100 Godslayer

Asgard

Sphere of the Gods

July 2006

Scáthach, Godslayer, Queen of the Land of Shadows, and Witch of Dun Scaith, a warrior that many have heard of regardless of pantheon. A warrior who started out as a simple warrior-queen and eventually came to rule the Land of Shadows due to being the only warrior capable of keeping its inhabitants in line, a warrior who disappeared and was never heard from again.That very same warrior stands before the Valkyries, brandishing her barbed spear in order to defend them from a combatant trained to kill gods and empowered with the stolen Source power of the goddess Frigga, Matriarch of Norse pantheon, and the founder and leader of the Valkyries.

Frigga despises the position she finds herself in. To have to be protected in battle does not sit well with her, despite knowing that her condition only came about due to the enemy's trickery. Regardless, she knows that for her and her Valkyries to survive, they will have to put aside their pride and entrust Scáthach to deal with Lashina. Should Frigga or any other god face her then they risk giving her more power until she eventually becomes unbeatable. Still, that doesn't mean that they will sit out of the battle, they will simply have to find opponents elsewhere, after all Asgard's enemies can be found everywhere in the now destroyed city.

"We will leave Lashina in your capable hands, Queen Scáthach." says Frigga as she and her Valkyries turn and launch themselves at the parademons, hoping that they will find more survivors as they battle through the city.

"So… you're the legendary Scáthach of the Irish pantheon." says Lashina as she circles around Scáthach like a hunter stalking its prey. "I wonder where you were when we tore them limb from limb?" she says in an attempt to provoke her enemy.

While Lashina walks around Scáthach and continues to taunt her, Scáthach refuses to answer and decides to simply inspect her enemy. Her opponent stands at an impressive height of six feet six inches tall, has balck hair tied in a ponytail, blue eyes, and a surprisingly beautiful face for an inhabitant of Apokolips. She wears a full black bodysuit with white lines that accentuates her lithe build. In her hands are two white lashes that she obviously uses as whiplike weapons.

Had Scáthach been anyone else, she would have easily been fooled by Lashina. From her lithe build enhanced by her bodysuit, to her beautiful face, they all serve to hide her truly dangerous nature. One might look at her and believe that she is a warrior that relies on speed and is weak physically, or believe that she isn't as skilled compared to her fellow Furies due to them having mementos from their training; such as scars, burns and even calluses. However, Scáthach reckons that she is perhaps one of the physically strongest and the most skilled out of all the Furies, something that any other would have found out just as Lashina kills them for their wrong judgement.

"What's the matter Scáthach, cat got your tongue?" asks Lashina, bringing Scáthach out of her thoughts.

Instead of answering her, Scáthach launches herself at her foe with a sonic boom and a stab of her spear. Jumping over Scáthach, Lashina easily dodges the attack only to be sent flying from a back kick to the breast which creates a shockwave from the impact. Turning her fall into a backflip, Lashina easily recovers and whips her lash towards Scáthach's face. Tilting her head to the side, Scáthach easily dodges the attack before discreetly inscribing a rune on the weapon even as a drop of blood drips down her cheek from the sharp wind the attack caused.

As Lashina recalls her whip to her, she wraps it around her hand only for it to catch on fire and burn her hand. Naturally this does nothing but inconvenience her, but it still proves to be an ample distraction for Scáthach to close the gap between them and slash the spear towards her foe. Just as it seems that Scáthach will draw first blood, Lashina leaps over the strike, wraps her lash around Scáthach's throat and attempts to strangle her. Seemingly unbothered by the cord around her throat, Scáthach inscribes a set of runes in the air that quickly turn into chains that attempt to wrap themselves around Lashina.

In order to dodge, Lashina is forced to relinquish her hold on Scáthach, and as she dodges with a backflip, a chain rises from the ground where her hands lie and quickly wraps itself around her entire arm. The split second it takes to break the chain costs her as the other chains quickly bind her. In an attempt to free herself, Lashina exerts all of her strength, even making use of the stolen Source power from Frigga. Yet despite her best efforts, the chains remain strong and even seem to tighten the more she struggles.

