Chapter 24

While she couldn't see anything but white nothing, Darcy could feel Malekith's hands gripping around her throat, attempting to strangle the life out of her. She tried batting him away with her hammer, but for some reason she had no feeling in any part of her body except that which Malekith was assaulting. Then, not a moment later, her surroundings changed, and she immediately recognized it as the hills of Svartalfheim.

Having been teleported several meters away from the ground, the pair fell and crashed hard into a hillside, and rolled down locked in a vicious deathlock. A series of crashes were heard, and Darcy blinked, seeing various cars from the Old Royal Naval College had been transported here as well, and we rolling down the same hill.

Eyes growing wide, Darcy quickly pushed herself away from Malekith, who was subsequently crushed underneath the bulk of a large mini-van. The van rolled off of Malekith, who was momentarily lodged in the sandy hills before pulling himself out. Only for a blue ford to pile into him, sending him careening down the hill. From the hill, Darcy watched as the van, Malekith with it, rolled down the rest of the hillside before going into an abyss. Instead of falling, both were consumed in a ripple of distortion and vanished.

Suddenly, Darcy heard a noise behind her and turned around, eyes going wide at the sight of a black station wagon barreling towards her.

"Oh, crap..."

The car struck Darcy with great force both fell the same way Malekith did, through time and space and cross dimensions. For a wild moment, Darcy felt as though she were on some sort of bizarre roller coaster, as everything was moving fast and the scenery around her was changed. For a few seconds, she found herself back in London, in some sort of park to be precise, falling through the sky and towards the street below. Shielding her eyes from the impact, Darcy expected to land hard on the concrete, only to vanish from sight yet again, while the cars that had fallen through with her impacted with the concrete.

Yelping, Darcy finally landed on a surface, though it was not hard concrete as she expected. Instead it was the dark soil of Svartalfheim. Again.

Quickly getting to her feet, Darcy looked around for any sign of her opponent, or a way off this desolate world, when she was suddenly struck by a blue ford that sent her flying. She landed on her back with a groan, while the ford rolled away before crashing into another hill. Rubbing her head, Darcy gagged when a pale hand grabbed her around the throat and lifted her up. Staring into Malekith's glowing blue eyes, Darcy grunted, her armor plating denting when Malekith drove his fist into her stomach. With a yell, Malekith tossed Darcy over his shoulder, sending her crashing into the ground yet again.

Outstretching his hands, Malekith's arms crackled with a red electricity, no doubt a mixture of the Aether energy and the power gained from Nazara. Eyes widening, Darcy quickly reached out for Mjolnir, which she had dropped when the car had slammed into her. Flying into her grip just as Malekith fired his blast of red electricity, Darcy brought Mjolnir up to her, blocking the lightning and absorbing it into Mjolnir.

Stopping his attack, Malekith stared wide-eyed as Darcy stood up, staring at her hammer in awe, as it was pulsating with red electricity instead of normal blue. Smirking, she let out a grunt as she pushed Mjolnir forward, and a large blast of red lighting shot out, striking Malekith square in the chest. The Dark Elf flew back and crashed ten meters away, and grunted as Darcy flew at him and landed on him, driving her feet into his stomach and knocking all of the air out of him. Clenching his fists and his teeth, Malekith gave a yell as a pulse of red Aether energy forced Darcy away from him. Both combatants got to their feet, staring each other down.

"You're getting on my nerves." Malekith growled.

"I have a knack for that." Darcy said, smirking.

"Not anymore."

Darcy quickly lifted Mjolnir up again, and it glowed, a field of electricity surrounding her. The blast of Aether energy that was thrown at her impacted with the field, pushing Darcy back a few inches. Wisps of red moved through the barrier for a few moments before fading, and Darcy dropped it, glaring at the Dark Elf.

"Here," she said, spinning Mjolnir around. "Catch!"

Malekith watched tensely as Mjolnir flew towards him, on a collision coarse with his chest, a collision that could potentially shatter his ribcage...

only for it to vanish in a dimensional ripple.

ooooo

"Attention passengers, we will be making our final descent into London. Please fasten all seatbelts and turn off all electrical devices. We shall be landing momentarily."

