Vlad Masters prided himself as a patient and committed man. After all, he had waited for over twenty years to win over the love-of-his-life, Madeline 'Maddie' Fenton, destroy her babbling, useless husband, Jack, and – more recently – allow their son to constantly thwart his plans in stealing said mother and murdering said father.
Looking around the alien planet, Vlad smirked. His patience truly had paid off this time. After surveying the Fenton family – and their oh-so-friendly addition, Tony Stark – for a four days straight (thanks to his hidden cameras) after the discovery of the fat idiot's invention, the Ecto-Extractor, Vlad was finally ready to put his plan into action.
Gaining access to the Asgardian portal was simple enough. Jane Foster's assistant had been easily dealt with (most young minds – with the exception of the Fenton's second-born – were easy to manipulate), along with her superior, Erik Selvig. Overshadowing the man had been a simple process, Vlad discovered after generous research, since the man's mind had already been influenced before by the Norse god, Loki, who was responsible for an inter-galactic terrorist attack in New York City over half a year ago.
Stepping onto the rainbow path, Vlad allowed the dark energy rings to travel over him, transforming him into his alter-ego, Plasmius. Allowing the feeling of weightlessness overtake him, he felt himself lift a few inches off the ground with a grin. Everything was falling into place exactly as planned.
The sharp scraping of metal made him grit his teeth. Turning, a glowing pink hand already raised, his pupil-less eyes clashed with yellow; a dark-skinned man stood there in elaborate golden armour, brandishing a sword at him.
"As Gatekeeper and Omniscient of Asgard, I shall say you are not welcome here," The Asgardian spoke in a level voice.
Vlad narrowed his reddened sclera, "Oh, and what are you going to do to stop me?"
The god held his ground, "I have seen to letting the first Draugur through, for he is worthy. You are not. Go back to Helheim where you belong, death-creature, or face the wrath of Asgard."
Vlad threw back his head, laughing, "I'd like to see you try!" Licking his sharpened teeth, Vlad lunged at the guardian.
/ / /
Danny felt like he was suffocating; his eyes snapping open to a thick shroud of blackness. Gasping loudly, his breath short, Danny looked around the dark wildly before something stabbed him in his calf.
"Ow!" Danny muttered, his wild thrashing coming to a stand-still as he forced himself to take slow and shallow breaths (much like he'd practised in the NASA emergency simulation package last year). Carefully, Danny raised his hands up to his sides, ignoring the pain of whatever appeared to be digging into his leg.
Holding his hands in front of him, he flattened his palms against the jagged surface. Taking a deep, restricted breath, Danny attempted to phase through whatever was pinning him down, only to find himself in his human form and too drained to transform back into his ghostly counterpart. Forcibly slowing down his breath again, Danny tried to make himself comfortable, shoving his leg as far away as possible from whatever was attempting to amputate it.
Twisting slightly on his side, Danny struggled to recall what happened. The last thing he remembered was seeing white bolts of lightning headed straight toward him. That – alongside the memories of the many painful hits the blond Viking had given him – made Danny realise how much his body hurt. His back and ribs were the most tender after the slam he had taken to his spine. He was going to be black and blue for days.
Letting his body fall lax, Danny heaved a sigh, shifting slightly to try once again to become comfortable in the wreckage.
Feeling the sharp poke in his leg again, the halfa shuffled his head to the side to peer down in hopes of moving whatever was digging into him. His eyes widened in surprise. Jabbing into his calf sharply was the glowing blue cube half-buried in loose rubble.
Sliding his hands back down to his side, Danny began to twist and drag himself down far enough in the narrow cavern to grip the cube, shoving away loose debris to gain a better hold on it.
Tugging it out, he clasped it to his chest, berating himself for his hasty move. At any moment, the structure could come crashing down on him; either suffocating or crushing him. He didn't want to experience either.
As Danny grasped the cube, he felt warmth seep through him as it gave a cheerful trill, creating the illusion that the pain was ebbing away.
Danny jolted out of his stupor. He actually was beginning to feel the pain recede. An almost inconspicuous glow was consuming him, running across his body, which absorbed it as the cube lent him more and more strength. It was healing him.
