Chapter 33- Four Gods in an Afternoon

POV- Nathan Cross

Placing a gentle touch to my lips I could barely restrain the smile that formed. 'One year.'

"Ah, Nathan, you're finally here. Then shall I drag them through? They were just visiting a construction site."

I only nodded, still trapped in my memory, engraving the moment into my mind. While the sorcerer began sorting out the kidnapping of two Asgardians, I pulled out my phone and sent a text.

Hey everyone, my one-year vacation begins today. Ophelia, complete the tasks I left. May, thanks for being so supportive. Wanda, you'll hear it when I get back. I promise to be back as soon as I can. Stay safe.

Tucking away my phone as I listened to Loki's screams of panic, falling repetitively in a constant loop of portal tomfoolery, I made my way over.

"I have been falling for thirty minutes!" Looking at the disgruntled,

Strange looked at him with a genuine look of distaste, probably due to the man's history of being both difficult to kill and a right pain in the ass of deific proportions. "You can handle him from here. Oh, and before I forget, you will have a guest." Gesturing to me as I walked into the entry room they stood in, he introduced, "This is Nathan Cross, a leader of Vaught, the junior Avengers…sort of. They do a lot of covert missions involving high body counts." Thor went to say something, but was interrupted, "You're bringing him with you, simple as that."

Suddenly the two were sent sliding through the portal as if gravity had flipped for them while I strode through. "See ya, Steven."

Stepping through onto the classy plains of Norway, I stood back as the three gods reunited. Listening as Odin praised Loki, telling him that Frigga would have been proud of him. 'I know how much that would have meant to him, after all these years. Frigga and Thor were the only two to ever look past his conjured persona to see the desperate boy, seeking approval.'

Odin talked of Hela, his firstborn whom he raised as a conquering warrior and then imprisoned because she was good at it. Then, only minutes before he dispersed into motes of energy, swirling on the ocean breeze, he left only the vaguest of hints as to how to defeat her. 'The connection between 'Ragnarök is upon us,' and 'she draws her strength from Asgard,' really isn't a great clue for your two moronic sons. Both quick to anger seemingly fate-bound to bad decisions.'

Lightning crackled around Thor's hands while storm clouds rapidly swarmed overhead, turning the beautiful scenery into something dreary. Interrupting what would be one of the most venomous phrases to ever torment the god of mischief, I stepped over. "My condolences for your loss. While I've heard many things about him, he was still your father." Thor took the words with a quick and grunted nod, biting back his words that would no doubt haunt his brother till death. Loki however, understood what I meant instantly, and almost immediately moved to defend him before he looked into my eyes. I was genuinely sympathetic towards him, and in a way, I could even empathise. Wanting your family's approval, no matter how you're treated, feeling abandoned and isolated even in a room filled with those you care for. Perhaps he understood this because he stopped, closing his mouth again.

The silence was broken by a black and green portal that appeared from thin air, bridging the gap between dimensions no doubt. Both Thor and Loki removed their 'mundane' illusions, 'though to be honest, I thought Loki looked rather sharp in the suit,' readying themselves for combat. Through the portal stepped out a tall, pale woman, dressed in a form-fitting combat suit, black, with silver trim. Her hair was a black shaggy mess, yet she looked incredible. Like the epitome of goth mommy come to life.

"So, he's gone," she said with a regal, calm-sounding voice, completely dissonant with being imprisoned for thousands of years. "That's a shame, I would have liked to have seen that." Her smoky eyeshadow drew my attention as her eyes scanned over us lingering for a moment as she assessed us.

"You must be Hela," Thor started, looking nervous. "I'm Thor, son of Odin."

"Really? You don't look like him." I couldn't suppress my laugh as she described the only one of Odin's kids that even remotely looked like him as looking nothing like him. 'Maybe she was being sarcastic? Accents and what I'm assuming were millennia alone probably make distinguishing sarcasm difficult.'

"Perhaps we can come to some sort of arrangement," Loki offered, however, the sneer on her face was clear indication she disapproved.

"You sound like him. And what about you," she said looking my way. "Anything you want to add mortal?"

"Just that I'm wondering whether Thor was the adopted kid out of you three." Loki's smirk was clearly visible before he refocused on his sister. "And you're long-lived, not immortal. Not even ageless." Surprisingly, she didn't seem upset at all, though with women sometimes it was hard to tell. The small smile could be hiding venomous thoughts.

Looking quizzically, she turned back to her brothers, her smile now a smirk. "Kneel."

"I beg your pardon?"

Summoning a rather poorly designed sword made to have a more intimidating look than to be an effective cutting design, she repeated, "I said, kneel…before your queen." I edged closer to the two brothers, knowing Loki would call for the Bifrost. Thor in his arrogance, immediately denied her.

"I don't think so," he said stepping forward, only to throw Mjolnir at the one who originally carried the tool. The god was aghast however when she caught it in her open palm, her grasp cracking and crumbling the Uru metal that made up its mass. Combing her hands over her hair, the inky black lengths formed a helm similar in appearance to antlers, if the antlers were blackened blades.

