76. When the H.A.M.M.E.R. Falls
NEBULAPOLIS, RAGNANIVAL, ASGARD
When the dawn broke over the city, Pinkie Pie sprang into the throne room to greet Loki. "Morning, Odin!" she cried, winking.
Loki smiled in return. He would have winked, but bearing an eye patch made such an act physically very difficult. "Good morning, Pinkie Pie. And how are you feeling today?"
"Really great!" Pinkie chirped. "It's a gorgeoustastic day outside! Hey, you wanna do something outside? Or do you have to stay in here on your throne all day?"
"I can spare a moment," Loki told her. "In fact, I had been meaning to give you a tour of the Western gardens. would you join me?"
He could very literally see the sparkle in her eyes. "WOULD I? I'M SO THERE!"
Loki rose from the throne. "You'll forgive me if I have to keep up appearances."
"Of course!"
"And the kingdom believes me to be in mourning for Frigga, so I am afraid that, as much as I desire it, I cannot hold your hand where others might see."
Pinkie's heartbeat escalated. "Th-th-that's okay! I'm just gonna love spending time with you!"
"And I you," Loki replied.
They strolled through rows of flowers of every color, planted beneath a sparkling sun. A few others also walked through the gardens, but for the most part, Pinkie and Loki were free to roam wherever they pleased, leaving only a small amount of passersby to wonder with whom Odin was spending his time (and at least one who recognized her from her romps through the streets singing raucously).
"Which one is your favorite?" Loki inquired.
"That one!" Pinkie Pie squealed, pointing to a red flower. "No, wait – THAT one!" She switched to a blue. "Nononono…wait! THAT one!" A white flower. Then she gasped deeply, and as Loki thought she was about to let out a booming scream, she instead hissed in a low, fervent whisper: "Thaaaaaat oooooone…"
She pointed to a pink bloom, her eyes wide. Loki knelt to pluck it from its stem, standing and facing Pinkie Pie. "Look at me," he commanded.
She knew what he was going to do. "But Frigga - !"
"This is innocent enough." In a low voice, he added, "It could quite well be interpreted as a gesture of respect toward a friend."
Pinkie Pie turned to face him, and Loki tucked the pink flower delicately behind her ear, fastening one of her curls around it.
As he did this, a shadow fell over the garden, darkening the hues of all the plants. Loki and Pinkie Pie looked up to see what had caused the shadow, and Pinkie Pie let out a squeak of fear.
The dark ship passed over the sun.
From within the ship, Thanos looked upon the city of Nebulapolis below. "He is here," he stated.
From directly behind him, Annihilus let out a buzz of understanding.
"This is the kingdom Loki wished so dearly to clutch within his fist," Thanos went on. "You will understand, it is not enough to merely give him and him alone to my Lady. It must be all of them. So she will be pleased…and he will have nothing. Destroy the city first, then take him. Let him see what it is like to rule over a kingdom of ashes."
Annihilus made yet another harsh sound of understanding.
"Order the troops to disembark," Thanos commanded.
With a short buzz, Annihilus left the cabin.
Row upon row of Chitauri soldiers, survivors of the last confrontation as well as many new recruits, stood waiting for orders. When Annihilus appeared before them and pointed toward the exit hatch with an agitated hiss, they all understood their orders immediately. They took their places on their skimmers, blasting off out of the mothership and into the sky above Asgard.
None of them paid any mind to the floating couch, where Discord and Impossible Man threw popcorn at them from the bottomless bucket Discord had conjured, yelling "BOOOOOOOOO!"
When the fleet had disembarked, Annihilus himself left, floating into the sky. He raised his staff. He gave the garbled call. The insects scuttled out of the ship after him. He pointed the staff downward at the city of Nebulapolis.
Annihilus, his insects, and the Chitauri troops descended.
"We must go," Loki told Pinkie urgently.
"What's happening?" Pinkie asked, worried.
He knew exactly what was happening. "An invasion. We must call Asgard to defense! Now let's GO!"
Before Pinkie could say another word, he'd grabbed her hand and was pulling her through the streets, running back to the palace. And for a brief moment, she was split between joy that Loki held her hand and terror of what could have him on the run.
The Chitauri began to strike in the streets, chasing down whomever they could find, lashing out with their projectile weapons. The insects of Annihilus climbed up the walls, leaping onto anyone who passed, latching onto the backs of civilians and pinning them down.
As Loki and Pinkie Pie entered the palace, they could hear the screams begin.
Loki quickly took the throne and barked an order to a nearby servant. Within a minute, four warriors appeared before him. There was a rounded man with wavy red hair and a matching beard, armored in silver and brandishing an axe. There was a tall, thin man armored in black, his raven hair pinned behind his head. And there was a slim, lithe blonde with a short beard, whose coppery armor had a thin green shimmer. But in the lead of them was a woman with long black hair, clothed in armor of red leather and silver plating.
"Lord Odin," the woman said, bowing. The three men behind her followed suit. Pinkie Pie regarded them with interest, wondering as to their identities, their stories.
"Lady Sif," Loki replied. "You, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral shall lead our warriors against the invaders immediately. Gather the troops and ready the Valkyries."
"My lord," Sif asked, "what are these enemies?"
"To be feared," Loki stated. "Now GO!"
When the four had left, Loki turned back to Pinkie Pie. "I must fight as well."
"I'm going with you!" Pinkie cried. "I'll protect you!"
"The danger is great," Loki warned her.
Twin pistols materialized in Pinkie's hands. "I'm ready!"
