Godhood

Asgard

Sphere of the Gods

July 2006

Power, it can come in many forms. Political, social, or even martial just to name a few. It is something that many actively seek to acquire while those who already have it simply seek to gain more. Some are born into it while others simply gain it someway during their lifetime and some never even come close to having it; Scáthach is of the former category. Born into the ruling family of a Kingdom, she did not earn her political or social power like she did her martial one. As such, she believed that she knew what it meant like to have power. After all, when one can slay gods and monsters, are they not powerful in the martial way. She can bend the elements to her will, move many times faster than the speed of sound, lift many tons with ease and even bend reality to her will with simple runes; being able to accomplish all of this, one can understand why she believed she knew what it meant to be powerful. However, today she is proven wrong.

When she had first killed Mantis and a portion of Thor's stolen Source power had entered her being, she did not know what to expect but continued to battle Kalibak regardless. Then she had ripped Kalibak appart with her bare hands and his portion of Thor's stolen Source power had also entered her. At first she felt nothing had changed about her, then she felt something snap within her before two more beams of divine power entered her being and she completely lost control of what was going on.

The first feeling that Scáthach recognises from Ambrosius' description of his ascension is the sense of uncontrollable power growing from within her. It starts out small, but quickly becomes overwhelming to the point that she believes that releasing it is the only way to stop it from tearing her apart, and that is exactly what Scáthach does.

From her being, erupts a torrential amount of power while her body is enshrouded in a light so bright that all onlookers are forced to avert their eyes. Despite already being so bright that it is blinding, the light continues to grow and so does the power to the point that a pressure falls on the city of Asgard simply from her power output. Along with the pressure, come a drop in temperature that is barely noticeable at first. As the seconds go by however, the slight cold becomes chilling and Asgard slowly begins to freeze over.

Just as Frigga and her Valkyries believe that they will die due to Scáthach freezing them along with Asgard, it all stops abruptly. The pressure from her power output lifts, the blinding light disappears, and the freezing temperatures return to normal. With everything returning to normal, Frigga and the Valkyries turn to face Scáthach and are a bit surprised that she has not changed much.

The first change that they notice is that she now stands at around six feet two inches with her heels. Her previously magenta hair has tints of ice blue in them similar to how her previously red eyes have an icy blue tint to them that glows.

The most noticeable change to Scáthach however, are her clothes that honestly have not changed much. While she has the same skin tight rune suit on her body, she now wears armor over it. On her chest is a cuirass that accentuates her breasts and leaves the stomach open making the rune suit under visible and pauldrons on her shoulders. She wears tassets around her hips that reach down to her upper thigh, the previously short cloth that stopped at her lower but now reaches down to her ankle, making it seem as if she wears a cape. Her armored heels that reached only up to her ankles now reach as high as her knee while she also wears armored gauntlets that reach just below her elbow. On her back she wears a cape that reaches to her lower back while a veil covers the back of her hair.

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While the Asgardians inspect her armor, Scáthach also examines the changes her godhood has brought her. While she may have been able to bend the elements to her will, Scáthach never truly understood the intimate connection that Azula and Ambrosius shared with their respective domains such as the sea, wind and storms. Now however, she completely understands. She can feel the ice, snow, and winter just reaching out to her like overexcited children begging to be played with. She can feel their want for her to use them, to unleash them in a storm of hail and snow to wreak havoc on the world. She can also feel a connection to all wildlife and hunters regardless of species. As she prepares to immerse herself in the feeling, she remembers her current situation and the looming threat of Darkseid standing not far from her.

"Impressive mortal, or should I say goddess?" speaks the tyrant with his deep and gravelly voice. "You have earned a modicum of respect from me. Unfortunately for you, that will not save you from your fate. Bow to Darkseid…" he orders as Scáthach turns to face him. "...or perish." he says as his eyes glow red with the power of his omega beam.

Rather than answer using words, Scáthach simply summons her Gae Bolg to her as the temperature begins to rapidly drop.

"Very well." answers Darkseid as his omega beam launches from his eyes and zigzaggs towards Scáthach.

Instead of attempting to dodge the beam like Darkseid and the Valkyries expected, Scáthach simply stands there and lets herself be hit by the attack. Instead of being vaporized or erased however, Scáthach's body shatters into millions of pieces of ice in a similar fashion to glass before she reappears in the air before Darseid's face with her spear poised to attack him.

