The sun had set; the ritual complete... and the massive, leather-clad woman surveyed the scene, looking around, nodding slowly. "Lets see now. The angel, I know. Imperious. The man in silver... the new guy, Arakiel."

She turned to the three golden-armored women, the massive armored man, and the slender six-limbed figure... who seemed to be wearing some sort of skin-tight armor. Or possibly to be a bug person.. and frowned. "Obviously, I know Odin and his Valkyries. Not you, though. Still. Odin. You probably know who I am."

Odin laughed, and nodded, stepping forward. "Of course, of course. The mighty Valkyrie. Pinkerton's Doom. The Titan of fury, the Amazon Juggernaut, and the bad-ass bitch of the midwest. You know, I think you're the reason they kept Lightning stationed out in this part of the country, for all the good it would do them."

Valkyrie chuckled. "An amusing string of titles compared to the Allfather, the Titanslayer, the Archmage...I wonder who is more feared, between the two of us? But then..." She looked around. Aside from the man beside her, all of the gathering appeared to be wary; ready to fight her, or, more likely, flee at the drop of a hat. "I suspect that might be evident. Still. I'd like to have a word, in private, if you wouldn't mind. I have a favor I'd like to ask of you, and am willing to offer one in return."

"Well. I need to stay here for now, while the ritual persists. It's fairly active at present... and my efforts might be needed."

Suddenly, a bright flash; a few seconds later, a thundercrack. Another. A third. The dark sky seemed suddenly lit up with a lightning storm of epic proportions.

Valkyrie and the man both watched the storm... there hadn't even been clouds there moments before; she frowned. "..What the hell is that? Storm summoning of some sort?"

The slender, insectoid-looking man stepped forward. "A fairly complex ritual, fed by the blood of those it kills, to generate just the right conditions in the air... to both deepen the trench each time it's activated, and to call down a lightning bolt, killing both the crab that triggered it, and anyone else nearby. Unfortunately, it might also kill any people foolish enough to try crossing it; but there's radio warnings, Lightning and Terminal posted signs... still. A several hundred mile span of, effectively, the deadliest electric fence you've ever imagined."

She nodded. "Hmm. Interesting. Useful. I suppose that would serve as a good barrier to incoming swarms." She turned to Imperious. "Can you and the new guy back off for a bit, let me talk to the Allfather and his people? Nothing personal against you.... but I don't trust you, your bosses, or any of those folk."

Imperious slid her hand down to her flail. Using it against Valkyrie would be useless, except that she could keep the woman blind, unable to strike effectively. But..."...Fine. Come on. We can watch the lightning from up there." She extended a hand to Arakiel... who, after a moment's hesitation, followed, alighting atop the cliff beside the angel.

***

Imperious sat back on the cliff, looking out at the ocean; and the random flashes of lightning in the distance. The boom of thunder. It kept happening; it was rare to see even ten seconds pass without a lightning strike at this point. There was a light rain starting, and the strange almost strobe effect of the barrage of lightning cast a strange light over the landscape as Arakiel settled down beside her, watching the group in the distance.

He glanced at her. "What do you think this is about? Honestly I don't think I ever heard of Valkyrie meeting any of the Olympians. Is Odin one of them?"

She glanced over at the group. "Loki and I are sharing perceptions of it. If its something that influences the country as a whole, I'll report it back in... but honestly, I don't think its going to be. Apparently its a family matter; she's looking to Odin for advice on someone to help raise a super-powered kid who is becoming a spoiled brat."

Arakiel blinked... and took off the helmet, setting it on the stone beside them. "That's.... crazy. Who would go to Odin for parenting advice?"

She glanced back at him. "Some of Odin's children... all adopted, he apparently became infertile when he gained his powers... have grown to become great heroes. Some saved millions of lives. Others changed the course of nations. Not the worst one to come to for advice. Loki would be more of a mixed bag. Tons of kids, most of whom turned into mischevious little scamps or adventurers and ended up leaving earth at some point."

"What's with the bug-like form?"

"Ahhh. A Battle-form. I can't get heavier or lighter, but if I wanted, I could condense myself down, make myself thinner, make something like that... a diamond-hard outer shell. In most of the stories, he's wielding four spears at once, each of which has some sort of ranged magical attack built into it, and just... well. Not most of the stories. For some reason, most of the stories involve him and his adopted brother dressing up like women and playing just absolutely terrible pranks on people. I don't know if its true, but supposedly, before he died, Loki and Thor did one where they pranked some king, and Loki pranked Thor at the same time. I always wanted to hear those stories from the horses mouth, as it were." She chuckled.

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"I think the biggest of his kids was this over 1000-pound monster of a shifter named Sleipnir, who played along with his dad for an epic prank. The story goes, Sleipnir pretended to just be a giant eight-legged horse for years, managed to evade suspicion for several battles... but was constantly playing little pranks on Odin when he was asleep or busy. Odin had this pouch that could hold a whole inn's worth of goods; he gave Thor and Loki their own, as well; and every time Odin got home, he emptied it out and left it at the threshold. Those things aren't allowed in Valhalla, for some reason."