Loki nodded. "I trust you."
The Valkyries, mounted upon their winged horses, formed a cloud, soaring to meet the Chitauri skimmers in midair and challenge them. A multitude of foot soldiers also rushed forth from the palace, chasing after the enemies on the ground.
Three Chitauri had backed an Asgardian couple against a wall, raising their weapons high to strike. With a sudden flash of metal, all three of their torsos were separated from their waists, flying upward for a moment before all six pieces of the bodies hit the ground. As they fell, they revealed Volstagg behind them, the wielder whose axe had cleaved them.
A mace slammed down onto one of Annihilus' insects, crushing it; it twitched its last before falling still. Hogun gave no pause before turning to ram his mace into the back of another insect, nearly flattening it. The insects crowded around him, trying to avenge their own; Hogun, unfazed, dealt strike after strike, bringing down all that charged him.
Fandral had engaged in combat with one of the Chitauri foot soldiers. It fired a blast from its gun; Fandral quickly twisted his blade, deflecting the blow off its flat surface, feeling the shock almost push him back. He rushed the Chitauri soldier, sword held high. When Fandral brought his sword down, it was met by the body of the Chitauri's gun. The Chitauri soldier then kicked Fandral to the ground, preparing to shoot his head clean off. There was the loud roar of an angered female voice, and before the Chitauri soldier could pull the trigger, he became very aware of a blade being plunged through his back. He fell forward, dead, onto Fandral. Fandral quickly scrambled out from beneath the corpse and stood to give a nod of thanks to his savior – Sif, who glowered at the corpse as though it still lived. Then Sif and Fandral each turned to new opponents.
From atop a high roof, Annihilus directed his troops. He ordered them to spread throughout the city, to destroy whatever they could. When the Asgardian warriors began to strike the insects down, he commanded them to gang up on the soldiers and bring them down by any means possible. As he buzzed out his latest order, projected via staff, he heard a high-pitched cry from behind him on the roof: "HEY, YOU!"
Annihilus turned to find Pinkie Pie behind him on the roof, brandishing both guns. "I know you're the one making those bugs do stuff with that scepter thingy!" she cried. "And I'm gonna make you cut it out!"
Annihilus responded with a high-pitched, garbled buzz of anger. He swept his staff toward her, and a horde of insects crawled onto the roof, making their way toward Pinkie Pie, ready to claw, to bite, to tear. She began firing blasts of confetti and glitter, the force throwing them away from her and depleting their energy.
Loki then walked into an open square, looking directly upward at the mothership. "I KNOW WHAT YOU CAME FOR!" he screamed. "NOW COME FACE ME, IF YOU ARE NOT A COWARD!"
It took Thanos a moment to realize what was going on. His technology was picking up on the behavior of the king, and so he saw, from far above, what Odin was supposedly doing. The realization struck him: it was not, in fact, Odin. He very nearly laughed; he had spent so much energy in chasing Loki, and Loki was presenting himself to him! He was adamant to stick to what he had demanded before: that Loki be deprived of everything he loved, everything he wanted dominion over, even everything he hated, before he met his long and painful death. So Thanos didn't oblige. Instead, he shifted the position of the ship, remaining in flight over Nebulapolis but making an obvious statement as he flew further away from Loki's position.
"CRAVEEEEEEEEN!" Loki howled at the ship when Thanos' message hit home.
Then, one by one, the other ships began to enter the atmosphere, and Loki smiled. Right on schedule.
After the Skrull threat was eliminated and the Supreme Intelligence overthrown, there was peace among the Kree empire…temporarily. But whenever one enemy fell, another would always quickly take its place. And though the Kree were moving slowly in a direction that would bring them away from imperialist violence, there was still among the people a desire to quash such threats as soon as they appeared.
With the Skrulls out of the way, the Chitauri had established themselves quickly as the next great army to threaten Kree space, and skirmishes had occurred between the two groups. It became all the more heated when word reached Mar-Vell, the acting leader of the Kree since the fall of the Supreme Intelligence, that the Chitauri had mobilized under Thanos. The very mention of Thanos' name at all was cause for alarm among the Kree.
They'd rejoiced when they heard of the hit Thanos and the Chitauri had taken during the conflict on Earth – legions decimated. Mar-Vell was pleased to hear the Avengers had facilitated the victory, but had also taken note that it was Loki of Asgard who had established the connection between Chitauri space and Earth. He ordered ears to listen for news of Loki as the conflict between the Kree and Chitauri escalated. News of Loki's death admittedly pleased him. One more dangerous man gone. Given the right opportunity, Mar-Vell feared, Loki could cause an apocalypse.
And so it seemed at first like a mere coincidence, an echo of irony, when word reached Mar-Vell via military intelligence that Thanos had gathered the scraps of the Chitauri army (as well as Annihilus, but this didn't make it into the reports) and was running a full-scale invasion of Asgard. Mar-Vell had deliberated as to whether or not it was wise to interfere, but in the end, he gave into his fears that the Chitauri would utterly raze Asgard as a whole and use the planet's corpse to establish a new military base.
The decision was made. The Kree would head Thanos off at Asgard, hopefully before too much damage was done. And there, the Chitauri threat would be nipped in the bud. Mar-Vell opted to lead a troop himself, drawing upon the vast military forces of the planet. And, of course, he put Ronan the Accuser in charge of a small battalion; Ronan and Mar-Vell had their differences and had argued about them many times, but in the end, each recognized the other's potential, and a mutual respect was forged.
