"Bullshit."

Eyeball stepped forward. "A few days ago, I probably would have gone along with this nonsense. Now? I've got a pardon, and, And while I wouldn't say we're friends or even allies, I don't have any need to get spike out of the way."

Odin turned to him "Titanslayer. What exactly would you do? From what I can see, the best thing for earth would be to give Spike here his allotted time, then finish him off before the arrival of the Jotun. None of the other Titans are capable of worldwide devastation on the same scale he is, now that the Twins are gone."

Eyeball shrugged. " All sorts of options. I know we're planning on sending a ship out of the solar system, our first FTL test flight that's supposed to last a decade or so. I bet he and Diss could be damn useful if they ran into problems out there, and if somebody managed to control him, only the ship would be lost rather than the whole planet."

He raised his finger as he spoke... and then raised a second. " We could talk to some of the experts in powers, see if they could figure out a way to throttle him so that he can get dense enough to survive anything he'll run into on Earth, but not so dense he can destroy it. Something that would require Diss to dismantle it would be perfect, since what you're saying means they would only be able to control one person, not both of them, and he can just keep Diss with him in the unlikely event he needs to get gravity-alteringly-tough."

He raised a third finger for the next line. " We could see if we could trick them into mind controlling someone else, someone harmless, maybe you guys have some sort of magic that can fool them or protect him."

A fourth. " Or we could go hunt the damn Jotun down and kill them first. You seem to know quite a bit about them. Does that include where they live?"

Odin blinked... and laughed, clapping Eyeball on the shoulder with enough force to send him sprawling, leaving Emerald standing there glaring at him disapprovingly, before Eyeball pulled to his feet. "Hunt down the Jotun! I love it! Could you imagine their faces if Spike and Valkyrie here came after them; one becoming so dense he's practically a black hole, the other throwing him so hard he just goes right through their world? Hah."

He turned to Spike. "I'm sorry boy, we've been so focused on all the doom and gloom and sacrifice for so many for so many thousands of years that perhaps we were overlooking obvious solutions. Why don't you take a couple of years, try to figure things out, If you can find a solution, great, if not, I'm sure you'd make a great head of security for that flight Hephaestus has been helping people with."

He nodded to himself. " Now, I would appreciate a ride back to Europe. My driver was too cowardly to speak with you people directly and fled. I would like to talk to these two in private first if you don't mind." He gestured at Eyeball and Valkyrie... and started to walk away from the crater, clearly expecting them to follow.

Spike watched them go, blinking... and walked over to Fade, who was shaking his head slowly. "Fade. Call in a pickup. And let them know... the Allfather will need a ride back home."

Fade nodded... and glanced over at the departing trio. " Want me to listen in on whatever they're talking about?"

Spike shook his head. "No. Even if you're fairly sure you won't get caught, it's best to avoid pissing off someone as old and powerful as Odin."

***

"So, you decided to name yourself after my Valkyries. You even named your gang after them. I'm not going to blame you, most of us did our best to stay quietly in the background in the hopes humanity would develop a better without us watching over them. Most people didn't know Zeus was real until World War Two, and myself until even later."

She nodded. She wasn't afraid of him; she didn't know just what Odin could do, but she was confident if it came to a fight she would win. Still. He was an old, deadly, capable man. Someone clearly worthy of respect. And who, according to what Zeus had said publicly, had killed one of the ancient Titans himself. "Well, at the time, I just thought it sounded cool. My ancestors had believed in you, and the only female warriors I knew of were the valkyries. I thought if you were a real, you would approve of someone using the name as they fought a bunch of oppressive assholes."

He smiled. "Well, I am real, and I did approve. The name causes a bit of confusion, but that is hardly unique. I have spoken to the actual Valkyries, and so long as you change the name of the gang before you leave, they wouldn't mind you joining them when you get tired of playing around here in America."

She blinked. "...What would that mean?"

" Most of the time, it means sitting back in Valhalla drinking and having fun with the greatest warriors of history. It also means taking a turn gathering the souls of the fallen warriors to take there. Basically flying overhead, invisible, watching fights, and reaping them as they fall."

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She nodded. "That doesn't sound too bad. Perhaps after I have grandkids, and Butch is up to keeping an eye out for them."

"Excellent. I'll let them know. Mind letting me speak to the Titanslayer here for a bit alone?"

Valkyrie gave a low chuckle... and turned to the north, crouching... and leapt through the air with enough force to send a shockwave through the earth; Eyeball almost stumbling to the ground a second time, while Odin simply watched her go with admiration... before turning back to him.

