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Hela nodded to that, and Harry cast a brief, silent spell, closing the cold iron container's lid down around the Tesseract, shutting off the eerie blue light and, no doubt, for Hela, the pull as well. Still hand in hand, they turned to the door, where Harry explained some of what they had discovered to the others for the parts where Hela and Harry had been speaking more softly. Steve and Hawkeye were both astonished that the energy the Tesseract gave off was a side-effect of its real purpose, and worried too about the compulsion effect, though they had seen that it did exist and affected those of weaker minds. The Asgardian version of that compulsion was far more insidious and powerful than the one targeted towards humans, and at least humans wouldn't dissolve like in a piece of metal in acid if they touched it.
After that Harry brought in Wyatt and Paige to add to the two former Avengers and Garm. He gave Steve a small vial of Veritaserum to use on the goons they had captured and ordered Dani and Garm to follow his lead on the cleanup of this attack. That done, he then sent a message to Ororo for her to meet Hela and himself up in Babylon and another message to Dr. Strange to join them. Stephen had to be brought in on the secret, of course, but Harry had no issues with that at present, since Dr. Strange had agreed to step up and help more in the future.
For about twenty hours straight the group worked on the puzzle that was the Tesseract, dissecting it layer upon layer. Outside only two hours had gone by, but all of them were beginning to feel it by the time they finished. The entire construct looked like an exploded 3-D hologram of hundreds of different layers in more directions than the 3.14 cabinet at the Unseen University, as Harry put it at one point. All throughout the rest of the spells were the black and foul, almost sickly, grey of the Shadow's magic and their runes, and numerous times they had to stop and counter a curse to continue. Hela, in particular, had issues, since many of the spells, the ones with the most debilitating attacks, were targeted towards Asgardians.
By the end of that time, all of them were covered in sweat and mentally, if not physically, exhausted. Dr. Strange, who had taken the lead on the project given his more varied knowledge of mixing magical schools and the works of godlike beings than Hela or Harry, sighed as he held his hands in the air while looking over at his fellow magic users. "Very well, I think we can begin to erase the layers of magic on the container. Are we prepared?"
That was indeed the bottom rung of magic: a small extended area spell to hold something slightly larger within it. By this point curiosity was rampant in all of them, and they nodded. "Harry, you first."
With each of them slowly working at it as the others looked on, they took turns plucking at first this spell then that enchantment until the layers finally began to unravel in a controlled manner rather than the explosive cascade which would otherwise have occurred. That took another several hours in displaced time, but eventually the last spell dissipated.
The blue glow disappeared from the Tesseract, and then the top of the square popped open. They all slowly fell back into their chairs, gasping in air as their minds and bodies dealt with the effort of having kept up so many different threads of magic. Even the three humans, who had dealt with similar magic before, were feeling it. And Hela, who had not and, further, was used to working magic in conjunction with her realm and her duties, was drained.
Harry looked over at Stephen, who nodded. "The spell intended to act like an alarm was safely diffused. The Shadows, as you call, them have no idea we unlocked this box and removed their favored protections.
Eventually Harry nodded to Hela. "Well, milady, as an Asgardian I think it should be you who sees what the Shadows tried so hard to hide."
Smiling at her Seidr man, Hela only stopped herself from leaning over and kissing him by reminding herself very strongly that Strange, a near stranger to her, was there. Standing up, she moved to look inside the box, but instead of reaching in to pick up the thing inside, she began to laugh gaily, shaking her head, which sent her black mane of hair in every direction. "Hehehe! Well, I can tell you why they hid it, I think, but I, for certain, will not attempt to pick it up, since I like my back just the way it is right now."
His eyebrows nearly disappearing in his hairline, Harry stood up and looked into the box as Ororo and Stephen did the same. While the two of them were still looking quizzical, Harry joined Hela in laughing, though his laughter had a bit of an edge to it as he had already begun to think of how exactly this tied into what they knew about the Shadows and what they had done to the Asgardians.
Inside the box was a hammer. It wouldn't win any prizes for beauty, and it was actually rather small: its shaft a bare hand and a half. The head of the hammer was stone, a simple cylinder about the same length as the shaft. Where the shaft and the head connected there were intricately etched runes as small as the ones which had been on the box itself, and there were other runes around the head of the hammer, the only sign that it was special at all.
Seeing the confusion on Ororo and Stephen's faces, Hela waved grandly with one hand toward the box. "You see before you Mjölnir. The real one, to my eyes. And, as such, only one hand may wield it: that of Þór. No other can even lift it, hence my amusement. We won't even be able to lift it out of the box, though we can, at least, move that."
And think about how exactly it's here in the first place and why Thor seems to have been a special target of the shadows, Harry thought, but kept that to himself. Right now they all needed a good laugh.
OOOOOOO
While the Custodes had some down time, for the X-Men, work reared its ugly head once more a bare few days after Harry and company had found Mjölnir.
Charles called the team together, sighing as he patted Ms. Steed's hand where she sat next to him. Emma Steed was a young woman in her late twenties, with short cropped black hair and a trim, athletic frame. She was currently wearing rather dumpy clothing for all of that, sweatpants and long-sleeved exercise shirt which had been loaned to her by Rogue, who Emma had surprisingly gotten along well with the few times they'd interacted since Ms. Steed, or Emma2 as some of the X-Men had come to refer to her, had joined the group.
But Charles wondered if that was part of the problem or part of the solution. Ms. Emma Steed should have been a somewhat arrogant, well-read, and aggressively competent businesswoman from a high class background. Instead the woman was a nervous, twitching, emotional wreck, wracked by nightmares of her own creating and the all too real memories of being suborned, her will overcome by Selene Gallio. She jumped at shadows and could not be left alone for very long at all for fear of her collapsing into a gibbering panic, despite Charles using his telepathy to cautiously sooth her.
Emma2's initial plan of hiding her psyche beneath the id of her mind, deep below its darkest fears and instincts, had helped Emma's personality and sense of self survive. But getting over those fears now that she was back in full control of her body was going to be somewhat time-consuming. Luckily, so long as someone was with her, Ms. Steed made progress on a daily basis, and Xi'an had stepped up to help the other telepath as often as she could. This in turn allowed Charles time to both work with Bruce Banner on his various mental issues and to keep in contact with Camelot and its Big Book of Students.
Father Garnoff had just passed on news that three names which had been in the bright green for weeks had suddenly changed to red. Since those names were all in it the general area in Illinois, it fell upon the X-Men to do something about it. That, and Wendy and the rest of the retrieval teams were already out in the field in the Middle East and Africa at the moment. I suppose we could bring in the Custodes on this, but that would be very silly, Charles thought with wintry amusement. Besides, it would go up against the agreement that Harry and I have that issues like this which occur in America would be ours to deal with.
"Gentlemen and ladies, we have a situation," Charles said, looking at both the current X-Men team and the barely-trained teenagers who might one day join that team.
