THE RETURN OF THE LADY LIBERATORS

Part IV

By Curtis Fernlund

Niffleheim…

“Dear Lord…”

Susan Richards looked skyward at the sound of the shrieking winds overhead and shivered to see the black wall of the storm that was descending from on high. Hail ranging the size of baseballs to small boulders had been cascading down for the past few seconds battering her invisible force field with increasing intensity. She had quickly expanded the shield to encompass everyone up to the bogus Enchantress and her guards; not a large field to maintain, but it already felt as though an enraged Hulk was hammering at it, and getting madder.

“What’s Storm doing?” she asked the Scarlet Witch who had paused at her side to look to the skies as well. They had been in the midst of preparing their own assault against Black Bolt and Wonderman but both had sensed the approaching danger of the storm, as had the Mighty Thor. Only the ensorcelled men seemed oblivious, still battering on the Thunder God.

“I have no idea,” Wanda almost yelled over the howling gale as the shield kept the buffeting winds out, but not the noise. “We just have to hope that Ororo does.”

Both women turned at a shrill cry that sounded half agony, half desperation. They saw Crystal on her knees, arms outstretched and grimacing as golden, crackling energy cascaded upwards from her blazing hands. Medusa was hurrying towards her sister, though what she could do beyond offer support neither Susan or Wanda knew. Perhaps that would be enough –

“Release me!”

Both women jumped back warned only by the shout and CRACK of the blow that sent Black Bolt sprawling at their feet. They could see the swell of a darkening bruise on his cheek, no doubt the result of Thor’s hammer, but incredibly the Inhuman monarch was not out. He shook his head and was struggling to rise, still bent on attacking Thor.

Susan saw the Scarlet Witch step forward, her arms stretched before her as she moved. Her leather clad thumbs touched and she saw the pink-hued glow of the mutant Hex appear even as Wanda pressed her fingertips to Black Bolt’s temples.

Schlaf!

Susan Richards blinked as the Hex encompassed Black Bolt’s head, flaring brightly as he jerked once then slumped back to the cold, rocky ground unconscious. She saw Wanda sigh heavily, then take an even deeper breath as she stood.

“What did you do to him?” Susan asked and Wanda glanced back with a quick smile.

“Just put him to sleep,” she replied with a nonchalant shrug. “A simple spell taught me by Agatha Harkness years ago and amplified by my mutant Hex. Just hard to use as I never seem to get that up close and personal in a fight.”

“Very nice, Wanda!” Janet Van Dyne shouted as she flitted close to each woman’s head so her tiny voice could be heard. “And I’ll try to remember to keep you at arm’s length if I ever get mind-controlled, but we’re not out of the woods yet!”

The two Avengers followed where the Wasp pointed and saw the Mighty Thor no longer encumbered with Black Bolt now trading blow for blow with Wonderman. Fist smashed against armor and ionized flesh. Uru stone hammer slammed against indestructible metal shield. Neither Avenger gave ground, though neither seemed to gain either.

“I say again, woman,” Thor bellowed over the raging tempest, slowed but still descending, the women starting to shiver at the encroaching cold enveloping all. “Release me! I must feel the storm!”

The women winced as Thor swung his hammer in a sweeping arch, shouting his rage as he slammed it against the near invincible shield of Captain America. Lightning flared and thunder BOOMED with the impact. Despite the shield’s inherent ability to absorb the force of impact, despite the vaunted ionic empowered strength of Simon Williams, still this was the Mighty Thor! The blow hit the shield squarely dead center in the brilliant white star, the force lifting Wonderman off of his feet and throwing him back to skid and skitter on the rocky ground and butt up at the edge of the Invisible Woman’s shield. Almost immediately though he started to rise unhurt.

“Free me, Susan Richards!” Thor continued to shout now ignoring his opponent and approaching. “This tempest called down from the lands of the Frost Giants threatens the very fabric of Niffleheim! And if left unchecked its fury might sweep across the whole of the Nine Worlds making the powers of the Casket of Ancient Winters* seem a brisk autumn day by comparison!”

* See The Mighty Thor mainstream, issues #345-349

Susan Richards remembered the conflict that Thor was alluding to, when the dark forces of Asgard attacked the Earth in the grip of the worst blizzard that she had ever seen, and in the depths of summer.