"Anyways! I'm not sure how true it is, but supposedly, Sleipnir pretended to be Odin while he was passed out drunk, slept with a couple of extremely willing local girls, slipped them into that pouch while they slept... and Odin slid them out, unknowing, in front of Freya."

Arakiel laughed. "That.... Hell, did Odin kill him? What did he do?"

"At first, there was confusion. Freya kicked Odin's ass. Then apparently realized what happened, and kicked Sleipnir's ass. No clue what happened from there."

"...We need to ask. You know, I never really read up on the Norse gods, just the Greek ones. These guys just sound more... fun."

Imperious watched the group on the shoreline by the rune, frowning. "I suppose so. Hopefully we aren't about to lose one. Someone as strong as Valkyrie, and with Loki around... he might do something stupid to exactly the wrong person."

***

"So, that's about it. I just don't have it in me to beat the boy the way he needs in order to get him into the right shape, and I need someone he can respect to help deal with this. I'm willing to help you make some neutronium, kill someone, whatever. Obviously I'm in to help with Ragnarok regardless. But... my parents were good, working folk, and I still turned out like this. The lord knows how Butch could turn out without a strong hand."

Odin had long since put the hammer away; a weapon that, while unlikely to hurt her, might have been able to toss her miles away; or even into orbit, with magical assistance; and driven the spear into the ground, leaning against it.

"I understand. Honestly, if you'd come to me after Ragnarok was over, I'd be willing to take him in myself. Assuming, of course, we'd won. In the meantime, I'm constantly running around making preparations...Who does he respect? What would make him actually listen?"

"Deadly people, really. He respects the strongest, deadliest people out there, ones who can handle him in a fight, who've proven themselves."

After a moment, the six-armed form of Loki stepped up, and put a hand on Odin's shoulder. The insectoid form was gone, back to the oddly-proportioned, inhuman face it had worn previously over the robed form; which now seemed to have become a dark blue in color. "Not all of us are so busy, and the last of my children has gone out on their own, years ago. I certainly wouldn't mind taking him under my wing for a while. Show him a few threats of a scale beyond his imagining. Perhaps even beat him around a bit if I need to prove myself."

Valkyrie stared down at Loki for a few seconds, and blinked. "...I mean.... he has heard of you. If it were your brother, Thor, I'd think he'd jump at the idea."

"Hmph. It's amusing how the one who died in battle is still the one seen to be a better warrior."

Odin clapped Loki on the shoulder. "We both know that in an honest fight, he'd have beaten you. But that there'd never have been such a thing. If the two of you ever truly had to fight... well. If it had been you to kill him, and not the Jotun, I'd hate having to put you down."

Loki smiled. "Just how strong is he? Can he pick up a car? A building? Bulletproof? Invulnerable?"

Valkyrie shrugged. "Stronger than a dozen men. Able to pick up a car and carry it, though it tires him quickly."

"How about we do it a bit differently. Arrange a fight between us. When he loses, tell him you're asking me to teach him how to fight. We'll take a trip to Valhalla, he can meet some of the greatest masters of warfare the world has ever known."

"...Fine. Don't kill him. And make sure its an impressive showing, not just a trick. If you do kill him... I might not be able to find you, but I will destroy everything you've ever known or cared about."

***

When Valkyrie and Loki had left, Imperious fell asleep, leaning against Arakiel's side. He could hear her snoring, faintly, as he watched the constant storm... though it seemed to be dying down. There must have been an initial surge... and then the crabs had slowed down. Still. There would be a horrible mess of dead crabs and shattered bits of shell and meat all down the coastline come morning... the smell would be horrifying.

He gently laid Imperious down, laying beside her, looking up into the surprisingly clear sky, at the stars.

Somewhere out there, there was a fleet of Jotun. Thousands of them; so many humanity couldn't possibly have built a counter, even if they'd started the day the fleet was launched. Millions of ground troops, each of them the equivalent of a low-grade speedster, and with heavy armor and weaponry that for humans was considered top of the line; the plasma rifle he bore was a copy, and not quite perfected at that, of a Jotun weapon.

Apollo... an ancient god who could see the future... had spent thousands of years working to arrange a battle whose sole purpose was to keep the Jotun here until the Emperor arrived.... so that they could both be taken out at once, ensuring the safety of the colonies which would be launching soon. His own emergence had dramatically impacted those plans; and now, the future was uncertain. His powers, at first a blessing, that had let him just think about something, anything, he could do, and immediately know if it was a good idea...

Now they were useless, past the next day or two. As if nothing he did after tomorrow would matter. He glanced at Imperious; their relationship had been fairly casual, so far. She'd gotten a bit emotional when he and Disaster had been talking about the treatment; but had seemed to accept his ready confidence it would work fine.

Ever since the first vision, where he'd foreseen his own death, and that of Apollo... he'd kept a dose of the psilocybin on hand. Obviously, he couldn't risk getting addicted; assuming the stuff was addictive. But he really needed to see just where things ended for him, now. Was his power acting like this because he wasn't thinking about the right choices... or was it because he was about to die? Was the world about to end?

He closed his eyes, relaxing, and carefully slid the pill under his helmet, against his lips, before resealing his helmet. Last time, he'd gone into a trance for a few minutes, and everything had been fine. Hopefully now would be the same. He chewed for a moment... and swallowed. The world faded to black.