"Cease your futile struggle." orders Scáthach as she approaches Lashina and places Motherbox on her foe's chest. "You steal this power and have no knowledge on how to make use of it." says Scáthach as Motherbox begins to drain Lashina of her stolen power.

Scáthach had expected a grand battle, or at the very least a long one. Her opponent is not only a New God, but she has also stolen the power of Frigga, the Matriarch of the Norse pantheon. Yet despite possessing all of this power, all she has to show for it is an increase in her speed and strength. At least Steppenwolf showed a budding ability to manipulate reality, even if he did not know how to replicate the feat at will. Truly a disappointment.

As Motherbox drains the last of Lashina's stolen power, a battered and bloody Thor collides with Scáthach and sends her flying back. Recovering quickly, Scáthach lands on her feet and proceeds to slide backwards with the rest of her momentum.

As she comes to a stop, Scáthach inspects Thor and immediately notices that something is wrong. Unlike his usual boisterous and energetic self, Thor seems drained of life and struggling to stand.

"Ugh." groans a lethargic Thor as he slowly rises to his feet. "What trickery is this?!" he demands as loud as he can in his current condition.

With narrowed eyes, Scáthach looks towards Thor's approaching enemies and has her suspicions confirmed, Kalibak and Mantis drained Thor of the Source; and from what she can his condition is worse than Frigga's. At least Frigga still had enough power to fight alongside her Valkyries, whereas Thor does not even seem to be able to stand.

Without voicing her thoughts, Scáthach asks Motherbox how the gods of Apokolips have been able to accomplish this, only for Motherbox to reply that she has no idea. What the gods of Apokolips are doing is not the same as what she does. She drains the Source from the gods, but the gods of Apokolips seem to not only be draining them, but also severing the link to the Source and somehow turning them into mortals. Frigga was lucky that the process was interrupted, allowing her to retain her godhood, albeit making her the weakest goddess currently, but at least she isn't capable of dying. At least not like mortals do. Thor however is now as weak as a mortal and can die like one.

Leaving Thor to recover, Scáthach stands up and places herself between the gods of Apokolips, Kalibak and Mantis.

The last time Scáthach had seen Kalibak, he had been unconscious after Morgan had ripped information on the invasion's purpose straight from his mind before a Boom Tube teleported him to Apokolips. At the time he stood at seven feet nine inches tall, cut a terrifying figure due to his face that resembled a lion more than it did a human. Now though, his visage seems more grotesque due to the scars on his face, no doubt Darkseid's punishment to him for his failure. He still has black hair that surrounds his head and looks very much like a lion's mane that is further accentuated by his golden crown, but now they seem to have a slight glow to them. He wears a sleeveless, green one piece suit that stops at his bulging thighs and easily showcases his bulging, and muscular body. On his feet he wears green boots, and green gloves on his hands but with no Beta Club in sight. His eyes that used to be dull but menacing, now glow making them more intimidating.

As they approach her, she isn't surprised that he doesn't recognise her. After all, he had been knocked out from his session with Morgan.

"Where is Darkseid? I am surprised that he would entrust such an important task to you two dimwits" she taunts in the hopes of making them furious.

"Lord Darkseid's name is not for you to speak it as you please, and he trusts us with plenty of important tasks." proclaims Mantis.

He stands at six feet four inches, possesses a muscular physique, orange eyes that glow with stolen Source energy, and wears a ridiculous green bodysuit to go along with his name.

"Of course. That is why he gave you a method to drain Thor of his power, because he does not trust you to defeat Thor fairly." she answers nonchalantly.

"Lies! I can defeat Thor even if he was fully empowered!" exclaims an offended Mantis while Kalibak grinds his teeth in frustration.

"Prove it." orders Scáthach with narrowed eyes. "Prove that you can defeat Thor fairly and return his power to him." she says.

