(Lya, Evie, Alex - Monday Evening)

"Is it just me, or does it feel like we're really on the brink of Ragnarok?" Alex asked. "I mean, we know Loki, or Lyman, or Roget, or whatever name he's using this week has been working towards this for decades, but I was schlepping some stuff over from my office and it didn't feel normal at all."

"I grok," Arky says. "There's a part of me, the human side, I guess, that doesn't want to think about it ... and then, the divine part of me is all, '... but it is not THIS day!'"

Lya had pitched her ideas for the renovation of the Westview, as well as a few pre-emptive shots at their opponents, then - at Amelie Pelletier's insistence - suffered through a dinner with the rest of the board.

"Power calls to power," breathes Evie. "We're feeling it because of our divine blood, just as we all have callings that seem stronger than those of our colleagues. A divine spark, a need to see justice done, whatever. And maybe our trip to Asgard got something rolling, as well."

"Oh, yeah. I did the pilgrimage thing a few years back, the backpack and hostel route," Arky said. "Went on a tour of Delphi. I didn't really know what to expect, and then, boom - had some really trippy dreams, and when I woke the next morning, I had to climb Olympus. Had to. I think being on sacred ground energizes you somehow."

Evie smiles wistfully and nods, "I want to go back to the Bifrost, at some point. I really liked it there. It was quiet and I could see everywhere. Granted, I didn't always like what I saw but...it felt right."

"Oh, Alex," Evie reaches out to tap her cousin on the arm. "We're going to have a little ghostly help, tomorrow. It turns out that back in the 50's, Loki (or Fenris) had two boys abducted and killed - Justin Holliwell and Jacob Warner. Removing them made way for the later Holliwell and Warner to come in to fill that 'hole' in Vegas, tying them here. "

"Anyway, Justin and Jacob's ghosts are tied to the club since they are buried under it. They have agreed to help us keep an eye on things tomorrow, give us warning when anything weird is going down that we might not immediately see."

She leans back in her seat and nibbles on a biscuit to tide her over until Saul can get away from work, "Speaking of weird...there are two einjehar who are posing as busboys in the dining room. They're there to stop Warner from escaping through the back-up route - through the dining room and out the kitchen - should the sniper attack fail. But, they are not like anything I've seen before. They're all...wavery. They've got this black, blurry aura. I have no idea what it means."

Alex considers for a moment. "Well, the first time we saw an Einjehar was when Hitoshi took one apart. I can't say I noticed if he was blurry or not. Maybe it's connected to our being able to see ghosts."

"Wow. Kill two kids in the 1950's to set up events decades later? That's twisted," Arky says. "But then, we are talking Loki, right?"

"Oh, by the way, I called. I have two tickets for tomorrow's shindig," Alex said. "So I can bring someone in if I need to."

"They're good kids, too," Evie replies to Arky. "I'm hoping that, if we are able to end this, tomorrow, that will set them free. If not, maybe Alex can help them."

"Good," she turns to Alex. "We're going to need all the help we can get. As it stands, I'm probably going to be the closest to the president when he's giving his speech, since I'm on security. Which means I'm going to try to cover him when the sniper attack comes."

"I walked the perimeter of the grounds and found a couple of prime spots for Mr. Nazipants to set up," she reaches into her pocket and pulls out the blueprint of the club, which she never returned. Evie starts building the outside layout around the blueprint, using sugar packets and forks to represent things she needs. "Okay, so...the treeline is going to be here...and the podium here...uh...not perfect, but it'll have to do. Anyway, here and hereare the two spots where he's mostly likely to be."

"I hate to sound patronizing and all manly-man, Evie, but you are not catching a bullet," Alex says. "Especially one from a sniper rifle. Krieger will wait for that split second that you're not bloc- whoa, now, there's an idea. Hang on, let me sort this out ..."

Alex mumbles to himself for several minutes.

"We have an edge. Lya, Arky, Rikke - they're all seers. You and I, Evie, have drunk from Mimir's Well," Alex explains. "We've either seen the moment, or we can. It's part of that 'it feels real' thing I was talking about. You can't necessarily predict every spin of a roulette wheel, but the moment that kicks off Ragnarok? You have to be able to see that."

