#eir-gram

“Huh,” he said and turned to face you. “Where the hell are these punks?”

“At a concert,” you said causing his brow to arch up. “Alibi,” Making him nod as you screwed the cover back onto the vent. “That was the last, idiots keep using the same C-4, I can hear it screaming miles away.”

“Screaming?” he asked facing you fully.

“Even gunpowder gives off sound waves, explosives let you know where they are. If you listen.” Gesturing at the walls you said, “Lemon and baking soda in some water sprayed on the marks should get rid of them. Or it’ll burn the paper.”

Off the step ladder you had brought with you stepped, then folded it down to the size of a notebook to fit in the bag as he said, “This doesn’t mean I trust you now.”

“Pluto doesn’t trust you either, call it even.” You said walking to the door making him turn to watch you go.

“She knows about me?” he asked, startled at being found out and not having been called out on his spying yet.

“Bit hard not to. Do you not remember the carnival?” You suggested to dilute his concern for the time being.

“How’d you meet?” he asked and you glanced back at him, “You protect her, saw that when Kingpin took her. When Pierce got too close. You are her bright yellow shadow.”

“Does it matter? Truly need to know every detail of Pluto’s life? Will that make you feel better about the scars she carries? I wear a mask to keep the target on me so she can wash the blood they forced her to spill clean. One of us deserves to be free.” While you spoke his eye detailed your mask and eyes as if to pickup any subtle meaning hidden in these questions and statements.

“Why can’t you both be free?” he asked out of sheer curiosity.

“Cut off one head,” you said and his lips parted.

“Hydra, you were trained by Hydra?” He asked instantly.

“Leviathan, actually, but then again who hasn’t been swallowed up by Hydra these days? They love to fluff their numbers.” You clarified.

“How did she meet Pierce?” This he simply had to know.

You lifted a finger saying, “Cut off one head,” then raised up a second finger in a reach back to open the front door, “Whatever you do, don’t be hasty. All the press or Stark might say about me, they only catch the echoes. I have flaws but you can’t understand what you don’t care to see.” As you stepped through the door you said, “Good night Mr Fury.”

“Goodnight,” he murmured and watched you leave, then turned to check his house for anything that could have been left behind. Curiously for him ended his night following your tip on how to clean the marks off. The task making him wonder all the more why you chose to help him. Only concluding that maybe if you went after him it could bring heat down on Pluto. For now at least he had a good view on who was pulling Pierce’s strings and what to look for on his daily actions.

.

A negative slew of results on your genetic testing did more than you expected for your confidence. And adding to said confidence boost were the varied results of propaganda film exposure tests that with your bees now had you physically unwell but free from being torn back into another episode. Venom’s help especially came in handy. First he would ooze under your skin to allow him link to your mind. Next, tracing your memories back you could swarm bees to blot out the messages, so at least you could watch the films again to see them as they were intended as if for the first time. And from that safety came a surge of strength just in time.

One blast too many near to a dam water was let loose. Right through the streets walls of bees spread around a pathway evacuated, by means of triggering alerts systems to hack tv’s, computers, phones and even smart watches. Messages sent unavoidably annoying as possible to guide people away from the one guiding the waves through the streets of New York out to the ocean.

“I think you’ve helped enough Stark!” you shouted from a webbing anchored sail equipped rowboat you steered atop the walls of water that followed your guided path to spill back out on the other side of the city leaving the flooding to a minimum with as minimal damage as possible. Though he didn’t listen.

And for near to three minutes when he ended up blasting Rhodey out of the sky trying to hit you on a try to help Venom with the duo, who had initially been the ones to start all this off set off a weather machine to cover their own heist, you had hold of the unconscious War Machine’s leg until your bees were able to zap his heart back to steady cardiac rhythm. 

Soon as you helped to drag him onto the platform on a building under construction he almost had been slammed into through his haze he watched you walk past him to get back to where you were needed. Rhodey down was more than enough to finally get Stark out of your hair long enough to neutralize the real threats then slink home in time to get some rest.

…

“Pluto,” Morita called out to you gladly. He found you on your way into school. To give him your full attention you crossed off the final day to March in your planner, shut the book and looked up at him with a quick grin.

“Dean Morita,” you said, and he drew in a breath to ready for what he had to ask.

“Some of the parents have been complaining, not much to do with you, however they are complaining that the line of chaperones is skewed unevenly, since you are emancipated. I wanted to ask you about your adopted brother.”

“Eddie?” you asked in the brow lifting pause he gave you.

“Yes. For the academic decathlon we need a chaperone to join Roger Harrington on the trip to Washington. It has been a nightmare trying to get anyone to pick up another shift from the parents of the team members. I was curious if he might be willing to help us chaperone?” Not sharing that he’d heard from Fury this adopted brother came back clean on a background check and didn't seem an obvious danger to you, for the time being at least.

“I can ask. I know he’s chasing a lead on a story to do with a Governor who has been shaking his emails, could actually help to have him head out with us.” You shared.

“Good, that’s good.” He relaxed at your taking well to the offered plan.

“Did you need him to drop by today?” You asked.

“If he would be able to,” he said and grinned on his way to answer the call of his name. Alone again you sent a text to Eddie, who said he’d be there shortly after the morning meeting at the Bugle once he was free to chase his story again. Plans by the end of the day were written in stone, and everyone had the copies of their flight tickets by the end of the week for the trip the following day after that.

.

Near to dawn at the airport you all met up and the other five students on the team, normally you all would drive, however one of the parents of the other students works in an airline and scored cheaper tickets for all of you to travel there and back. Together with bags checked in a row you all sat waiting in the flight gate. 

Mid wait Roger Harrington looked at Eddie, asking, “Do you, do you have children?”

“No, just, helping to look after Pluto.” He said then asked, “You?”

“Not yet, no, just engaged. Took a while after the divorce to get back on that horse. You married?”

