Well, it looks like we are nearing the end of the story. I think it will be two more chapters and then this will be the end of this lot for a while. As always, remember to review. Enjoy!
The assembled giants looked on in surprise as the four warriors, three of which were Hylians in some sense or another and a massive bear. Lithia lowered her blade from Ike and readied it in a defensive posture, daring Zelda to attack her. The bear stepped forward instead and bellowed a rage fuel howl. Fenris growled and leapt at the bear, who met the end wolf midair, sending both of them toppling to the ground. Ganondorf rushed forward to settle a score with Loki. The god had threatened yet another Hylian, he though he made it clear that if anyone was going to harm them, and it would be him and him alone! Sheik disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving Lithia and Zelda facing each other.
Zelda unsheathed the sword Ulfric gave her days ago and after getting familiar with the weight once again, beckoned Lithia to come at her. Lithia snarled and leapt forward, raising her spear over her head and was ready to bring Zelda down into two even pieces. The princess blocked the incoming blow and lashed out with one of her own. The blow scraped the armor, but did not do any lasting damage. Lithia slammed the tip of her spear against the sword in Zelda's hands and she began to apply all of her strength to the blow.
Zelda forced a grimace and changed her footing to allow her back to be relived of the pressure. She looked around and saw a pillar of stone. She reached out her hand and focused her magic on the weak points on the structure. The marbled began to crack and buckle under her magical abilities and shed called the dislodged pillar towards her. The toppling structure caused Lithia to back up and Zelda to take a single leap back. With a loud smash, the pillar collided to the ground and a small cloud of dust erupted from it. Zelda seized the advantage and called Din's fire, the fireball responded almost instantly and Zelda sent it out towards Lithia. The arcane barriers around the mansion were weakened by her acts and with everything down to the line, there was no time to fix them. As such, Zelda could utilize most of her arcane potential.
The fireball struck home and it erupted around Lithia. The smell of burning flesh filled the air for a moment before Lithia charged Zelda from where she was. Zelda was waiting with her sword and she then lashed out when Lithia was with in her reach. The sword connected to bone and dragged down the ribcage, causing Lithia to swing the shaft of her spear. The whale bone collided with Zelda's skull and sent her tumbling down to the ground . Lithia stood triumphantly over her and raised her spear, ready to deliver the killing blow.
Zelda called upon her arcane powers again and teleported briefly backwards, not far but enough to be out of range of the spear. Lithia snarled and charged once again, catching Zelda off guard. The low sent the wind rushing out of her lung and soon she was held by her throat. "Princess, princess." Lithia said to her in a very mocking tone. "When will you learn, you can't beat me. Nor can any other mortal." Her grip began to tighten and Zelda couldn't cogitate the words for her spells, she grimaced and tried to escape the grasp, but it had little effect.
"For Asgard, for the Allfather, for vengeance, till the end of all time!" A new voice bellowed and son Lithia was bashed aside from a new form. Zelda coughed and looked up at the newcomer. Leman stood over and in front of her, his leather armor slick with blood. In one hand was a gladius and in the other was a giant's frost axe. Zelda got to her feet and looked Up and Leman, who looked behind her over his shoulder. "Get the others ready, the corrupted are on their way." Zelda nodded and he turned his attention back to Lithia. "You have became a thorn in our side long enough. Now there will be no more redemption, no more second chances. I will kill you here and now."
Lithia laughed but her laughter stopped as the savage wolf lord took control and slammed the head of the giant axe into the chest of her. She backed herself up and attacked again and again, and Leman attacked her without end. They were relatives by blood, in one way or another. The betrayal, as such, cut down a deeper wound then it did for the other deities. Betray was bad enough, but to be turned against one you once would have called sister left a wound that would not heal until the betrayer was dead at your feet with her life blood on your face. Leman now fought with the strength and vigor of a cornered timber wolf, ignorant of even the most grievous of wounds. He would slaughter unto death.