As the Kree ships flew into the Asgardian atmosphere, Discord and Impossible Man cheered them on, wearing jerseys in the colors of Kree armor; Discord waved a giant teal foam finger emblazoned with the words "GO KREE" in the air.
The Kree disembarked en masse, wasting no time in dispersing through the Asgardian streets and engaging either Chitauri soldiers or Annihilus' insects in battle. From the alleys and within buildings, Asgardian bystanders cheered on their new allies.
Mar-Vell himself blocked three projectiles from a Chitauri gun before rushing his opponent, summoning a sword of green energy to slash with toward said Chitauri.
Around this time, the Valkyrie elite took flight. The women who did not need winged horses, for their wings were at their waists, protruding over their skirts and spreading into beautiful feathery spectacles. With spears and swords they descended upon those Chitauri not already engaged with the Kree or other Asgardian soldiers.
An entire square was dominated by Ronan. He was taller and more thickly built than the other Kree, wearing armor of gold and a green hood. He strode calmly toward a horde of oncoming Chitauri; he had the utmost confidence in the tool in his hands, a gleaming hammer with an angular silver head and a shaft as long as that of most spears. The Universal Weapon. Ten Chitauri and twenty insects charged Ronan. He struck out with the Universal Weapon, and all fell.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had sent all of Annihilus' bugs in her vicinity to sleep. "THAT ALL YOU GOT?" she screamed at Annihilus.
Annihilus responded with a garbled buzz, ready to prove to her that his staff could do more than summon the insects. He swung it toward her, and a flash of white light emitted from it.
With a scream, Pinkie leapt into the air, flipping over thrice backward before landing outside the range of the beam. The beam had cut through the floor upon which she and Annihilus stood. She laughed nervously. "This might be a liiiiiittle bit harder than I thought…"
The tide was turning. This, the Asgardians could see. Their own brave warriors, the Kree, and the Asgardian king himself were beating back the Chitauri and the insects. During the struggle, many saw who they believed to be Odin ascending the steps of the palace.
Having defeated their immediate foes and seen the king ascend, Mar-Vell, Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun, and Sif, as well as a crowd of others, ran to the edge of the palace steps, looking up from the nadir. "Lord Odin!" Sif cried. "We have them almost outmatched!"
"Very good," the king replied with an unsettling grin.
"Come into battle," Mar-Vell urged, "and we can finish them off and drive them away for good!"
"That would be in accordance with the will of the All-Father, wouldn't it?" The king's grin grew broader.
"YES!" Fandral cried.
"Well, then," Loki said, letting his illusion fall. "It must be quite inconvenient to you that Odin has been dead ever since the last advance of Malekith."
Those who observed, gasped. Sif backed away in horror. "No…it cannot be…"
"It amazes me, sometimes, how easily you are taken in by lies," Loki laughed. "As a matter of fact, I don't want the battle to end just yet. In fact, it's barely begun…and my own personal reinforcements are entering the city walls as we speak."
The troops from H.A.M.M.E.R. had arrived, Osborn in the lead on his hoverboard. "YOU ALL KNOW WHAT TO DO!" he cackled. "Bring down everyone you can! It isn't over until they've SURRENDERED TO OUR NAME!"
He threw down a pair of bombs, fist-sized, shaped like jack o'lanterns. Each bomb let out a screech, oddly human, as it hit the ground. Through the smoke plumes that rose up from where the bombs hit the ground, the troops charged.
"What do we do?" Mockingbird asked Black Widow in concern.
Black Widow surveyed the scene. She recognized the Chitauri, and she recognized the Kree. But she focused in on the insects. While she'd never seen them before, she was quick to notice that they were doing the most damage to the city itself, pouncing on unarmed civilians and tearing apart the walls of the buildings.
"See those bugs?" she pointed out. "Focus on them for now." She drew twin pistols, firing several rounds into the head of one of the bugs. It dropped to the ground and twitched its last. Black Widow charged down the street, leaping into the air and stomping another bug down so she could plant simultaneous shots into its head. From there, it was on to the next bug.
Coulson remained where he was, firing at the bugs climbing up the walls around him, turning to peg each one as it climbed up the walls. Noticing that he was thinning their number, the bugs began to converge on Coulson. Mockingbird was quick to pick up on this, rushing to Coulson's defense with her silvery polestaff ready. She spun it once before slamming into the heads of three insects trying to sneak up on Coulson. "I'll cover your fire!" she told him, whacking another insect with the staff.
Quake rushed toward a throng of the insects, focusing on the ground ahead. She made it tremble, and the bugs were all knocked off balance.
Emma Frost, in the meantime, transformed from head to toe with a shimmer. No longer did she resemble a woman of flesh and blood; instead, she appeared to be an animated diamond statue of a woman, catching the light of the Asgardian sun and refracting it in every glimmering direction. "For the record," she told the nearest Chitauri foot soldier, "I don't like you anyway, no matter what Loki says." She then delivered to this soldier's face a hard punch; her rock-hard fist slammed into his skull with a CRACK and sent him stumbling backward. As another ran forth to avenge his comrade, Emma jabbed her sharp elbow back into his chest.
Namor had marched into battle with several large canteens of water strapped to his chest and back. He used these to douse his skin with water, absorbing its strength. Then, before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed onto the nearest Kree soldier, putting him into a headlock and wrestling him to the ground.