“Do it!” she barely heard the Wasp shout as she zipped past her head. “Wanda…” And the Scarlet Witch ran after Janet Van Dyne towards Simon Williams now on his feet and charging forward. The Invisible Woman returned her attention to the Thunderer.

She licked her lips and looked skyward, concentration knitting her brow. Reed had explained to her long ago that with her initial power of invisibility she was able to bend light away from her, reflecting and refracting the many waves of the spectrum thus allowing her body to seemingly go transparent and fade away. It took will to control, and in the beginning it was harrowing as with the absence of light she was blind. Reed had helped her though, training her in her cosmically imbued powers to warp the spectrum in such away that she could ‘see’ the myriad wavelengths, so many far above and below what a normal eye might glean. It had been so beautiful.

And with that sight came the Hyper Realm; a sliver of energy at the very edge of her perception. It was a force that Mister Fantastic tapped into, as her abilities were linked to the vast spectrum, and that energy was suddenly hers to control. Oh, it was hard at first with the pure force of another vast universe at her fingertips, but Reed had been there throughout, and as always was there for her. And years of training had made the once Invisible Girl a force to be reckoned with.

And now Susan tapped that vast power, the potential of that universe subverting it to her will. She could see the tempest in all its glory, a myriad of colors raging against the calm pale of her shield, battering futilely to shatter it. There was a thick coating of ice covering her dome-like field, weighing heavily and increasing in mass with every heartbeat.

She ignored that stress as she concentrated, stretching her hand outwards and gesticulating as she created a hole. Just a pinprick at first but immediately she felt the temperature plummet as an icy wind drilled through. Slowly, cautiously she expanded the hole, widening it as the hailstorm began to smash down on the Thunderer directly below. The small space where he stood soon began to fill with ice and she could see it forming on his shoulders even as he raised his arms to the leaden sky. Was he smiling?

Susan gasped as she saw a flicker of shining red and gold burst from the clouds. It was plummeting at breakneck speed and she only recognized it as the armored form of Iron-Man as it slammed against her force field!

THOOOOM!

Susan staggered with the impact, the thunderous sound deafening as she struggled to retain her hold on her shield. Flecks of gray flitted through her vision as searing pain lanced through her head. She dropped to one knee as sudden perspiration froze, clinging to her cheeks. She saw huge chunks of ice shatter and fall away as the hurtling armored form spun away like a rag doll tossed to the wind by some bored child. She winced as it slammed to the ground, bouncing a number of times before finally crumpling to a heap unmoving far away.

“ENOW!”

The Invisible Woman jumped at the enraged shout as Thor drove the butt of his mystic hammer through the thickening ice, slamming it to the frozen stone beneath thrice in quick succession. She sensed more than felt the sudden depression as the winds seemed to slacken a bit. Just a fraction, but her attention was drawn skyward once again as Storm suddenly appeared in Iron-Man’s wake, plummeting earthward just as swiftly as he. And where he was hopefully protected by a billion-dollar suit of armor, Ororo Monroe’s only cushion was a thin suit of unstable molecules.

Susan bit her lip as again she manipulated her field. She retained the dome’s strength and integrity in full, maintaining the cylinder that Thor might work his godly magicks on the raging fury of the storm, but now she had to adjust and soften another section, hoping to catch the mutant rocketing towards earth. She grimaced as her sight tunneled, concentration twisting her features as she tried to keep her field in whole stable, manipulating the Hyperforce to her will. Hailstone’s ripped through the shield, shattering on the stone as she sought the perfect balance; pliable enough to safely catch Storm uninjured yet strong enough that she would not tear through herself.

“Please…” she whispered even as Thor slammed his hammer to earth again.

Susan gasped as Ororo’s limp form hit the shield with only a little less force than Iron Man. She clenched her fists and closed her eyes as she ‘felt’ the very fabric of the shield, allowing it to stretch and contort, rippling as she adjusted to the mutant’s momentum. She groaned as layer after layer of the field shattered, heavier hailstones ripping through and forcing her to reform the shield in rapid succession. Finally though she felt the Storm’s momentum cease. Her friend was on the ground, though whether she had succeeded she did not know as her concentration returned to the task of thickening the shield as, although lessened, the storm still raged…

Wanda felt the sudden drop in temperature as she skidded to a stop on the icy ground. She could barely see the tiny, flitting form of the Wasp as she zipped about Simon William’s head. Flashes of light erupted about his face as the Wasp’s Sting blasted again and again, though Wanda knew that it was doing little but to distract and probably annoy their fellow Avenger.