Ralof moved quickly in the shadows, hoping to Talos and the other divines that he would not be spotted. The others were focused on the distraction caused by others and Leman. Stealth wasn't his strongest point but if necessary, he would do it. He bit the bottom of his lip as he passed by other giants who were beginning to join the fray. The princess, Zelda if he could recall correctly, noticed him out of the corner of her eye and drew the attention of the giants around him, he nodded his head in appreciation and continued forward, getting his knife ready to cut the binds.
He approached the first one, a military man of about forty years. Ralof took the knife out and began to slit the binds. The bound looked back and grunted something. Ralof only nodded and used the iron knife again to cut loose the last of the bonds. The cords were thick, but his knife was sharper than that. The bonds fell to the ground and the man massaged his wrists and gave a curt nod of appreciation. Ralof passed him a spare dagger he had on hand, and the mercenary, who said his name was Solid Snake, took it and leapt into the fray.
Ralof moved down the rows of tied smashers, trying to find his High King. Each one he passed, he cut their binds. In some cases, his knife wouldn't work, and he would be forced to use his lock picks. He preferred bashing the locks from the links of chain, but this would have drawn the attention of the giants. That was the last thing he needed. After cutting loose another smasher, an elf by the name of Cherry Bomb, Ralof found Sigmund. His comrade in arms was beaten, bruised and bloodied, yet he was still alive. Ralof shook him on the shoulder, and the Dragonborn stired. The sound of bloody chapped lips smacking filled the air around the two. "Damn you Ralof. What did I tell you about running and not looking back?"
The Nord, despite the circumstances around him, laughed. "I didn't abandon you at Helgen, I didn't abandon you from the Stormcloak's cause. I wasn't about to leave you here, hogging tied like a sacrifice to the oblivion gods. My place is at your side." Sigmund smiled and gestured to his chains. Ralof got to work in seconds and began to undo each of the tumblers in the lock. A massive giant strolled over to them and bellowed a brutish war cry. The sound of a Shout took the giant off balance and Ulfric Stormcloak leapt forward at the giant. Wielding a massive axe with one hand, the High King and a slender elf, more than likely the one who unbound him, fought with him. The High King buried his axe into the thigh of the giant and the agile elf landed several powerful kicks and thrusts with her arrow like hand. Despite himself, Ralof and Sigmund were impressed with the elf. It was saying much, after they had fought three wars against the Dominion, to hold an high elf in high standard was something uncommon. While they did not discriminate against the elves, there was a thin layer of hatred when a Nord first meets the elf.
The giant bellowed in pain and lashed out with his war mace, swinging in desperation, trying to get a hit of the fast moving elf and High King. The elf and Ulfric fought not as individuals, but almost like a pack of wolves. Each thrust of their weapons or hands worked in unison with the other to shore up their defenses and exploit the weakness in the enemy. The elf pulled a small ceramite bal from her belt and tossed it down on the ground. A cloud of white smoke enveloped the trio and she leapt up and wrapped her chain around the distracted giant's neck. Ulfric withdrew the axe from the thigh and brought it down on the skull of the giant, shattering the skull, and exposing the grey matter to the air.
Ulfric landed on his feet and looked over to Ralof and Sigmund. "Hurry up lads! The war will be over by the time you finish up." Ralof finished the lock seconds later and the Sigmund retrived his weapons. He looked around for Alyssa, but after a brief glance of not finding her, he bellowed in rage. He then down the relatively straight lines of smashers, using his two handed sword to slice open the binds. He snarled and lunged forward against the first giant he saw, looking for blood. By Akintosh, he would find it.
Fenris growled again and sank his fangs into the side of the bear in front of him. The hunter roared in pain and returned the favor on the exposed neck the Fenris left open. Fenris released his grasp and lashed out with his claws, but the bear weathered his attacks and returned the End Wolf with his own attacks. The bear was fierce, yet it was not a natural animal. He could smell elemental power pulsing through the veins. Yet there was something else about this animal, Fenris couldn't quite place his mind on it.