Eddie shook his head no. “No, almost, once, didn’t work out.”

“Someone else?” Roger asked, a hint of reluctance in his voice at the touchy subject.

Eddie’s head tilted to the side aloofly, and he said, “You could say that. I, um, got heavy on this story I was working on and that, well the aftermath sort of tore us apart. Still friendly, just, scorched that bridge, call and make sure we’re still alive sort of relationship now.”

“I get that,” Roger said making Eddie smirk.

The hour long flight at Eddie’s side went smoother than the task of checking in to the hotel, which took a terribly long time after a simple paper snafu Roger had set off. Eventually however you were able to leave your bag in the room you and Eddie shared to head down and take a bus ride to the center where the decathlon nationals were being held. The days you were here would be busy with stops on a tour of the city between time slots to compete against others.

A meeting with the Secretary of Defense was amongst the first stops in their try to gain some good PR since the last one had been swapped out after a car accident had them beyond capabilities of fulfilling their role. Up through the several layers of security and floors with tours of the offices you passed Roger kept glancing back as you seemed to be distracted. 

Water offered to you was used for others in greater need. With a thumb covering most of the mouth of the bottle you poured some out in needy plants crying out for it. All you could was done to keep from focusing on stolen whispers from across the room of others on the upcoming Project Insight you learned of in a security dig for potential threats the month prior.

Though the oddest diversion noted being a slip of you into an empty office with a sad looking dog on a miniature couch listening to some obscure jumble of notes meant to be music had the animal lift its head. The discontented music enthusiast in need of their daily nap watched you press the second saved station, then the third to put it on a slow jazz station that had the dog sigh contently and relax back across its couch in your slip back to join the group and your confused teacher. 

Even in school you were a bit odd when it came to plants and animals, much like today. However even he saw when it was going to rain your focus was more spotty than usual. Thankfully for the team the contest was the following day when the forecast was set for sunny skies.

.

“So, um, Buddy got a call. They could use a hand, and a distraction.” Eddie said making you smirk and both slip out to get out of this hotel and halfway across town to help Phage out. 

While the duo bounded through the hideout you kept watch.

Though in the means to get back again in two teams while the flocks of hummingbirds you created were used to help distract passers by helped to hide your own stroll away through the crowds otherwise obliged to look anywhere but at you.

“Oh no,” however halfway one of your formerly extinct birds you brought back had you hop on top of a building to shoo it away from what could only be a crude bug zapper. “No, no,” you muttered and crept across the gap of a roof and rain gutter onto an awning, that by usual standards should have held your weightless self. Had Phage of course not sprung up onto your back avoiding a spotlight from what he assumed to be a police chopper but was actually a news chopper filming. And thanks to his cumbersome self you split the awning and braced for the fall. The metal arms and fabric tangled around your body as he sprung up into the tree hearing the door of the building open.

Wide eyed you stared up at the jumpy former soldier who burst out his door, bat in hand, whose eyes fell onto your tangled self. “That was yours,” you felt you said stupidly enough. Back inside he tossed his bat to step over to you and lower down.

“Were you on my roof?” he asked in disbelief, pulling a knife from his boot he was going to use to slice the fabric he held in your sight to wordlessly show he wasn’t going to do anything but cut the material.

“That hummingbird breed, it’s extinct, and the um, electric thing, could kill it.” You explained.

He looked up, not sharing he heard what you had, its soft voice in exploring the glowing box. A gift of being able to speak to birds hidden all his life save for his late best friend he met in the service. And seeing how close the bird was to danger he shifted to reach over and unplug the chord pressed into the wall to shut off the threat to the colorful bird he watched fly off for a new distraction as you nodded Phage back from attacking the stranger. “Safe and sound,” he said looking to you again, “What type of birdwatcher are you chasing wings at night?”

“Kind that gets a rare sighting.” You said making him chuckle.

“Sam,” he said showing you the knife again, “Gonna cut you loose.” Gradually he made a cut and sliced higher careful not to harm you or what you were wearing. “How old are you?”

“15, I’m just short,” you said making him chuckle, “Pluto.” That had his eyes on you again after another shift of your head to keep now Venom who just silently landed in the tree bent on pouncing down at the sight of the knife. “My name.”

“Ah, nice, always wanted a unique name. Samuel, middle name’s Thomas, not very unique.” Sam spoke, oblivious of the pair snarling quietly down at his back.

“God has heard, and, twin, not bad for meanings. My middle name means for the love of play.” His brow arched up, “Lagertha, mostly people just recall the Viking Queen who bore the name.”

“You study Vikings?” He asked, sheathing the knife to work the metal to help you wiggle free.

“My mother’s ancestor fought at Lagertha’s side,” you said. Fully impressing the man. “My father’s clan was just as bold, one of their men held off a siege of ninety men all on his own. Fell valiantly defending the town until reinforcements returned from a hunt to feast in honor of the Norns.”

“Not bad,” he complimented, tossing the metal aside when you managed to get back onto your feet and brush your backside off. “You okay? There’s a hospital nearby. I can call your parents.”

You shook your head and said, “Orphan,” parting his lips and you said, “Besides, school trip, should be getting back. I’ll um, I’ll pay you, for the, awning.” You said forcing a hand out he smirked in accepting for a shake and he nodded his head in return for yours. “Good night, stay safe soldier.”

“How’d-,”

“Shirt,” you gestured to his military support group shirt and he nodded again as you stepped back to turn and trot over to the sidewalk.

“Night, stay off more roofs tonight,” just stealing a look back to confirm you had the right house number while he turned and sighed to gather the mess he was going to throw away to the whirl of his brain at the curious teen he had met. The yowl of a cat however had him say, “Jasper,” and turn to find his neighbor’s cat, “Jasper Cattabunga Cornelius III! Don’t you mess with that bird! It’s extinct!” to be seen later scolding the cat who tried and failed to pounce up onto the roof to chase said bird currently building a nest in a nook above one of his windows.