But Janet Van Dyne knew full well what she was doing. She knew that she had no chance of taking down one of the Earth’s mightiest mortals. Even before his latest incarnation, Simon had been in a league with Thor and the Hulk as far as strength and invulnerability. Now she knew that he was basically ionic energy given form and personified in the image that had been Simon Williams. His very will and essence held his body together. A body that she had helped to reform after his last apparent ‘death’.*

A body that she would now destroy…

* See Avengers Volume 3 #3, mainstream Marvel

“I’m sorry, Simon,” she whispered raising her arms, stretching as though to grasp her old friend. Pink energy flared again sparking from her fingertips to arch out, expanding and enveloping her fellow Avenger.

Wanda concentrated, her fingers whipping wildly as she appeared to be ripping and rending, directing her Hex. She bit her lip as she saw the sudden worried look of confusion wash over her one time lover’s face and just for a moment he seemed to return, the spell enslaving him broken.

But then fury twisted his features and he started his inexorable stalk forward again, though this time she was the target and not the Thunder God.

Wanda bore down, her thoughts concentrating on the Hex, her eyes staring daggers at her target; her friend. She shivered both from the frigid temperatures and adrenaline, a tremor of fear actually passing through her as Wonderman grew ever closer, step by step.

And then he was before her, towering over her with both fists raised high overhead. Captain America’s shield sparkled queerly in the dazzling glow of her Hex as Wanda gritted her teeth and thrust her hands forward…

Zerstreuen!

Wanda looked up into the shocked, agonized face of Simon Williams and felt her heart break. She could feel his pain as his flesh seemed to melt and fall away, ionic energy blazing though the rifts and cracks, bleeding and beaming at once. She closed her eyes and turned her head away, both from the glare as well as the look of utter hopelessness on his face. She could feel her tears freezing on her cheeks as she clenched her eyelids shut, her thoughts only on her spell enhanced Hex; Disperse repeating, echoing in her mind…

Wanda felt a hand on her shoulder, the voice of Janet Van Dyne softly at her side.

“It had to be done, Wanda,” her old friend said. “It was the only way. He was too strong, and I doubt your Sleep Spell would have worked on him like it did Black Bolt.”

Wanda shook her head wiping frozen tears from her cheeks as she looked to where Wonderman had been. Not a trace remained save for Captain America’s shield lying at her feet. “No, it wouldn’t,” she said as she stooped to pick up the disk. It was lighter than she thought it would be, and she saw that its red-white and blue paint was scarred and scratched from Thor’s assault.

“We’ll just hope that he can reform in time. He’s come back from death before.” Wanda nodded even as Janet shrank down again and fluttered up on her tiny wings. “But we’re not done yet. C’mon!”

The Scarlet Witch looked up and about swiftly scanning the battlefield. The storm seemed to have all but blown out, the mists of the realm starting their lazy swirl once again, the once thick clouds dispersing. She saw Thor standing amidst chunks of shattered ice breathing heavily as he stared skyward. His arms were overhead and outstretched as he seemed to be almost in prayer, M’Jolnir raised high and free of all but a few ragged strands of Spider-Man’s webbing. Black Bolt lay nearby, still thankfully slumbering as was the Black Panther not so far away, and at his side she saw Susan on hands and knees, heaving and vomiting onto the icy rock from the strain of her ordeal.

Turning away she saw Crystal and Medusa hurrying to join her, though the latter was supporting her sister who was staggering along in exhaustion. The Sub-Mariner was still unconscious some ways behind them lying near a rocky outcropping with a dark, ominous gap cleaved into the high stone. Shadows seemed to flit and flutter within the maw and Wanda shuddered, turning away again, her eyes lighting on the limp body of her brother. Even from a distance she could see the blood smeared on his face, probably from a shattered nose. She prayed that Medusa had not killed him, and started towards him until she saw his chest heave. Still alive, thank God, she thought, fighting the urge to run to him still.

In the distance to her right she saw Iron Man, Storm a bit closer both lying unmoving on the ground and looking battered. She had heard the explosion of the Golden Avengers’ impact but had not actually seen either he or Ororo hit. Gazing on them now, she was glad that she had not.

Then she saw movement, a quick flurry of activity as the Black Widow and the Spider-Man leapt and flipped about in a strange ballet of battle. They were moving swiftly, both poetic motion their movements fluid and natural as though born to their abilities. Wanda knew however that it was only the spell of the enchantress that was allowing Natasha to match the Spider’s speed and agility.