Tabitha looked a little annoyed at having been pulled away from whatever she had been doing. Sitting next to the blonde girl, Jubilee, the youngest and perhaps the most teenage-acting out of all of the teenagers Charles had yet to deal with, blew a bubble from her gum as she stuck one of her headphones into her ear, listening to music while also listening to him. Bobby and Warren both looked askance, but somewhat eager, and it was Warren who spoke for them all. "Sir, if this is about something to do with the X-Men, why are we here?"
"Yeah," Tabitha said, grabbing a stick of bubble gum from Jubilee and tossing it into her mouth. "Mister tight britches over there has made it clear that none of us're to be out on our own, let alone doing 'field operations,'" she said, quoting the last two words as she leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs insolently as she propped them up on the table between them and Charles, flashing her legs at Scott, who stood to one side of the sofa. She had attempted to use flirting like this to get out of some of the harder exercises and restrictions the X-Men put on them, but it never worked.
"At the moment the X-Men are a combat heavy, frontal assault type team. This means we might need more in the way of scouts for this mission, especially against someone who may or may not have been able to figure out something about our powers. We're afraid that these three mutants have been captured and taken hostage in order to force the X-Men to respond. If that's the case, we need to combat them with some different powers that they might not expect."
"What could they really do against the likes of those three?" Jubilee scoffed, gesturing towards Rogue and the two Proudstar brothers. "Let alone you. And who are they anyway?"
"We assume it to be Reclaimers," Charles said. "I have mentally probed the area…" He paused as several of the teens chuckled or looked away with smiles on their faces, rolling his eyes. Teenagers. I think I've been spoiled by only having had to deal with Kurt's idea of a sense of humor. The fact that Kurt was also chuckling only accentuated his feelings on this point.
Glaring at the teens, Scott quickly made them all sit up and take notice. "There might be other young mutants dying here," he said coldly. "And you are trying to make jokes about the professor's admittedly poor word choice?"
While Cyclops's glare might not have the full power of the ancient Cyclops his call sign was based on, you wouldn't know it by his ability to silence a room. Eventually it was Warren, of all people, who took the opportunity to reply. "What do you want us to do?"
"Get suited up. You're coming with us, though I'm not going to ask you to fight. You're role in this is SAR, search and rescue," Scott replied grimly.
Soon the younger teens had joined the older teens in the Blackbird, where they discovered that Wanda Maximoff had returned from her time with Clea to join them on this mission. Though ostensibly still a member of the X-Men, Kitty was absent, as was Alex. Both of them were up in Fortress Mars. Sam Guthrie was also not here, being in Camelot that day to spend time with his family.
Each of the younger teens wore their new uniforms, which they had been assigned and even had helped come up with after their first few days in the mansion.
Bobby's was the easiest, looking like a slightly remodeled version of Kurt and Cyclops's: dark blue with a large red X on the chest. Like all of them, Iceman's uniform was made of the Fantastic Four's unstable molecules, so that when he activated his powers it would mirror the change. Warren's, too, was relatively simple: a full body suit of white and light blue with slits in the back for his wings and, again, the large X that Kurt, Cyclops, and Bobby wore. But Angel's had a built in image inducer like the device Kurt used to go out in public which could make him look like a large bird at range. He also had two empty holsters at his side, for when he eventually passed Scott's gun lessons.
The two girls, like Rogue, had taken the opportunity to create somewhat more original uniforms. Jubilation, call-sign Jubilee, wore a tight pair of purple shorts, which made some sense, a shirt like the rest of the X-Men, and a long, yellow overcoat. She also had specially modified glasses designed to protect her eyes from any close range use of her powers, fingerless gloves, and high, tight boots with long heels.
The heels had actually caused a bit of a row between the girls, but Scott had let that entirely in Wanda and Rogue's hands after giving them permission to bring in any of the others they wanted to. But Jubilee apparently won the argument somehow about her ability to fight in heels. Scott had no idea how, and didn't want to know.
In contrast, Tabitha, whose call sign was Boom-Boom, had twin black X's on the thighs of her bright yellow pants. With those pants she had a short sleeved shirt in black that hugged her upper body like a second skin. She had yellow wrist guards on, but had kept her hands entirely free. She wore a knife at her side, which John and Scott had been training her on, as well as another pair of glasses. None of younger teens had any of the physical energy burning magical arrays that the X-Men had on theirs just yet.
As the Blackbird soared over the countryside, moving from the mansion in New York State to Illinois's northern counties, Scott began to explain what was going on. "The three missing mutant kids are all boys between twelve to fourteen years old. All three of them come from small families in the area," he began. "We've known about their mutant powers for a while. All of them are basically of the same general type: simple physical mutations. One of them has goat feet, another can grow suckers from his fingers, apparently, and the third can grow gills at will. Simple things, but physical differences that make them stand out from the crowd."
"And make them easy targets," John cut in grimly. "Given how the police have been stomping on the Friends of Humanity for the past month and a half, we thought they were safe, but we began to keep tabs on them with Cerebro occasionally, just like every other young mutant in America, after the battle in the Vault. Xavier and Xi'an were all taking turns checking up on them periodically, but we still didn't catch this until the Big Book of Students warned us they were in danger."
"Exactly. Given the area that this occurred in, we are feeling it is, as I said earlier, the Reclaimers branch of the FOH. But the Reclaimers would have already simply killed them if that was their goal. No, it's clear that the Reclaimers, or whoever this is, is after something different."
"That's interesting an' all," Jubilee said, trying to cover her fear at going on her first mission with bravado. "But what's our roles here?"
"Shock, awe, and misdirection," Scott said bluntly. "You and Boom-Boom, in particular, are going to make some noise, but only when I tell you to. First, we'll be landing about a mile away from where the Big Book of Students and Charles tell us these three are being held captive. Warren, you'll take a recording device that will link you to our systems here and fly over the base from as high up as you possibly can.
"Time to see if Kurt's image inducer can actually work," Warren said with a nod.
"Once we know the number of people on guard, we'll determine how best to attack from there. But Kurt, you and Wanda will stay on standby. The two of you are the only teleporters we have right now, and that means it'll be your job to get the prisoners away. Iceman, you're with them. Of all of us, your power lends itself easiest to defending other people. John…"
"If we need to split up further, I'll go with them," Scott's second-in command said, nodding. "Give the SAR team a greater offensive punch."
"Should we take them right back to the mansion?" Wanda asked professionally, leaning forward from where she was sitting next to Kurt.
The two of them seemed to do that, Scott noted absently. Whether there was anything going on there, he couldn't say, but Rogue seemed to think that there might be after their shared experiences in the Savage Land. It was true, at least, that their senses of humor were alike, which had caused Scott a few headaches here and there. Not that he would have it any other way. So long as Kurt was joking around, getting the rest of the mansion's inhabitants to smile, everything was fine and running smoothly. It was when Kurt wasn't trying to be the life of the party that things had hit the fan.