As Darkseid attempts to dodge, his body becomes enclosed in ice that takes him a fraction of a second to shatter. Unfortunately for Darkseid however, that fraction of a second costs him as Scáthach plunges her spear into his right eye before repeating the same action to his left eye with a spear of ice that shatters and freezes that side of his face upon making contact.

With a howl of pain, Darkseid punches Scáthach only for her to somersault in the air to avoid the attack. As she falls to the ground, Motherbox summons a Boom Tube behind Darkseid that Scáthach attempts to send him to by kicking him hard enough to create a shockwave upon impact.

Rather than completely falling into the Boom Tube however, Darkseid manages to regain enough of his footing to stop himself midway. As he begins to climb out of it however, a massive bolt of lightning strikes him in the chest while Scáthach punches him hard enough to crater the ground with the shockwave of the impact. Disoriented, off-balance, and unprepared for the consecutive strikes, Darkseid falls into the Boom Tube and it closes behind him.

With Darkseid gone, Scáthach turns to the direction from where the lightning bolt came from to see Azula slowly approaching her from the sky.

" I do believe that congratulations are in order." says Azula with a smile on her face as she floats down to the ground.

"Thank you." answers Scáthach with a small smile of her own.

"So, where did you send him?" asks Azula as she looks over Scáthach's shoulder where the Boom Tube was once opened.

"The Source Wall." answers Scáthach as she notices the Valkyries approach her with Frigga carrying an unconscious and sickly Thor.

"You did what?!" exclaims Brunhilde. "You led him straight to his goal!" she tells Scáthach.

"No." rebukes Scáthach with a shake of her head. "Right now he is not powerful enough to destroy the Source Wall." she explains, appeasing Brunhilde.

As the Valkyries reach the duo, they find themselves unable to properly address Scáthach. Skadi was a good friend of them all, so to know that she is now a part of Scáthach brings them feel uncertain how to address the newly ascended goddess. While they have no negative feelings towards the new goddess and only feel good will towards her, they still do not know whether to address her familiarly or as an acquaintance whom they feel has the potential to be their friend. Despite all of these complications however, Freyja has one question on her mind for Scáthach.

"Why did you not kill him when you had the chance?" she asks while Brunhilde nods in agreement.

"The only way to kill him would have been through a prolonged battle and doing so would be risking having him absorb our power." answers Scáthach.

"He was blinded." points out Brunhilde.

"And that means nothing." answers Frigga. "Darkseid would have easily adapted in a few more seconds, making it an inconvenience at best." she explains.

"We can continue the conversation later. Right now we have to return to the Amazons and deliver the grim news." says Azula as she begins to float.

"Will you come with us?" asks Scáthach.

Freyja and Brunhilde look at Frigga questioningly while the remaining goddess of Asgard sadly looks at her destroyed home. This place that used to be her home and used to be where she and her Valkyries trained, ate and slept in is now in ruins while her family is dead. Now, all that remains of her people are her, Freyja and Brunhilde, and while Thor is still alive right now, Frigga is not delusional enough to believe that he will not succumb to his injuries and his broken connection to the Source.

Despite this however, Frigga still feels hope. Even though her husband sacrificed himself and Skadi to empower a stranger, Frigga believes that this stranger may be the key to her and her two remaining Valkyries' salvation. For as long as Frigga has known Odin, she has never known him to commit to an action without proper cause. As such she is sure that the key to defeating Darkseid lies with Scáthach and whatever group she and the newcomer Azula are part of. It is with this in mind that Frigga decides to follow Scáthach. Should this prove to be the correct decision to her and her friends' survival, she will not mind going along with her or even becoming her subordinate if necessary. Should it prove to be the wrong decision and Darkseid succeeds in his goal, none of them will be alive for them to regret it.

"We are in your hands." answers Frigga, prompting Scáthach to smile as she levitates her, Freyja and Brunhilde to fly along with her and Azula.

With a sonic boom the group flies away from Asgard and back to the ruins of Egypt where Isis still mourns the death of her husband and her son. As the group approaches the grieving goddess, Frigga cannot help but sympathise with her fellow widow. In a single day she has lost most of her people, her husband, and soon her son.

"Isis." calls out Azula gently. "We must go. The Amazons of Bana-Mighdall need a leader and we must prepare for Darkseid." she tells an unresponsive Isis.