The wolf howled again as the bear pressed his attack, slashing with fang and claw. Fenris snarled, not for the last time, and ran his claws over the fur on the belly, hoping to disembowel the bear. However, when he attempted such a thing, there was a small, almost invisible force shield that seemed to be around the bear when the outright lethal blows were about to be delivered. The bear chuckled and with a roar of his own, slammed his head into the cheekbone of Fenris.
The two animals backed up from each other each one of them bloodied and wounded from the attack. A bellowing cry sent two new combatants in between them . Lithia bashed Leman off of her and Leman snarled as he pulled his weapons back from the taxing battle against his former sister in arms. The bear looked at Ulfric and smiled as he could smell the pungent spirit of the wolf. "Leman, I think another wolf claims that he is the alpha. Prove him wrong, I will handle this wench."
Leman bellowed with laughter, "Whatever you say old bear. Don't worry about me, just be sure she gets what she deserves." The bear nodded in affirmation and set his sights at Lithia, who stood with her blood caked halberd ready. Leman turned his own attention to Fenris. While he would have much rather enjoyed fighting the World Serpent, this pup would settle for now.
The bear growled and circled Lithia. It began to speak in a very old tongue, one Lithia knew. . Den store slangen stiger fra tidevann, går onkel mot undergang hans. Den endelige horn skal ringe, og brua skal bli besmittet av guden av triks. Lithia stalled for a moment, perplexed. No one knew the tongue of the gods and not even a bear for that matter. Though it didn't matter if the bear knew the language or not, he would die with those words on his lips. She let out a quick humph, and charged forward, in an attempt to skewer the animal. The bear dodged out of the way and Lithia's halberd collided with only to air.
The bear slashed at her exposed thighs , claws digging in deep to the flesh, causing a scream to erupt from her lips. The bear sideswiped a burning torch rack next to them and sent the burning sticks tumbling down unto the former goddess. She responded with yet another thrust, this time catching the bear on the right forearm. The bear grunted and pounced onto her. Eight hundred pounds of pure muscle and fur pinned the lustful wench to the ground. She struggled to breath and the beat bit down on her throat, content to tear out her throat.
Her salvation was a massive frost giant with a club bashing the bear in the side. The bear whimpered as it was bashed into the nearby wall, and soon the sounds of bones breaking on impact filled the air. Lithia rose to her feet and cupped her hands around her throat healing the injuries she sustained. She pucked up her halberd and walked over to the bear.
She soon stopped in her tracks and looked down on the animal. The animal was beginning to change for some odd reason and soon the fur began to melt away into leather. The animalistic form began to become a humanoid form. She smiled. A shifter, she never thought of that. She thought that the only animals they could turn into were wolves, but apparently she was wrong. She looked at the new figure with a sense of curiosity. Tall, muscular and thin, he looked like a force to be reckoned with. She pointed her halberd at his chest. She smiled as she could smell his scent from here. It was that of a laborer, but a bit more musky an inviting. "Surrender, and in xchange you will live to see another sunrise. Join our side an you will live to see thousand more." She purred those words and waited his response.
The figure slowly rose to his feet and though his face was concealed with the aid of the shadows, his intentions were clear. He walked forward and clasped his hands on the straps of Lithia's battle armor. She smiled for a moment, realizing that this shifter was now under her control. Her smile disappeared however when she opened her eyes and were staring into a pair of emeralds.
"Sorry dear, I prefer redheads!" The figure said and slammed his forehead into Lithia's nose sending her stumbling backwards. The figure steeped forward into the light and many looked at the newcomer. He wore a long black duster made of leather, and sticking out of it was at least fifteen different types of handguns, assault rifles, SMGs and plenty of grenades. The figure flicked out a pair of sunglasses, aviators, and placed them on his eyes. He reached into his coat and pulled out a fresh cigarette and lit it with a stray match on his coat.