"If you can port them back to the mansion. The police report was still being worked on by the time we were leaving, so we have no idea if their parents are still alive or not. The Professor can't pick out their minds from so far away even with Cerebro, so it's possible. But given how the Reclaimers work…"
Scott shook his head grimly, and the rest of the X-Men nodded. Since appearing on the scene less than a week ago, the Reclaimers had gone full-on terrorist, killing whole families to get at a single mutant. They weren't trying to convince anyone of the rightness of their cause; they were punishing the families involved for bringing mutants into the world and said mutants equally. They didn't even leave behind pamphlets or diatribes against mutants. They simply killed them as brutally as possible.
"I understand you think these Reclaimers might somehow have scouted you X-Men out. Given all the recordings about your activities, I even understand it," Iceman said, his voice deadly serious. "But seriously, what can they possibly have come up with to stop our three powerhouses?"
"We don't know, but I'm not willing to find out by simply smashing my head against it. We do this by the numbers," Cyclops said, looking at them all grimly. "Treat this as seriously as if we were facing other superpowered threats, understood?"
He got a course of 'yes sirs' from that, and Scott nodded, turning back to the controls of the Blackbird as the autopilot disengaged on command. Moments later they were down on the ground, landing in a natural clearing. John and James were the first out, moving around the Blackbird with the ease of well-trained Apache warriors before reporting the all clear. Then Angel flew up and out, heading towards the edge of the town where the three mutant children were being held.
This town was slightly run down, which reminded the three most experienced X-Men of the town the Guthrie clan had lived in. Except, instead of being initially built around a dying mine, this town had been built near a now derelict steel factory. The factory was separated from the nearest group of houses by a long dirt road, and at the other end of it were several lumber yards and large communal farmsteads, evidence that this town had already successfully moved on from its origins, even if it wasn't exactly affluent.
And, like clockwork, it was in the steel factory where the three mutant children were being held.
From high in the sky Warren peered down through a large telescope, recording what he saw. The outer edge of the factory complex was empty of people, but there was movement in the two outer buildings, not a lot, but he caught it. And deeper into the factory, near the back of the loading area, there were about an even dozen people in view from his vantage point, but no doubt hidden from anyone on the road leading to the factory or beyond the chain link fence that surrounded it.
Looking at them closer, he saw that those men were all armed, and armed with odd looking weapons. They weren't guns, but a few looked something like grenade launchers. Others… Are those super soakers? What the hell?
That question moved to the background as Angel saw another dozen men come out of the main factory building, switching places with those on guard. So, at least,what, thirty men? No, assume that they can shift those on watch near the front with others, so thirty-five minimum. Given the size of this place, maybe… Urgh, this is a skill I would never've thought I'd ever need. Um, maybe twice that as maximum? But then, how the hell did they…? Ahh…
The 'ahh' thought was caused by Angel swooping a little lower to the left side of the complex from the point of view of someone coming up the road. There was a large gap in the wire fence there, hidden from the road by the turn of the outer wall which faced the road. And beyond that the scrub brush started almost immediately, heading out into the forest beyond. Winging further out, he slowly swooped over the forest until he came to what looked like an old interstate bypass.
With that mystery solved for now, Angel zoomed back the way he had come, alighting next to the Blackbird. Entering quickly, he found Scott and the rest of the enlarged team of X-Men poring over the small table in the back, where the recordings from his flyby were already playing. Scott and John both looked up, nodding at him in approval before going back to what they were doing.
Those nods made Warren smile, a regular smile rather than his normal playboy version. Neither man was exactly quick to praise the youngsters, and all of them had responded by pushing themselves harder than they would have believed possible to win the older X-Men's approval.
As he joined them, Charles's voice echoed in their heads, causing Boom-Boom and Iceman to wince, not having gotten used to telepathic communications just yet. I am sensing around seventy minds in that area. The three mutant boys are unconscious currently. But one of them is in great pain, and their comatose state is not a natural one.
"Okay, so we think those grenade launchers have gas canisters in them," Scott said, gesturing to the images of the twelve men moving around in the open-topped loading area. "The super soakers, could be acid or something similar.
"Their gear is too good for them to just be a rogue group of the FOH, unless the FOH have richer, more connected backers?" Wanda asked. "And, if so, should we be bringing in one of the telepaths on this?"
"After we capture them all and get the prisoners out, yes," Scott said, looking up and out the nearest window.
I will volunteer to go through their minds after the battle is over. I think that is a most excellent idea. These weapons concern me too. I sense a great deal of confidence from their minds, and anticipation. They believe they are ready to face you. Charles hesitated before his mental voice went on. I can also sense a great deal of bloodlust and hate. They, all of them, hate mutants with a passion I have not felt in any other instance. Hate, yes, but this all seems personal, or, or perhaps the term is more rabid? The distance and the strength of their emotions is blocking me from being able to get any thoughts from them.
"We're running out of night to play with here, so let's get a move on," Scott said decisively. "Team Shock and Awe—that's you two, girls—you're under James. Head out, intercept the road, and attack from that direction. Draw a lot of attention. Angel, Rogue: with me. Angel, you'll drop us here on the northernmost rooftop, then you provide air cover on my order. We'll be flanking them."
With that Scott reached into a nearby locker and pulled out several bandoliers of grenades. "They're stun grenades, one of the newer toys I requested from Reed recently," he explained. "Drop them the moment you see people leave that main complex."
As Warren took the bandoliers with a wicked grin on his face, Scott turned to John. "You'll be in charge of getting the prisoners out. How you do that is up to you."
John nodded grimly, and the X-Men broke up. Moments later John led his team through the forest around the factory towards where Angel had found that the kidnappers had made their own entrance. Once he was satisfied at how well Kurt, Wanda, and Iceman were hiding, he began to use their short range communicators to explain his plan.
Elsewhere, Jubilee and Boom-Boom had followed James, the younger Proudstar sibling who had taken on the moniker Warpath. At his command the two younger girls exchanged wicked grins, then began to use their powers. Jubilee's powers allowed her to create pyrotechnic blasts of energy which she could use to lash out with a attack that looked like dozens of flashing fireworks or to charge an object with energy, causing it to explode. Boom-Boom's allowed her to create small blasts of explosive power in her hands. Boom-Boom blew some of the outer wall down, letting Warpath move forward. The two girls followed, using him like a moving wall as they lit up the night. Once in the complex, they both started to aim at the nearest buildings, from which the kidnappers on watch had begun to fire at them.
These guards were quickly joined by others from the main building. The groups inside were joined swiftly by the dozen who had been outside exercising before that. They blasted back with their grenade launchers, which indeed fired some kind of gas, but James dealt with this by blowing as hard as he possibly could, pushing it back towards the kidnappers.
At that point Rogue launched herself forward, landing in among the group closest to Cyclops's and her position as he started to rain fire down on the rest. His eye beams caused even more of a light show than Jubilee or Boom-Boom, smashing through and hurling people left and right as he fired with as wide a beam as he could. He wanted prisoners, after all.