"No, I definitely prefer the hair down," I muttered, watching as she conjured another blade and sauntered towards us, hips dancing. Loki's next step, foolish as it was, was probably the only thing that kept the two brothers alive.

Looking up to the sky, he called out, "Bring us back!" His words were answered in an instant as rainbow lights covered the three of us. Wrapping a kagune tail around Loki's leg, I felt Hela fly past me, overlooking the mortal. Or perhaps having chosen not to kill me instead, it was hard to tell.

With a kick, Hela sent Loki flying through the broken Bifrost, dragging me along as I held my breath. While I could regenerate, I didn't want to test my regenerative capabilities right now. The goddess of death reached for me when she noticed the kagune connected the two of us, however because of her inertia, travelling upwards, she was unable to reach me in time, letting me fall through space with Loki in a rush of both intense heat and freezing cold.

Luckily, the two of us only flew for a short time, being sucked through a giant space vortex that deposited us over Sakaar's junkyard. 500 feet above it roughly, leaving us to fall onto the scraps of metal and leftover ships. Pulling Loki in closer, I held him in my grip, expanding all four kagune to act as an impact absorber or shock spring. It worked incredibly well and combined with my durability, meant I only broke a few bones on my leg, rather than becoming paste on the floor.

The bones mended in less than a second and I stood up, dusting off the dust and god knows what else that we landed in.

"Where are we? And what are you?"

"Not sure," I lied. "And I'm a ghoul…due to a mutation. I eat people instead of regular human food."

"….Oh."

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in eating you. Now let's get out of here." A whirring sound came from above, obscured by all the other noise caused by falling debris and a heavy, electrified net shot from a ship. Loki being Loki, pushed me towards it, but my kagune held the net off my body, dispersing however when the torrent of electricity went through the net and into the kagune, breaking the link between me and the blood-formed tentacles. The attacking ship descended, releasing a batch of 5 homeless-looking aliens with looks similar to a praying mantis. Reforming the kagune, I threw batches of my needles at them, killing the squad with relative ease.

The mantises weren't the only slave finders who had spotted us though and when Loki vanished, turning invisible, I knew that he was escaping to live as a citizen, schmoozing up to the Grandmaster. Two ships were shot from the sky, killing the estimated 30-40 slavers, before the ship that had 'saved' me, landed, revealing the drunkard Valkyrie.

Bottle in hand, she staggered down the ramp, her free hand reaching into a pocket for an obedience disk. I'd retracted my kagune, hoping to keep them as a surprise, which would allow me to test my hand-to-hand skills against a physically powerful opponent. Ducking the flying disk she flicked at me, I moved in, dodging the first two punches before placing a foot into her knee, forcing her to a kneeling position where I promptly met her face with my elbow. Unfortunately, she was really fucking strong and the elbow did little more than turn her head sideways.

People underestimate the strength difference between Thor and Captain America, and it was never more visible than here. While she wasn't as strong or tough as Thor, she would clown Steve in seconds, due to her strength and skill, which bested Thor originally.

She rolled into my legs, performing a mix between a judo throw and a football tackle, forcing me to the ground, however, the position freed me to conjure needle knives and stab them into her shoulders to prevent movement. She noticed late, only managing to limit the blow as she flipped off and over me.  I flung the new needles when I felt something hit my leg. 'Goddam it.' A coursing pain shot through me, dispersing the knives as what was a combination of high voltage and neurotoxins worked their way through my body leaving me paralysed, though not entirely unconscious.

"Fuckin' hell that hurt," I heard her say, spraying something over her wounds. She then walked over to get a better look at me. "Pretty too. I wonder if you'll be a fighter or a pleasure slave." She grabbed my wrist, dragging me to the ship as she picked up what little remained of her bottle from the floor. "Whichever pays better I guess."

I gained control fairly early into the flight, probably due to my body flushing out the toxin and repairing the nerves and muscles after the electric burns. Unlike Thor, however, I wasn't too annoyed. For one, I could just cut off that section of my leg and heal it, and secondly, my planet wasn't being overtaken by a hot goth chick. 'Unless Ophelia's gone mad.'

"So, an Asgardian?" I ask, tired of the awkward silence.

She looked a little surprised but nodded. "I was…a long time ago."

"Well, you don't look a day over 25, so whatever your skincare routine is, keep it up." She snorted, shaking her head.

"You're not going to seduce your way out of this, handsome."

"Drat, you've seen through my plans," I laugh. "Almost worked on Hela though." The ship suddenly jerked as she lost control, thankfully not hitting anything. "Odin's dead…as of 15-25 minutes ago, and Hela is now on Asgard." The poor girl cringed and sighed.

"So Asgard is lost."

"For now. My acquaintance that everyone missed and who escaped is Loki, and Thor should be arriving in a few weeks. If you collect him, bring him to the Grandmaster we can leave and save the Asgardians from their new queen…If you wanted to of course." Her eyes still held panic, but there was a determination that briefly flickered deep within. She didn't answer me, but I knew that once Thor arrived, she would feel more inclined to join us in the rescue of Asgard.

"Well then, let's go make me a slave. And I'm not being a damn pleasure slave."