Courting Death

With his quest for the Ancient One finished and having received a massive magical power-up, Jake teleported himself along with Thor and his new Queen back to Tony's house in Malibu. When they arrived, Jake saw Tony right where he had left him, just hanging out in front of his pool with a Martini in his hand.

The scene of somebody teleporting right in front of Tony would have completely freaked him out just a few days ago, but now he was used to it as he just gave Jake a casual wave when he appeared. "Whoa, Jake, where the hell have you been? You've been gone almost the entire day, man."

"I've been in Death Valley," Jake said dryly.

"Death Valley?" Tony questioned, "Why the hell would you want to go there? It's like over 100° there right now."

"It was 120°," Emma commented.

"Yikes, my point exactly. And who's the babe?" Tony asked. She looked a bit familiar to him. "Wait, I know you. Emma Frost, of Cold Steel Industries right? I heard you went missing over a month ago," Tony said, surprised. Most the business world figured she was dead after so long. Although, everyone thought he was dead after being stranded in a terrorist desert cave for 3 months as well…

"I was kidnapped by an evil supervillain," Emma bitterly responded. "It was a whole thing…" She was still a bit traumatized over it and didn't want to explain.

Tony just gave her an understanding look, remembering his time of being kidnapped by the Ten Rings. "Fair enough, and who are you, Point Break?" he said to Thor jokingly. Thor, of course, did not get the reference and just gave him a confused look before he responded, "I am Thor," he said proudly, "Prince of Asgard and its Future King!"

"Oh, so you're the guy those angels tore up half the city looking for. Were you kidnapped by an evil supervillain too?" Tony asked him.

"Angels?" Thor questioned, confused. "And yes, I was also kidnapped by an evil supervillain, to my shame. Then the villain turned out to be a robot, and vengeance was denied to me! I will have my vengeance one day though, for being forced to eat all those beans!" He declared loudly.

"What? Beans?" Tony looked at Jake and Emma confused. Jake didn't know what beans Thor was talking about. Emma did, but she chose not to comment about it… "And by angels, I'm talking about those five angels that tore up Los Angeles trying to find and kill you, Thor?"

Thor continued to give Tony a puzzled look as he had no idea what the man was talking about. Weren't all the Angels trapped in Heaven by his father? Why would they be out trying to harm him on Midgard of all places?' Thor wondered if this man was touched in the head and just making up stories…

Seeing his expression, Jake just let out a sigh. Jake realized that Thor had been hit by a car and knocked unconscious almost immediately upon coming to Earth. Furthermore, he had already been thrown through the Bifrost before the angels had revealed themselves and attacked everyone back on Asgard. Thor was completely out of the loop… He was going to be really shocked when he found out his people were at war while he was busy in time out on Midgard.

"So, you found Thor," Tony said to Jake, "What are your plans next?" It wasn't that Tony wanted Jake to be on his way or anything like that, he was just used to living the bachelor lifestyle, and having an almost 17-year-old kid crashing with him for the past couple of days was kind of cramping his style a little bit.

"Well, first–"

*grumble*

Jake's stomach growled as he realized hadn't eaten any food all day. "-First, why don't we get some food, and then it's kind of been a long day for me, so I was planning to cash in early. I've actually received quite a massive magical power-up, and I feel like I can get Thor and me back to Asgard now." He was itching to go and check on Serafall as soon as possible as well! He didn't feel safe leaving her body in Asgard if they were currently at war. He'd prefer to bring her back to Earth.

"Food sounds wonderful right now," Thor agreed before he also heard Jake talk about going back to Asgard. "And I would love to go home; Midgard has not been as fun as I remember it used to be…" Thor trailed off before he started mumbling about how people used to worship him as a god and mortal women would throw themselves at him in large numbers. Jake just heard Emma scoff at that.

-----

Jarvis had ordered Chinese food for everyone in large quantities, which Thor was quickly devouring.

"So, Prince Thor," Tony said a bit mockingly, "do you actually have a magic hammer that can control lightning, or was that just a myth the entire time?" He asked the god of thunder.

"Of course, I have a hammer; it's called Mjölnir, and it's literally right here strapped to my hip—" Thor started to say before he paused and looked down. Panic stretched across his face as he realized that his hammer, which had been by his side for over a thousand years, wasn't there! "Oh no, what happened to my hammer!? Where did it go?"

"It's not with you?" Emma questioned curiously. "Didn't Odin throw it through the Bifrost right after you?"