The men and few women with the super-soakers tried to turn them on Rogue, but Rogue was moving too fast for them to hit most of the time. When they did, the super soakers proved to be filled with something like superglue, intended to slow their victims down, and acid. The acid didn't do anything to Rogue's yellow Orichalcum armor or the unstable molecules of her suit, and she was far too strong to get entangled with the superglue. It slowed her, but it didn't stop her. The people wielding them realized this quickly and began to dump them, reaching for sidearms, as Warpath started to hurl bits of debris at the windows where fire was still coming towards him.
"Angel, now," Cyclops ordered.
From above Angel began to dive bomb the group of kidnappers, flashbangs and stunners going off and knocking men out or blinding them in turn.
With most of their people caught in the open between the various factory buildings, outflanked, under fire from above, and now facing a raging Rogue right in their faces, it was no surprise that none of the kidnappers already engaged with the X-Men noticed the Thunderbird's group enter the main complex. Or rather, Iceman and Thunderbird did. Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch followed their progress from above, waiting.
The two inside found the room where the three kids were being kept, just as the kidnappers outside started to use bazookas of some kind on Rogue and Warpath. Thunderbird heard Cyclops calmly ordering Jubilee and Boom-Boom to fall back, their part being done and there not being any reason to put them in danger any longer.
At the same time, both Thunderbird and Iceman heard a voice from inside the room shout angrily, "Well, we might not be winning against those costumed freaks, but at least these younger monsters won't survive. Kill them!"
That was more than enough, and Iceman burst through the door. He raised his hands and a wall of ice flared between four men and the three kids they were here to rescue. Bullets banged off it, but another man had flung himself towards the kids over the still forming ice wall and he now stood up, hefting a knife.
While Thunderbird charged forward, closing the distance with the four gun-wielders, Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch suddenly popped in from above, their different types of teleportation on display. Nightcrawler's punch took the man with the knife in the side of the head, hurling him to the side as his companion grabbed two of the kids, popping them instantly back to the X-Mansion.
Within an instant she was back, looking tired. She glanced around at the others as she moved toward the last boy. "Charles has the medical bay ready and is handling the kids with Xi'an and Ms. McTaggert. Ms. Steed is there too, though I doubt she'll be much help. I won't be able to teleport back after taking this third kid; it's too far for me with an added weight."
"Go," Thunderbird said as Iceman's wall of ice faded away. "We won't need the help here." With that he turned aside, staring at two other objects in the room and the blood that covered half of the wall and the floor around them. He ignored the sound of Nightcrawler porting outside and Iceman beginning to dry-heave behind him, tapping his headset. "Cyclops, we're done here. The kids are away, but there's something in here you need to see."
"Roger. We're nearly done out here," Cyclops replied calmly, though he was concerned by the dull tone of Thunderbird's voice.
Thunderbird turned away from the two crucifixes and the body which might once have been a child, glaring at their prisoners before reaching forward and grabbing Iceman's arm, stopping the man from bringing down a knife made of ice into one of the unconscious men. "No, we don't do that," he said coldly. "I know why you want to, but we don't kill like that."
"Why!?" Iceman shouted, trying to pull his arm away from John and glaring at him, angrily gesturing towards the two bodies on the crucifixes. "Look at what they did! Look what those animals did!"
"Yes. They did that, not us. We're better than them. That's sort of the entire point," John said. "We can kill in battle, but no killing in cold blood, not like this. We arrest them and we turn them over to the authorities, and they get the fucking death penalty for their crimes. That is justice, not murder after the fact."
"Besides," he went on more grimly, seeing that that line of enforcement wasn't quite working. "The more prisoners we have to question, the more of this Reclaimer faction the police and FBI can roll up quickly. Not even mentioning their backers."
Iceman growled, his hands still extended as he glared at the prisoners before turning away, canceling his power. "They're not worth the effort," he growled, moving back through the shattered warehouses. "But you'd better not let any of the others see that shit, or else you'll have to stop them from trying to do what I just did."
John just nodded at that, letting Iceman go as the battle outside ended swiftly. The rest of the youngsters were ordered back to the Blackbird, and they went willingly, given the number of sirens shrieking towards the factory as the sun began to peek over the horizon.
After making sure the others were tying up their prisoners, Cyclops moved to the entrance of the complex as he got in touch with the professor. Xavier had woken up the kids and had already begun to see to their welfare, with Una popping in from Camelot to take over. The Kree nurse's bedside manner and unique clothing and looks helped put the kids at ease. By the time the police had actually pulled up outside the complex, he was ready for them with news of the three kids, with John bringing out the two bodies as evidence. He was even able to cite the police reports of the three missing mutants, given to him by Charles, who was getting them from Dennis.
With all this and the fact that they recognized Cyclops from the news, the sheriffs and state police who had gathered at the sounds of the massive firefight calmed down, calling it in and verifying what Scott had told them about the kidnappings. Next of kin had already been found for two of the mutants, though the third, the boy with gills, didn't seem to have any anymore. His parents had been killed in the kidnapping, while 'only' one parent had been at home during the other assaults. That was truly scant comfort in this instance, but there was nothing Cyclops or the police could do to change that.
The police were also all grateful for the number of prisoners the X-Men had taken rather than the number of bodies they could've piled up if they had wanted to. There had been seventy-five Reclaimers hiding out here, and fifty-two of them were still alive and able to answer questions. This all came together to make the police actually understanding and calm when talking to Cyclops. That and, honestly, none of the police here were stupid enough to start a fight with the X-Men, knowing what they could do.
During this discussion the FBI showed up led by a friendly face. Natasha Romanov nodded imperceptibly toward Scott, gathering the locals together with Scott and his second-in-command as they went and reentered the area, with Scott now walking through the battle quickly and expertly at her terse request. Natasha explained that the FBI would be taking command of the questioning of the prisoners along with expert advisors, a line which intimated that they'd be bringing in Charles to help clandestinely. Since the Reclaimers were a nationwide terrorist group, this made a lot of sense to the locals, who cheerfully handed the prisoners off to her people, whereupon they were ushered quickly onto various large shuttles. Those shuttles were holdovers from shield, and the FBI had been quick to claim them while SHIELD was being shut down.
As they were finishing and the locals had been sent on their way once more to explain things to a crowd of townsfolk who had gathered, Natasha leaned in, whispering, "Myself or one of the others from SHIELD will be working on this case from now on, and I will probably be named the official go-between between the FBI and you lot too. You did good work here, though I guess after the last few fights I know you've had this seemed a walk in the park."
Scott didn't reply to that, since he knew that Natasha was sort of needling them. The gas the Reclaimers had might've been a viable threat against them, if not for Warren recognizing it. "You know we didn't discover any of their real leadership here, right?"