Evie snorts good-naturedly at Alex's manly-man comment, "I'd rather not catch a bullet, either. As far as I know, I don't heal. In the words of Daffy Duck, pain hurts me. But, I'll do what I have to do..."

"I'm not sure that I follow," Evie says. "So, you think that as we get closer to the moment, that we'll have...I don't know...a vision...of what will happen? Flash-fowards?"

"I'm saying we might already know," Alex says. "We're not playing at being dial-a-psychic. Lya and Arky and Rikke all have a gift of prophecy, as real as the gods. If not, it's one of those moments where you do something without knowing why, precisely, but it happens to be the right thing at exactly the right moment."

"Then we set up our plans and when it happens, we'll be where we need to be, regardless," Evie nods. "Follow your gut."

"Welp, no matter what, this is all the information that I have," she gestures to the condiment bedazzled blueprint. "Other than knowing we have a sniper in the wings, two einjehar in the dining room and two helpful ghosts...the place was clean as a whistle."

"The schedule tomorrow is 6AM press, 8AM muster. Staff arrives at 9AM, doors open at 10:30. Warner arrives by chopper at 11:30, lunch, closing remarks and then everything's done."

"I plan on showing up early, between 6 and 8. I know I don't technically need to be there that early, but I want to keep an eye on things," she says.

"Now there you go talking about that predestination stuff again," Lya mutters around a bite of bread before grabbing her drink and taking a sip.

She sets the drink on the table and leans back in her chair. "If we're all believing that 'whatever happens is what's supposed to happen' then there's no point in us planning any of this. We might as well just go our separate ways and show up at the country club... right?"

"Look..." she sits forward and gestures at the blueprints. "We know that the assassination attempt of the President is going to happen at the Country Club because that's where it always happens." She stabs at the table with her finger. "Other than that, though... we have no idea what else is going to result from this other than maybe Alex and Fenris going mano e mano and Fenris getting the short end of the stick. It's up to us to take the future into our own hands and make it happen the way we decide it to happen."

Klepto claps a hand on Lya's shoulder as she sits back in her chair. "Those suits got you all tense, didn't they?"

Lya sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "You have no idea. I don't like having to play the manipulation game... makes me feel like I need a shower to get all the smarminess off of me."

She reaches into her inner suit pocket and pulls out an e-cig that she starts puffing on as she ponders Evie's layout of the country club. "Anyway... I've got tickets to the shindig already, so I am thinking that I could bring Arky with me considering he's now part of the board and all." She winks at her cousin.

"Where do we come in?" asks Toxic.

"I figure if we wait until the action happens, you guys can be brought in via summoning all equipped and ready to go," Lya replies.

"Nice... no need to worry about weapon searches from security that way."

"Yeah... just don't go getting yourselves shot by the secret service because they think you're one of the bad guys," Lya warns.

"I don't think what Alex is suggesting is fate and predestination and whatnot," Evie counters. "I think it's more like, we'll sense when shit's about to hit the fan and move into place to counter it without thinking."

She furrows her brow for a bit as she tries to decide a better way to explain, "I think it's sort of like martial arts. You do it enough and you have the muscle memory of how a kata should feel and what it counters. You stop thinking about it, after a while. When it comes time to use it, you just do. It's not because you are destined to do that particular move...it's just that it's so ingrained that you do without thought."

"Since we drank from the Well, it's sort of like we have a muscle memory of the coming Ragnarok. We can still change it or stop it altogether...or, we could lose horribly...but we'll feel when it's near."

"Does that make sense?"

"Yeah I get it," Lya replies as she leans her head back and puffs a cloud of clove smelling for into the air. "I just don't like everyone calling it Ragnarok is all. This isn't Ragnarok, because Ragnarok is a scenario made-up by an old man blinded by his own preconceived notions about how the world works."

She grabs her drink and takes a swig. "This is a bunch of assholes too big for their britches trying to bring about the end of the world because they'd rather be rulers of a pile of rubble than serve in this one." She sets her glass down rather harshly on the table. "Giving it a pretty name doesn't change that."

"Fair enough. I call it Ragnarok because I don't really have any other names for it," Alex says. "End-of-the-world-palooza? Apocalypsestock? Burning Everything? That we've come this far suggests there are forces even the gods don't fully understand. Maybe the universe itself has a say in things."