Daken sliced through insect after insect with his outstretched claws. He flinched when the next one in line to be diced was pegged with an arrow, right through the vitals. Apparently, anyway. Daken wasn't sure where the vitals were on the bugs, but the arrow had made it stop moving. He turned around to see Bullseye loading up his bow. "Forty-two," Daken stated with a grin.
Bullseye let his next arrow fly, piercing another bug. "Forty-three," he said with a grin.
"Didn't expect you to pierce that many."
"Well, maybe my aim's better than you know. And maybe – " He let another arrow fly, seemingly directly at Daken. But Daken knew better. He stood perfectly still, and the arrow passed through an insect that had leapt at him from behind, fangs bared. The insect dropped lifelessly. " – You have to watch your back better," Bullseye finished. "Oh. And that's forty-four."
Five Kree soldiers appeared, green blades blazing. "You there!" one called out. "Friends or enemies of Asgard?"
The soldiers had hoped, seeing the pair destroy the bugs, that the answer would not be the one that Daken supplied: "Oh, CERTAINLY enemies." Their hopes fell.
"Then you know we'll have to take you into custody," the Kree replied.
"If you can beat us," Daken challenged.
"You're mad," Bullseye snapped at Daken before turning and attempting to run. "We need to get the hell OUT of here!"
Daken caught him by the shoulder; "Where are you going? You don't think we can take them?"
"Let's see. Two Earthlings, five trained Kree soldiers. I know when to cut my losses, and this is NOT worth my life, Daken!"
Daken replied by seizing Bullseye's other shoulder, turning the archer to face him. Bullseye was barely aware of why or how he'd done it, but soon, Daken's mouth was pressed against his firmly, and it wasn't, in Bullseye's mind, all that horrible. In fact, rather nice, he thought.
When Daken let him go, he insisted, "I'm in charge, Bullseye. This is MY show. And we stay."
"Fine," Bullseye grunted, turning back to face the somewhat flabbergasted Kree soldiers. "We'll bloody have it your way."
He loaded his bow, firing. The arrow was batted away by a green blade, but almost immediately afterward, another arrow planted into the shoulder of the soldier who'd deflected the first. Two of the Kree soldiers rushed Daken, who lashed out at them with his claws. One blade became interlocked with the claws, and Daken and the soldier struggled against each other. The other soldier fell to the ground, screaming in pain; Daken's claws had ripped right through his armor, cutting deep and drawing blood. The fourth soldier took an arrow to each leg, stumbling forward in agony. Daken threw his opponent backward to slam into the fifth. As both hit the ground, Bullseye drew back his bowstring, two arrows angled so an arrowhead pointed to each exposed face.
John was quite upset. He had his own doubts about the veracity of a "peacekeeping" mission on Asgard. But he knew what he had to go through with if he wanted to keep his power. So when the Asgardian soldiers came running at him with their blades drawn, he was ready to pick them up one by one as they arrived, slinging them away, to collide with walls, to collide with each other. Above him, Vulture circled, leading one Chitauri skimmer to crash into another in midair with a spectacular explosion.
Mar-Vell, Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral all pointed their weapons directly at Loki. "You lie," Sif seethed. "Where is Odin?"
"I assure you, THAT was not the lie," Loki told her. "He is quite dead at the moment. You've all been living your lives under my rule. Not so bad, was it? But the problem was that you would never accept my rule under my own name."
"You were NEVER fit to be king," Sif growled.
"You've only proved my point," Loki told her. "Which is why it had to come to a siege. I wish it could have been simpler, but you have made it this way."
He swung his spear outward in a great arc, and a wave of blue plasma rushed forth from its path, knocking down Mar-Vell, Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Fandral. By the time all had gotten to their feet, Loki had vanished, run off somewhere.
"Split up!" Sif ordered. "He is somewhere in this city! Even he is not so cowardly as to abandon the kingdom he wishes to conquer! FIND HIM!"
They rushed away in five different directions.
The scene had also been witnessed by a Valkyrie. White-haired, her coiffure bound by a black headband ridged with sky blue feathers; she was clothed in a white corset bodice, detached white sleeves, a navy blue plated skirt, and mithril greaves and boots. Once one of the elite, but her wings had been ripped from her, leaving two deep scars on her waist. So she straddled a chestnut steed that supplied the wings for her. She recognized Loki from above – she would know him anywhere – but she had lost him when he ran into the twisting streets below. She began to steer her horse in a perimeter patrol of the city in hopes that she could find him.
Amora threw back three Kree soldiers in a burst of green magic; at this moment, Hogun came upon her, mace raised. It didn't take him long to put the pieces together. "Traitor," he hissed.
"To your order?" she asked. "Or to the true order?"
Hogun didn't need to hear any more. He raised his mace high, charging her. "AMORAAAAAAA!"
She fired first one, then another blast of green at him. He sidestepped the first and ducked the second. He raised his mace high to strike a blow at Amora. Amora put up a hand, about to cast a protective spell.
Another hand pressed firmly on her spine, between her shoulder blades, forcing her to duck. The shield slipped between her head and Hogun's mace, and she heard the impact. Quickly ducking out of the way and standing beside her attacker and her rescuer – confirming that it was, in fact, Zemo who had pushed her down to counter Hogun's blow – she growled, "I could have handled him MYSELF!"
"Perhaps," Zemo retorted, "but I wanted the honor of defeating this Asgardian."
"An honor you shall not have," Hogun growled, swinging the mace again. It again clashed with the shield. Zemo then struck out with his blade, and Hogun intercepted it with the shaft of the mace. Zemo attempted to slam the shield into Hogun's head, but the Asgardian warrior was too deft for him, tilting his head so the shield slid just past it.