On an airplane en route to London, a little boy playing with a Hulk and Thordis action figure smiled, making booming noises as he made the two toys fight. Seeing that his activities were disturbing an old man they were seated next to, the boy's mother shushed him gently.

Pouting, the boy put the toys down and stared out the window, when he noticed something that made his eyes go wide.

While it was moving extraordinarily fast, the boy could clearly see a hammer, one very similar to the one his Thordis action figure was holding, zooming past the plane and high up into the sky. The boy quickly turned to his mother.

"Mommy?"

"Not now, Timmy." The woman shushed, reading a book.

Looking back at the window, the boy saw no sign of the hammer.

ooooo

Malekith stared blankly at where Mjolnir disappeared, and slowly looked up to glare at the Asgardian-empowered mortal. Darcy just gaped at what just happened.

She gave a sheepish smile, laughing nervously. "So, uh... Is it to late for us to be friends?"

Her response was a blast of red Aether energy to the chest, which sent her flying backwards and landing face first into the ground. Getting up with a groan, Darcy's face was covered in dirt and bruises, and she watched wide eyed as Malekith stalked towards her, his body shrouded in a red glow. Grabbing her by the hair, eliciting a hiss from the girl, he brought his other fist up and slammed it right into her noggin. As he head collided with the dirt, though, there was a ripple of air and both fell through the ground and out of sight.

The two found themselves falling yet again, and when the white light vanished, they found that they were back on Earth... precisely three-hundred meters off ground. Screaming, the two fell for a few moments before landing face first on the glass dome of a large office building. Four people that were chatting inside jumped in surprise and looked up to see Thordis and Malekith sliding along the glass dome, clambering to stop their falls. When both fell over the edge, Darcy gripped a railing, and Malekith held onto her cape. Looking down at the Dark Elf, Darcy glared and started kicking at the maniac's face. As she was doing this, she looked up to see the four people looking at her in confusion. She gave them a wry smile, lifting her hand up to wave, but this resulted in her losing her grip, and she and Malekith fell.

Darcy's eyes widened when she saw the streets below closing in fast, and desperately reached her hand out for Mjolnir. She could glimpse her hammer flying in fast, and smiled as it drew nearer, but before it could, she and Malekith disappeared. Again.

With its bearer out of sight, Mjolnir swerved around briefly before flying back into the air.

ooooo

"Alright, Surtur. We got you your big fancy candle. Now, where's our payment?"

In the fiery realm of Muspelheim, a large, demonic figure sat upon a large throne. He had large, curved horns, an ancient looking face, and was clad in black and red armor similar to Asgardian armor but with various differences. Before him were two very strange individuals both different in appearance. The one who spoke was a small, rodent-like creature clad in an orange jumpsuit, with a grenade launcher of some kind strapped to his back. His companion, on the other hand, was a large creature whose body closely resembled a tree.

The rodent alien was holding what looked like a goblet with a small pillar of fire burning from it.

Surtur, king of the Infernir and lord of Muspelheim, grinned maliciously at the sight of the goblet.

"At long last." He said. "You have done us a great favor, mercenaries. With the Eternal Flame back in our midst, the Nine Realms will bear no chance against us!"

"Yeah, yeah." The rodent creature said. "Just take the damn thing. It's creeping me out."

"But of course." Surtur said, nodding. "After all, you do deserve-"

Surtur was interrupted when out of nowhere, a blonde woman appeared in midair and landed right on top of the rodent alien, crushing the poor creature beneath her armored form. The rodent groaned in pain as the woman picked herself up.

Looking around, she blinked at her surroundings. "Aw, crap. Am I in hell?"

She then looked up, seeing the red fire demon staring at her with a mixture of shock and horror. She blinked and gave a nervous smile. "Oh! Hello there. What's..."

Following his gaze down to her feet, she saw the Eternal Flame had been crushed beneath her, smashed to pieces with the flame dying out with it. But that wasn't what Darcy's attention was aimed towards.

