Revamped!
[I just came back from Ant-Man and The Wasp and I need a hug].
Chapter 102: All Together Part Three
Location Unknown, Time Unknown
Sigyn stands her ground in front of the crackling earth. She feels the monster coursing underneath the surface like the blood and magic in her veins. Her fingertips glow with magic as she holds them out, trying to put the reins on it. The eyes of the Serpent Crown on her head glow as the seismic quakes of the ground erupt around her. Sigyn chokes on her breath as her feet lift off the ground. She falls forwards and the Serpent Crown falls from her head and rolls on the ground away from her.
"No!" Sigyn exclaims.
She scurries across the quaking ground for it. She pounces forwards and lands on her stomach, grabbing the Serpent Crown tightly. Sigyn sighs out of relief as her arm extends itself over the cracks of the earth.
"At ease, monster…" Sigyn whispers while panting.
The ground below her calms down and Sigyn rises again. She dusts off her dress as she takes a fresh breath and puts the crown back on her head. Sigyn looks at the world below her and focuses on her magic.
"You're not in control anymore…"
-o-
Upper East Side, New York - 13:25 PM
"James!" Angela exclaims as she chases him down the street, both holding bags of groceries. "You can't just drop a bomb like that and walk away."
"Relax, babe!" James yells back at her. "It wasn't radioactive."
Angela stops walking as she hears James continue to walk ahead, laughing to himself. She crosses her arms as she watches her boyfriend not take his words or her reaction seriously. What bothers her most is that he was acting as if he told her the sky was blue. Angela looks down into her grocery bag and pulls out a lemon. She grips the fruit in her hand before chucking it at James. It hits him directly in the back of his head. James curses as he stumbles forwards, knowing that Angela could've whipped that speedball harder. Angela runs up to him and takes his arm.
"What the hell?!" James asks, rubbing the back of his head.
"Why?" Angela asks. "Why do you want to resign?"
James opens his mouth to answer but what stops him is the trembling ground. Angela and James teeter back and forth, holding themselves up and their groceries. It felt like an earthquake beneath their feet but it didn't feel like it was coming naturally, it felt forced. Once it settles, Angela and James wait for a second one that doesn't come. People around them go back to their daily lives but Angela and James look at each other wary about how artificial that felt (taught to them in the Academy). They gather themselves and act again when they realize that there will be no second earthquake.
"What was that?" James questions a tad sarcastically. "Couldn't hear you over the seismic activity."
Angela glares at him, breathing furiously. James grins as he gives her a quick kiss on the cheek. She opens her mouth to say something but gets cut off by her phone ringing. She goes to answer it and puts it on speaker for her and James when she sees that it's Xavier and Merida from different lines.
Xavier: Did you feel that?
"Yeah," Angela replies. "What was it?"
Merida: I'm not sure but Ivory Gates stopped by at SHIELD. She said that Sigyn came to her and is now coming for us.
"High school me would've been so flattered by that," James says. "Now, I'm scared. She's possibly the one making the earthquakes for whatever reason."
"What else did Ivory say?" Angela asks.
Merida: We have a quinjet coming your way. Apollo and Iqadi are already here with me.
Xavier: I'm heading straight for Emily and Daniel. Could you reach them because I can't get through.
Merida: My calls aren't going through either and I still have a signal. I'm not even getting their voicemails or the dial tone.
"Why would Sigyn harm them?" James asks. "Apollo was the one who banned her from Midgard and now she's just coming back to wreak havoc."
Apollo: I'm not responsible for this!
Merida: Shut up for a minute, I'm on the phone! Ivory said that Sigyn is waking up a monster.
Angela looks up at James. "The earthquake … maybe we're too late."
Merida: Excuse you, have you met our titular team? Of course, we're late so get your asses on the quinjet so we can go to Xavier.
Angela and James look up to see the quinjet just above them. The dock opens and a rope ladder is thrown down. James shrinks and flies up while Angela climbs. Once they're on board, the quinjet starts flying the other way and the two of them are greeted by Iqadi and Apollo. Angela ditches their groceries on the quinjet as she and James start suiting up and getting a full recap on what happened at SHIELD with Ivory and her connection with Sigyn.
"The prophecy is true," Apollo tells them. "The final battle will change everything. Gods and a monster will battle and so on and so forth."
"The prophecy…" James trails off. He's scared to mention the only prophecy he and the others know.
Apollo nods. Everyone else remains silent as the quinjet continues to fly.
Angela turns to look at James. "So, babe, is this your last mission with us?"
Apollo, Merida, and Iqadi all look at James confused as he awkwardly stands in the one spotlight he didn't want to be in. Angela looks at him, finally expecting an answer to what she's been waiting for.
"Are you going to die?" Iqadi asks.
"No!" James exclaims. "No, not at all. I'm just thinking of changing careers or something."
"Hell no!" Merida yells. "I can't be the only one training rookies around here!"
Apollo throws his arm around James and whisks him away from the situation. "I'll talk to him."
They walk away from the girls. James is eternally grateful for Apollo doing that but he doesn't want to have this conversation with him either. He could possibly tell them and the girls would then go after him.
"What are you going to say?" James whispers.
"Nothing," Apollo whispers back, quickly looking over his shoulders to catch a glance at the girls. "Just look at me as if I'm saying something smart and inspirational."
"God, I've missed you."
-o-
Xavier's Apartment - Manhattan - 13:27 PM
After Merida called Xavier to get his ass on the road to Emily and Daniel because of Sigyn, he suited up and even shaved before getting in the car. On the road, following the call with Angela and James, he gets another call coming from his dad. Xavier smiles to himself for a bit before picking up.
"I'm on a mission," Xavier says to him.
Steve: Finally! You left your apartment!
Xavier inhales and narrows his eyes. It was definitely Angela who told their parents that he was giving himself house arrest after his time in Hel with Sigyn.
Steve: What's the mission?
"Word got in that Sigyn is coming after us," Xavier replies. "Apollo says that it's a threat but she's already making her move somewhere and we have to stop her."
Steve: So, you'll stop her although she might harm you?
Xavier realizes how stupid his plan sounds. "That's how our group works."
Steve: Are you sure that you should be on the field after what you just went through in Hel?
"Hey, I can handle Sigyn. She was my girlfriend once." Xavier takes a breath as he taps his fingers on the steering wheel. "All that Hel taught me was that Sigyn is possibly dead and that I should've loved her like I would lose her."
Steve: You talk like an old man more than I do.
Xavier rolls his eyes as he hears his father laughing on the other line.
Steve: Your heart and shield are both the bullseye. Sometimes, you hold the former over the latter when it should be the other way around.
"So I've been told."
Steve: Son, you're missing the big picture.
"What?"
Steve: Sigyn is coming after you and you're doing the same for her, think about that.
His dad ends the call and Xavier sits back. He was too busy loving Sigyn simply because she was out there somewhere. He believed that she was coming back and now she is. Xavier suddenly sits up, feeling lighter as he finally realizes the big factor that was being thrown in his face this whole time: despite Ivory coming off as insane, she said that Sigyn was coming for them which most important means that Sigyn is alive.
Feeling hopeful, Xavier slams on the gas the moment the light turns green.