Then the blast of green sent Hogun tumbling to the ground. Amora laughed triumphantly.
Hogun grasped fully that he was dealing with two opponents. He rolled over to avoid the next blast from Amora, swinging the mace upward to knock Zemo's blade off course before it could pierce him in the heart. Then he attempted to bring the mace down on Zemo's feet, only to find that his opponent's reflexes were as good as his. Hogun leapt to his feet, quickly stepping backward to avoid the blasts of energy Amora was by then raining from above. He made another swing at Amora, who concentrated her energies on forging a forcefield, a green sphere upon which Hogun's mace thudded harmlessly. Hogun then took another swing at Zemo, and this time, whether by extreme skill or sheer luck, he hit his mark. There was the sound of tearing fabric, and Zemo screamed – though it was impossible to tell if it was in pain or in anger. Both Zemo's hands dropped his weapons, pressing to his face. Seeing his chance, Hogun ran past him, deciding to focus on finding Loki rather than waste any more time with Amora and Zemo.
Amora let down the shield, tentatively, curiously approaching Zemo. The latter cursed under his breath, a string of German, before dropping his hands from his face and looking up to stare Amora dead in the eye.
Amora gasped, flinching. Hogun's mace had torn away the majority of Zemo's ever-present mask. Had it affected his face? She couldn't tell. It was like looking into the face of an animated corpse: desiccated, emaciated.
Zemo eventually noticed Amora's staring, and the cursing trailed off mid-word. For the first time, instead of having to imagine his smug grin, she saw it for real, with what he had left to speak of for lips. "Beautiful, is it not?" The sarcasm dripped thickly. All the while, his blue eyes stared out from the rotting mass, the only features untouched by the virus, gleaming bright like topaz.
Amora then returned her own smirk. "Certainly the fairest in the land. I can see why you consider yourself better than the rest of us…or at least feel the need to constantly state such."
"Enough banter. There are still MANY to bring down." Energized by a new anger, Zemo took up his sword and shield again. As he turned to the East to face an oncoming Kree, Amora turned West, facing a rushing Chitauri.
Hogun didn't get far from the battle site before he heard a high-pitched screech, perceived a split second before the accompanying explosion that knocked him off his feet. He lay sprawled out in the street.
The Green Goblin laughed as he watched Hogun fall. Only for a second, however. Then he'd moved on to rain more fiery doom upon the hapless, throwing his pumpkin-shaped bombs down at random, hearing the trail of shrieks they left behind.
Mar-Vell caught sight of him, and for a moment, Loki was forgotten. Mar-Vell's only goal was to stop the offending Goblin from dropping more bombs from the air. He leapt into the air, careening after the hoverboard.
The Goblin took notice that a presence was behind him. "Is someone being naughty?" he asked teasingly. "You should know better than to tailgate." He flicked his wrist behind him, launching three bombs at Mar-Vell.
Mar-Vell's blade sliced through all three bombs, cutting their screeches short. He flew ever closer to the hoverboard, thinking if he could just strike it down the center and cleave it in half, he could ground the Goblin. The Goblin, however, was on guard. As Mar-Vell neared him, he pulled the hoverboard straight up, accelerating at such a speed that he was able to completely invert – for a moment, feet pointed to the sky and head to the ground – and loop until he was situated behind Mar-Vell without his feet leaving the board. From there, he was able to launch another bomb. It caught Mar-Vell off guard, in the back. As Mar-Vell dropped, the Goblin picked him up, putting him in a headlock.
"You need to learn more respect!" the Goblin laughed, skimming close to the ground, throwing Mar-Vell down on the street and keeping his hands pressed against the Kree's chest as the hoverboard kept on speeding, only slightly above ground level. Mar-Vell's armor scraped against the ground, and Mar-Vell himself groaned – not hurt, but fearing that if his armor was too badly damaged, he would be soon. Then, the Goblin decided he'd had enough, and in what Mar-Vell was ready to count as a miracle, the Goblin steered up and away, leaving Mar-Vell in the road. Mar-Vell unsteadily rose, his mind turning to this accomplice of Loki's. Not an Asgardian, he was sure, nor Kree nor Chitauri. Despite his appearance, Mar-Vell was convinced the Goblin was indeed from Earth. That meant Loki had brought him over somehow. And judging from Loki's earlier statement, he'd brought others as well.
Mar-Vell was driven to find out how.
As Fandral ran down the street, he was intercepted by a kick to the head; Venom swung down from above, his feet ramming into Fandral's head so that the warrior was sent stumbling. Venom then let the strand of black web go, landing in front of Fandral.
"You shall not stand in my way, villain!" Fandral cried, stabilizing himself and drawing his sword.
"You think that little knife will hurt us?" Venom taunted. He quickly turned to throw a black web at Fandral. Fandral quickly slashed through it, letting the webs fall at his feet. He stepped forward, planting a foot in the fallen web. He became horrified when he found he couldn't pry that foot upward from the black mass.
Four tentacle-like projectiles sprouted from Venom's back, wrapping around Fandral, binding his arms to his sides and his legs together. Venom lifted Fandral off the ground in this fashion; Fandral's foot ripped free of the black webbing, and his sword fell from his grip, landing in the webs with a "squelch" sound. Venom constricted; Fandral felt the bones in his body trying not to give out. And yet, no matter how hard Venom squeezed him, his body refused to break. He wondered if this beast before him had any idea of the durability of the average Asgardian – after all, Fandral looked quite human. And so he closed his eyes, letting his head loll.