"I know some of my old Army buddies would laugh. They believe in what they can see, and what they can hit. I think we need to kick that up a notch. We're not trying to stop this, we're going to stop this. If the moment is that critical, either outcome is going to shake the pillars of Heaven and Earth."

"Here's to the Army and the Navy, and the battles they have won*," quipped Arky. "Saw the movie. So, a good night's sleep, or whatever it is you do before a fight, and in it to win it bright and early?"

" I dub it, The Endening," Evie grins. "It's like the Happening, only with fewer upset trees and more Nordic badassery."

It's at this point that Evie's phone rings. She glances at the phone and says, "Excuse me for a minute."

"Hey, so...what's up?" she stands and moves away so as not to disturb the others while they continue to chat. "Yeah, I'd definitely still like dinner, but I know it's getting late. Totally understandable if you want a rain check."

She listens for a second and seems to think, "Well, you know, you could swing by home, grab a fresh uniform and pick up some Thai on the way over. Then, just stay with me. Hell, we're going to the same place, tomorrow. May as well. We're both going to be beat by the time we eat and watch a movie. No sense in you driving home."

There is another pause and then Evie laughs, "Because, contrary to popular belief we're both adults. Dork!"

"Uh-huh. Okay. See you in a bit, then," she chuckles and closes the phone, coming back to sit with the crew.

"Okay, so...yeah. Sleep and The Endening. Anything that we need to plan?" Evie makes a small "oh" and turns to Lya, "When do you want me to take your gun? Want to keep it on you, tonight, and I'll wake you up in the morning to get it?"

Lya snorts. "I like to call it 'Fenris' Follies' myself. As to what we like to do before a fight..."

Orithia chuckles as Toxic mutters under her breath "Here we go again..."

"You all know where my room is." She winks at Arky.

"I'm thinking it might be easier if Klepto carries it in for me when I summon them," Lya replies to Evie. "That way you don't have to deal with any questions for carrying a non-issue piece."

"Good idea," Evie chuckles. "You'd think that I would be used to the idea of summoning them, by now, but I always wind up forgetting."

"It's cause she can't live without us," Orithia chuckles.

"Wouldn't want me to miss you guys, would you?" Lya asks sweetly with a bat of her eyelashes.

"Can't miss us if we're never gone," Toxic replies as Lya throws a crumpled napkin at her head.

"I'm just glad that means I don't have to wear what passes as business wear to this thing," Klepto chuckles as she picks at the blouse and miniskirt she wore for the press conference. "When I conduct business, I prefer to be wearing at least leather armor."

"If we're able to bring our weapons," Phoebe adds thoughtfully, "Then I should bring my bow and focus my attentions on the sniper."

"He's got a longer range than you, Phoebe," Lya warns. "You better be careful."

"He is not the only one who knows how to hunt," Phoebe replies with a nod.

"Besides, I'm going to be with her," Orithia adds with a smile and a clap of Phoebe's shoulder. "You're going to need someone to watch your back."

"That leaves me and Toxic for the inside with those Jotunblut then," Klepto finishes.

"Don't care how big the giants get... they still fall when you take out their Achilles tendons," Toxic grunts before raising her empty glass to flag down a waiter for another beer.

"I'll handle crowd control and provide back-up to whoever needs it inside, which leaves Evie to focus on the President and Alex with Fenris. Sounds like a plan to me!" She claps her hands together and smiles. "Of course it's probably all going to go tits up 10 minutes in... but at least we've got a semblance of a plan, right?"

She grabs her keys off the table and her staff from the back of her chair before bowing to everyone with a flourish. "I bid you lords and ladies all a good night. See you all at breakfast!"

"It will have to do," Alex says. "Besides, staying up all night worrying about it won't change anything."

"Sounds like a plan, to me!" Evie smiles. "I'll see you at the fundraiser. I'll probably be gone before you even wake up, tomorrow."

With that, Evie also pushes herself back from the table, "I'm running out, real quick, to grab dessert and entertainment. I think I'm going to run by PegaSweets. Anyone want anything?"

PegaSweets is a bakery and confectionary shop just down the strip that serves some of the best cheesecake in Vegas, though it's only well known by the locals. It's a quirky, little place tucked back behind some larger buildings where it can easily be lost. However, anyone who does find it immediately knows they are in the right spot as they are greeted by the sight of a giant, blue Pegasus painted on the front.