"I'll make this short. Keep doing what you're doing. Make plans, be careful and meticulous, trust your instincts. You may not realize it, but on a subconscious level your power is giving you some vague guidance about things more than a few seconds out. I don't know exactly how far forward it reaches, it might be just a few days, It might be years, it might even be millennia like Apollo. But I honestly believe your power put you there to kill Lightning because on some deep level you knew what lightning would do if he were left alive. I might not be right. Until that moment, even Apollo didn't know Lightning would be the cause of that cataclysm."

"If I am right, though? I believe you are exactly what we need to turn Ragnarok into a great victory for our world."

He turned... and started walking back towards Spike, glancing back. "In the meantime... Keep up the good work. I need to see about cooling things off a bit here, then get back home."

***

General Bates was standing at a table across from Eyeball; a mix of irritation and respect in equal measure running through him at the man across from him.

Eyeball had destroyed numerous machines, saved the lives of hundreds or even thousands of US military personnel; and then killed a rogue Titan that could have ended the world.

He had also demanded an island for his services; essentially pointing at it randomly, asking if anyone still lived there, and when told no, insisted that it would be his in exchange for saving the world. A level of arrogance that was difficult to quantify; so much that Bates was surprised the president had gone along with it, even if there was a risk Eyeball could reveal the truth should they break their end.

"Okay then. This is Guadalupe island. About 22 miles long, not exactly all that hospitable. Used to have some fishing villages, a weather station, and a Mexican naval base that served search and rescue functions. The Navy swept the island early on... managed to clear out the machines, but the entire population had turned into Pale Ones aside from the children; about a hundred military personnel and maybe two hundred civilians lost. In theory, the children should get the property of their parents when they grow up... but I've received orders from on high."

He looked at the map. "Right now, the US and China are splitting up Mexico into territories. For us, we're basing the size and scale on the right size to become States someday, using existing lines as much as possible. We're carting in transformers, splicing power and phone lines, repairing trucks... for the next year we'll be spending ridiculous amounts of money, as will the Chinese, repairing infrastructure.. but we are officially excluding that island from these territories."

He turned to Eyeball. "Just so you're aware; this does not mean we will tolerate you becoming some sort of rogue nuclear power or haven for terrorism. Officially, we are acknowledging you as the owner, but not recognizing the island as its own nation. I hate to say this, but.... your cartel is currently the only known source of the drug 'Reflex'. The only way the military has any is by securing it illegally from third parties you originally sold to... and we've received some bad batches that way. I've been asked to extend an olive branch of additional cooperation and assistance if you are willing to produce some for our own purposes."

Eyeball looked over the map of the island. "Hmm. Generators, helipad, a few boats, military and civilian housing... a nice start. Can definitely turn this into something with potential. So long as you don't start looting my island, I'll talk to my own boss. See what he says about an agreement."

Bates blinked. "...I honestly wasn't aware you had a boss."

***

Hours later, Eyeball was flying to visit his new island in a helicopter; a rental, being piloted by Emerald. While she could, in theory, carry him all the way there, nobody wanted to spend an hour straight exerting themselves that much; and she still topped out at only about 160 for sprints; enough to catch a helicopter briefly, but not keep up in the long run.

"Phone, activate. Call Nicky."

A soft beep. The sound of dialing. His helmet automatically muffled his speech so that those outside couldn't hear; though only Emerald was close enough. A black rectangle appeared; it would be showing the video on the other side, if Nicky were using a video chat. "Hey, Nicky!"

"Eyeball! Its always great to hear from you. We're looking at a fair amount of upheaval here in the family, and I think I could use your help. Fully half of our enforcers got pardons. They even let some guys out of prison for the fight and cut their sentences."

"Well, boss. I've been thinking about going legit; or at least, pretending to, with so many of our people out. I've got a deal setup with the feds in exchange for some services that I can't talk about over the phone. But what I got out of it... was an island. A damn big one, where all the people on it died from the machines."

Nicky stared at his phone for a moment. "What the hell are you gonna do with an island?"

"Well. I was thinking maybe you would like to setup our own little island state. La Famiglia. We could build some penthouses, arms manufacturing, some reflex brewing... and run mercenary companies using guys who can do it legally now. Some of the family stays dark and quiet. Some of it pretends to be nice and above-board... and if we can play this right, become our own country."

"That sounds... it would be great, if it could work. The feds won't like that idea, though."

"There's the trick; they've seen reflex in action a few times. Even managed to steal some to use themselves... but they don't have a good source. If we offer to start selling the pure stuff to them for military use, or the CIA outside the country? I bet we can secure all sorts of long-term benefits for a few short-term sales."