man size before hardening into flesh and blood.
"What the hell?" he swore before Geode smashed in the face causing his form to collapse into dust as Ghost fiddled around with James armor causing the suit to reactivate.
"I'm with Sandman what the hell?" James asked
"That can wait." Geode announced, "Don't we have something to do?" she asked.
"Quiet I'm picking up vibrations," James said, "From over their."
"Toxin check it out, Natasha cover him." Victoria commanded as she purposely kicked Chemistro's unconscious form, "We'll tell HAMMER that there are two idiots for them to pick up as soon as we get clear of this pile of stone."
"Norman Osborne with Attitude?" Ghost asked, "It's clear that you some kind of elfin hybrid, not a goblin."
"It's the best I could come up with." Victoria remarked as Toxin and the Black Widow returned with a set of test-tubes in a rack, "Tate sent us some refreshments." Toxin hissed, "It's a enzyme to denature the poison Osborne put in our bodies."
"There's more, while we were behaving like animals, Osborne has been deposed by Songbird. She's acting Director until somebody goes for the position." Natasha announced, "Tate's dead," she added, "she committed suicide so that SHIELD could retrieve Mjolnir."
"You mean," Victoria started, "That bitch."
"She died being a hero." James replied, "You can't hold that against her."
"Songbird got my job." Victoria screeched, "I was deputy director of HAMMER, that should be my position not some dead Thunderbolt with stupid hair."
"Victoria calm down, we're off the hook." Geode purred, "Hell we're free, sod Osborne and his mission." she added drinking the chemical mixture, "I'm out of here."
"Your not going anywhere, neither are you Ghost." James yelled as the later tried to slink off, "We have our orders, that tower dies now."
"And what so we can get a nice shiny medal from the Usurper." Victoria sneered, "Let her send her own Spec Ops team in to deal with it."
"You know she's only got the job temporarily." Natasha told her, "Not that I'm supporting this, but you still could get the job when she steps down, she's how would you say it a custodian."
"She's probably prefer the term Steward." James added, "And think how well Victoria Hand, Saviour of SHIELD sounds."
"Yes that sounds good." Victoria sneered, "And I have an idea on how to destroy it."
Twenty Minutes later Task Force HAMMER arrived at the base of the tower, battered and bruised. They had seen few enemies but the terrain was terrible, Asgard had withstood four days of almost constant shelling and had suffered internally for arising Norman Osborne's wrath. The Tower itself had been struck but not enough damage had been done to cause it to lose power, although hopefully that was about to change.
"Geode if you concentrate you should be able to reduce the tower's foundations to dust." Victoria explained, "If the others keep watch you should be fine, first we need to destroy the crystals that focus the energy." she told her team mates, "Carr's Alchemy Pistol should have enough power to do the job." she added, "just give me five minutes." she finished as she scuttled spider like up the shaft.
"That's bull." Natasha announced, "She isn't coming back for us, luckily Ghost's manipulating of the equipment caused Carr's equipment to have a unique isotope signature we should be able to track her wherever she goes."
"So I should just level this thing now?" Geode asked, "Because it's been ages since I had a good shake down."
"Go for it." Natasha replied.
Victoria removed the first crystal and stuffed it into her bra, she was glad that the men on the team were idiots. Ghost was too paranoid to realize, Logan was generally uninterested, James was to focused on Potts to say anything and while Patrick Mulligan may notice Toxin was only interested in his host's anatomy not anyone else's. As for the women well she could blame the breast expansion on mutation from her new Dark Elf physiology. With a second crystal stuffed into her chest Victoria believed she had what she needed when the tower shook. "Damm you Geode," she cursed, "As soon as I'm in charge I'm going to have you put in a box and cast adrift in space."
If Geode heard or not was moot, the tower continued to shake and Victoria grabbed a repelling set from a now toughly dead HAMMER Agent Thrall and busted out the window and down along the crumbling surface towards the base of Asgard. "Geode, you're on my list, your all on my list she cackled as she passed the base of the tower as it collapsed and crumbled. "I will crush all of you," she mumbled as she ran out of cable and smashed into a chamber, "So says Director Hand. You," she called to the hooded figure in the chamber, "Your on my list simply because I think your creepy."
"The Heart of an Enemy." the figure replied, "The final ingredient."
"My heart is my own" Victoria sneered as she leapt towards the Hood only to be shocked by a bolt of lightning as the demon crime lord walked towards her. "Now for your heart." she whispered drilling her fingers into Victoria's chest before plucking out the beating muscle and throwing it down onto the carved circle on the floor.
"I'm sorry." Victoria moaned, "I failed." she added as she was discarded as another figure plucked the crystals from her breasts.
"Crystals of Servitude, these are powerful magical items." the second figure replied, "They will help amplify the spell to it's maximum effectiveness."
Spider Man's Restoration Chamber, 30 minutes later
Natasha rested Victoria's dead corpse on the bench as James stood sentinel on the chamber's balcony watching for any sign of rescue. They had briefly got through to the new director and told her of their situation but nobody really believed that they were going to be rescued.
"This is strange." Ghost remarked, "I'm picking up unknown technology on this body."
"Where?" Natasha asked as she glanced at Ghost who attempted to flip the dead woman's body. "Here let me." she added as she moved the corpse with ease. Ghost bent down and put his hand through Victoria's armor to remove a small metal disc.
"Controller Disc?" Wolverine growled as he walked past, "What was she doing with one of those."
"It is interesting." Ghost replied, "With it maybe I can…" Wolverine snatched the disc away, "Oh no you stinking terrorist, you don't get your hands on stuff like this."
"Still the question is who would be controlling her, a simple look at the design suggests that this disc is more then a synaptic-override device. Well see for yourself." Ghost announced as Victoria's body shimmered her features changing, her hair becoming blonde although she still retained some sylvan features it was clear that this was a different women.
"Who is she?" Toxin asked.
"We can find out later look." James announced as thundering over the horizon a V22 Osprey flashed its wings and headed for the lower sections of Asgard. "Looks like we're getting out of here."
"But where are we going?" Natasha replied, "Back to servitude or freedom." she added as the Osprey landed and armed marines filed out the rear and waved for the Task Force HAMMER members to drop their weapons and board the VTOL.