Jake felt bad for Thor losing his hammer, but at the same time, it wasn't really his problem. The only task that Loki had assigned to them was to make sure that he rescued Thor, and he had accomplished that. He never signed up to search the entire planet for a single hammer that could have landed anywhere. For all he knew, it could be at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, never to be seen again…

For the rest of the dinner, Thor just ate with a look of sadness on his face in silence. Emma and Tony were making small talk about the weapons that her family's company, Cold Steel, produces. They mostly made handguns for the civilian market, whereas Stark Industries always focused on the military mostly. Now that Stark Industries had pulled out of the weapons industry, though, Cold Steel had been trying to move in but was being constantly hindered by Justin Hammer and Hammer Tech. Emma seemed pretty bitter that her family's company was being hindered by "that moronic buffoon," as she referred to him. Tony found it hilarious, but he also didn't like Justin Hammer on principle, since he claimed that the man sold faulty equipment knowingly that cost people their lives.

Jake found the two's conversation relatively interesting, but he was pretty tired from the long day he had had, so he decided to call it a night and head up to the guest room to catch some sleep. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out cold.

...

When Jake woke up, it wasn't to the familiar bedroom he had gone to sleep in. He actually wondered if he was still asleep as he took in the scenery. He was standing in a dark black void that was almost the complete opposite of the white void he had been in earlier that day when he was in Emma's mind.

"Hello there, intruder," an eerie voice whispered out behind him. Jake turned around and momentarily froze. Standing behind him was a devastatingly beautiful woman with long black hair, pitch-black eyes, and incredibly pale skin.

Jake gulped upon seeing her. She was even more beautiful than Serafall the first time he ever saw her. He was at least relieved that he hadn't blurted out asking this woman to marry him…

"It wouldn't be my first marriage proposal," the woman commented, shocking Jake.

"Wait," he said, "did you just read my mind?" he asked her. How was that possible? Didn't he just have his mental resistance dramatically upgraded earlier?

The eerie yet gorgeous woman just nodded nonchalantly. "Your mental shields are indeed some of the strongest I've seen, but if you're looking to keep me out of your head, then you have a long way to go. Now, then, intruder, it's time we got on to the business of why I brought you here." She glared at him slightly. For the first time in a while, Jake's instincts flared up and screamed at him not to antagonize this woman, whoever she was. She was powerful!

"What do you mean by intruder? What exactly have I intruded upon?" Jake asked her.

"..."

"...What have you intruded on?" She said with a laugh. "You intruded upon this dimension, you intruded upon my domain, and you intruded upon death itself when you resurrected someone you had slain with your own hand!" She said with a hint of anger.

"Wait," Jake said, "does that mean you're…"

"Indeed, I am Lady Death!" She declared to him.

"Well, shit…"

Jake knew that he was in a bit of trouble now; this wasn't just some random goddess of death, this was death itself… a primordial entity. A being that could probably kick the shit out of Great Red any day of the week… Hell, she could probably just kill that giant lizard with a glare.

"I absolutely could, and I absolutely would if that lizard was ever foolish enough to intrude upon this dimension by forcing his way inside. The only reason I haven't done the same to you is that you had help from two of the Infinity Stones, one of which is now fused to you permanently, now legitimately making you a true resident of this dimension." Lady Death explained to Jake.

"So, I take it you're mad that I brought Emma back to life?" He asked.

She gave him a small glare. "That is correct." Having a soul ripped right from her very grasp…had never happened before. She didn't know whether she should be feeling humiliated or impressed!

"But devils in my dimension revive people all the time with their evil pieces. Why do you care?"

Lady Death just scowled at him. "THIS IS NOT your dimension!—well, I suppose it also is now that the Time Stone has fused to you…" She trailed off contemplatively. "Regardless," she snapped back, "you were not technically a resident of this dimension when you did revive the girl… I would not even have known of your existence here had you not done that."

Jake had heard the Ancient One tell him that the Time and Space Stones had apparently hidden his existence when they helped him arrive in this dimension. Apparently, they weren't able to hide him from this dimension's death though when he basically robbed her of a soul.

"That is correct," Death said as she rudely read his thoughts again.

"So, what is it you want exactly?" Jake asked again. Clearly, she didn't want to smite him because they were talking civilly; she must have needed him for something.

She flinched a bit before glaring at him again. "Don't be so arrogant! I don't NEED anyone's help!" She said haughtily. Jake wondered if that small flinch he saw from her meant that wasn't exactly true.

"Hmmph, fine. You want to know what I want with you?!" She asked, and Jake nodded. "It's not about what I want, it's what I don't want!" She exclaimed with a complete 180 attitude change! Jake was shocked to see some slight tears forming in her eyes. Was Death...crying?

Yes she was…

"Are you okay?" Jake asked kindly. She caught him off guard, going from arrogant and haughty to sniffling in sadness...

