Words Not True, Actions Not False

the Twenty-First Tale

by Mark Bousquet

MIDGARD STANDARD YEAR 2200 / NOVEMBER

ASGARD - THE PLAIN OF IDA

MORNING

"It's the Valkyrior!" shouted a Dire Wraith, looking up at the sky above them, as he held the broken body of an Asgardian warrior in his hands.

"Descend, Valkyrior!" Dani Moonstar commanded her troops as they descended down onto the Plain of Ida on the outskirts of the city of Asgard. Three other members of the Valkyrior, Attumidunn, Calaa and Iyala, tightened the grips on the reigns of their mounts, the white-winged horses that symbolized their position.

At the sight of the Valkyrior, the Wraiths ceased fighting the small five-person patrol regiment and turned their attentions to the descending warriors. Of the five in the patrol regiment, two were already dead and three more were close to Death's hands. Dani could see, too, three dead Deviants laying on the ground, but she had no time to think on this as she sliced at a Wraith with her sword.

Hastily, the Wraiths backed away, sliding quickly back to the realm of Limbo, wanting no part of the Valkyrior's wrath.

"Flee, Wraiths!" Dani shouted after them, but did not follow. All Asgardians were under strict orders to never follow anyone into Limbo - a region that was so vast and so unchartable that you could wander inside it for a lifetime and never come across another soul.

She steadied her steed, Anthalus, and turned to see the other three Valkyrie gathering the souls of the dead Asgardians to bring to Valhalla. She wiped the sweat off her brow as she studied the three dead Deviant souls. They were all looking to the distance expectantly, but Dani could see nothing in that direction.

"To Valhalla!" Moonstar cried as the horses rode to the fabled land of the dead warriors. They rode hard, seeing another patrol guard coming to gather the injured. Dani glanced back to check on the soldiers when she caught a glimpse of something that turned her blood cold.

A Valkyrie. Dressed in ancient Viking garb, riding a grey steed, and two cold red eyes gleaming at her from inside a dark helmet.

She was laughing. She was staring directly at Dani and laughing.

Dani shivered as Anthalus carried her away.

THOR ODINSON HALL OF PEACE

The Council, minus Moonstar the Valkyrie, sat in assemblage.

Beta Ray Bill looked around the room at the members of the Council, of which he was not a voting member, but served as their official Historian. King Balder sat at the head of the table, concern always etched across his face. On the opposite side of the long, rectangular table sat Ash'lin, Ambassador of the Shi'ar and Kovar the Accuser, representing the Kree. Down the table from himself sat Skrull 4 and Empire, the newest member of the Council, an Ambassador from Earth.

"I trust your accommodations are sufficient?" King Balder asked Empire.

"Yes," Empire nodded, "they are."

"Does your meddlesome handler, Miss Almond find them to her satisfaction?" Kovar asked harshly.

"Of course not," Empire answered grinning, "but then, she never does."

"Ha!" Kovar burst out. "I shall like this one, Balder," he announced. "He knows how to laugh. A trait you would do well to learn."

"Please, Kovar," Ash'lin sighed heavily, "if you're done your male bonding, perhaps we can get on with the reason for this morn's meeting?" Kovar growled at the Shi'ar Ambassador, but she ignored him and continued on, "The Majestrix is unhappy, Balder."

"What's new about that?" Kovar retorted under his breath.

Ash'lin shot him daggers with her eyes, but pressed on, "The Skrulls that have been assigned to our care are a drain on our resources. More and more Skrull refugees arrive every day and, thanks to the Council Treaty, we are bound to take them in."

"And we thank you for that," Skrull 4 said softly, seemingly a skeleton inside his brown robes.

"Bah! The Skrulls are a drain on everything!" Kovar snapped, looking at Skrull 4 when he said it, so there was no doubt to anyone he didn't care for whatever feelings he might be hurting inside the Skrull Ambassador.

"As I was saying," Ash'lin continued, "if we are to take on more Skrulls, we will need an increase in revenue from the Council to care for them, since they, of course, bring no money of their own. All they do is sit in their camps and bemoan their fate.* They are cosmic waste, Balder, and the Shi'ar demand that our allowance be increased with the extra Skrulls that we provide for."

* Not quite. As Angelica experienced in AGC 18 thanks to the Man-Thing, the Shi'ar are using Skrulls as a slave labor force.

"If they have no money," Balder countered, "how is it that they come to your world? Surely they do not just appear out of thin air."

"They come in small craft not fit to fly inside atmosphere, let alone in the void of space!" Ash'lin scoffed. "And there are rumors," she turned to look directly at the Accuser, "that the Kree are shipping them in under the cover of night so as to not be burdened themselves."

"Lies!" Kovar scoffed, rising to his feet. "Shi'ar propo-"

"Earth would be glad to take some Skrulls in," Empire offered, putting an end to Kovar's rant.

"You would?" the Accuser asked skeptically. "What game are you playing at, Earther?"