During his stint as an active Avenger Wanda had seen that he had an almost sixth sense to react to danger. He was swift and agile, seeming almost triple-jointed at times in the ways that his body contorted, and his reaction time far outstripped that of anyone she knew; faster even than her brother and Steve Rogers himself.

She started forward even as she saw the Wasp join the Widow in her struggles. Honor aside they still had perhaps their greatest fight ahead of them, to face the witch and the two Titans. In her mind’s eye she saw the fleeting images of the last time she faced them, a full contingent of Avengers at her side and they had won, spiriting a befuddled Hercules away to Olympus.* Odd that the Enchantress had been involved in that conflict as well…

* See Avengers Volume 1 #98-100 mainstream for that epic battle

Wanda blinked as she saw Crystal and Medusa pass her by, propelled by the Inhuman’s scarlet tresses. And then Susan Richards was at her side and scooping her up on a plush cushion of invisible force, carrying them along in much the same manner.

“You all right?” Susan asked even as she pointed ahead. Wanda nodded looking forward in time to see Medusa’s living hair ensnare the Spider-Man’s leg in mid-air leaving him dangling high and an easy target for the Black Widow’s Bite and the Wasp’s Sting. Still he thrashed and fought, twisting in angles that were almost too hard to look upon before he finally succumbed to the two-pronged assault. Medusa laid him gently to the ground even as the women gathered.

Another explosion rocked the air however before any of the Lady Liberators could speak. Turning as one towards the light and the sound of the blast they saw Carol Danvers standing alone, Kratos and Bia stalking angrily towards her. Behind them they saw the scarlet haired witch struggling to her feet. Her dress was scorched and in tatters, her fair skin sooty from the explosions but she seemed otherwise unharmed; more angered by Carol’s assault.

“Good lord, Carol,” the Scarlet Witch whispered even as she started moving forward.

“Hurry!” she heard the Wasp shout as the others started moving as well. “If those two get their hands on her they’ll rip her in half!”

Wanda felt Sue’s forcefield behind her again, this time scooping up the Black Widow as well and propelling them forward even faster than before. She grimaced as she saw Carol frantically fumbling with the huge gun in her hands, the two massive Titans almost upon her.

“Hang on, Carol,” she whispered, knowing that they were going to be too late…

“Jesus, fuck!” Carol Danvers shouted as she finally popped the spent shells from the open revolver of the Magnum. She back-peddled frantically, hoping there were no up-jutting rocks behind her as she glanced up at the two towering Titans looming before her.

She swallowed despite her brave front. They were huge, and looked like solid muscle packed tight over more muscle with one more layer thrown in for good measure. On her best day and at full power she had her doubts that she could take out even one of them, let alone two. Hell, she was Ms. Marvel, not She Hulk. Still, she would be damned if she would not try.

Carol Danvers had never backed down from a fight in her life. Not in school; growing up in the Midwest, a military brat always on the move and having to prove herself to her peers. Not in the USAF where she faced the mostly male dominated chauvinistic thinking of her fellows and superiors. And especially as a heroine, she had always faced danger head-on. As Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird, and now Ms. Marvel once again she would never back down!

The one in the blue armor, Kratos… Bia… it didn’t really matter, was upon her, raising his sword to strike even as Carol popped a fresh speed loader into place and snapped the cylinder back into its housing. She was moving even as the Titan started his downward swing, her arm extending as she sighted, her finger easing the trigger back…

BOOM!

Even with her strength enhanced to half of what it was Carol felt the kick and recoil, as the ‘most powerful handgun in the world’ spat a tiny supersonic missile at the Titan’s blue helmeted face in a flash of fire and brimstone. Carol had no idea what the bullet might be as she had picked one from her belt at random, but she hoped for the best. And she knew that as Fury himself had given her the gun and shells that it WAS the best.

Carol Danvers blinked, still moving as the bullet suddenly appeared as though by magic, too fast for the eye to follow, imbedded in the thin space that was the right eye slit in the Titan’s helm. He seemed to pause in mid-swing, startled for a heartbeat, and then the helmet blew apart!

Carol was thrown back, heat and metal shrapnel flying about her as she hit the hard rock with a groan. She slammed hard, the gun clattering away as pain washed through her back and ass. Ears ringing, head pounding she struggled to rise expecting the worst.