"I'm not SAD!" She exclaimed with some tears in her eyes. "I'm overworked! I lost my best assistant 2000 years ago because she went mad with power and got sealed away by her stupid father!" Death exclaimed to Jake, who listened intently. He was now realizing that she was very stressed from overwork. Him bringing someone back from the dead probably just caused more work for her, and Jake wondered if she just wanted someone to vent to… She continued, "Since then, I've been handling almost all the souls of the dead for the whole universe by myself!" She ranted.

That sounded like a lot of work to jake. "Why not get some help?" He asked.

"Because any other helpers I've hired have always been incompetent or tried to take advantage of me!" She exclaimed. Every time she hired someone they immediately thought they were the most special beings ever. They were "chosen" by death herself after all. They all became very entitled and demanded she grant them special powers or true immortality. All she wanted was some employees to help with all her paperwork… She was offering great wages too!

'She handled all the souls for the entire universe by herself? No wonder she was overworked. How many trillions of souls was that?' Jake wondered.

"It's not trillions," she said, to Jake's shock, "it's quadrillions!"

Holy shit... That was a number he had trouble even fathoming. Jake wondered when the last time she had a vacation was…

"And you want to know the worst parts?!" The beautiful woman continued, "There are currently TWO insane assholes out in the universe that are routinely causing full-on genocides of planets or at the very least wiping out half the population every time! They are my greatest annoyance and cause me endless paperwork!" Death cried out. One of them was even trying to court her… When did he even think she would have time to spend with him if he succeeded in killing half the universe!? She'd be swamped in paperwork for that stunt for the next thousand years at least!

"Well, it sounds to me like you need your assistant back," Jake said. "You said she was mad with power or something? Is she fine now? Although, then again, it's been 2000 years since she's been locked away... she might be even more insane at this point." Jake pondered aloud.

Death perked up at that! She did need her assistant back desperately! "I can work with crazy as long as she's still competent! I'll also put some more restrictions on her to stop her from trying to conquer the universe again!"

"Wait, what!?" Jake said, alarmed at hearing Death's assistant wanted to conquer the universe. Eventually, he just shrugged and went with it. His life was weird after all. "Okay, so who is she, and how do I free her?" Jake asked.

"She is the Asgardian goddess of death, Hela. And to free her, you'll have to get assistance from Queen Frigga. Odin is currently in his nap time and won't be able to help you. In fact, this might be the best time to free her because I doubt he'd ever willingly allow it to happen! In his absence, he granted his wife access to all of his magics," Death explained to Jake.

'Odin?' Jake thought to himself. First, the man sealed away Heven, and now he sealed away his own daughter. Is that just his solution to all his problems? Seal them away and hope for the best…

"So do I get a reward for helping you out?" Jake asked somewhat teasingly. He wasn't completely serious, though, because he figured this would make him square with her for reviving Emma anyway. To his surprise, though, she said yes.

"Of course, you'll be rewarded; let no one say that Lady Death doesn't settle her debts. If you free Hela for me, I will grant you a boon. Hell, if you end up killing Thanos or Galactus as well, I'll grant you an even bigger boon!" She said jokingly herself. She didn't quite think Jake was strong enough to be tangling with either of those two yet.

"Alright, I'll do my best," Jake said.

Before Death sent his soul back into his sleeping body, she handed him two sealed letters. One supposedly for Queen Frigga, and the other for Hela. She told him that the queen's letter was basically "free your step-daughter, or your soul might end up lost in a void forever upon your death…" and Helas letter was an order for her to get her act together, or she'd be stripped of her domain/powers and become a goddess of nothing.

-----

Jake woke up early the next morning. He would have thought that whole experience a strange dream if not for the two letters he held clutched in his hands. Just looking at the parchment, they radiated with dark and cold power. He threw them into his inventory space to hand over later once he got to Asgard.

He headed downstairs and saw Thor and Emma sitting in Tony's kitchen. Thor was munching through an entire box of Pop-Tarts. "Jake, good, you are awake!" He bellowed out. "Come, it is time we make for Asgard and see what has occurred in mine absence!"

"At least let him eat some food first," Emma said from the other side of the table. "For all we know, we could be teleporting into a warzone." She elaborated. Thor had a bitter expression on his face at the thought of his home being under siege, but he relented his haste.

Jake plopped himself down at the table and snatched the box of Pop-Tarts out of Thor's hands before shoving one in his mouth. "Good morning, Emma," he said to his beautiful queen.

"Good morning, Jake. Is there something you needed to talk about?"

"Yeah…" he started, "remember when you thought you saw the Grim Reaper or something when I revived you? Well, the funny thing is..." He reveled in the look of horror on Thor and Emma's faces as he explained who he had met up with last night.

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