"No game," Empire shrugged, turning to Balder. "We expected to, in fact. Miss Almond and her staff have been reading through the Council Treaty the Asgardians, Kree, Skrull and Shi'ar signed all those years ago. We came across the Skrull Refugee Amendment last night, in fact, and I am prepared to offer our world's assistance. Provided, of course, we receive our share of the Council's fund to facilitate our assistance. We are not a rich planet, after all."

"I trust this placates your dilemma, Ash'lin," Balder asked hopefully.

"Perhaps," she shot back, casting a way eye at Empire. "But there will be more Skrulls to come and the meager allowance made on behalf of the Coun-"

"Then I will allocate more funds," Balder answered, growing testy. "Skrull 4," he looked to the Skrull Ambassador, "you shall go with Beta Ray Bill, Moonstar and Eshir to Olympus and tap the reserves of our war chest."

Kovar and Ash'lin both protested, "Unfair!"

"Since the Skrulls are the broken souls you say they are," Balder announced, "then you shouldn't worry about them stealing the gold, should you? They, after all, have no homeworld on which to flaunt their wealth, do they? And any gold that would bring to your planet, I'm sure, would quickly find it's way into your economy. Or perhaps you would rather I request official reports from the Kree and Shi'ar Treasuries?"

"Of course not," Ash'lin said icily. "The Shi'ar fully trust Skrull 4 to bring back the allocated gold increase and to leave the remainder of the war chest untouched. If it was to be stolen, it is his own people that would suffer in response. Isn't that correct, Skrull 4?"

"It is," he nodded. "I shall prepare for the trip to Olympus, then," he spoke and rose from the table, leaving the Council behind to bicker.

ASGARD - HEIMDALL LIBRARY

Ben-Vell Parker was lost in his thoughts as he walked up the steps to Floor Beta of the Heimdall Library, where Beta Ray Bill’s Histories were contained. He’d been reading over all the books Bill had written about the Green Goblins - from Norman Osborn, the first to don the Goblin mask, all the way up to the current Green Gobliness, Angelica’s mother.

Angelica had long had a crush on Ben-Vell, something all of the Orphans knew but few said anything about. He was involved with Attumidunn, after all, and Angelica was a few years younger than he was. It didn’t matter now, he supposed, but growing up …

"Oh, you’re here," he came out of his thoughts as he noticed Eshir standing and looking at a row of books on one of the shelves.

Eshir turned to regard him caustically, "Are you lost, Ben?" He looked around at his surroundings, "This is a library, Ben. It’s where one finds books. To read."

"Ha! Good one, Esh," Ben faked a laugh. He had several comebacks on the tip of his tongue, but he held them in place. There was no joking around with Eshir because no matter what Ben would say, all Eshir had to do was hold up his arms and remind Ben that he had no hands because of him.

"Shouldn’t you be busy training?" Eshir continued, turning, Ben thought, intentionally to show off the side of his face that was scarred. "I didn’t think Toomi required her men to have any intellect."

"Don’t push it, Eshir," Ben warned.

"Please," Eshir dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "you scare me less than that hapless K’Zan."

"You’re such a-"

"What were you reading, if you don’t mind my asking?" Eshir cut him off, turning on him. Ben felt exposed, as if he’d been caught with the proverbial hand in the cookie jar.

"Stuff," he answered weakly, turning the volumes in his hand to hide the spine.

"Stuff?" Eshir smiled. "How quaint. But I was wishing you’d be a little more specific."

Eshir pointed one of his arms at Ben and without warning the books flew across the room to hover in front of Eshir. "My, my, my," he smiled, "I wonder what Toomi would think of this? Three volumes on the Green Goblin. Snooping into Angelica’s past, are we?"

Blood rushed to Ben-Vell's light blue face, his fists clenching, "Toomi knows full well-"

"No, she doesn't," Eshir leveled, "so don't even attempt a lie."

"Don't take that holier-than-thou tone with me, Maximoff!" Ben spat back, taking a confident stride toward Eshir as he pointed an accusatory finger.

"Don't make me laugh," Eshir responded, holding his arms out to the side as he let the three Goblin Histories fall to the ground, his own body rising off the ground. "I could-"

"You could what?" Ben answered furiously. "Beat me into submission with your scorn? Just like a Maximoff, always better than everyone else, aren't you, Eshir?"

Eshir said nothing and stared ahead with cold eyes.

"What, nothing to say? Yeah, you're real tough once some one stands up to you, aren't you?" Ben chided as he turned his back and began to walk away.

"At least my lineage is filled with those who made a difference, Ben-Vell," Eshir responded harshly, speaking only a half-truth. "Some of the side of righteousness, some on the side of evil," he added, thinking of Magneto, his primary ancestor in the House of Maximoff, "but we were the ones who made the difference. Unlike your line, which starts with the great Mar-Vell and is followed by pretenders to his legacy, a whole line of losers falling short of a memory."

Ben-Vell stopped dead in his tracks, "Right. That tears it." He turned around to face his fellow Orphan. "I've had it. You can taunt me with that scar on your face and the stumps on your arms all you want, Eshir, I know they're my fault. But, to use a line you're so fond of, at least you're alive. Jonas isn't."