She sat up to find the Titan still towering over her. He was swaying however, sword still raised but quivering, his eyes wide with surprise. Giddy with the adrenaline rush Carol almost giggled as images of Daffy Duck flitted through her head. The Titan’s face was singed black, his hair scorched and jutting in every direction. The moment was lost swiftly as the giant blinked and started forward again.

But his sword arm went limp, the weight of the blade dragging it down before he lost his grip. Carol rolled to the side to avoid it, then quickly rolled back again as the Titan teetered and started to fall towards her. Carol yelped as she scrambled to the side just as the hulking giant hit the stone face first with a satisfying THOOM!

“I’ll be damned,” Carol whispered even as she felt the shadow of the other Titan envelope her. She looked up as the huge brown mace swooped down upon her, wincing and bracing for the impact that she knew she would not survive…

Five raid fire heartbeats… Ten and Carol gingerly opened her eyes. She gasped to see Kratos… Bia… whatever struggling with seemingly empty air. His arms strained, muscles bulging as he tried to keep them up, but was slowly failing. And Carol saw the reason why; the Invisible Woman standing a ways behind him, her face tense with effort, sweating.

“A little… help here… please,” she said, her voice straining from her struggles. She saw the Titan’s head thrashing madly from side to side as his arms finally locked down to his sides even as the rest of the Liberators moved in, though what they might do she had no idea. Carol glanced about for her lost gun, hoping she could score lucky again –

SPFLANNNG!

Carol jumped at the sudden noise and glanced back just in time to see the Titan’s head snap forward, M’Jolnir ricocheting away. She followed the hammer’s flight and saw it land back in its owner’s hand, Thor whipping it about with a flourish as he strode forward, grinning.

She looked back as the Titan collapsed to the ground beside her, Susan Richards staggering with relief as the Black Widow reached out to support her. Carol glanced up sheepishly then as the Scarlet Witch and the Wasp stood on either side of her, arms crossed and scowling down.

“That was very brave of you, Carol,” Janet Van Dyne said as she extended a hand to help her to her feet. Carol took the offer and stood, her head pounding as the ground seemed to heave and tilt underfoot. She felt Wanda’s steadying hand on her shoulder.

“And very foolish,” Wanda added, chastising, “and if you ever do such a thing again I will personally kick your ass.” Wanda smirked and Carol chuckled, wincing.

“Yes, mother.”

“Where’s the Enchantress?” Crystal’s voice broke the moment and everyone tensed again frantically looking about. Jesus, Carol thought. Won’t this end?

“She be not the Enchantress, but rather Amora’s younger sibling, Lorelei,” Thor said as he strode among the women gesturing with his hammer towards the slope they had originally descended. “And she appears to be in sound hands for the moment,” Thor said with a chuckle.

“Release me, you bitch!”

The Lady Liberators all laughed with relief to see the witch, Lorelei trapped in the grip of the Valkryor’s spear. The taller, stronger Brunnhilde held the smaller Asgardian off of the ground, her legs kicking and arms pinned by the spear’s stout shaft as she stepped down the rise.

“She was trying to flee,” Axe said with a cocky smirk as she joined the assemblage, “but she is no warrior and I easily caught up to her. She struggled but her magicks of seduction affected me naught. Despite popular belief, I prefer a manly warrior.”

“Undead, bitch!” Lorelei spat. “Seek not to dismiss my magicks! I am more a sorceress than you shall ever be a warrior!”

“Beware!” Thor shouted as all saw Lorelei’s fist crackle with scarlet energy. Lorelei smirked evilly as she raised her fist, the mystical glow growing in brilliance…

And just as swiftly dying.

The sister of the Enchantress stared dumbly at her fist, finally opening it and all saw the small ruby stone lying on her palm. “What…” she whispered, obviously perplexed.

“That will be enough, sister.”

Everyone seemed to start at the sound of a new voice. “Jesus,” Carol said, her heart hammering again as she turned to see two more women striding their way. “Now what?” she said, raising her recovered gun, but Thor waved her off.

“Methinks we are saved another senseless battle,” the Thunderer said as the two women stepped amidst the group.

Both women were beautiful beyond Earthly standards. One tall and blonde dressed in verdant greens; cloak, long, low-cut tunic and high boots. The other adorned in flowing red robes, her raven-black hair piled high on her head and held in check with an elaborate golden crown. Both women cast a contemptuous gaze at the assembled Liberators, then focused their attention on the suddenly cowed Lorelei.