Satisfied, Venom dropped Fandral hard on the stone and attached a web to the top of another building, using that to launch into the air, believing Fandral was dead. Fandral played possum for another few minutes before getting up, prising his blade out of the congealing webs on the ground, and resuming his search for Loki.
One unfortunate young Asgardian man cowered behind the counter of the shop he ran on one of the main streets, a shop whose wares consisted of jewelry and other accessories of finery. He watched the brawls carry on in the streets, shivering. He prayed it wouldn't come to his door, hoping he would be safe if he stayed where he was inconspicuous.
The door burst open, and a great wave of sand crashed into the shop, causing the young Asgardian to squeak. He trembled as he watched the earth matter gather itself, taking on the form of a humanoid.
"And what've we got here?" Sandman asked with a grin as several tendrils of sand burst from his back and shoulders, forming themselves into various blades.
"TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT!" the distressed Asgardian screamed. "DON'T HURT ME!" he charged from the room in a panic.
"Score," Sandman muttered, retracting the weaponized appendages and plucking a silk-woven bag from the wall and beginning to fill it up with the most valuable looking of the jewels.
A shadow filled the doorway. "Stop there!"
Sandman turned to deal a look of mild annoyance to Volstagg. Volstagg, on the other hand, was perplexed. "One of Loki's allies…a petty thief?"
"Watch it," Sandman warned, placing the bag on the counter and facing Volstagg. "You really do NOT wanna mess with me."
"Your threats mean NOTHING to me!" Volstagg charged forth, plunging his axe directly into Sandman's chest.
He stared in shock, watching the axe bury itself in a mass of sand. He then removed the blade, this time aiming for Sandman's shoulder. Again, the axe just impacted harmlessly into sand. Sandman stared disapprovingly at Volstagg as the Asgardian warrior tried to deal blow after blow only to have his weapon either deal no damage or pass completely through Sandman.
A sweat broke out across Volstagg's forehead, and he backed away slightly, panting. Sandman hadn't moved at all since the Asgardian had begun his assault, with the sole exception of rolling his eyes dramatically. When Volstagg backed off, Sandman cracked a smile. "If you're done making yourself look like an idiot…" He raised both arms, forming them into double-bladed axes that mimicked Volstagg's. "You like? I was in the mood for some cruel irony."
Before either could make a move, Volstagg cried out suddenly in pain. He'd been hit with a massive surge of electrical energy, and his own skin glowed slightly as he took the full force of it. Agony coursed through every inch of skin. He passed out; he dropped to the ground. Sandman watched him fall, confused, then looked up to see who had dealt the blow. Then he broke into a wide smile, almost laughing.
"Was this one giving you trouble?" Electro asked, unmasked, crackling with energy.
"Not anymore he ain't," Sandman replied. "NICE shot!"
"I told you I'd have your back."
"Never doubted you for a second!"
Shocker's energy blasts took down three Asgardian foot soldiers in succession, knocking them against the wall so they were unconscious. Hearing the flapping of wings above, he turned to fire upward at the horse of the white-haired Valkyrie. The blast connected; the horse bucked and threw the Valkyrie.
She turned head over heel in midair and aimed her spear downward, angling toward Shocker at top speed. Shocker only realized what the Valkyrie was doing and leapt backward a split second before she landed hard on the street, crouching to absorb shock, and then rose to full height, twirling a silver spear whose head had been tinted blue.
"Are you with Loki?" she asked angrily.
"What's it to ya?" Shocker replied.
"It's VERY important to me that I find him," the Valkyrie insisted.
"And I don't give a damn." Shocker raised both arms, firing twin blasts at her. She leapt over them, landing to the side of both beams and rushing at Shocker, swinging the flat edge of her spear at him, feeling the residual energy of the beams she ran parallel to. Shocker retaliated by powering down the gauntlets and raising them to block the spear, shielding his face. The Valkyrie then swung the spear's shaft at his stomach, knocking him backward; Shocker stumbled momentarily before firing both gauntlets directly at the Valkyrie. She leapt high again, arcing backward, landing on one hand – the spear clutched in the other - and springing to land upon her feet. She swung the spear hard, catching Shocker against the shoulder. Before he could make a move, she swung again and again, knocking him in one direction, then the other. Finally, she twirled her spear in the air before slamming the edge against Shocker's chest, pushing him to the ground.
The Valkyrie pointed her spear at Shocker's neck. "WHERE. IS. LOKI?"
"You're wastin' your time," Shocker told her, somewhat angrily. "I don't got a goddamn clue where he is."
"You came here with him," the Valkyrie insisted as she felt a scratching motion at the back of one of her greaves. She turned to notice an alley cat, patterned black and white, pawing at her leg. She decided to ignore the cat, turning her attention back to Shocker. "Do you really expect me to believe you know nothing?"
"I don't keep tabs on him," Shocker replied.
"Maybe you're right," the Valkyrie said as the cat kept pawing, the slight squeak audible as the metal in its paw rubbed the metal of her greave. "But I warn you, if you're lying – "
She realized.
She quickly turned, plunging the spear down through the android cat so that its circuits sparked. She flung the spear; the cat-bot flew down the street until it collided with the cobblestone several feet away and exploded, causing no damage but to the street paving itself.
"So, you figured out my little trick!" Mysterio announced, stepping out from an alleyway. "But can you survive what's in plain sight? IN SUI PERNICIEM, VESPERTILIONES!"