“He seemed nice,” Eddie said exiting an alley making you smirk and roll your eyes to the sound of Phage’s Other who climbed into a car he parked on the road outside that alley.

“He did. How expensive are awnings?” You asked.

“Um, can get pretty pricey. I can call a guy, wasn’t what, five, feet across?”

“Bout right.” You said.

Harmlessly you managed to slip back into the hotel unnoticed, across the shared bed in a sideways sprawl relaxed against Eddie’s legs you rested. Able to see both the tv and the laptop he was using to log into his online poker account. “You’re gonna want to hit,” you said, making him look at you.

“But the last one was a seven…” He murmured to himself and hit the button as you said to have him get exactly 21 on the required bouts of Blackjack between rounds of Texas Hold ‘Em player teams reshuffling from hour to hour.

“There was three two’s coming up.” You said, making him smirk.

“How is it you can count electronic cards?” He asked playfully in the pop up of a window to move him back to the Hold ‘Em tables.

“Not hard to. Have to hard wire the system to follow the rules or the randomizer will fall into unfair patterns they won’t be able to control the spread of winnings. I can teach you.”

“Oh I can count cards,” he chuckled accepting the move. “Just amusing how you can get that brain of yours to beat the computer at it too. Can’t wait to see how you can take your games in person from playing that guy in the park who tried to beat you with his magic tricks.”

“Only lying in person is the difference.” You said, accenting the final word with a flick of your tongue awkwardly as if there was something stuck underneath it causing him to keep looking at you.

“You ok? Getting tired?” he asked, knowing from an earlier comment that you hinted it’d be hard for you to sleep here as the sheets reminded you of the ones from your fake house in Russia.

“Feels like, my tongue’s going numb and tingling.”

“Like with allergies?” he asked, pausing his game to sit up a bit, making you do the same as he said, “Open up.” Ready to see if he needed to fetch one of your honey based allergy remedies out of your bag from a detergent or room air freshener reaction. The pale glimmer that shone between your lower row of teeth had him say, “Lift your tongue.”

“You know about my mark,” you sighed out only for him to cut you off.

“Your teeth are glowing,” he said bringing out his phone. Right when you lifted your tongue in a stretch up towards your nose and in flattening it he got a clear image captured of the Norse symbols were glowing between the still darker pink star around them with each of the nine points to it that gave off a faint shimmer. “Huh,” he muttered and showed you the picture taken in the close of your mouth with a turn of his phone. “Doesn’t usually do that.”

“Why would the Valkyrie and Vegvisir symbols be glowing?” you asked yourself looking over his face. “Maybe it glowed when Heimdall visited me,” you said hopefully and he gave you a clueless nod of support. “Maybe he’s coming back to visit with a warning this time.”

“Anything is possible.” He said and you both relaxed again to focus on the poker until you could feel yourself nod off and he shut off the laptop. Now with a newer bit of cash to add to his savings from winnings you had helped him get since his first lessons during your first big healing session you were bedridden for a weekend after meeting months prior. Winnings to ensure the both of you were gaining a rainy day fund to keep afloat if the worst was to happen. 

Mostly across his chest he nestled you to keep as little contact with the sheets to prevent jolts awake from the texture and extra security of a blanket brought from home he laid over your back and under your arms to ensure you didn’t touch the comforter while asleep.

 .

 Morning didn’t do anything to lessen the glow of your mark, and through breakfast the need to be careful of not showing your lower teeth or tongue didn’t seem to be necessary in a forced show of a smile to a fellow student to prevent anything stuck in teeth to prove no one else could see the glow. A new development that had you curious as to what that meant and for Eddie Venom on edge in case it truly was a warning that something or someone was coming. Another unnecessary distraction on top of this long morning or competition followed by an evening tour of a new museum exhibit you would tolerate until you could go to the hotel and hide from the world.

Though again when you were seen adjusting a potted plant more into the sun inside the venue for the debate a few feet from the group who were going over flash cards of notes Roger came up to your side. “What are you doing?”

“It’s in a shadow, it’ll die.” You stated the obvious.

After a puff of air he said, “Okay,” waving a hand to the side that had been hovering between you, “Didn’t say anything about the fuzzyness with the rain, but then there’s the watering of the plants in the Secretary’s office building,”

“They were thirsty,” you stated.

His brows arched up, “And then the dog and the radio.”

“Oh come on,” you said cutting him off, “He’s got a mini couch how is he not going to relax to smooth jazz?”

He lifted a finger, “Fair point, but this, now this, moving things, we can’t just move things.”

“It’ll die, just because people can’t hear-,”

“Hear what?” he cut you off and your lips remained parted a moment.

“The plants, people can’t hear them.”

“That’s an odd choice of words.” He felt himself say aloud rather than in his head.

“Everything I say is odd.” You fired back.

“Not entirely true, the occasional fable or riddle but mostly comprehensible. Plants don’t talk.” And you rolled your eyes making him point at you, “That! What is that for?”

“The whole planet talks. Seismic movement, ocean currents transmit audio frequencies, winds whine or wail, not even mentioning storm currents, the whole universe makes sounds even down to the smallest organisms within it, just because ears aren’t fine tuned enough to comprehend their warnings doesn’t mean they aren’t giving them.” An answer that had him surprised at how logical it truly was.

“What type of warnings?” He asked with eyes narrowing.

“It’s dark, we’re going to die,” you said gesturing to the plant whose blooms had perked up considerably in the moments of sunlight.

“I’m watching you,” he said and you turned your head to find Eddie stealing a glance your way, “No more moving things.”