“Milady Liberators,” Thor said, a sweeping gesture indicating the new arrivals. “For those that do not know them, I present Amora the Enchantress and Karnilla, Queen of the Norns.”

The two Asgardian women sniffed and the Enchantress waved away Thor’s pomp foolishness with disdain. “Stay thy blustering ponce, Odinson. I care not for these mortals, but only for my errant, thieving sister.”

“Aye, Thor,” Karnilla added stepping forward and plucking the small stone from Lorelei’s palm. “I have been following this wench for days, ever since I sensed the magicks of this gem employed.” The Norn Queen held up the small stone and it flared briefly radiating a deep scarlet glow before she slipped it into the folds of her robes. “She apparently stole it from my abode when my thoughts were distracted. Of course I followed the stone’s call and arrived in Olympus just as the bitch vanished with the ensorcelled Titans. I caught a glimpse of her scarlet tresses however, and knew whom to add to my quest.”

Amora had her hand on Lorelei’s face, squeezing her cheeks, knowing that her sister was trapped by Axe as neither of their enchantments could affect Odin’s Choosers of the Slain. “Karnilla came to me,” she purred as she squeezed, smirking as her sister squirmed. “And of course I agreed to track down this wayward brat of my sister. There has always been a sibling rivalry between us, and when I learned that she was disguising herself as me, that simply brought it to the fore once again.

“We were but steps behind her the entire way, a wayward sojourn across the face of Midgard, but we learned much and gleaned the truth of her schemes in the wake of her misery.”

SLAP!

Lorelei yelped as the Enchantress slapped her across the face. “You will learn with maturity, sister, that revenge most often leads to ruin. But now…”

Carol tensed as the Enchantress turned to face Thor and the Liberators. The woman smirked.

“If there are no objections, we shall take my sister and the Norn stone and depart.” This last she addressed to Thor, ignoring the mere mortals. “I assure you, she shall be chastised for her effrontery.”

Thor nodded, though Carol noticed he still held his hammer at the ready. “Thou hast my leave, Amora. Axe, release Lorelei.”

Reluctantly they watched as the Valkryor released her grip on the haft of her spear and Lorelei fell to her knees before her sister. She looked up, her blazing red hair obscuring the dark anger on her face as she spat.

“Fucking bitch! You’re dead! All of you!” she snarled, raging. The Enchantress laughed and wiggled her fingers.

“Oh, be silent,” she said mockingly and suddenly her sister was bound with chains; thick shackles on her wrists and ankles, a metal plate lain over her sex and an iron muzzle wrapped about her face. Lorelei raged as more chains encircled her until she finally collapsed under their weight, slumping to the cold stone at her sister’s feet. Amora glanced at the Norn Queen who nodded, and in a pulse of scarlet the trio faded away.

“Well, that was sort of anti-climatic,” Carol said as she glanced at the others. Some smirked while others seemed to sag with relief. Thor stepped forward then, M’Jolnir already swirling in a tight, circular arch.

“See to thy injured,” he said, “whilst I return yon defeated Titans to their rightful home.” The Liberators all backed away as the winds seemed to rise and howl, Thor’s mystic hammer spinning faster and faster. They moved off to see to the men, finally free of Lorelei’s enchantments, and to Storm, the only one of their number to fall in the struggles.

Carol Danvers glanced back as they all moved away, just in time to see a swirling vortex appear at Thor’s command, crackling with electrical energy as it moved to each Titan, enveloping them in turn. It spiraled skyward, oddly not disturbing the mists a lick, and when it had vanished at last, so too had the Titans…

EPILOGUE

“Well… th*s hazz bin a real slizzze of Heav’n.”

Everyone laughed at the staticky, amplified voice of Anthony Stark – except for Black Bolt of course. The Iron Man looked like shit. His armor was cracked and shredded in spots as the incredibly intense cold of the storm had enveloped him, disrupting his computers and actually splitting the armor in spots. He was lying on his back, frozen in place, humiliated and awaiting the trip home.

“We were very lucky, Anthony,” Storm said as she looked down on him. “And we have Susan Richards to thank for our survival.” Ororo Monroe smiled at the Invisible Woman, and Sue smiled in return.