As Mantis makes to give an answer, Kalibak grabs his jaw and closes it before palming Mantis' mouth. Kalibak knows what she is trying to do, however despite knowing that she wants them to return the power, he finds that he is still very much tempted to do so. While his rational mind tells him that to do so would mean to incur Darkseid's rage, his pride refuses to be stomped on so much.

Before Kalibak can answer, an explosion rocks the city as the golden palace of Asgard is destroyed and a body comes flying out of it. While the body flies through the air, Scáthach manages to catch a glimpse of the figure's face. A wizened and hardened face from experiencing millennia of life with a white beard and hair along with a single eye covered by a golden eyepatch. The figure is none other than Odin himself.

Grabbing the lethargic Thor, Scáthach takes to the sky, easily catches the King of Asgard and immediately notices that something is wrong with him. Like his son Thor, Odin is lethargic and drained of life.

As the King of a pantheon, Odin is a skyfather, the most powerful god in his pantheon. Not only does he possess his own power, but he also receives a boost from being a skyfather, it's what makes them so much more powerful than every other god in their pantheon. It's what allows them to face the second and third most powerful gods in their pantheons and come out of the battle victorious. If someone managed to do this to Odin, then it can only be one person, Darkseid.

Even as Scáthach thinks about the implications of Darkseid's presence here in Asgard, she flies towards the Frigga and her Valkyries while dodging the blasts of energy that Mantis and Kalibak sends her away.

"Queen Frigga!" calls out Scáthach as she approaches the queen of Asgard while she dispatches of what seems to be the last parademons.

Turning to face the quickly approaching Scáthach, Frigga opens her arms for Scáthach to place Odin into while Skadi goes about creating a barrier around the group.

"What happened?" questions Frigga as she examines her husband while Scáthach gently places Thor next to him.

"Their connection to the Source, it is broken." answers Scáthach just as another explosion rocks Asgard and a massive figure slowly emerges from the castle's rubble.

Out of all the beings that Scáthach has ever seen or been in the presence of, this new figure is the most fear inducing. He stands at a height of nine feet tall, possesses red eyes, and grey rocklike skin. He wears a sleeveless cuirass with tassets and a glowing upside down Omega symbol on the chest, a helmet that only covers the back of his head and his chin, and black boots and pants with a belt that possesses another glowing upside down Omega symbol. However, what truly creates his intimidating atmosphere, is the absurd amount of power coming from him in waves. It creates an atmosphere where one wants to bow to him simply because of the heavy pressure it creates.

"This is a disaster." whispers Frigga as she observes the ruler of Apokolips float toward them with his hands crossed behind his back. "He was already powerful before he pilfered the Source from Odin… Now, no one god will be able to defeat him due to the amount Source he has absorbed from the Skyfathers he has slain." explains a horrified Frigga.

"No one? Not even Highfather or Zeus?" asks Skadi as the group watches Darkseid land a few feet away from them.

"Perhaps if Odin were fit enough to aid the two then they may be able to succeed. Now however, it is a lost cause." answers Frigga with a shake of her head.

"Not yet." says Scáthach as she has Motherbox return Frigga's Source power to her. "We may not be able to defeat him ourselves, at least not yet, but we can still retreat to fight another day."

"You wish for us to run?" question Brunhilde with a frown.

"We must, Brunhilde." says Freyja as she places a hand on her friend's shoulder. "If we cannot save Asgard, then at the very least we live another to avenge it." she says, appeasing Brunhilde.

Before the discussion can continue, Darkseid's deep voice can be heard speaking.

"Kalibak, Mantis, bring me their heads." he orders.

With malicious smiles on their faces Kalibak and Mantis make their way towards the group

"I will enjoy making you suffer." says Kalibak in the hopes of gaining some reaction from Scáthach.

Seeing that taunting them will not do anything, Kalibak and Mantis launch themselves at the group, easily breaking through Skadi's barrier before Kalibak plunges his hand through Skadi's chest while Mantis punches towards Scáthach. Grabbing hold of Mantis' fist, Scáthach throws him at Kalibak, sending them both flying far from the Valkyries before she catches Skadi's falling body. Gently placing the wounded goddess next to Thor, Scáthach goes about setting up her own barrier around them before doing battle with Kalibak and Mantis.