"Oh my god!" She said, kneeling down to the small rodent alien. "I killed a raccoon! Shit, shit, shit..."

Petting the small creature, she jumped when it gave a groan, and she sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god. Haha. That would have been-What the...?"

Darcy had stood up during her rant, and the moment she did she was face to face with the rodent creature's companion. The tree like creature cocked its head curiously at her.

Clearing her throat, Darcy waved at it. "Um... hello."

"I am Groot."

Darcy stared at the creature. "Er, nice to meet you? I'm Darcy. Hey you wouldn't by any chance have seen a flying hammer around here, would you?"

"I am Groot."

"Yes, I caught that before. So have you seen my hammer?"

"I am Groot."

"Riiiight." Darcy said, frowning. "Look, I'm really busy, if you could just-LOOK OUT!"

Darcy shoved the tree beast out of the way, and was body slammed by Malekith, who had appeared behind the tree monster and, upon seeing Darcy, rushed at her. The two stumbled backwards, and vanished into thin air.

Surtur and the tree monster stared at where they had disappeared to in utter confusion. Hearing a groan, they both looked to see the raccoon alien getting up, rubbing his head.

"What the hell hit me?"

"I am Groot."

"What?" The raccoon said looking at his companion, then his gaze fell down to the broken mess that was once the Eternal Flame. "Oh..."

Looking up at Surtur. "So uh... are we still gettin' paid?"

ooooo

Back in London, Loki and Sif fought side by side, cutting down various Dark Elves that rushed at them with machete-like weapons, daggers, and particle blasters. Sif decapitated one that had tried to sneak up on her, while Loki tossed his dagger into one's throat, before pulling it out of the dead corpse.

Loki smirked at Sif. "Just like old times, eh Sif?"

"Now's really not the time." Sif growled.

Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, and the two Asgardians turned to see a red beam of energy coming towards them. Her eyes widening, Sif shoved Loki out of the way and lifted up her shield. She screamed in slight pain as the force of the impact forced her back, scorching her armor and skin. Looking up, Loki watched her fly away before vanishing in a dimensional rift.

Cursing, Loki looked at the source of the blast, seeing Nazara closing in. "Oh, brilliant..."

Nazara gave an electronic wail, firing another blast, but before it could hit Loki, there was a blinding flash of red, and the blast instead hit the ground. Looking around, Nazara's gaze settled nearby, where Hikesh was holding Loki by the shoulder.

The prince of lies sneered and pushed the Prothean away. "Get off me!"

"You're welcome." Hikesh growled back. There was another red glow, and the two looked up to see Nazara advancing, its beam charging. "That's not good."

With a thrust of his arm, Hikesh fired a red Aether blast that caused the Reaper to stumble back, and he and Loki ran for it.

Watching them flee, Nazara gave an indignant roar.

ooooo

On Vanaheim, Hogun was in a small hut, finally relaxing after helping the local Vanir rebuild. As he took a swig of Asgardian ale, there was a suddenly flash of light before a figure crashed onto a small table in the middle of the hut, breaking it to pieces.

"Odin's beard!" Hogun yelled, grabbing for his spiked mace and getting into a battle stance. Then he saw what had fallen into his midst. "Sif?"

Shaking her head, Sif looked up at her companion. "Hogun?"

"What are you-"

Hogun was cut off when two other figures appeared in his hut. The two Dark Elves spotted Sif and immediately lunged at her. Glaring, Sif kicked one away and drew her sword out, causing the second Elf to fall right on the blade, impaling it. The other got up and took out its particle blaster, aiming it at her, but Hogun lunged at it and drove his mace right into its skull. Bashing it a few times, he was positive it was dead.

Sif gave her friend a smile. "Thank you, Hogun."

"Don't mention it." Hogun said, returning the smile. "Now, what is going on here? And what are these creatures?"

"It's a long story, Hogun. You see-" Sif was cut off when she heard the sound of another portal opening. As soon as she turned around, she was struck in the stomach by a flying hammer. Hogun ducked quickly, watching as Mjolnir, along with Sif, barreled out of his hut and into the sky, flying up towards one of the enormous portals that had opened up.

ooooo

Darcy and Malekith were falling. Again. It was feeling Darcy was getting quite tired of by this point.