“We were all very lucky,” Prince Namor added, luxuriating in the rain falling on him courtesy of Crystal who had created a small rain cloud over his head. He was recovering his strength, and Carol Danvers once again repressed a fit of giggles as old Warner Brothers cartoons flashed through her head.

“Indeed,” said T’Challa, son of T’Chaka and king of all the Wakandas. He, like Stark, was also incapacitated to a degree, suffering with an injury to his right leg received during the battle of Niffleheim. Janet Van Dyne – who had inflicted that injury with her Wasp’s sting – hovered anxiously nearby, plainly guilt-ridden even though T’Challa bore her no ill will for the action she’d been forced to take whilst her friend was in Lorelei’s thrall.

“If not for the Lady Liberators I dare say Thor would now be dead, or at least enslaved by the Enchantress’ sister,” T’Challa declared, nodding gratefully in Janet’s direction, but to little avail.

“But I am not enslaved,” Thor said, “nor slain. And I thank thee all for thine intervention. But now I have a task set upon me by mine father, Lord Odin himself. Mischievous Loki abides within dark Hela’s realm and I am encumbered with the trial to bring him forth. Would that I could ask thine aid, fair warriors, but ‘tis a matter of family and honor.”

“But one that I shall aid thee in, Thunderer,” Axe announced, brandishing her spear. “Or at the very least, granting thee passage within the realms of the undead and valiant beyond. And I shall stand beside thee, if you will have me.”

“We shall see, fair Axe, First amongst Odin’s Chosen.”

“Oy!” Carol Danvers said. “I hated Shakespeare back in high school, and this is definitely not doing my pounding head any good. Can we please get the hell out of Dodge?”

“Surely, warrior,” Thor said stepping forward and hefting his Uru hammer. “I shall open a portal to Bifrost where Ye all may cross back to Midgard.”

“Not necessary, Thunderer,” Crystal said as she placed a hand on his muscled arm, stopping his momentous swing. “Lockjaw is eager to be off and will take us all back to Earth, none the worse for ware.” Thor smiled, letting his hammer drop to his side.

“Of course.”

He stood beside Axe, the Valkryor and watched as the others clustered about the Inhuman beast. Energy crackled from the huge dog’s antennae as the portals between dimensions opened wide.

“Avengers… Inhumans… Liberators! I salute thee!” he shouted, raising his hammer high. “And I thank thee all!”

Lightning flared and thunder crashed down as the gathered mortals vanished from the Realm of Niffleheim in a swirl of golden energy. The Mighty Thor stared long at the empty place that remained in their wake, remembering other allies long passed.

“And what now, Odinson?” Axe asked, her Spear of Honor held proudly. Thor glanced at her.

“Now, Axe?” he said turning his gaze upon her. “Now we storm the very gates of Hell itself.”

“Then hold but a moment longer, Thunderer,” Axe said as she stepped before the Lord of Storms, “for there is deception.”

The Mighty Thor watched as the Chosen of the Slain stood before the vast, iron gates that barred the very threshold of grim Hela’s dark domain. She held her spear on high, that very spear that the leader of the Valkyrior bears, and in her hands it began to glow. Thor’s eyes widened as the Gates of Hell wavered and vanished… No, not vanished for he saw their shattered remains lying beyond the portal.

“What trickery is this?” he bellowed, stepping beside the Valkyrior.

“Trickery indeed, Odinson,” Axe said as she planted the butt of the spear to the cold, rocky ground. “‘Twas the work of thy half-brother, the foul deed of the Lord of Lies and Trickery that felled yon gates. ‘Twas Loki cast the gates asunder in his anger to reenter the Dark Lady’s Realm, for she didst cast him out! Grim Hela did send me to guard yon portal, and with the powers of mine Odin wrought Spear did create the illusion that the Gates of Hell stood firm.

“Yet I sense that cunning Loki wreaks havoc within, and thine might is needed. And I must let thee pass, and even accompany thee as I fear that not all the slain warriors beyond will be enough to stem the Trickster’s evil machinations.”

Thor eyed the Valkyrior appearing but a waif of a girl before him yet standing proudly. A true warrior, though he knew, as were all of his father’s Chosen Ones.

“Then as I said, fair Axe, be they whole or sundered, ‘tis time to storm the Gates of Hell!”

And as the pair crossed into the Realm of the Dead somewhere in the distance behind, the Son of Odin thought that he heard laughter and jubilation, the voices of reunited friends and comrades that he might never see again…