"I have an ally currently facing Steppenwolf. As such I cannot leave until she arrives. In the meantime I will face Kalibak and Mantis in order to buy us time." informs Scáthach before she leaves the barrier and races off towards the recovered Mantis and Kalibak while Darkseid watches their battle.

The first clash between the three creates a shockwave as Scáthach blocks the duo's punches with her spear before she follows through with a kick that sends Mantis flying while she tilts her head to dodge another punch from Kalibak. Unfortunately for Scáthach, Kalibak seems to have anticipated this as two beams reminiscent of Darkseid's Omega Beams emerge from his eyes and strike her on the stomach. The pain from the attack is not something that Scáthach is prepared for nor has ever experienced, causing her to scream in agony. Despite this however, she manages to make Kalibak stop with a kick to the chin that sends him a few feet upwards before following through with a spartan kick that sends him hurtling at a recovering Mantis.

While her opponents' bodies crash into each other, Scáthach takes a second to assess the damage done by Kalibak's attack. Despite the recent upgrades to her rune suit, Scáthach finds that it is destroyed in the area of Kalibak's attack. She does not know what sort of effect the beam has, only that it should be avoided as much as possible. Satisfied that no further damage was caused to her, Scáthach launches herself at the recovering New Gods with a sonic boom that shatters the ground beneath her feet.

While Scáthach faces Kalibak and Mantis in a battle that further damages the already destroyed city of Asgard, Freyja and Brunhilde tend to Skadi while Frigga goes about using every piece of magic that she knows in order to improve Odin and Thor's condition.

"Everything will be alright." says Freyja as she closes Skadi's gaping wound in the hopes that she will be able to recover.

"Do not lie to me Freyja. I know that I am due to die soon, I felt my connection to the Source almost sever. At this point it is irreparably damaged and without the Source my body cannot heal." weakly says Skadi.

"We will find a way to repair this." insists Freyja.

While Freyja attempts to console Skadi, Odin stirs awake and attempts to sit up.

"Lay down, you are in no condition to move." she tells him as she pushes him back down.

"Darkseid…" says Odin with a cough.

"We know." answers Frigga with a frown.

"No…" says Odin with a shake of his head and a raspy voice. "Darkseid…destroy the Source Wall." he says, shocking everyone in the barrier.

"He wishes to destroy the Source Wall? Is he mad?! That will destroy this entire Multiverse!" exclaims Brunhilde.

"Destroy the Source Wall… and reshape Multiverse in his image. Must stop him. I have seen the way." says Odin before he begins to speak far too low for the Valkyries and Frigga to understand.

While they at first believe that Odin has gone mad, they quickly realise that he has not and instead is using the very last remnants of his power to do something.

"Stop!" orders an alarmed Frigga. "Using any power will kill you!" she tells him.

Despite this however, Odin continues with his course of action. Just as Frigga commits to knocking him out for his own good, a torrent of power erupts from his being knocking her back as he and Skadi begin to glow white, and as he continues to speak their bodies completely dissolve until only two energy beams remain that rocket out of the barrier and towards Scáthach's battle.

While Odin informed Frigga of what he had found, Scáthach faced off against her foes and was able to kill Mantis after draining him of his stolen power.

As she evades an eye blast from Kalibak, Scáthach plunges her spear into his knee, causing him to roar in pain. Following through with her advantage, Scáthach forms a sword out of runes and stabs it into his solar plexus. As Kalibak attempts to remove the weapon however, Scáthach slices both of his arms off before plunging her hands into his wound before she completely tears his body apart.

As Kalibak's remains fall to the ground, his stolen Source energy rushes from his body and into Scáthach's just as the two white beams of energy that were once Skadi and Odin plunge into her.

At first it seems that they had no effect on her. A few seconds later however, a torrential amount of power erupts from her just as her body is enshrouded in a light so bright that the onlookers are forced to close their eyes. While all those present may not know exactly what is happening, they do know that a Goddess has ascended.