“Just because I care about plants doesn’t mean I’m distracted. Not all of us get to be Stark and blow up buildings all day long.” The words had him shift and face you a moment in his stopped try to guide you back to the others and you sighed. “Some of us have to rebuild the planet when men like him are through, blowing it up.” And his gaze softened to the moment of mournful look in your eyes, “My mother taught me, to listen, in her garden. So I listen. Explosion to explosion, I listen.” You didn’t wait for him to guide you back. You just turned to walk yourself to the seat near to where Eddie was standing. Now close enough to be pulled into the huddle that paused at the pass of the usual rivals.

Stare downs commenced before the huddle continued in their vanish from sight finding their own private place to settle down to ready mentally for what was ahead. Hours the day would stretch on with one half of the topics the decathlon competition covered out of the full math, science, history, economics, literature, art, music, speech, interview, and essay.

How you performed on the debate team and knowledge in a vast amount of subjects had Roger with Eddie in the audience smirking. You filled in the gaps the other students could not grasp fully. Every answer sure to add to the score of the team that the duo smirked in passing on you had a fair margin of a lead by the end of the day after checking on the other rooms. Out of the lower scores more teams had been facing off with their own groups of opponents to cut down the final rankings of those who met the point cap the following day.

.

Off the bus that had been sent the team filed. Leaving the golden jacket for your school on the bus as the others did the same. Casually to not stand out, in your mint blouse, black vest and high waisted trousers to appear to be suited like the guys on the team and not be the only one in a dress. You peered up at the museum. Still scraping the bottom of your tongue against your teeth, another failed try to calm the growing sensation. In a lift of your foot behind you, off the back of the heel, blindly the lay of the hem was freed from snagging on a strap on the back of your wedges you’d worn to not be too terribly short on parts when you had to be at the podium. All together to the entrance your group walked. Eddie kept at your side, handing you your white and black animated cat wallet he had been holding onto during the morning to keep it from poking you when you got up and down.

Beyond the ticket booth, under watch of an assigned guide, straight to a private exhibit you were led for another bit of press for the trip. A show of the new Captain America exhibit; stop by stop you listened to audio and read the inscriptions between murals of images and visual clips on mounted screens. 

Right in front of the section on Bucky Eddie moved in to drape an arm around your back, melting you into his side in front of a life size image of Bucky detailing where he was born and grew up. It wasn’t him, but Eddie caught on enough that your body didn’t want to move on, as if being pulled back into a memory or requiring an order to do. Gently he gave in a silent bump of his body to guide you along.

“You alright?” you heard and froze in seeing Steve Rogers, who had snuck in hearing there was a group of teens coming to the opening week of the exhibit on a private tour. “You froze, I know it sounds scary but we all knew what we were risking when we signed up for war.”

“You do know he’s not dead, right?” You asked and his mouth dropped open. There he stood unable to speak in the drop of your hand to bring out your phone. Proof of life on it held within a copy of the pictures taken from your fake family to have snapshots of that life as much as possible if needed. 

One with you in the cockpit of an aircraft, Bucky in the co-pilot seat peering dead on back at the camera actually taken on the way to your first mission to neutralize a target under supervision of your Winter Soldier who would keep you in line and ensure the job got done. Eddie had seen the images and when Steve saw it his face fell with the color draining from it.

“I need that picture,” was all he could say before he was guided to give a speech, with as pleasant a look on his face as possible. The statement was again repeated when he had been contacted by SHIELD, and into a notebook inside his pocket he let you write down your social page handle where you had posted the image months prior. To cover the gap of time in Russia you had chosen some intriguing choices of posed pictures from your fake family scrapbook to not seem an entire blank page those eight year. Studies, adventures and a few inside the household captured mid chore moments complete with odd faces ordered to be worn to seem more childish and less robotic.

Including another image with you in a tactical suit to show you were set for a faked skydiving lesson with Bucky helping you with your harness that would be part of the same several part mission, to parachute in a reclusive location to find the hideout. Images that when shown to others within SHIELD proved to be a conundrum as nothing seemed to pan out beyond the now abandoned airfield Steve insisted on being flown to so he could check it out himself.

.

Once out of the exhibit you were free amongst other teams from the same academic decathlon in exploration of the rest of the museum. More and more the tingle in your tongue grew. So much you had to slip into a bathroom when it felt like you were being cut along the markings. Thankfully alone in the washing up space you hurried to a sink. In the mirror you eyed the scars that filled your mouth with bright yellow light only to close your mouth and head for a stall when the door was being opened. What little you could let out was, easing a bubble of pressure from nerves in a seat inside the private stall for a moment to calm yourself down. Until the woman, who helped her small son relieve his own bladder then wash his hands, had left you alone again to redress and exit the stall for another peek at your tongue when you washed your hands.

No one else could apparently see what was going on with your mouth. At least that was what you assumed until a golden and crimson haired pair of sisters not in the competition passing by tapped their mother’s arm. One look at you caused said mother to have the elder summon her husband to usher them away. The mother subtly palmed something from the back of her ponytail. 

A dark haired man from another hall had noticed the husband come to warn them. This husband being sent to fetch the children away to safety. The dark haired man had his lanky self and broad shouldered husband with pale white braided hair come to gather alongside the woman to search for apparent danger. “Okay, that’s not good,” Eddie murmured, and with a hand on your waistband lured you closer to his side to be ready for anything. Venom rose in time to just underneath his skin.

Hunt for danger apparently went unnoticed by one specific determined Asgardian on a task of alluring a female staff member. The self assured man followed her onto her next stop where she had to hand out refresher packs of pamphlets. Undaunted he had chosen to woo until he took notice of the gathered trio. Instantly you knew he recognized them because out of his pocket he whipped a miniaturized scroll, that as it unraveled it expanded. Across it in Old Norse read a spell that blanked the minds of the trio of Asgardians to cover his try to flee. That however was short lived. Like a train flying off a bridge to demolish a dam the building tremored and exploded with noise to the sound of a crash.