"If they've compartmentalized as I'm afraid they have, they probably won't be able to lead us to their leaders, no," Natasha said sighing. "But they might be able to lead us to whoever supplied the weapons, and then from there, to others. We'll keep you informed of anything we find. I trust if the FBI needs to call in a team of heavies against these assholes in the future, we can rely on you?"
"Is that a trick question?" John asked grimly.
After that the groups began to disperse, all of them grateful that this town didn't have any local news reporters and not wanted to tempt fate further by remaining here long enough for one to arrive. As the X-Men were moving toward the Blackbird, which had touched down in the complex, a little boy broke through the cordon of family members and shouted, "Cyclops! Can I get your autograph?"
All of the X-Men stopped in shock at that, and Cyclops stared down at the picture the boy was waving around. It showed him propping up the American flag on the roof of the Vault after the battle. "Um, sure kid," Cyclops said slowly, reaching down for the picture and staring at it. "I, um, hadn't known anyone had taken a picture of that, actually…"
"It's been making the rounds," Natasha said, her lips twitching in amusement as the X-Men and her own team of agents fought to keep in their laughter at the suddenly poleaxed commander. "You've become something of an icon, right up there with Guardian, E, the Phoenix, and the Captain."
Scott couldn't form a reply to that, though looking over at his fellows he groaned, knowing that he would never live this down.
OOOOOOO
Shock was the order of the day in the halls of power of the Kree Empire. Ronin and the Supreme Intelligence were now in almost open war, and everyone else was walking on egg shells, from the admirals to the few influential members of the industrial sector. This war of ideology had not been started by the utter debacle that had been the Kree's attacks on Earth, though that had been the spark for their open division. Since the Supreme Intelligence's decision to send a small force to deal with Earth had failed miserably, and since he hadn't had anything to do with the original plan to spy on the humans in the first place, Ronin's position had been strengthened immeasurably, made even worse by the fact that the Supreme Intelligence had tried to keep the truth from getting out, only to fail.
Now, with its own position under threat from its own screw ups, the Supreme Intelligence was slowly losing influence on everything but logistics. Ronin had been named as Supreme Commander of all Kree military forces, although he had not been prepared for the amount of paperwork and minutiae that this entailed.
Now he leaned back, staring first at one screen in front of him on his desk, then over to numerous other screens spread out on a nearby wall. "I do not like this," he said bluntly. "The information that those carrier drones brought have told us that the humans are both expanding in power and growing technologically at a rate unheard of. They could become a strategic threat soon if left alone. And if they ally with our enemies…"
The words didn't have to be said after that. Thanks to its unique location, the idea of the Skrull using Earth as a stepping post to attack the Kree from a new quadrant was worrisome.
"We can't step up ship construction. The current speed with which we're churning out ships and crew has been calculated to a fine detail over the past hundred or so years. Unless we want to show weakness somewhere else, we can simply not conjure up the ships needed to sterilize this Earth planet," said Eu'thanzie, a grizzled Kree who was the most senior of the current active fleet admirals. Indeed, he was so old that, in a few years, it would be time for his mind to be added to the great bank of knowledge that made up the Supreme Intelligence.
He didn't mention that Ronin had begun to build up another Grand Fleet, pulling ships here and there from existing battle fleets. Ronin had a few interesting ideas of how to finally break the bloody stalemate that existed between the Kree and the Skrull. Those ideas had long been vetoed as being too risky by the Supreme Intelligence, but with its recent losses, it no longer had the power to do so.
"Further, we can't pull more ships off of commerce protection details," said the Admiral of the Interior, Track'all. "With the sheer number of pirates and raiders the Skrull have active in our area of influence, we need all the ships we have where they are."
"So we need to think of less resource intensive solution," Ronin mused. He was not happy with this, having hoped that his bigger hammer idea from earlier would still be viable. But it simply wasn't. Not after the humans had proven to be able to stop a fleet of battleships led by a Planet Crusher. That simply was not going to happen. The common rule was that to defeat a Death Dealer or a Planet Crusher, you needed another ship of similar size. And there just wasn't one to be had, let alone enough ships to take on whatever odd powers the humans had developed beyond the known quantity of the Fantastic Four.
"Special services?" he asked, looking up at a third man.
That Kree was noticeably younger than the others, but his face was pockmarked with scars. He shook his head once. "All of my forces are already engaged. I could pull them back, of course, but we would lose a few planets if I did."
"Unacceptable," said more than one voice. This included the Supreme Intelligence, who was, unfortunately, part of this discussion, though it had been told to remain silent unless it had a solution to this issue.
"But perhaps what we need is a truly unique approach," the scarred man went on. "We are not the only powers that could possibly be interested in Earth, after all, and while I don't want to do anything to make the Skrull look that way, there are the Badoon to consider."
"You are suggesting that we remove some of our patrols from that area which keep a tab on such things?" Ronin asked, then nodded with the other man. "Yes, there are indeed others that could take an interest if they think we are no longer interested in that area of space. If the alpha predator looks away, the lesser competitors will play."
Of course, Ronin thought, calmly tapping a single note from one of the scout fleets operating in Skrull territory, that begs the question of who actually is the larger predator here. The sighting of the Mad Titan indicates that we might well find out soon...
OOOOOOO
Astonishingly, after the adventure to retrieve Mjölnir nothing of a violent or surprising nature happened which called for the Custodes before the date Harry had settled on for his meeting with the UN. In that time E had proven to the Senate that he was, if not human, at least an intelligent sentient, and had even been given a limited US citizenship, much to the chagrin of a few other nations, who had been pushing for the AI super-robot to be either dissected, destroyed as a menace to humanity, or made into a technological resource that needed to be shared with every nation equally. When they had heard that, Emma and Hela's laughter had possibly been the most cynical sounds Harry had ever heard.
Public opinion, however, had gradually come around to seeing E as an individual who had a right to life, whatever his origins. That and Reed and Steve's backing and willingness to serve as his minders had given E the win. E had then turned around and promptly used his nanites to repair the damages done to the ships lost against the Hulkbusters and even the damaged buildings, et cetera, in Florida. He had not done the same to the complex which had built the Hulkbusters in the first place, saying that there was no need.
Since then E had been in discussion with the think tanks, Reed, and Carol practically every hour. Reed and E, in particular, were discussing ways to enlarge and repurpose the nanites Reed had heretofore been using in limited amounts, which would add to their industrial capacity to an almost limitless degree. If they could solve that issue, Earth could see its first home-built ship in a matter of a month or two instead of the year or more Harry had feared.
E also had some insight on other problems, though he also proposed more work at the same time. The incident with the piece of the original Enterprise he had absconded with was one such, but the biggest and most surprising issue was when E requested to be a part of the meeting Steve set up with the president pro-tem and a few other Senators.
Following directions he had been given by Steve, Harry landed near a small, walled mansion, one of many in this area outside Washington D.C. Since this meeting was off the books, so to speak, he then used Notice-Me-Not Charms to cover himself until he was within sight of the two security guards on guard at the entrance. They both were in suits, but what agency they served Harry couldn't tell. Flipping out his phone, Harry called Steve and waited until the man himself came out and stood by the gate before canceling his techniques.