When the two landed, this time it was on a cliff made entirely of ice. The two got up, facing each other, before looking around at their surroundings. Jotunheim was always entombed in an eternal winter. And even with her Asgardian mystic enhancements, Darcy felt like she was about to freeze to death in this cold.

The to froze, not because of the cold, but because of a low, animalistic growl from nearby. Turning abruptly, the two nearly screamed in terror when a large, bulldog-like creature, blue skinned and red eyes, came stampeding through the ice. Darcy immediately grabbed Malekith by the shoulders, smiling at him.

"Here, he probably just wants to play fetch!"

"Wha-NO!" Malekith yelled as Darcy tossed him in the direction of the beast, and Darcy subsequently ran in the opposite direction. Malekith screamed as he flew towards the Jotunheim beast, which jumped up and caught the Dark Elf leader. With its teeth.

However, when it landed back on the ground, it quaked from the impact. Darcy stumbled and saw that the ground started crack.

"Oh, come on!"

The ice cliff then broke off, and Darcy, Malekith, and the Jotunheim beast fell into an abyss, vanishing in yet another dimensional rift.

ooooo

Agent May ran with Fitz and Simmons following her. She almost drew her gun when a figure landed beside her, but she relaxed when she saw it was only Soladat.

"What happened?" May asked.

"Well..."

She was answered when a series of particle blasts shot by them, exploding against the concrete and vehicles. Simmons shielded her head, screaming. Soladat and May grabbed the two scientists and ducked behind one of the cars. They all flinched when they felt the blasts explode against it.

"Now what?" May asked.

Before Soladat could answer, something appeared in front of them, seemingly out of nowhere. The four stared wide eyed at the large blue Jotunheim beast. The creature's red eyes stared at them, its sudden teleportation taking it by surprise. It only took a few moments for it to regain its senses, and growled, looking ready to pounce.

"Run!" May yelled, and she, Soladat, and Fitzsimmons immediately jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the beast as it barreled towards them, knocking back the car. One of the Dark Elves recoiled in shock when they saw the beast approaching, and immediately turned to run.

The four watched as the beast chased the Dark Elf down, the two dissapearing behind a building. They were all breathing heavily.

"Well, that was incredibly convenient." Simmons said heartily.

"No shit." Soladat said, letting of a laugh.

All of the sudden, another Dark Elf appeared, punching May away and sending her sliding down a wall. Soladat quickly drew for her gun, but the Dark Elf grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. Gagging, Soladat dropped her gun and grabbed the arm that was holding her, trying to pry it loose. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the Dark Elf unsheathing his sword.

Fitz and Simmons started to panic. On the ground nearby, May shook her throbbing head, and as her vision returned, she saw that one of the cars parked was levitating of the ground. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and looked up to see her team leader and friend being strangled by the enemy. Glaring, she looked back at the car for a moment, and smirked.

The Dark Elf was just about ready to stab Archangel, but was batted away by a car. Soladat was dropped to the ground, and she got up with little effort, rubbing her throat as she watched the Dark Elf try to scamper away from May, who was actually holding a car up over her head as though it were as light as a feather.

With a yell, May brought the car down, crushing the Dark Elf. Wiping her hands, May smirked at the mess. She turned back to her three teammates.

Soladat gave her a grateful smile. "Leave it to the Cavalry to save the day."

May's face turned serious. "Soladat..."

"Right, right, sorry." Soladat laughed.

May was about to retort, when there was a shimmer of light before her, and Soladat, Fitz, and Simmons all vanished. May blinked and ran over to where they were standing, looking around. She froze when she felt heavy footsteps behind her, and turned slowly to see the Jotunheim beast with the mangled, chewed up body of a Dark Elf hanging out of his mouth.

And that is the second part of the Battle of Greenwich. Everyone is just all of the place, huh. As for the Guardians of the Galaxy reference, I couldn't resist. With the movie coming up I just thought it necessary to put in some kind of foreshadowing to it all. In this case, Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and sorry about the long wait.