"Cheesecake, for tomorrow we die?" Alex laughs. "Sounds good to me."

"Oooo damn... raspberry white chocolate cheesecake... you trying to turn me on, officer?" Lya jokes. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Damn straight!" Evie grins and replies to Alex. "If I die, I'm going out with a belly full of Dream Fudge Swirl Madness."

She snerks and waggles an eyebrow at Lya, not at all bothered by the playful tone, "Well, you are awful hawt in that business suit..."

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful," Lya chuckles as she strikes a pose and blows a kiss to everyone before waving good night.

(Hitoshi - Eve of Destruction)

A secret service agent approaches the table and says, very quietly, "Sir, there appears to be a problem."

At the same moment, Colonel North raises a hand to his earpiece.

"Wolfpack One, say again," he says. "Fuck. We're under attack. Serious attack. Our people have already lost the outer perimeter. Taking fire, small arms, archers, at least one sniiper. Mr. President, we need to get you to a place of safety."

Holliwell/Fenris waves dismissively. "And that would be where, Colonel? Paul, let's get the sat link set up. Colonel, move the Jotun onto the field. Ryder, stay here. I'll need you in a moment."

North excuses himself. The Secret Service agent, Paul, brings a briefcase to the table, opening it to reveal an encrypted satellite phone with audio and video capability.

Holliwell/Fenris keys in a numeric code. A screen with the Seal of the United States of America blinks ENCRYPTING for a few seconds, then SECURE.

"Yes, Mr. President?" answers an Air Force officer.

"Our position is under attack," Holliwell/Fenris says. "Initiate CASCADE."

"Confirming, the code word is CASCADE," repeats the officer. "Confirm identity by biometrics."

Holliwell/Fenris places his palm on a sensor plate. A bright line sweeps back and forth. "Identify. President Justin Arthur Holliwell."

"Identity confirmed, Mr. President, thank you. We need confirmation of the launch order," the officer directs.

"That's you, Ryder," Holliwell/Fenris says. "This is why we registered your palm and voiceprint after you won the election."

"What's CASCADE?" you stall, realizing you're being asked to confirm a launch order.

"A nasty little option that lives in a file cabinet in some triple-secured vault in the sub-sub-basement of the A-Ring," Holliwell/Fenris says. "It ... was brought to my attention shortly after The Break. The enclaves where the Maenads and the so-called gods have set up shop have all been identified by satellite and aerial reconnaissance, and appropriately targeted. We've shared this information with our allies and have a global time-on-target solution. We didn't start this fight, but we're going to end it."

"I know this is a lot to ask, Ryder. Hitoshi. But the future of mankind depends on what you do next."

The following events are concurrent with Hitoshi being asked to confirm the launch.

There's a crash and a loud whooomph from the lobby, a muted flash telling you the enemy(?) is using flash-bang grenades.

Flicker.

Suddenly, the day outside is brighter. The room is laid out for a formal event. You see Lya, her pistol in hand. A blonde woman sliding from Klepto's grasp. Alex rising from his seat - but in jacket and tie, not battle utilities. Evie in mid-sprint ...

Flicker.

"Waugh!" cries out one agent as an arrow plows into his chest. A second man goes down with an arrow in his thigh. Gunshots ring out, and other men fall. A line of grim-faced men and women enter the dining room from one side, even as Colonel North and others are drawing back from the kitchen entrance.

"Confirm the launch, Ryder!" barks Holliwell/Fenris.

Hitoshi steps back out of the line of fire. "No. I will not nuke this city or launch some sort of mass damage attack on American soil that will kill thousands of innocents."

He pulls the pistol that Alex had given him. "President Holliwell, you are clearly not of sound mind and body if you are ordering a nuclear or biological attack on American soil. As Secretary of Defense, I will be filing that with the government and push for impeachment should we all get out of this alive."

He steps across the battle lines. "No more innocents will die today for your little game Fenris."

"American soil?" Holliwell/Fenris sneers. "CASCADE is global, Hitoshi. Colonel, time to earn your keep. Jotun, to me!"

With that, Fenris flicks something through the air towards Colonel North. It looks like a keyring with a lump of metal. A piece of shrapnel from North's accident, so long ago? But there are no keys upon the short chain, which makes it something considerably more dangerous: a relic.