From beneath his cape, a horde of animatronic bats erupted, and the Valkyrie was certain that each one was set to explode. So she worked quickly. She swung the spear at each bat. Some she sliced through; they detonated with only a small shockwave. Others she managed to launch right back at Mysterio with the flat edge of the spear, and he quickly turned and ran to avoid the trajectory.
As she turned to watch him run, she was aware of Shocker getting to his feet beside her. She smacked the next explosive bat toward him. Then the next two.
The next sequence of events worked out almost perfectly to the Valkyrie's mind. Shocker fired upon the bats, leaving the Valkyrie open to charge Mysterio. As she raised her spear, Shocker finished off the bats, turning to her. She swung the spear hard at Mysterio, knocking him to the side before leaping backward. Mysterio was thrown directly into Shocker's trajectory and blasted by both beams, falling to the ground.
"NO!" Shocker raged as he saw where his fire had connected. He turned back to the Valkyrie; "Just for that, I'm gonna rip you to pieces – "
She was too fast. He raised both arms and crossed them to block the first strike with his gauntlets, but the second and third strike hit home. She sidestepped, moving behind him, and then dealt the finishing blow, knocking him to the ground a second time. He landed alongside Mysterio, who had sat up, slightly dazed and even more so aching.
"Now, both of you!" the Valkyrie said, pointing her spear at the pair. "I won't ask again! WHERE IS LOKI?"
"I wouldn't know!" Mysterio said, raising his hands in a defensive pose. "But were it me, I would end up back at the castle to strike a sense of poetic justice!"
"That's all I need to know," the Valkyrie said before turning and running away.
Shocker stood, firing one last blast after her. She dropped to the ground and rolled around the corner, letting the beam pass over her head before disappearing from the line of fire.
"You all right?" Shocker asked Mysterio as the latter got to his feet and dusted himself off in a rather grandiose way (especially given that there wasn't even any dust to speak of on him).
"Sore, but not much the worse for wear," Mysterio answered.
"Good. 'Cause we've got more company." Shocker turned his attention to a pair of Kree soldiers landing in the street. He blasted one of them while the soldier's guard was down before noticing that he stood alone on his side of the street. "Wha – MYSTERIO!"
"Stand down!" the second Kree said.
"I don't think so," Shocker replied, pointing his wrist directly at the Kree.
"NO!" The Kree suddenly scooped something up from the ground, leaping to the side and cradling it.
Shocker laughed when he realized what it was. "Cat person, huh?"
"Your fire would have harmed this innocent animal!" the Kree gasped, stroking the "cat." "How COULD you?"
"Actually, I wouldn't even dream of hurtin' that one," Shocker stated casually.
Before the Kree could ask what he meant, the cat-bot exploded.
Sif turned onto the street at the same time as the Rhino. They locked eyes. "You're goin' down!" Rhino bellowed before charging.
"I think not," Sif replied, running directly at him, sword drawn.
She leapt over his ducked head, missing his horn by several feet, before landing hard on his back, forcing him to the ground, and striking her sword against his skin. The sword bounced off Rhino's skin harmlessly; this confused Sif for a moment, but she decided to forget it and keep moving on. She leapt away, keeping her course.
As Rhino stood, he muttered, "What just happened…?" By the time he turned around, Sif was out of sight.
With another wave of the Universal Weapon, Ronan knocked down another troop of Chitauri. He slowly turned to view all the roads letting into the square he'd called as his battle point so that he could see every direction from which new enemies might come.
When he had turned full circle, he blinked. Loki stood directly in front of him. He hadn't seen or heard Loki's approaching presence at all. Confused, Ronan swung the hammer at Loki.
It passed through Loki as though he weren't even there. An illusion, Ronan realized. And as he realized this, the image of Loki began to laugh. The laughing grew louder. More and more Loki illusions appeared until they surrounded Ronan.
Enraged, Ronan took a swing at a group of them. They flickered in and out of view. All illusions. He swung at more. More fakes, he discovered. His anger only grew, and he lashed out again and again until the hammer connected with something solid.
Not another Loki. This time, the hammer had struck a young man all dressed in black. The youth was knocked to the ground immediately, unmoving. Ronan found something suspicious about the chain of events, and stepped gingerly toward the youth lay.
The youth then slowly began to rise – literally. His body levitated up off the ground, righting itself, head upward, feet pointed down. He spread his arms out, a perverted crucifixion pose, as his eyes practically burned. Upon his mouth was just the barest hint of a sly grin. Beneath his clothing, where Ronan couldn't see, the damage done by the impact of the Universal Weapon was healing.
Then Blackheart flung both his arms forward and engulfed Ronan completely in darkness.
Ronan cried out, never having felt anything quite like it. It was pain, but also fear, and something about it disgusted him as well. His very soul cried out for the darkness to leave. He stumbled forward, and the darkness moved with him, burrowing into his soul.
He heard a word pierce the air: "CRUCIO!"
Even more pain, then. Ronan was brought to his knees, convulsing. But he kept a tight grip on the Universal Weapon with both hands.
Crouch was able to see the effect he was having through the purest Darkness Blackheart had summoned. However, it still wasn't enough. He nodded towards Loki – the real one – and Loki pointed his spear at Ronan, firing a bolt of energy. Ronan then hit the ground, lying on his stomach. The shaft of the Universal Weapon was clenched in one hand.