He was far enough away that his sudden reveal didn't cause much consternation, which won Harry a wry nod of recognition from Steve as he opened the door. "Come on in, Harry. And thanks for not giving our so-called guards here a heart attack."
One of the guards snorted. "That's like setting poodles to guard lions, Cap'n." He held up a hand over the small headphone in his ear as both Steve and Harry smiled at that. "Mr. President is waiting for you with the others in the second story solarium."
"So that's official, then?" Harry asked. "I thought it wasn't official until tomorrow's swearing in."
"That's true in terms of the public, but given the ongoing shakeups, Representative Northton has already been sworn in via a private ceremony," Steve replied.
"Smart," Harry replied. The two of them made small talk as they entered the house before heading up to a large, comfortable sitting room on the second floor with wide windows. Already present were E, standing alongside one wall, and a senator Harry had already met named Robertson. He also recognized Miriam Moon, a representative from the House's Military Oversight Committee that Emma had given him a dossier on. But the most important man in the room was the former Speaker of the House and current acting President, Samuel Northton.
An older, white-haired man with a deep tan from his native Hawaii, Samuel Northton was the Representative from Washington. He had fought in Vietnam, and he thought of himself as an old-time Hawk rather than a Republican or Democrat. "After all, both Wilson and Roosevelt were Democrats," he was fond of saying despite said party's stance having shifted so drastically neither president would recognize it, which was another thing he was fond of saying behind closed doors. He was intelligent, personable, willing to compromise on anything but his personal morals, and had been Speaker for the house for four years now, having served as Washington's Represntative for two terms.
Harry and Emma had honestly thought about bringing him in as part of the group of diplomats Harry and his allies had met with secretly after the last Kree attack, but they had decided against it, since he had been going through medical treatment for a faulty lung at the time.
Striding forward, Harry held his hand out to the man, nodding at the others. "Gentlemen, lady. I'm happy to meet with you all at last. Mr. President, Senator Moon, are you willing to be read into the full secret about who I am, or are you more comfortable speaking to me in my Guardian persona?"
While he wasn't wearing his crysis suit, Harry had a modified illusion spell on himself at the moment, covering his identity for now. He didn't want to ruin the surprise of his coming out party at the UN, after all.
"We are," Samuel replied, while Miriam nodded her head. "Let's get this over with now so that we can get on to more important matters." With that in mind they both took the forms Harry handed them, signing quickly.
After they had gotten over the now routine response of, 'Oh my God, why didn't I see that connection before,' Samuel gestured for E, Steve, and Harry to sit down. "All right, let's get down to brass tacks, Mr. Potter. We understand the agreements you've already made with others, or as much about them as Jeff and Steve were able to tell us. I also understand the nature of the threat the Kree, Skrull, and others represent. I've even read the briefs the Fantastic Four prepared."
Miriam quickly took over then. "We also understand what you and the Custodes have done already, both to defend Earth and the US in particular. Though in the latter case you helped protect us from our own mistakes, rather than an exterior threat. However, you have to understand the American public's perception of things. First, we will be unable to second to you any large military units or material until we can do so openly. There are just too many people who would notice or have to be read into the secret for secrecy to be an option."
"Myself and my advisors expected that, ma'am," Harry replied calmly. "We also expected that the purpose of this meeting was to create an agreement that we would use after my meeting with the UN."
"And there we run into the other problem with public perception. The United States of America is the most powerful country in the world, perhaps the only true superpower remaining in terms of projecting power worldwide, regardless of China and Russia's own strengths." Samuel took over, his voice calm and matter-of-fact rather than prideful. "We have acted as the world's policeman in many ways since the end of the Cold War and even before that. We cannot, the American public will not, accept the idea of our putting our defense solely in the hands of another military power."
"Two of my highest ranking officers come from America, as do a majority of my workforce. The Earth Defense Force is a representative group which will, as time goes on, represent more and more of the world's nations. I'm hardly another military power in the normal meaning of the phrase," Harry protested.
"That is true, but again, it is a matter of perception. If you were willing to turn over command of the defense fleet, or perhaps the static defenses, to American control, that would be easier to work with." As Harry's face turned frosty, Miriam went on. "You would still be in overall control, and, of course, the industry would still all be yours."
"No," Harry said, his voice cold and certain, as if a mountain had just spoken. "I will retain command of the Earth Defense Force. There will be no appropriation of power, there will be no ship or station that will answer to any one country, not now, not later. While I might be willing to trust someone like Steve in control of such a ship, or perhaps even America as a whole, the rest of the world would not. America alone cannot supply enough troops or material to protect all of Earth. I cannot anger the rest of the world simply to kowtow to American sensibilities."
"Then we are at an impasse," Samuel said firmly, though perhaps not as powerfully as Harry had just spoken. "America will have to create its own defense system, then."
"Good luck," Harry drawled in amusement. "Does that mean you've figured out a cheap way of getting out of the gravity well?"
To that the only response Harry was given was stony silence as Steve shook his head. He might have set this meeting up, but he had no idea how it was going to go and was rather dismayed by it. Worse was that he could see both points of view, as well as one point the Senators hadn't brought up: that Harry, for all his skill, power, and abilities, was not a naval officer.
He hadn't been trained in that area. He didn't have the experience or the knowledge there, and his Earth Defense Force didn't have the institutional experience to call upon that the US or British navies did. He had access to that experience via his officers and personnel, but that wasn't quite the same thing. Moreover, it was Harry's own lack of experience as an admiral that concerned Steve. But it looked as if that point had gone right over the politicians' heads.
For his part Harry was not happy with how this meeting was going, though he could intellectually understand why the US would be leery of trusting him to lead the only real defense the planet seemed to have against exterior threats. He knew that many other countries were similarly leery of it, though unlike the US most of them didn't have as much to offer.
When it came to the US, however, Harry knew he needed their aid. He needed those trained sailors, and, much like why he had reached out to China, it came down to numbers, though in this case it was trained numbers.
The UK had an excellent navy. In quality it might be better than the US's, thanks to the king having lavished so much attention on it since he had taken the throne, allowing the UK's army to shrink in turn to the point it was barely a division strong. But it was small in comparison to the US. The UK had three super-carriers, some hundred destroyers and other ships, and twenty subs. The US had twenty carriers, and their fleet was equally larger in every way than the Brits, save in the number of subs. That was a major source of manpower, manpower that was already trained in many ways which he wouldn't have to see to.
While Harry was thinking about reaching out to Emma and the others for advice, E spoke up. "If I may interject. Am I understanding correctly that your concerns are that you do not wish to turn over defense of America entirely to Mr. Potter? And, Mr. Potter, do you have any objection to America building such a defense?"