By the dozens floods of people came into view out of the waves of dust from the outer wall of the museum. Those hoards led by an enraged man wielding a staff coated in glowing etchings. Behind the racing masses a ghostly eleven women wreathed in shimmering armor and wafting colored material drew your focus. They drew your eye by you simply following the launch of a proudly brandished spear one of the eleven let fly. Via a quick shove you pushed Eddie away. Thus freeing the spear intended for the formerly fleeing casanova you dodged by an inch to crash into the wall behind where he was standing.

Hard and fast the formerly flirting man darted aside and took hold of your arm to use you as a human shield during a scream. Barely noticed in the hall filled scramble of teens and adults away from the explosion and angry mob. Steely other worldly glares from the women landed upon you and the one behind you they loathed with ferocity burning hotter than a thousand suns. 

For you world seemed to blur. Yggdrasil whispered to name the Beserker Staff the lead mortal had hold of, it warned you not to touch if freed from his hold. 

Three new crashes, one of glass and two of stone snapped you back to the present, and right away you raised a foot to kick the casanova back away from you, hurling him in a slide back. He stopped when his back met with the wall eight feet away. A projectile from the hole that appeared in the wall on your left came to a halt when you took hold of it on reflex alone. Just now in front of your nose that was revealed a hilt of a mythical sword formerly on display in the Norse exhibit.

Eir-Gram, forged by Loki the God of Mischief himself, exploded an aura around you in a blink. A cosmic rush of power that halfway muted the world around you. Wide eyed Eddie still stood frozen as did every human aside from the mentally bewitched mob and the four confusing strangers who the flirting man had wiped the minds of seeing them here armed. 

“What is this?” the woman who had first palmed something now looked at the concealed weapon, asking, “Where am I? Who are you?” Answered by both men asking the same questions.

Circles of sparking portals released robed Sorcerers. Their hands summoned weapons and spells to fight the masses while you used the sword in hand to block another spear attack. Through the mob one of the ghostly women, who a Sorcerer failed to harm or come to contact with magically or physically, passed. The ghostly women not entirely physical but no less vulnerable to the slash of the blade in your hand you discovered in her try to fight you away.

Her and another in precise slashes collapsed to the ground, freeing you a moment as they focused their efforts on magically deterring the Sorcerers and the escape of the flirting man who failed to flee. A moment for you to approach the amnesiac trio. To get answers one handed you touched their temples, to ignite their eyes and grant you flashes of a golden kingdom that vanished when you let go. In a flutter their eyes blinked to normal when your touch drew back. 

Suddenly from you and your still glowing tongue in a question of what just happened their eyes darted to the danger that urged them to draw their hidden blades. Again with the group's minds in their clarity you asked, “What’s happening?”

“Disir!” was the response, and wreathed in light the now armored trio wielded weapons to bring down the mob and try to at least buffer attacks of the cursed Disir here to hunt the disguised Sigurd. The one who tried to use you as a shield likewise ignited in the summon of his own armor to save himself. Eir-Gram was the only one to bring down the eleven, who had each taken their own tries to cut you down, in turn leaving a trio of inconsequential cuts on your left forearm, bicep and right side now dripping with blood to stain your wrinkled and cut blouse.

Eleven Disir splayed across the floor watched you brush aside with the flat of your blade the Beserker Staff the unstoppable leader of the mob he swung with all his might with apparently no effort at all. Staff off to the side there was an opening to punch him in the side when his body followed his arm in a turn. The blow caused him to release the staff in his flight across the room to land hard on the rubble coated floor. Another man on the ground tried to reach for the staff but with a firm step on top of it you slid out of his reach. His arm retracted in reaction to a sudden crash and explosion of a dimensional portal opening out of nowhere. The unknown entrance of a new possible danger had you plant your feet and ready the sword across your raised free arm that also granted you a view of how badly your arm cuts had been.

Out of the portal a red armored giant male figure with glowing eyes and red skin clearly hinting he wished to be taken as a devilish being. “Few mortals would dare to hold their blade aloft in my presence.” He spoke directly to you as the formerly mind wiped Asgardian trio had lowered theirs along with the Sorcerers who all looked to you, the one the fleeing man had scurried to hide behind once again. Across his lips a wide smile split open and he said, “However few mortals wage the battle of emerging a Hell-Lord. The Norns have spoken of you, I shall not cross arms with you. I am aware of your might even in this dividing form. The halls of my dimension of Hell are flooded with the corrupt souls you have cast my way. Never have I found such an ally. My name is Miphisto should you not know of it.” The name had you begin to lower the blade and your free arm keeping your eyes locked on him.

“You know of me?” You asked.

And he let out a roar of a laugh to answer joyously, “All of Hell and Helheim alike echo of the might of Pluto Lagertha Sigyndottir. I see you before me and even myself am in awe. And these eleven Disir, what do you intend of them? I have long wished to employ them.”

“All yours,” you said making the man behind you snicker cockily. Sans warning you swung your sword wielding hand back to jam the hilt pommel into his forehead to step aside gripping him by the neck to hurl him at Miphisto. Mid air he was halted for the remaining living Disir to hiss and drag themselves towards weapons as you said, “Feed Sigurd to them. I am certain they will be grateful to you.”

Lowly his laughter filled every inch of the hall as in a swipe of his hand the Disir who had fallen and were dismembered pieced back together again and came back to physical form while the others were physically mended. All eleven turned to chase after the prisoner Miphisto hurled through his dimensional portal, to kill the man behind the curse former King of Asgard Bor had placed on them eons ago. “One hundred years and a day, I shall employ them, and then release them back to your care. One hundred years and a day, I shall await our next meeting and the seas of souls you shall cast my way to mark the distance of such a gap.” Off the ground the mob was levitated to join him in lifeless or paralyzed masses until his portal snapped shut and you looked to the orange robe clad bald woman on your left.