Ronan's vision began to fade as his consciousness poured away from his mind in order to relieve the pain. He saw Dr. Doom walk into the square; the darkness was called off by Blackheart in order to give Doom a clear path. Ronan saw Doom move toward his outstretched arm. He saw Doom's armored foot rise, then stomp down. And the last sharp pain he felt before losing all sense was of Doom's foot landing directly on his wrist. He couldn't stop himself from opening his hand. He relinquished the hammer. His eyes closed.
Doom began to lower himself to pick up the Universal Weapon, but Loki had beaten him to it, plucking it from the ground and then standing tall before Doom, holding out the weapon. "Consider it a token," Loki said, bending at the knee and raising his arms, "of my affections."
"A fine token indeed," Doom replied. "One worthy of you, Loki. And worthy of me."
"As promised," Loki said.
And as indeed planned from the very start, Doom's hands clenched the Universal Weapon. He raised it high; it crackled with energy.
Mar-Vell and several Kree descended then, weapons blazing, surrounding Ronan. "BACK AWAY FROM HIM!" Mar-Vell directed.
"You? Order me? When I hold this?" Doom retorted. "I think not."
He gave the hammer a swing. The energy that radiated from it broke apart the street it passed over, connecting with another Kree soldier. The soldier opened his mouth to scream; before he made a sound, he'd disintegrated completely in a flash of white light.
Blackheart gave out an audible laugh then.
Mar-Vell realized it was time for new orders. "GET RONAN OUT OF HERE!" he barked. The Kree battalion moved as one to pick up their fallen. Before Doom could destroy another of their number, they lifted into the sky.
Several blocks away, Mar-Vell's faction finally set Ronan down. "He'll live," Mar-Vell pronounced, turning away to look at the sky. "For now…I need some of you to watch him and some to come with me. I want to find out where Loki brought his allies in and see if I can close down that point before any others arrive."
"You think they came through…some kind of portal?" one of the soldiers asked.
"It's the only explanation that makes sense to me," Mar-Vell confirmed.
The troop divided. Half tended to Ronan while the other launched into the sky, following Mar-Vell toward a patch of dark sky that stood out as an anomaly against the rest.
THE FOREST OF ELRIT, ASGARD
The Kree troops landed at the forest's edge at Mar-Vell's command, prepared to go the rest of the way on foot. "THIS WAY!" Mar-Vell called out as he landed on the ground. "The way they came in is…" He halted when he saw the amassed Code White team and recognized them.
"Mar-Vell?" Ms. Marvel said incredulously, stepping toward the leader.
"Carol!" Mar-Vell replied, advancing toward her. "What are you all doing here?"
"Trying to figure out what's going on with THAT!" Ms. Marvel pointed toward Nebulapolis. "Why are YOU here?"
"We realized the portal from Earth to Asgard must be in this forest," Mar-Vell explained, "and we were going to shut it down before any reinforcements came through – "
"No," Ms. Marvel said sternly. "What are you doing in ASGARD?"
"Thanos," Mar-Vell said. "We came to stop him, but we didn't know why he was here. And now…we have an idea."
"You're not making sense…what does that have to do with troops from Earth?"
"Everything," Mar-Vell told her. "Loki is alive."
Chapter 76:
· Some of these battles, such as the four-way team-up against Ronan, were fixed from the very start. But the majority were set up via random name generator for extra fun. Which actually resulted in unintentional hilarity when I realized I had to give Rhino to Sif.
· This is probably the highest death toll I've ever written, though the majority of my victims don't have names at all!
· I have been informed that the Chitauri and Kree have not ever interacted in Marvel canon for continuity reasons (different universes apparently). I felt I had to play with the concept. Hence the "brief history of the Kree and Chitauri." The Kree would of course see the Chitauri as the next great threat to watch after the Skrulls. And, as you have already figured out, I used Thanos' grudge on Loki as bait – Loki gets Thanos to pursue him to Asgard, the Chitauri run rampant, the Kree show up to combat them, and Doom gets to take the Universal Weapon.
· The Valkyrie Elite designs are based on Odin Sphere.
· The Pinkie vs. Annihilus fight was going to be resolved here, but it makes more sense to resolve it next chapter.
· The Bullseye/Daken kiss scene is ripped DIRECTLY from a comic scan whose issue I unfortunately cannot cite. GAvillain found it for me and I knew I had to just use it word for word, albeit under different circumstances.
· White-haired Valkyrie? Relevant. I'll let you guess on it for now.
· I wrote Zemo's "unmasking" before actually being shown a picture of him unmasked. (Naughty me.) As it turns out, I actually envisioned him in a greater state of decay than he actually is…and I'm running with that.
· COULD. NOT. RESIST. Just having Sif knock Rhino down and keep going.
· The idea of giving Doom the Universal Weapon was inspired by the fact that he quests for the Twilight Sword in Marvel Ultimate Alliance. And now you see what Loki was comparing Neptune's Trident to in terms of whose love gets you better weapons.
· It also took me way longer than it should have to figure out how to NOT kill Ronan. I felt killing him would be inconsistent with the "everybody lives" nature of my story so far (when I start killing off characters that aren't my OCs, it will be en masse and for purpose), and I might need him later anyway.
· Yes, the last piece is copied and pasted out of the end of the last chapter so you can see the perspectives lined up.
· I apologize for the climactic battle here being formatted almost EXACTLY like the battle at the Prison of the Damned in Olympic Greece (one chapter devoted to villains beating each other up and the following chapter devoted to the heroes getting involved and the final wave of combat). However, if you trust me, there will be some DISTINCT differences.