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Earth [July 2015]
–Jack Sullivan–
Looking at the absolutely casual looking Hela with one sword buried to the hilt in the ground and one in her hand, which she used as a mirror to check her face, which was already gaining colour the longer she remained out of her prison, he thought to himself, why not try his mettle against the supposedly strongest warrior of Old Asgard, the bloodthirsty Warmongering feared civilisation, not the current peacekeeping one that it had become.
“You mind if I go first?” he asked Thor and Loki, both of whom did not seem to have any problem. Loki even did the “you first” gesture which was very annoying, mainly because of the smirk he seemed to have etched on his face. Loki seemed to have forgotten the beatdown he received in New York but then again, it was over really fast so him not remembering was warranted.
Ha! What a sick burn, he should have said it out loud, instead of thinking about it.
“Let’s dance, shall we?” He smirked at her, eager to send her careening into the ground and avoid any long blown out sibling fight because time was working against them and he would much rather be ahead of Thanos than behind him.
Hela just smirked at him as she pointed the very pointy sword at him. He also noticed that the ground was withering around the sword she had buried into the ground, the vegetation withering away and the aura seemed to be spreading around them. Well, he didn’t know the long term consequences of having an area irradiated with Death aura but it couldn’t be anything good so better finish this up quickly, before she turned a small perfectly tourism worthy cliff into a death zone, which might also become a tourist zone for the right Gothic and Death obsessed people.
Ironically, the first person that came to mind when he thought of Death obsessed people was Thanos and…he was getting distracted. It was happening more often than not and he was seriously getting worried about it now. He might have to get himself checked by the Ancient One for some magical mental illness or something.
With a twitch of his fingers, he sent the spinning wheel of death that was still heating the air all around them, rocketing towards the still form of Hela. Since they were multiple swords, she had to move but even then, she managed to dodge the rapidly turning swords and even deflected one of them.
He noticed that his connection to the sword which was hit by her sword was…dimmed for a lack of a better term.
He frowned at that, as Hela performed what was basically a dance of battle as she leaned out of the way, dodged what she could, and deflected what she had to because he had separated all the swords and was manipulating everything in a way that she probably should not have been able to counter and yet, there she was, trading small cuts for blows at his swords which dimmed more and more of his connection to them until finally, with a particularly savage blow, she sent a sword careening to one side, burying it in the ground, his connection to the barrier lost.
He frowned even more when he realised that she was testing his barriers and the magic behind them, as she repeated the stunt she pulled earlier as all opf his swords, one by one, were sent off to one side, no longer being manipulated by his will because he could not even sense them.
Not being connected to him any longer, the swords dissipated within seconds, leaving behind a very confused Jack and a smiling Hela, whose wounds sizzled and then healed up, leaving no trace of the hopefully very taxing battle behind.
Her clothing also seemed to shift more and more, gaining a darker shade of green the longer she remained on Earth.
“That was a good warmup, mortal. Has Midgard changed so much in such little time? I must visit all the other warriors on the dirtball if they proved to be as fun as you or are you the strongest Midgard has to offer?” Hela asked him and he refrained from answering, instead of thinking of how to settle this as fast as possible.
The obvious answer would be to go into his combined energy form, and hit as hard and fast as he can, leaving her no chance to retaliate and then hopefully, once she was tired enough, aks Thor to seal her connection to Asgard or something because he could not really condone killing her if she could be kept alive without actively threatening Asgard or any people really.
But then, he realised that while she was not on Asgard, where she would become invincible, she was still somehow gaining energy that was helping her become stronger then more time went on. Also, her death energy seemed nasty. He did not want to get nicked by a Death sword and then get sidelined from the rest of the battles they had.
“Yes, he is the strongest there is on Earth. Sadly, he is no King. Pathetic mortals deem the ability to speak more important than the ability to fight. It’s unfortunately, really,”
He mechanically turned his neck to Loki who seemed to be enjoying egging on a very dangerous opponent and then giving her more and more information about them. His finger twitched and Loki found a small barrier covering his mouth, effectively silencing him.
“Yes, I am one of the stronger people on the [planet but there are stronger people than me. Also, I was not serious right now. More importantly, we are not here to fight, we just want to–”
“Ah, you speak like a child. Be a man!” She shouted as she threw the sword at him, with almost contemptuous ease. It was very slow for him, so he just leaned out of the way and heard a small thunk behind him, Hela’s eyebrows raising in interest . He turned to see Loki looking at the tip of a sword which seemed to ooze Necromantic energy with a wide eyed frantic gaze, Thor’s massive hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword, with seemingly no ill effect whatsoever.
Thor was still looking at Hela with a stoic gaze as he squeezed and crushed the Death sword, which then dissipated into motes of green light.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Excuse me, Jack, I would like to address this family matter internally,” Thor said and he involuntarily found himself nodding and retreating at the poorly disguised command.
Coming to stand beside Loki, he snarked at Loki who had his tongue sealed with one of his small barriers, “What? Cat got your tongue? Good thing your brother still loves you, otherwise you would just be a corpse with an absolute worst track record,”
“You must be my replacement. He did a good job if you can touch my sword and be unaffected or was it Frigga, who taught you?” Hela taunted but he could see the way her shoulders had tensed at the earlier display of power, another sword forming in her right hand, this one more jagged than before and much longer to boot, with a bigger black shroud of energy around it.
