Midgard
The Mortal City of New York
The war going on around him and the bullets and artillery rounds whizzing past him are of no concern.
He walks briskly, confidently, fearing nothing except delay. Under normal circumstances he would stop to aid the city's defenders, give them respite from their attackers, but these are normal circumstances. So instead he bows his head under his borrowed mortal cloak and walks a little faster.
He is Balder the Brave and he has been tasked by the King of the Gods to find the mortal called Henry Pym before it is too late.
****The Asgardian Wilds
The Ancient Stronghold of Odin
Here, many leagues South of fallen Asgard where the Destroyer still goes about his bloody business the roads are clear, the grass is green, and the old mountain path teems with all manner of life.
But even here, so far from where so much was fought for and lost, all is not well. The angry clouds and thunder tell part of the tale as they hold back the enemy's airborn attempts at attack, while in the East, through the clouds, the Sun still hangs, unmoving, frozen in place as the gods who's eternal duty it is to mind it worry over other matters.
What little light there is gleams off of the ancient parapets of the fortress and the spear points of its warrior occupants. And far within the mighty walls, beyond the immortal army of defenders and the fortifications they hope will hold is the God of Thunder.
Having only recently arrived with the comatose Tyr in tow the Thunderer is covered in dust and clearly shows the signs of his recent trials, but he can give no thought to rest or relief, not while an invader walks his domain.
Walking quickly after entrusting Tyr to the Warriors Three, the Thunderer arrives in chambers hastily prepared for him and draws an old shroud covering from a wall mounted mirror. The mirror is framed with the finest jewel encrusted gold and bears not a speck of dust. Without a word the Lord of Asgard touches the ancient piece and as he does so it comes to life and reveals two distinct images within. In one image Thor can see Beta Ray Bill and a collection of Warriors, while in the other he sees Queen Sif flanked by the Prince of Power, Hercules. Bill and his fellows hold the Stronghold of the Vili to the West while Sif and hers hold the Stronghold of Ve to the East.
Releived to find each other safe, seperated by necessity and forced to their fortresses of last resort, Thor and his Pantheon now stop running and set out to undo the wrong that has been done upon them.
"We won't keep them waiting Rogue. In the meantime I need you to do whatever you can to keep the pressure on the Skull's forces." Steve says firmly before closing the channel and flipping the radio back to Gambit.
The Captain is all business as he turns first to Bucky Barnes, who nods and heads for the street, and then to the Invisible Woman
"Sue?"
"You don't have to ask Steve" she replies with the sincerity of an old friend offering to help laced with the steely resolve of a soldier ready for battle.
"Good" he says with a nod just as the Winter Soldier pulls up to the team in a comandeered civillian Hummer
"Let's go."
INDEPENDENCE DAY: PART XVI
He cursed.
Hammerhead that is, as Junta, Justice and Spider-Man barged in his hide-out. Bodyguards of the criminal immediately stepped forward but were thrown to the ground by either webbing, a large metal staff or a shield to the face.
Hey Hammerhead, somebody I know wants to talk to you, Junta taunted.
A paragraph?
A single paragraph of narrative? Really?
How're the readers supposed to know what's going on if there's only one damned paragraph of narrative? Sure, there's imagination... but there is a line.
My pistol is in my hand, steadily aimed at a group of enemy soldiers as several agents follow behind me.
"Who puts bombs in the Pentagon, really?" I snarl, waiting for a group of soldiers to burst on the scene. "I mean, the White House is cool, and interesting... but the only people in the Pentagon are a bunch of retired generals."
I glance over my shoulder and see a group of office workers, all in military uniforms hiding behind a desk.
"Sorry."
Now, if this were a videogame, the group of soldiers would burst through a doorway right about --
WHAM!
The doors at the other side of the office burst open, and dozens of AIM soldiers pour into the room.
"Well ain't that a..."
FMAB!
I disappear before their very eyes.
"Oh, boys." I call. "Who wants me first?"
"Get 'im!" One of the soldiers roars.
"Get 'im?" I reply curtly. "What 80's movie did you crawl out of."
My guns slide easily out of their holsters, and one by one I start taking the bastards down.
Hours later the storms remain as violent as ever while the Lord of Asgard walks the parapets of his stronghold and surveys his army's work.
To his right is the messenger God Hermod, recently returned from his tour of the Nine Worlds, relays his report.
"Even Surtur has pledged his aid and already his forces are on the move." Hermod concludes as he and Thor come to halt at the end of a walkway and stop to look out across the troops beyond the wall.
"Truly it is as you said Thor. Friend of Foe, none would refuse a call to war from the Lord of Asgard himself."
The Odinson nods his approval upon hearing these words and is about to speak when a faint explosion in the distance, far beyond the tree lines immediately draws his attention.
"Report!" Thor demands of one of his captains.
"My liege, it is well away from us or the other fortresses. I can only assume that one of our scouting parties has somehow come under attack." The Captain responds crisply and grips his spear a little tighter.
"Go!" Thor then commands of Hermod and the swiftest of the Norse Gods instantly streaks of in the direction of the battle while Thor takes to the air and follows as best he can.
It is only a few tense moments before Thor closes the distance to the scene of battle and drops below the tree line to join the fray.
The clearing before him is snow covered and bare save for the ruined bodies of five warriors, the blood they spilled in combat...and their killer, Lord Ultron.