At first it seems that Azula's words fall on deaf ears, a few seconds later however, life seems to return to Isis' eyes as the goddess rises to her feet.

"You're right." says Isis as she wipes the tears from her eyes. "I have to be strong for my people. I can grieve after we remove Darkseid's head from his shoulders." she claims as she venomously spits out Darkseid's name.

With resolve and strength in her steps, Isis approaches the group before teleporting them back to Bana-Mighdall where the Amazons of both the Injustice Earth and Bana-Mighdall await them.

As the group appears in the middle of the Amazonian camp, an excited Akila approaches them to congratulate them on their victory. As she gets closer however, she notices the dried tear stains on Isis' cheeks along with the bruised and battered Valkyries. Realising what they meant, Akila slows down her approach before enveloping Isis in a hug and attempting to reassure her friend that all will be well.

Not far from them, Artemis sees the interaction and cannot help but punch her fist through a wall as she silently swears vengeance against Darkseid and all the inhabitants of Apokolips. The other Amazons also notice the interaction and fall into a somber silence as they too vow vengeance on Apokolips and its gods.

"What will we do now?" questions one Amazon of Bana-Mighdall as she voices the thoughts of her fellow sisters.

Untangling herself from Akila's arms, Isis approaches her Amazons in order to address them.

"I do not know where we will go, at least not yet. All I know is that I want Darkseid and every god of Apokolips' head on a platter. As of now the Egyptian pantheon is no more and you may go about your way if you wish you may leave, but I would be honored if you remained with me, not as my subordinates but as my sisters." she tells them.

Despite putting a strong front and offering them the chance to leave, Isis hopes in her heart that they will stay with her despite her suicidal wish to kill Darkseid. They are all she has left after all.

"I will stay." say Artemis and Akila simultaneously, causing Isis to lightly smile in happiness.

Not long after however, all of the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall loudly voice out their decision to remain with her as her sisters, bringing tears of joy to her face.

"What of you?" asks Azula towards the Amazons of the Injustice Earth.

Rather than answer her however, the Amazons turn to look at Nubia questioningly. Although surprised by their unanimous decision to make her their leader, Nubia graciously accepts before turning to Azula and answering without hesitation.

"We would be honored to follow you if you would have us." she tells Azula.

Not completely surprised by Nubia's decision, Azula simply smirks before accepting them.

Having dealt with the immediate situation, Isis goes about healing all of the injured Amazons before Scáthach inscribes a set of runes in the air that turns into a portal leading to Avalon Hill that the group goes through.

In seconds they appear in one of the Castle's courtyard where they find Ambrosius speaking with none other than Lady Shiva. With the group's appearance, Lady Shiva and Ambrosius cease their conversation in favor of approaching Azula and Scáthach.

"You two certainly had an eventful past few days." he tells them as he walks towards them with Lady Shiva following a step behind him.

"Well, from what we can tell, your's was not any better." says Azula as she looks around the courtyard where pieces of advanced, non-earthly technology can be found.

"What can I say, with you two gone it seemed that Earth lost two more powerhouses, making it the perfect time for an attack. Or at least that's what Brainiac believed." answers Ambrosius with a shrug.

"Did he assault the castle?" asks Azula as she points to the broken pieces of robots.

"No. These are salvaged pieces from the battle. Although he did try." replies Ambrosius.

"And what of his mothership and everything inside?" asks Scáthach.

"In a pocket dimension. I have not gone through it yet since I have been waiting for you to do so. You're certainly better at technology than me." he says, making her smile. "Now why don't we get your guest settled before you fill me in on your adventure and why you two suddenly have an army following you." he says as he looks towards the army of Amazons along with the goddesses that stand behind them.

Before they can answer, Lady Shiva interjects.

"You still haven't told me what to do with Sportsmaster. He's been destroying our safe houses while looking for his daughter, Jade." she says.

"Capture him and send him to interpole. They have been attempting to capture him for two years now." answers Ambrosius.

"And his daughter?" asks Lady Shiva.

"She can remain in the League as long as she wishes and follows the rules." he answers.

Giving him a nod, Lady Shiva slightly bows before disappearing before everybody's eyes. With a raised eyebrow, Azula asks him what that was all about, to which he simply says later before they go about altering the castle's size to fit the new residents.