The elf smiled to himelf for a moment before opening the palm of his hands and summoned forth lightning upon Lithia. Zelda looked back at him as did Cherry Bomb, who were both helping Ike back to his feet. Cherry raise both of her hands to cover her mouth and she began to feel a set of tears begin to roll down her eyes as she looked at the bear shaman. It was him, she knew it was. She was about to run over to him when an Ice wolf came between her and him. A single shotgun blast with his other hand ended the threat as the head turned to a white powdery mist. "Go to hell Fido. Leave Cherry alone."
"Tobey, I could use a little help here!" Leman yelled as he used his hands to push back Fenris with his bare hands. Tobey reached into his pocket and produced a frag grenade. He tossed it in and over hand toss to Leman. Leman caught it with is spare hand and pulled the pin with the thumb. He bashed Fenris across the face causing a howl of pain to echo. He then placed the live grenade in the open muzzle. Leman then slammed one fist into the top and bottom of the muzzle, holding the grenade in place. It detonated a few moments later, sending blood and fragments flying in all directions.
Cherry smiled to herself and watched as Tobey returned his attention to Lithia, who was back on her feet and readying her halberd again. Tobey unsheathed his Dragon Fang sword and grinned with anticipation. "I should warn you Lithia, I don't die easily."
Ike felt amazing as he was back on his feet with Ragnell in his hands. He gave Zelda a quick peck on the cheek for thanks. He would give her a lot more than just a kiss, but that was for later. Link and Marth ran over to him cutting through spectral ice hounds and others that got in their way. Link was the first to reach Ike and placed his mechanical arm on Zelda's shoulder. She looked as if she was about to apologize when Lin put a single mechanical finger on her lips, quieting her. Point taken, Zelda directed her attention to those who were attacking them.
Ike raised a fist above his head, the order was clear. Ike, Marth Link and Zelda formed up into a square formation. This allowed them to shore up their defenses and they would be next to eachother if the mission went south. The sound of the fallen smashers approaching them filled their ears as the giant's began to pull back. Ganondorf was soon sent flying over head by a sharp uppercut as Loki began to retreat. Lithia did the same, except she used her staff part of the weapon to unset Tobey from the ground and having him crashing on his back. She ran past them, towards Loki's awaiting arms.
That is when Ike saw it, the look in the eyes of Lithia and the way she was beginning to grip her halberd. Ike smiled coldly to himself, as he realized what was next to come. Lithia, thrusted the spear like weapon forward, impaling the heart of Loki, who looked on with hurt surprise, with a twist and a thrust, she thrusted the entirety of the weapon through the trickster god, an she pulled the rest of the halberd out of the back of Loki.
Ordinarily, Ike would have been pleased to find out that the enemies were fighting amongst one another, but in this case, it was the last thing he wanted. Granted, it was one less enemy to fight, but it meant that now Lithia was sole control of the power that she could now bend to her every whim. Ike growled and wanted to go after her, but if he didn't take care of the fallen smashers, he might as well be dead. He nodded to the others and they formed up along wit him. Tobey got back to his feet and tossed Snake a loaded M16. He himself drew his own favored shotgun and slid the new shells in. Ike regarded him as he slid the last shell in and chambered the round. "Nice to have you back in the land of the living. How the hell did you get here?"
Tobey chuckled and aimed his shotgun down the range at the charging attackers. "I know what little you guys could accomplish without me. So when I reached the afterlife, I made my way to Valhalla and found the stranger. It's amazing how fast you can knock someone out with a piece of athletic sport equipment." Ike laughed and a few others did, in spite of the situation developing around them. The fallen smashers were getting close and Tobey began to fire off he shells in his gun. Fortunately they were rock salt, so all it was going to do was sting real bad. Nothing more than that, though he was tempted to use it.
Ike gestured back to the door where Lithia and the other giants retreated behind. It was the area to the Master and Crazy Hand's personal offices. Not surprisingly, it was locked and not by a normal tumbler lock. There was a complex firewall that was holding them back, and the only other person who was allowed to open it was Mario, who was on the other side of the wall. Ike asked as he was bashing Bowser aside if the door could be hacked. When Samus said that it could, Tobey gave a nod to Cherry. While she was a bartender, part-time harlot, and a fighter, she was also a Decker. She could ride the matrix and break through even the mighty firewalls.