Great, she was becoming stronger even without stepping foot on Asgard. Then getting to Asgard, she might as well become invincible, even to their current lineup.
“I am Thor Odinson, current Regent of Asgard. In my limited authority, I can’t banish you from Asgard but I can challenge you to a duel, for the Throne,” Thor intoned, the winds picking up speed all around them as Thor’s dormant energy stirred to life.
“Oh? OR I could just kill you all here and take the Throne for myself,” Hela offered classic Death God strategy.
Thor nodded, his arms crossed behind his back, showing absolute disregard for the threat that Hela possessed to…all life really. “You could do that but you would fail. I am giving you a fair chance at a duel, to right the wrongs of my father. He was wrong when he imprisoned you like that, Death would have been a better alternative,”
“Don’t!” Hela snarled as she pointed the sword which grew even bigger, right at Thor, “Don’t pity me! I have clawed my way out of a prison that would have left each and every one of you a bumbling mess. I, Hela Odinsdottir, will regain my birthright in the most glorious of ways, by conquering my enemies. Do not presume to know me, Mongrel. You might have his blood running through your veins but you will never be my replacement. I will be Queen and YOU. WILL. KNEEL!”
With that last declaration, she lunged at Thor who was barely three feet away from the tip of the sword, intending to kill Thor and finishing the job quickly, as the sword was poised to separate Thor’s head from his body.
He felt Loki tense beside him as Thor didn’t move an inch from his place as Hela descended on him like an executioner. He snorted at that, it was cute. Thor’s shroud was more than capable of taking care of Hela’s Death sword, with ease.
But even he was surprised when Thor held Hela’s sword with his hand, two fingers gripping the edge, as Hela looked on, surprised, even as she tried to get the sword back.
Thor sighed, then let the sword go, stumbling Hela who immediately switched to another stance and made another move on Thor, who held the sword once again, in the same two finger grip.
“Can we stop this or do we have to fight?” Thor asked her, seemingly tired of everything.
“Fight back! Cowardness does not suit the line of Odin!” Hela snarled as she held the sword with both her hands, and did something to it, a faint outline of a thorny crown appearing on her head, as the sword both enlarged and became more saturated with Death Energy.
Once again, she jumped and slashed at Thor, this time, the attack being an energy wave that seemed to take a lot out of Hela as she put the other end of the sword down on the ground, with Thor still standing there in the same place.
This time, Thor put his palm forward with the Death wave slamming into him, and then being stopped right in its tracks, as Thor seemingly grasped on the wave and then crushed it. Hela looked frustrated at that.
“I can see your power has yet to return to its peak. I, once again, challenge you to a duel for your rightful place on the throne. I will take you to Asgard, let you recover, and then we will have the duel, with Asgard as our witness. Winner takes all. Is that agreeable to you?”
“Thor!” He shouted in urgency, he couldn’t let Thor underestimate Hela of all people. She was disaster incarnate. Loki too shouted but he didn’t let the barrier up.
Thor didn't look back or respond to his pleas at all. They didn’t have time to waste on her. They had Thanos and more to worry about.
Hela looked at them and then at Thor, dispelled the sword, chuckling, “You are even more of a naive fool than I thought. Very well, I agree to the duel,” Hela said and then even she was surprised as a golden glow surrounded both Thor and Hela as the vow was seemingly sealed.
“As part of the standard Asgardian Royalty duel, you will not harm my allies or anyone I deem an ally. In this case, all of Asgard and its citizens are my allies, as such you will not cause any damage to Asgard or its people, until our duel is over. As part of the conditions, you will given everything you need to heal to your prime, including but not limited to medical supplies, healers, food, and then Asgard’s birthright connection,”
“Yeah yeah, get it over with. I was there when it was written, boy, do not presume to know more than me,” Hela said and came to stand in front of them, his hands twitching to just blast her back and then fling her to space and then have Tony blast her with his repulsors until she is enroute to the Sun.
“You, mortal, Jack, was it? You fight well. Once I am Queen, I will kill you and raise you as one of my loyal undead. Rejoice, for no other mortal has had the honor,” She said and then looked back at Thor, as if saying : Let’s get going.
His lips twitched at the absolutely convoluted underhanded compliment he had ever heard in his life.
“Heimdall. No, Skurge, take us back,” Thor intoned and the next second, they all found themselves back in the Observatory of Asgard.
“My Prince!” Skurge bowed very deeply as Thor entirely disregarded them, instead focused on Hela who was floating mid air.
“Yes! This is it! I missed this,” Hela said and then the next second, she fell to the ground as a golden shroud appeared on her hand before disappearing.
“Tch!” Hela snorted before walking towards Asgard, as if she had not just tried to break the vow, on the first chance she got.
“I will handle her. Loki, make sure that the nobles are uninformed,” Thor ordered Loki and then gave him a meaningful look, causing Loki to finally have his voice back as the barrier was dispelled.
“Finally!” Loki sighed in relief.
Thor then flew towards Hela, to accommodate her and also to make sure she does not cause any scene.
He sighed, in exhaustion. He was so not willing to get dragged into yet another family feud. Loki and Thor had been enough.
Now, they were to wait for Hela to recover, though she seemed plenty recovered to him and then have the duel. Once Thor won, hopefully, then they would have to chain Hela to Asgard somehow, possibly with the same vows and THEN go on to hunt Thanos.
Damn you, ODIN!
He could hear the old bastard laugh at that.
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Word Count - 2398
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