"No, not really. My main objections to it is that I couldn't be seen as helping them, or else I'd open myself up to accusations of favoritism, particularly from the Chinese and Russians. The Chinese I've already started to bring aboard, but the Russians are a problem I haven't figured out a solution to just yet. My UK allies might have an issue there too, but not a large one given how much they've already agreed to invest in the Earth Defense Force and how much I've favored them in other areas. That means America would have to find some other way out of the gravity well, and unless Tony or Reed has come up with something and agreed to sell it to the US government, I don't see that happening anytime soon," Harry replied, looking at the sentient android quizzically. "Why?"
"What if there was a defense that didn't need to be space-based?" E asked.
"There isn't one, not really. Oh, I've looked at the idea of planetary defense platforms, but they're of limited utility in terms of actually defending the planet they're based on." Harry frowned. "But you should know that already, E. Where are you going with this?"
"I might have an idea of a weapon system that could escape the gravity well and be a true threat to ships in orbit," E replied calmly. "I was speaking about this with Dr. Richards, and a concept he rejected as being too short range for use in space at one point could be used here."
E held out a hand, and the nanites that made up a portion of his body flowed out over the hand for a second, creating a holographic device in his palm. The next second it activated, showing a weapons system.
"This is the Hellbore. It fires a deuterium fusion pulse. The recoil is equal to regular cannons of a similar size, but the power it packs should be enough to destroy any Kree unit below that of one of their equivalent of a dreadnought class. It is, despite looking like an energy weapon, one which starts in a solid state. The core is loaded into the firing array, where the constituent atoms, predominantly…"
"The weapon design sounds good," Steve broke in before E could go into too much scientific detail as he read over the details. "But they're still a flawed system in terms of defense. Looking at the tonnage, there's no way you could mount them on something able to move fast enough to dodge incoming fire."
"Even on some kind of jet-powered hover tank," Miriam said, then shrugged as everyone looked at her. "What, I'm a Sci-fi reader, so sue me."
"That would be true, but what if they are not on land? What if they are on water and can also move at relatively high speeds?" Another image popped up in the hologram, and Steve gawked for a moment before breaking out into chuckles.
The politicians all leaned forward, looking at the image intently, then Samuel chuckled. "How much would this cost, and how much of America would these ships protect?"
"Once on the move, they could project firepower into space across 90% of America so long as they stay within its territorial waters," E replied, his robotic lips quirking into a smile. "Further, the work of replacing and upgrading these ships would still be nowhere near as much as building new ships. Either the space or sea based varieties."
"And as for cost, I'd be willing to set up the work gratis so long as you can provide security and agree to second twenty-five percent of your navy's personnel to the Earth Defense Force within an agreed upon timeframe," Harry replied, thinking furiously as he looked at the specs for the guns. There were a lot of issues with it, but they didn't create much in the way of heat that being in the ocean couldn't handle. They didn't even need new barrels, just new loading mechanisms. The Hellbore's accurate range was the reason they couldn't be used in space, being unable to remain in a form which could do damage at the ranges in which normal space combat occurred.
Although they could be a good weapon to put on the Ravens if not for the heat… But the heat could be dealt with via magic. Hmm… I'll bring it up with Reed and the think tank. We'll need to look into that.
"You could also sic Tony on this project, so long as you could make him keep his mouth shut about it in public," Harry went on aloud. "You'll need him or one of the other big brains to figure out a way to make those ships fast enough or durable enough to take the pounding they'll need to once they engage."
"Agreed, but shield tech and cloaking technology could both be applicable here," Miriam said with a grin. "For my part, I agree. We can use this idea to show the public that America still controls its own defense for certain. It's even an idea that can be better understood by the majority of our citizens. Too many people do not understand the idea that being on land, or, in this case, a planet, is not a viable position in terms of defense. You're always giving up the ultimate high ground."
"The symbolism would certainly appeal to a large majority of our constituents too," Jeff said thoughtfully.
Everyone there could agree with that as they looked at the image of the USS New Jersey, BB-62, in the image.
Later, Harry, Steve, and E left the house together. "That was an interesting suggestion, E," Harry said mildly, his eyes flicking over to the android. "And it seems to have worked very well to combat their reluctance to turn over their defense entirely to us. Which is good, I suppose. I could wish most countries were so willing to spend to see to their own defense."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter. I thought it a viable concept when I found the Hellbore concept. It will not be a perfect defense, of course. While it will probably be more help against threats which enter the atmosphere, but it will be a defense that America can control as they see fit, which, as you say, is the important point," E replied gravely.
"And I suppose…" Harry continued, just as mildly, "that a report I got from Reed and Pinoptes about you using up half of your computer capacity to play numerous versions of the game Kantai Collection had nothing to do with it? Or the fact that you apparently have a picture of the ship-girls Nagato and Saratoga on the wall of your lab up in High Note?"
"Of course not," E replied, but he had looked away as he did.
"I honestly have no idea what you two are talking about, and I am not certain I want to," Steve muttered.
"Meh, I'll send Kitty to you. She'll get you up to speed on modern gaming quickly," Harry replied dryly.
Other things had also been moving apace. Mystique and Morph continued to worm their way into the so-called Mutant Liberation Front, occasionally getting word out. They now knew of three different recruitment centers scattered around North Africa, but hadn't found anything that could be considered a major base. Charles's efforts and even their new access to SHIELD files hadn't helped much, unfortunately, other than building up background on a few mutants who might be working for Sinister and the group called the Marauders, who Scott and his X-Men had fought.
On the diplomatic and political front, Harry had been told clandestinely that many of the countries who had sent representatives to meet with him had put in place the organizations they would need to meet his manpower requests when he came out in the open. Many of the countries he had made material-based deals with were also ready to move forward, like India and Finland.
Harry had bought land in Germany already, waiting to start work on his next arc reactor until after Germany openly declared its willingness to meet his manpower requirements via recruiting. They had also taken a step forward in meeting his demands for social reform, and a shipment of Magical Minds potions was ready for transport in the next few days.
On the other side of the pond, Emma's takeover of the various bits and pieces of Ozcorp she had been interested in had wound down, with her controlling upwards of thirty-nine percent of the company's previous holdings. The rest were still under heavy FBI investigation, which would no doubt continue for months. Despite that, it looked as if some portion of the company would survive, since Osborn's son had already been found innocent of any knowledge of his father's activities.
Work had also begun on building up housing and other facilities in the Savage Land. Protected by the surprisingly robust sonic technology that Magneto had devised, workers of dozens of Hellfire Club-related construction companies had been vetted and brought through the Doors, temporary dwellings had been set up, and a plan for an actual city had begun. It wouldn't be a large one, but it would be the safest city in the world, despite the dangers of the environment itself.
Ororo had taken up the tasks of making certain that Harry's workforce had someone they could contact if they had questions about what citizenship in his country would entail and of enlarging the educational system in preparation. She hadn't brought in more teachers to Camelot, but she had been streamlining the curriculum so that further teachers could be added on easily in the future.