They've kept Alex under their control by withholding the very thing that unlocks his powers.

"Crystal Palace, this is Packmaster," Fenris says over the link. "Our position is compromised. Carry out your or-"

He cuts himself off by taking his own sidearm and shooting the hell out of the console. The soldiers are likely to carry out the last order received, which was the instruction to launch.

The soldiers who had been alongside North stride towards Holliwell/Fenris. One sees you and snarls, picking up speed as he rushes to protect his master. There's a disturbing gleam in their eyes, their pupils pinpoints. Commandos empowered through Jotunblut, Giant's Blood. They'll have superior strength and speed, as well as an ability to withstand damage that would drop a mortal cold.

"IIE!" shouts a woman.

There is a blur of motion as someone sprints from cover and arrives at your side with a somersault. She is carrying a sheathed katana in one hand, and a shorter length, possibly a wakisashi, in the other.

"Ohayo, Otosan," she smiles, holding the blade out to you. "You will need this, I think."

It is Honsho Masamune, whole and unbroken. Gone is the inky black sageo given to you by Izanami; it has been replaced by a bright red cord, woven with gold.

Hitoshi bows to the woman. "Domo Arigato." He takes Honjo Masamune, feeling different, like something had been locked away, and was now free.

He looks at Feris and the relic flying through the air. Pushing off he dashes across the distance at inhuman speed, snatching the relic out of midair.

"I don't think so."

He spins, Honjo Masamune whipping out in a flashing arc towards the soldier rushing at him, the keen blade neatly decapitating the man.

"Fenris, My friends will stop you from having my world. I will stop you from having this one. You can either fight honorably, or die like a coward, but Ragnarok will not happen this day."

You push off the ground, dashing towards the relic that Fenris had tossed.

Colonel North is also reaching up to catch the item, a tragic hunger in his eyes. As Honsho Masamune has brought a flood of power into your being, you can sympathize with this broken version of your friend. You cannot even begin to imagine the pain of knowing one has the blood of a god and being denied those gifts by the hand of an enemy.

"I don't think so," you declare, closing your fist around the chunk of metal.

It is, perhaps, the worst thing you have ever done. Searing pain courses through your nerves, your fingers locking in rictus around the stone. Shit. Of course it was rigged. Why would Loki and Fenris ever trust North to fully take their side?

This version of Alex was going to be disposable, even as Fenris had hoped to have you agree to his insane plan.

You crash to the ground, your muscles still spasming as if trying to cope with an enormous current. You feel as if an enormous amount of energy is flensing you clean, and you realize where you've experienced this kind of power before.

At Loki's fortress, where he'd used magic to anchor another Las Vegas to Asgard, bring its chaos and confusion crashing through the barriers of reality in one tumultuous blow.

You begin to jerk at the mercies of the hellish torrent, a whipsaw motion from fetal to near-spreadeagled ...

"Fool," Fenris sneers. "You, your friends ... you will stop nothing. I had hoped to use your noble instincts to my advantage, but this ... this is beyond all my hopes. Ironic, even. Oh, and Colonel? Your services are no longer required."

Fenris levels a pistol at Alex, but it is one of the Jotun who swiftly closes from behind and impales him with a sword before kicking him free of the blade. Deprived of any of his divine heritage, the light is already fading from his eyes as his body drops to the ground.

"War! Glorious war!" Fenris calls out.

"Not while I live," says the woman who carried Honsho to your side. She takes a second bar-like item from her belt and flicks it open with a shhhring of singing metal. Battle fans. She is upon the nearest Jotun in an eyeblink, her fans whirling and dancing in a furious kata, laying the thrall open with numerous bloody cuts.

Several gunshots ring out, but the bullets ping harmlessly off her fans. And while the Jotun are busy guarding Fenris, the attacking Maenads do not stand idle. Arrows fly. One or two might be a mere inconvenience, but the archers aren't stopping ...

You can feel the vortex of power coalescing about you. You begin to see another reality, your reality, superimposed upon this one. There's Evie, in mid-leap, having had the same thought as you. And if one instance of Lya and the Furies is daunting, twice that is, quite frankly, terrifying.

Your fingers are still locked around the damned lodestone, and all you can hear is the howling of the apocalypse ...