“Pluto Pear, I am the Ancient One.” She spoke plainly without any fear or uncertainty in her eyes unlike a few of the robed ones behind her.

“Ancient One, that, a title? You know what, don’t need to know. Thank you, for helping. Are you making everyone freeze like this?” You asked glancing at wide eyed Eddie who still hadn’t moved or been able to be touched in this apparent parallel dimension you were trapped in.

“This is the Edge,” one of the Asgardians spoke and gestured to the sword in your hand, “The blade unlocks it when wielded by one who is worthy.”

“Ah, any clue how to unlock it?” you asked them.

“The threat is not neutralized,” The Ancient One spoke again and pointed to the staff at your side on the floor. “Would you grant my protection for that weapon? It cannot be left amongst mortals nor returned to Asgard unless under possession of the one who was meant to wield it.”

“No one else will get it?”

“No one,” she replied.

And like a child you blurted out, “Pinky promise?” and had raised your free hand with pinky finger extended that without blush or mocking grin she looped her own finger around yours to engage the oath.

“I swear it,” she said and in the release of the hold your foot slid the staff closer to her enabling her to lift it magically and levitate it through a portal another Sorcerer had summoned and with a nod of her head she passed through vanishing.

Igniting again the Asgardian trio drew back their armor shielding their weapons once the in the blade in your hand shrunk in a snap down to the size of a letter opener. Eir-Gram freed itself from your grip to tuck underneath your pant leg inside the top of your right wedge heel. Sudden screams and crash of rubble that was suspended mid air reanimated again and the Asgardian men closed the distance, tearing at their sleeves to help stop the bleeding on your clearly stunned self. Lost for what had just happened and if it was a dream to the spill of clouds of dust into the room you stood there blinking reality back into focus.

Eddie right back up shot to check on you himself. Determined to not leave your side, and in time the puzzling footage would be watched by higher ups when it had been copied to allow them to do so. One sword would be found missing and the man who pulled a laughably named ‘magical scroll’ apparently was to blame as nothing else showed up on the film aside from rubble of explosions which were used to most likely cover his exit.

“Head Count!” Roger shouted adding, “Midtown! Gather up!” His eyes connected with Eddie’s as he nodded and kept hold of your hand that had latched onto his to not be trapped away from him again.

In teams everyone was accounted for and all the teens from the rest of the decathlon gathered up to meet in the front walkway to the sound of First Responders on the way. Small scrapes and bruises were found for the most part and to the spray of disinfectant on your side and arm through the torn fabric to clean the odd slices unlike blunter gashes or scrapes others showed. Between twinges of your facial expressions a cop asked you what happened, through a bee you already watched the security footage and shared on the explosion and flinched shove to Eddie and the man you kicked away. Though at the freeze of the footage showing something shot through the wall you shook your head saying, “Something came out of the wall, and it cut me, then everyone was gone. The mob, the guy who grabbed me.”

Alone again now sans glowing tongue markings, you managed to speak to the Asgardians who stood up at the first warning of danger at your sides. The glowing marks were shared to be a signal of warning from the Queen of the Valkyrie, Goddess Frigg herself, clarity that made you light headed a moment. First Heimdall had visited you and now the Goddess Frigg you spent years praying to warned you of this danger. But that was the extent of what could be shared as they were sent home like the other random guests of the museum cleared by First Responders who had already given statements.

And waiting on being cleared in a low whisper you shared everything with Eddie who tried his best to help you understand it yourself. No one seemed to have any answers and for what felt to be hours you were left to sit inside your bus until everyone had been checked and questioned. Small patters of rainfall sounded. Internally you felt something was wrong when every sound of plant life, animals and insects went silent all at once. Instinctual recognition of impending doom kicked off your drive to protect yourself and your adopted brothers. And to calm this bout of feeling helpless you wished to block what could be a possible reason for this hint of danger you were missing. Open in your palms, with eyes and hair covered thanks to Eddie’s jacket he’d given you to hide under and muffle a bit of the growing storm and flashing lights dancing around the inside of the bus, you slid your phone screen upwards to connect through it to your laptop in your apartment in New York with your hive.

Mark Antony, one of your rarer bees who had a lofty job was kicked into a frenzy to put a stop to the greatest threat you could think of. Project Insight, three carriers floating menacingly in the sky had thousands of guns and now with the code Mark Antony kicked off all across the world criminals were locked onto and in a list were gunned down one by one.

None in SHIELD could stop the onslaught, merely watch as the targets on a list they couldn’t wipe clean were confirmed as killed for the deadly blip far worse than the Purge. Criminals, convicts both in and out of jail. Both convicted or paid their way free. Country by country from cartels and crime bosses to simple brutes or stalkers without care of who they targeted were now gone amongst those living secret double lives yet to be uncovered.

Everywhere but North America now was flooded with cries for answers and as answers were sure to be found would look to those who did not face the effects, the country whose Purges were masterminded by someone else. SHIELD didn’t know what to think and as the numbers were checked and arms neutralized on those carriers to prevent a second surge of hacks news rolled in endlessly of countries who had stunningly lost up to a third of their populations.

That however was cover, this country was facing another attack of a different kind. Complete overhaul on the VA system handling Veteran care alongside the medical field were cracked down on. Over a year you had compiled lists and one by one actual costs of making drugs were enforced with enforced caps for supplies for implants or prosthetics or other mobilization or lifestyle aids. All of that was a nice top layer but as it delved deeper your other rarer bee, Charlemagne, broke down medical bills and edited them all turning medicine from a cash cow to a service of care as it should be. With that came insurance loopholes that enforced insurance companies to pay as they should and not contest what they clearly should cover.

Two lengthy messages would circle the country shore to shore of the guidelines that would be shown pertaining to medicine outsides of avenues of greed and if not heeded those behind violations would be annihilated.