Closing his eyes, Danny felt the energy from the cube begin to retreat back inside itself, and, drawing a deep breath through his nose, watched as the familiar white rings consumed him. The half-ghost grinned.
Still holding the cube, Danny let his powers of intangibility crawl over him, before slipping through the debris, ready for a rematch.
/ / /
Tony had a headache, a really bad headache. It felt like his head had been split in two – mainly because it had.
"Ah! Easy on the face!" Tony shoved at the medic who was swabbing at his temple.
A voice carried across the room, "You deserve all that you got, Stark, risking the lives of everyone here. Don't you ever think?"
Tony rolled his eyes at Steve, who was sitting with his torso bandaged on a medical-bay, "Oh, please. Don't try to guilt trip me. It was either bring the fight to Earth or here anyway. I just thought Asgard would be safer playing-grounds. You know, with all the extra security. Besides, you're barely hurt. You and Jane were both tucked up all cosily under your little make-shift cave during the rock slide."
"Who was that boy, Tony? What did you do to make him so mad?" Jane crossed her arms in front of her, leaning on a wall nearby.
"You mean Dan-Dan? Well…" Tony considered his words with a shrug, "I may have taken something of his that he wasn't too happy about."
Thor spoke up, sitting down on top of a marble bench, "What possession did you take? Draugar may be fearful and dark creatures, but very few attack without reason."
"I might have borrowed the plans to the portal without permission and altered them to come here instead of the Ghost Zone or wherever," Tony rushed out.
"'Ghost Zone'? You mean you didn't create the portal?" Jane glared.
Tony touched his stitches tentatively. They still really hurt, "No, I didn't. And now Danny – the so-called Draugur – is kind of mad at me."
"You led an enraged Draugur into Asgard knowing the full consequences of your actions?" Thor slammed a heavy fist against the bench. The medics hurriedly left the room in fear of his wrath.
"Again, I wouldn't worry about Dan-Dan. He's really nice once you get to know him. A bit grouchy though whenever I visit for some reason..."
"If my ribs weren't still in pain from being thrown by that thing…" Steve let the threat linger.
A harried knocking echoed throughout the room before a guard swiftly pulled open the door. Facing Thor, the guard cried out, "My lord, the Draugur has escaped!"
Thor stood, pacing backwards and forwards before coming to a stop in front of the guard, "Get me Sif and the Warriors Three. I want the best protection possible for the humans, no matter how little they deserve it," Thor slanted a glare at Tony, who stared innocently back with a grin.
/ / /
Loki stood immobile in his cold cell under the city of Asgard. The thick clamps chaining his hands were covered in hoarfrost, his breath clouding his vision. The room was almost impenetrable with its thick walls of ice and snow, even for the god. A single metal door stood on the far wall, frosted shut.
The guards outside had left a short time ago after a muffled call of an invasion. Loki would have taken this chance to escape if it was not for the bonds on his wrists sealing his powers.
Distorted silhouettes ran past his ice cage up towards the main castle, calling out about a demon, before leaving Loki alone once again. His eyes continued to watch where the guards had disappeared. Half a year of isolation had left Loki craving for some sort of interaction. Asgardian or even Midgardian.
Sighing deeply – his sight becoming white with his breath – Loki let his head drop to his chest, submerging himself into the depths of his mind in regret and revenge. His thoughts were abruptly cut short as a high pitched sound came from the wall with the door. Jolting his head up, the godly prisoner saw a shadow on the other side of the ice, the glowing outline of a hand held out in front of it.
The ice began to quickly melt in response, the shadow becoming clearer until all that was left was a growing puddle of water and a large metal doorframe holding itself upright.
Loki stared at his saviour. With blue skin and glowing red eyes, Loki reflexively edged away from the Draugur with the vampiric grin.
The Draugur raised its hands in a carefree gesture – one of its palms still smoking, "Relax. I am not here to harm you, Loki of Jotunheim. Merely here with a proposition. In exchange; your freedom," raising a newly glowing fist at the god's clamped hands, the Draugur let off a quick burst of pink energy, shattering Loki's bonds.
Loki lifted his head to stare straight-on at the Draugur, a thin smile playing at his lips, "I'm listening."