The now cosmically empowered robot seems to snarl at Thor and holds the struggling Hermod by the throat in his right hand.
"Release him monster!" Thor roars in anger as he hurls mighty Mjolnir at the invader.
The mystic mallet slams into Ultron's head and causes him to drop Hermod who recovers impossibly fast and zips away from his attacker.
Mjolnir returns to Thor's grip and he charges Ultron only to be hit head on by a concentrated force beam that stalls his advance.
A moment later he and Ultron are locked in battle, trading both taunts and blows as Hermod watches silently.
"How are you hear Ultron? I know you did not best the Destroyer!" Thor shouts as he drives Ultron back.
"Its Lord Ultron now Thor. I have assimilated all the knowledge and power of a thousand worlds and all of their technologies, inlcluding teleportation, are at my disposal. You can't stop me, can't hide from me, you and your pantheon might as well roll over nowouaaarrkk!!!"
Ultron has become nigh omnipotent, but still he screams midsentence as a brutal blow from Mjolnir removes his head from his shoulders and causes his body to crumble to the dirt.
"You are nothing but one more dead foe Ultron." Thor says stoically to the smouldering head
"I think not Fleshbag. You can't kill me. I have billions of bodies to choose from, any one of my army can easily become Lord Ultron and you cannot kill them all. All you've done is prove to me that you are still here. Maybe I can't get around your lightning storms or your Destroyer but I can make blind teleports and soon I will narrow your coordinates down, hunt you into a corner, and then teleport my whole army through and put an end to the farce you call Godhood. In the meantime I just wanted you to know that I can come anywhere and anytime. You can't protect your people from me Thor. You can't even protect yourself"
Thor's response comes in the form of a single boot heel crashing down and smashing Ultron's head into so much scrap.
"Now what Thor?" Hermod asks his King as he approaches him "Do we retreat into the mountain? Try to escape detection as long as possible?"
"Nay Hermod" Thor says with a shake of his head "Gods do not hide. We will withdraw our scouts and consolidate our forces at the stronghold. Ultron will find us, of that I am sure, and when he does we will be ready."
"Go, and spread the word, call all warriors to arms and tell them to stay that way."
"Yes milord." Hermod says with a bow before taking off and leaving Thor alone in a clearing full of bodies.
The Thunderer looks upon his fallen warriors faces and look to the sky, to Midgard.
"Make haste Balder. We have little time."
"Nyargh!!!" Steve howls as throws his arms up and tosses back the group of AIM soldiers who had momentarily pinned him to the ground.
Wasting no time, he tears into them, methodically delivering quick and brutal knock out blows as he does so.
Moving to the main office complex of the Pentagon was proving easier said than done. The Skulls forces had managed to split Steve's team up and so far no one had made contact with Rogue.
Steve had expected as much, had hoped otherwise, but he wasn't surprised. He might be referring to his team as Avengers but they weren't Avengers, weren't a unit. Not yet.
Pushing thoughts of his teammates from his mind, Steve redoubles his efforts and the Skull's elite forces prove unable to blunt his advance.
It is not long after that before Steve forces his way through a metal security door and finds himself at his destination.
Quickly he takes stock of his surroundings. This three floor cross section of the Pentagon was littered with the bodies of both attackers and defenders. Alarms blared and the red emergency lights did little to cut through the thick smoke of numerous small fires. No other Avengers have made it here so far. The tell tale fist and finger marks along one wall leading to a hole in that wall and to the remainder of the complex beyond betray Rogue's earlier presence, and the fact that she was locked in battle with someone extremely strong.
Steve did not have time to worry about Rogue however as he heard the machine gun stacatto so familiar to him and had to lunge for cover behind a damaged console.
Peering out from behind the console he quickly located and identified his attacker through the smoke. He was peering over a console with a key card in one hand and a sub machine gun in the other. His face was a mangled mess and clearly he wore no mask.
"You're too late Rogers!" The Red Skull called to his mortal foe while keeping his weapon trained on him "I have already activated and locked the launch systems on the missiles stored beneath this place. In moments this miserable nation and everyone in it will burn in the fire of their own weapons."
"Now tell me Rogers how does defeat feel?"
Captain America's response is to hurl his SHIELD at the Skull while simultaneously rolling to avoid his enemies retaliatory gun shots.
The SHIELD strikes the Skull on the chest and causes him to stumble backwards and drop his gun.
In an instant Steve is upon him.
"Not today Shmidt!" The Sentinel of Liberty declares as he punches the SKull hard "NOT EVER!"
I just hope one of the others stops the launch...
"I already told you Shmidt.." Steve says as he smoothly side steps the Skull's strike and ***** his fist back
"That's not going to happen!"
The straight punch sends the Skull tumbling back through the plane and Steve quickly moves to capitalize only to take a boot to the chin.
The kick is powerful and it sends Steve's head snapping back but he rolls with the blow and turns the momentum right back at the Skull in the form of a spinning punch to the gut.
The Skulls coughs and doubles over as the punch connects and Steve follows up by gripping and twisting the Skull's wrist so that he drops the wrench.
The Skull tries to straighten out but Steve slams him with the flat of his shield and sends him hurtling into the door to the cockpit where he slumps to the ground.
"I'm bringing this plane down Skull." Steve says through gritted teeth as he stares at the Skull "You're going to stand trial for your crimes."
"You've lost."