You didn’t know what to do or what was making you feel like this so you drew the first blood to grant a smoke screen to grant time to escape. Whatever you expected to feel this was unthinkable and barely scratched at when gradually noise of plants, insects and animals savoring the rain began to sound like falling dominoes around the damaged museum and lot you were trapped in. “Buster play Pawn Stars,” you said uncovering your head breaking the noise on the bus to have eyes shift to the projected show on the roof of the bus that you all could lean back and relax to the amusing show until you were freed.

A grimace from you and tuck up with hand smoothed over your cut ribs had Roger lean over the end of the chair from the aisle he was patrolling to keep himself calm to ask lowly, “You alright Pluto?”

The question had Eddie outside interviewing someone twitch his ear hearing it from Venom who was focused with higher senses on you and everything else, “Just bit nauseous, usually eat by now.” You lied to cover the indescribable mixture of joints throbbing from nightly growing pains kicking in at the setting of the sun, hunger and nerves that had a metallic unpleasant sensation in your gut that had you close to getting sick if you didn’t eat or get out of this bus soon.

“Okay, I’ll ask if we can go again.” he said with a kind pat on your propped up knee and went down the stairs to talk again to the cop on guard outside of the bus until you were clear to go. Hurt kids who were scared and tired wanting to just clean up, eat and go to bed pulled a heart from the cops who had gotten caught up in radio chatter on all that had happened since the attack here.

.

“Let’s get you clean,” Eddie said helping to start the shower and stole a quick hug saying, “Pizza, on its way, take your time.” The blade that had refused to return to its display also refused to grow again or do anything remotely magical making you huff and tuck it away in your bag only to turn finding it on the night table to be in the open while you ate and slept. Emboldened by its certainty that now in your possession it was beyond detection from any mortal not within your chosen clan. To the running shower you went with fresh clothes in hand to seal the bathroom door for a break unfortunately with just your thoughts. Well, your thoughts and echoes of chatter from your bees keeping watch over all that had been set off.

Needless to say, Project Insight was a thing of the past. Far beyond the protection they hoped it to be while others on these shores got a breath of fresh air in protecting their families from big pharma who was crashing in the stocks right now. And for all the wishes to get out now the cash was gone threats to those wishing to jump ship and cut off production of meds or medical supplies were repeated as many times necessary until the message got across. Not even the Judicial System could turn this train around as tries to hack in to change things back were met harshly with exploding hard drives leaving an entire conversion out of digital means to break out of the system you had laid out which some were highly considering to avoid helping others. Charlemagne refused to back down or allow any leniency against the issued orders.

In a towel however back to Eddie’s bed you went leaving the shower running for him to take a quick turn himself. Savoring the smell of pizza from the ten boxes atop the bed complete with six orders of breadsticks, cookie pies and an order of marinara pasta and four large sweet teas you dried and changed into shorts and a baggy sweater. Careful to add new bandages on your scabbed cuts to keep up the look for tomorrow when you had towel dried your hair and wound it back into a long braid, tying it off as Eddie exited in a fresh pair of sweats with shirt in hand he pulled over his head letting out a puff of air.

“That got cold fast,” he said and tossed his clothes onto the foot of your bed by the open bags and smiled climbing across the bed to settle down at your side. “Joints hurt still?”

With a nod you answered, then asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

“About the medicine or insight?” he asked.

“Both,” you replied softly and he drew you into his chest kissing you on top of your head.

“Whole hive lit up after the museum, wasn’t just you. Something was coming, and it’s gone now. You scared it off. And I think it just might buy us a good vacation this summer.” He said making you peer up at his grinning self, “Someone has to go and see how the world is readjusting. Airlines are closed so far on the other half of the world so Jameson agreed Central and South America, few months I can have off to go and dig up something good. And you get a trip away from Stark and that annoying Osborn kid.”

“Beserker staff,” you said when it popped back into your mind and reached for your wallet to bring out the card you were given at the fair. “I have to call the Beserker. Maybe he’ll know something.” As you wet your lips you dialed the number and lifted the phone to your ear.

“This the locket guy?” Eddie asked and started to divide the food listening as a noisy air on the other end of the line kicked in.

“Hello?”

“Elliot Randolph?” You asked.

“Yes? Who is this?” the voice asked over the sound of clamoring voices locked in a terror.

“Pluto Pear, you, um, we met at a fair about my locket.” you answered.

“Yes!” he said recalling you at once.

“You said you are a Beserker and I was wondering about Beserker Staffs?” His lips parted and you said as he tucked himself in a quieter room, “I don’t know if you know of Sigurd, but he was at a museum in Washington DC. He spotted three Asgardians and their children and, read this scroll to wipe their minds. But the Disir found him and they had a mob with a man who had a staff. Yggdrasil told me not to touch it when I got it away from him. You might not know him but Miphisto appeared.”

“Miphisto, you are certain?” he asked having shifted in the seat he had found inside the university he worked at.

“Yes, he said that was his name, and apparently that all of Hell and Helheim know my name.” He left the air quiet a moment. Quickly you took in a breath and then you continued, “But, anyways, there were these sparking portals, back on the staff, that let out these monks? They were dressed as monks but could do magic. I only got one of their names, the woman in orange, called herself the Ancient One?”

“The monks took the staff?” Eliot asked to clarify.

“Well she asked if I would let her keep it safe from others. Yggdrasil said not to touch it and I don’t know how to store it, but she seemed to. I got her to pinky promise she wouldn’t let anyone else have or touch it. She floated it back through their portal with them.”

“Ah, I know just who you must mean. How very clever to have a Sorcerer swear a pinky promise, the act is quite profound throughout the galaxy and not lightly entered into. Yes, it would have required me to return it myself to Asgard and it is far too hard to store it even with my knowledge on them. I fell in love with this world, you see. So I broke it in three. The Disir must have aided the men in locating the pieces.” He said then asked, “How did you dispatch them?”