Cherry ran over to the wall and pulled back a little data jack in the side of her skull. She pulled out her own keyboard and plugged it in though the port and she then picked the next one to connecting to the computer. Once she did, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her fingers began to fly across the keyboard. Keeping concentration was mandatory, if she was interrupted, the shock could kill her from disconnection. As such, Snake and Samus protected her as Cherry Bomb rode the matrix.
The smashers held their own against their fallen brethren, and did quite a fine job about doing so. Samus managed to get her power armor back on and with the help of her blaster, those who tried to get close to Cherry Bomb were finished easily. Leman and Ganondorf were comparing their attacks against each other, constantly yelling out their score as hounds and smashers fell under blade and magic. Ike, Marth, Link and Tobey took on the bulk of the smashers, their anger of being pent up in the days past were spilling over. Zelda, Sheik and Ulfric fought next to them, Zelda's magic and Ulfirc's words of power were capable of countering Lucario, easily the most powerful of the fallen.
"How much longer do we need to keep this up for?" Sigmund asked to Snake as he was bashing a fat bastard known as Wario into the earth before having Ralof pummel his skull in with the war hammer in his hands. Though Sigmund was regretting that he was holding back from killing, he applied himself with all the dedication as if he was wadding through an elven horde.
Snake looked at the computer and responded. "Not long, fifteen more minutes." Snake couldn't see it, but there was a look on Sigmund's face that looked a lot like that of disappointment. Eventually the Smashers were routing the fallen, though it was more or les to regroup then actually to retreat. They needed to finish this here and now. Peach, Alyssa and Thor were held back in the Master Hand's office. Once Cherry finished hacking the database, he disconnected and the sane talked about who was going to go in and who was going to stay behind. Almost immediately, Tobe volunteered to stay behind ad guard the entrance and Cherry along with the children were next. Samus said the same and, after a brief one-sided discussion, the others agreed to it.
Cherry pressed the unlock button and Ike, Link, Leman, Math, Ulfric, Sigmund, Solid Snake, Ganondorf, and Ralof moved through the doors. The scent of burning incense hit their nostrils as the doors closed behind them. They moved forward and saw the giants Surtur and Thrym, along with Hel, Fenris, Jormungard and Lithia. The latter was dressed in pitch black armor with wisps of corrupting energy. "You little bastards! After many years of planning, preparing and execution, you foil the primary plan in a matter of less than a week." Lithia accused them, her face was laced with primal hatred.
Link shrugged off hand. "Your fault for underestimating us. Now surrender or each of you will die today."
Hel laughed, which sounded like a wet gurgle then an actual laugh. "And who are you to command us around. We may not have he heard of the element, but we have the soul of a dragon and much blood and hearts of a god hero."
It was now Sigmund's turn to laugh. "You are mistaken. I am the one who bears the soul of a dragon. There is no way to possess the soul of a dragon unless you have one or…" his voice trialed off as he began to piece two and two together. His eyes when wide as he looked to Alyssa, who Surtur had a fiery knife aimed at her stomach.
"A person born with the soul of a dragon. But in this case, and unborn would do just as well." Thrym bellowed with laughter and Sigmund howled in rage, charging the Frost Lord. Ralof was not far behind him, echoing his friends call to battle. In a matter of moment, all chaos erupted. The victor would write the future, and each side was ready to offer no quarter. Ike and Zelda would settle a personal score with Lithia, while Leman would free his father and battle the World Serpent. While Snake and Marth would liberate peach from her bindings, Sheik, Ulfric and Ganondorf would descend upon Surtur with weapons ready to be sated with blood. And Link, calling upon his own soul of a wolf, would fight Fenris.
Before all chaos erupted, Solid Snake laughed quietly to him. "It's show time!"