On top of that she had had worked extensively for a few days with Douglas Ramsay and Jean to create several classrooms in the Savage Land's citadel. Once they were done, they would have the same technology as Camelot itself: hard light systems, internet uplink, and a connection to Pinoptes, who had, despite his primary mandate, truly begun to enjoy being part of the educational structure, as he put it. Ororo also worked as a go-between at need between Shanna and the other locals and the construction crews in the citadel.
Hela had also been busy, of course, aside from her ongoing duties as the Asgardian goddess of death. Among the various personal projects taking up her time she had followed up on the bits and pieces of the statuette which had caused Harry so much trouble, while also helping Dr. Vorlus with his studies, learning as much about her history as she was teaching him in turn. She was also continuing her own education in politics and history, an ongoing task if ever there was one.
Not that all this meant Hela was all work and no play, although from some of the stories Dr. Vorlus had shared with her of her past that was not the impression she had left on Earth. While it would have surprised those in the prior ages that had thought her cold as her land, Hela followed the example of Harry and the others to 'have fun'... Quite often she could be found in the company of Ororo or bantering with Emma in an effort to get to know the blonde better. Although some in Camelot would still wonder how much of the 'banter' was play and how much had teeth.
Other times she would go and set herself amongst the younglings and tell stories, finding an odd joy in them as she did when she saw the souls of children at play in eylandəvbarnœska. Garm and Dani could often be found in her company, the grizzled lupine always keeping his liege lady foremost in his care even as he continued to 'tutor' Rahne and tell his own yarns of hunts past to Dani. On top of this, one evening Hela and Harry had made time for an early evening date consisting of early dinner and some theater.
They left first by a magic carpet, and then by Harry's car. While not taking as much joy in going fast as Emma or Jean, Hela still enjoyed the car, and the sights of the trip. Especially since the Huayra had spells on it which allowed it to actually move in and out of traffic, ignoring it at need and being ignored by the normal plane around them. Harry said he had modified it from something in his old world called a Knight Bus.
Once in London Harry parked the car and they walked for several minutes taking in the sights of Shaftesbury Avenue, where Harry took Hela to the same theater where he and Ororo had gone to see Les Miserable. Now it was showing Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat from the same stall seating. "Mind you," Harry said as he held open the door for Hela, who smiled at this small gesture, "I can hope that we won't be interrupted by another spy looking to make contact with either of my personas this time."
"If we are, I cannot promise that I will be as gentle as you were in aiding the interloper out the door," Hela replied sitting down and staring out and down to the rest of the theatre eagerly. Among her people and the Asatru plays like this was a part of their tradition, and she was looking forward to this one with interest, having no prior knowledge of the tale. "Now, I believe I was also promised some chocolate treats?" Despite having been on Earth for a while now Hela had yet to get used to chocolate and the sheer number of ways it could be made to be utterly delicious.
"Then I will return anon with a proper offering milady," Harry quipped, exiting the door. True to his words he came back quickly with drinks and small containers with Reese's and KitKat bars. Hela was magnanimous enough Soon after that the lights started to dim in preparation for the play, and the two turned their attention to the show as it began.
To Harry, who had seen a musical on TV of this play before, the most enjoyable part of the evening was watching Hela's reaction to the story. She scowled in rage at how Joseph was cast out by his brothers, yet at the same time she also had harsh words to say to their father about playing favorites. After that she began to give some running commentary on the play as it went on, only falling silent during the music, which she seemed to enjoy greatly. They both clapped at the end when Joseph's family had to come to him for food and mercy at the end.
As the play drew to a close, Harry helped Hela out of her chair, smiling at her. "So, I take it you enjoyed that," he teased.
"It was indeed a most enjoyable tale, although I think that harlot should have been publically flogged. To throw off your vows of wedlock for physical pleasure, and then to strike down the one who spurned her? Bah!" Hela growled, even as Harry tucked her hand in his. "on the other hand, the music was amazingly good. I am used to sagas, laments and admittedly drunken caterwauling. I only tried once to see what Old One-Eye's halls were like, once was more than enough thank you. The only Aesir who can hold a tune is Tyr, the rest only think they can. Yet these were much more varied and far more upbeat for the most part. Yes, I enjoyed them greatly."
They continued talking as Harry led them out of the theatre and through several streets to the restaurant that Harry had found for their date. When she caught sight of it, Hela had to smile at the sight of the restaurant Harry had lined up for their dinner. Yet despite her smile she was attempted to tweak Harry's nose about it in recompense for his teasing Hela about her enjoying the songs from the play. "My Harry, you're certainly trying to appeal to my Asgardian heritage aren't you?"
The restaurant in question was actually on a tributary of the Thames. The London Shell Co. was a small riverboat which had been refurbished into a small but high quality restaurant. It specialized in seafood, with a menu that varied on a weekly basis given what was available. It was small, personable, and created a unique dining experience, or that was what everyone said anyway.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. I just hope that this place lives up to its reputation in terms of its seafood meals," Harry replied airily, not even hiding his grin making his protestations a blatant lie.
The riverboat was separated into two areas, one out in the open over a canvas shelter, the other inside the riverboat. One door there led deeper into the back of the boat where the kitchen no doubt resided. There were only five tables, one for large groups, the others small and intimate. Lighting was provided by strung up lights on the poles holding up the canvas, which entered the rest of the riverboat. The sound of the city covered it all, but there was also the sound of violins coming from a few speakers.
Later after pulling out her seat for Hela, Harry sat down across from her and the two of them talked for a time while they waited for the one waiter to come by and take their orders. As they did, Hela had to ask, "Is there any reason why you have not taken young Melody to see that show yet? I would think it would be something she would enjoy."
"I've thought about it, but first, this was actually the opening weekend of that opera here in London. And I decided that I wanted to treat you." Harry said simply, causing Hela's small smile to widen. "And second, I think I'd have to wrestle her to get her out of the theatre afterward."
"True!" Hela replied with a laugh, Melody's ability to see music in everything often led to amusing situations as the goddess could recall. They continued to talk about the play for a time until after they had ordered their food, both seafood meals since those were the specialty of the house. Hela ordered what was labeled a shark steak, while Harry the shrimp and linguini meal.
Then as they started to run out of topics pertaining directly to the play, Hela began to wonder what ancient Norse tails would have made good operas. "Our history was rife with skalds and many a saga, it would be interesting to see how many could translate into this more modern medium."
Harry smiled at that, but then said, "I'd like to see some of Terry Pratchett's works made into plays, those would be fun. You couldn't make them into operas though, nowhere near enough songs or dances. On the other hand, I would pay good money to see someone dressed like Rincewind singing a song about running away. The movies they came up with based on the books were decent enough, for all that they had to conform to the limits of live action performance in many ways."
"Or Susan Sto-Helit bemoaning the fact she is related to Death," Hela said, her smile thinning noticeably. "Though I suppose that rather strikes to close to home in my case, does it not?"