“Eir-Gram was on display, broke a few walls to fly at me. Set off this, force.”

“The Edge,” he chuckled in amusement, “Ooh, what I would have paid to see their faces, it must be no surprise that your name is well known then able to gain that blade’s favor. Only Odin’s Executioner was able to wield it before Odin ended her reign of power when the realms were conquered. I much prefer your possession of it to hers, she was rather ruthless upon even my kind and the Valkyrie when set upon her.”

“Do you know why it wouldn’t let me leave it there? Or put it in my bag?” He chuckled as you said, “I feel bad, partly stealing it from a museum.”

“No, I cannot imagine it would ever choose to return to display when able to be near a warrior of noble blood even if it will not display its powers again,” he said smirking at a guess for he struggle it must be giving you. “Give it time to learn you and in time it will become more reliable when other formidable foes become more present.” He wet his lips and asked, “After the museum, you didn’t happen to, feel anything?”

“I did, did you?”

“Oh yes I did. We all did. We have a network us exiled Asgardians. Then thousands were cut down, but that was not the trouble.” He shared, amply pleased for another new point of view to aid to the uncovery of this unnamed danger.

“No, it felt more like a someone.” You muttered in Eddie’s creep closer to the phone hearing languages muffled through walls growing louder in search of your ally proving to be some form of Spanish.

“It was, although this, they’re calling it a security blip, nearly a million are dead now, all criminals, but someone did aim for something.” He replied.

“The Symbiotes I know, their hive was buzzing as well.” You added in the open of the door and went quiet to the muddled request for him to come back and help with the makeshift hospital the university had been turned into for those around the cut down from car accidents or otherwise harmed in second hand events. “We don’t know what it was.”

“We will keep our ears out and if we uncover any signs I will let you know. Keep Eir-Gram close, not that you have much choice it will follow you anyways. For now I am needed to handle patient intake. Stay safe, this is your personal number?”

“Yes, my cell phone,” you answered and he signed off leaving you to simply reach for a slice of pizza to look up at Eddie saying, “I scared something.” Then took a bite of the pizza. To the fall of an unexpected tear he reached over, brushed it away and leaned in to kiss your forehead. To calm his own hunger he shifted to tuck into the food, focusing as you tried to on the show chosen to play on your bee as every channel had been taken over with breaking news broadcasts on what had been set off. Every bite was eaten and savored with drinks downed to the last drop to help coax you both off to sleep with you in his arms and Venom perched up to keep watch out of his shoulder just in case.

.

Morning came and with it a trip back to the same breakfast buffet where a confidence boosting speech like the one last night was given to get your team over the awkward hump shared by all students from every school. Echoed in the one given at the start of the final half of the decathlon, that after a timid start came to a close end. The deliberation seemed to go off forever but painfully in a group hug you all crashed upon hearing you came in first place, and your rivals cheered just as hard coming in second place.

Every team this year after the museum was being given something by the Secretary of Defense you had each met on this trip as if to make up for the museum attack. Small favors or tickets for your states to sporting events or various shows or exhibits you might be of interest in. Eddie at least was pleased to join you at the new aquarium you had wanted to visit since hearing of it being built years prior. 

Trophy in hand Roger led the way back through the airport where you simply had to watch as your new sword tucked inside of your shoe went beyond discovery through security that somehow seemed happier when you added the shoes again and carried it with your things to the gate. Roger would take the trophy home with him to take to the school later. 

And you would stop with Eddie at the Bugle for him to hand over his first hand account of the museum attack and bit after on the decathlon that Queens brought home to help bring focus to a local school to remind people good things were still going on at home. Chatter of this attack being bigger than Misique’s reach of Purges was also a sort of mystery in itself. She had an alibi overhauling the medical community which none could exclaim she had the ability to hack the systems for what she’d done and the craft that set off the security blip at the same time.

‘Far above her pay grade’ was quoted by a Senator who had been at war with Stark for his own reasoning on why she couldn’t be behind it. Well clearly he and others who swore she wasn’t behind it the loudest were tied to Hydra, who had their own aims for the project to begin with now spoiled by your actions. They wanted a mass slaughter, but not those you had chosen, ones who could fight back and spoil their plans for gaining control of the planet now set back decades after this fiasco. Now no country would ever agree to anything like this again and surely all of them were ready to order those craft be parked somewhere as soon as possible or gunned down if need be.

What drew your focus however off the chatter was when you walked closer to the wall of windows aimed at another row of buildings. Under or against windows were pasted signs with a message across them, ‘Thank you Misique’ that parted your lips. Down on the street from above you could see car hoods with similar messages painted in washable paint to match messages all over the state, and to be seen later online across the country in gratitude from the masses including several military bases. Videos on youtube mentioned your account you had made for Misique with comments flooded to your few videos and shared the struggles with the medical world that had been written against them for years when it proved to not be profitable for big pharma.

Up on your left Jameson’s secretary joined you. She smiled in saying, “Been putting them up since blip day. Big picture, she really is incredible. Hundreds of people swear to fix it every election, one swoop. Eddie said she had a plan for something bigger, didn’t imagine it would be this.”

“Ooh, but I imagine if they didn’t hate her then they surely will hate her now.” You said making her chuckle to herself then turn to answer Jameson’s call.

Out of your pocket however you pulled your phone and smiled at the message from Isaiah Bradley with thanks and a congratulations on the win his grandson had shared you posted about on your social page.

For all the focus on this maps being brought out to plan the summer trip ahead would be focused on for both historical significance as well as locations near to devastated landscapes thanks to big businesses you hoped to see if you could do something to help restore them if not just a bit. Though when you got home and Eddie was off to check in with his Mate and a few friends who came to town to check on family you had a couple pages to add to your alien adventure journal that shockingly drew nearer to needing a second by the day.

Pt 15

All –

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