"Is there a point to your rambling, Ben-Vell? Or is this the speech you give yourself late at night when you're wallowing in being passed over as the Cosmic Protector?"

"You're pushing it, Esh," Ben-Vell warned.

"Right to the breaking point, I hope," Eshir countered.

"You're all talk," Ben spoke through clenched teeth as he shook with anger.

"Tell me, Ben, what makes Attumidunn dumber, the fact that she-"

Ben-Vell lunged suddenly at Eshir, surprising the scarred Orphan with his speed. Even still, it wasn't enough to reach him. With a raised left arm, Eshir stopped Ben-Vell in mid-air, a foot away from his intended goal. Which, by the position of Ben-Vell's right arm, was supposed to be Eshir's face.

He looked right into Ben-Vell's eyes when he spoke, "You're nothing to me. You may be the golden child to the rest of Asgard, but to me …"

Eshir let his voice trail off, then waved his hand towards the far wall. With a lurch, Ben-Vell's body was flown across Floor Beta, crashing through a painted glass mural of the Asgardian Universe and out into the morning light.

The scarred mutant looked around to make certain no one was looking at him and then let out a contented sigh. A non-malicious smile spread across his face, "By the gods, that felt good."

ASGARD - THE CLUBHOUSE

"Hey, has anyone seen Angel?" K'Zan asked as he entered the Clubhouse nervously.

"Nay," Attumidunn responded absently, sharpening her sword after the quick skirmish with the Wraiths.

K'Zan looked at the aqua-green skinned Atlantean/Inhuman Valkyrie and shook his head - Toomi had no concern for anyone but herself. "She's missing. Logan says she didn't show up for work this morning."

"Maybe she's turned into the Great Goblin and is busy killing Asgard's finest warriors," Toomi said without turning, more concerned with a chip in her blade than anything that could be wrong with Angelica.

"Come on, Toomi," K'Zan responded with a hurt look on his face, "you shouldn't talk like that. It's not funny."

"I wasn't joking," Attumidunn deadpanned. "Besides, K'Zan," she sighed, "she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. It is despicable the way people carry on about Angelica's safety."

"Hey, when you've got a mom like hers … you know what I'm saying?" K'Zan added. "Hey, wait, are you jealous of Angel? I mean, usually you're like, 'Bah! What can she do, she's only human?' but now you're like, all, 'she can take care of herself'. What's with that?"

"Watch thy tongue," Toomi warned.

"Right, sorry," K'Zan dropped his head so he wouldn't have to meet the Valkyrie's gaze.

Attumidunn picked herself up and stalked across the room at K'Zan quickly. "Hey!" he screamed, "I didn't mean anything, Iwasjusttalkingoutloudand-"

"Silence, K'Zan," Toomi answered, brushing past him and going to the window. "Look," she motioned and K'Zan went to stand beside her. Looking out, they could see a crowd of people moving towards the center of Asgard.

"I wonder where they're going?" K'Zan asked, but Attumidunn was already pulling the door open to go find out.

"Nice talking to you, Toomi," K'Zan rolled his eyes to the empty room. "Always a pleasure." Sighing, he figured he might as well follow her. Where Angelica was would have to wait for another day.

By the time Attumidunn and K'Zan reached the center of Asgard, a large crowd had already gathered to witness a sight that they hadn't expected to see, but weren't that surprised by, either.

Ben-Vell and Eshir kicking the crap out of each other.

Asgardians, being Asgardians, saw nothing wrong with a simple contest of wills like this. Indeed, they stood and cheered as Eshir and Ben scored hits or embarrassed the other into looking foolish. Eshir used his slight magnetic powers to hold Ben-Vell in place in front of him, then let him go just in time to connect with a solid backhand across his friend's jaw, knocking Ben back and down into a pile of mud.

"Hurrah!" the crowd chanted wildly.

"Notgoodnotgoodnotgood," K'Zan mumbled, only to be shushed into silence by Toomi.

"This is just what Ben-Vell needs," Toomi whispered back at him, her eyes flashing hotly. "Have at him, Ben-Vell! For the glory of the House of Mar-Vell!" she shouted over the din of the crowd.

The crowd welcomed her shout and shouted down at Ben-Vell, "For the glory of Mar-Vell!"

Ben stood up slowly, the muck dripping off his clothes. He flicked mud off his hands as he stepped forward and out of the mud, a set look of determination on his face.

"Had enough, Ben?" Eshir asked mockingly, enjoying the roars of the crowd.

"Yeah, almost," Ben answered, circling in his stance, "I've just got one little thing left to do and then I'm done."

"And what little thing is that?" Eshir smirked.

In response, Ben-Vell leapt straight towards Eshir and his fellow Orphan caught him in mid-air. "Come now, Ben," Eshir teased, "this is what, the fifth time you've tried this maneuver? Hmm, where should I toss you this time, I wonder."

"Funny thing, Esh," Ben responded, "while you've been content to hold me here like a dummy and play to the crowd, I've been doing a little testing of your abilities. You may be able to use the magnetic fields to pull you forward with that neat speed trick of yours, but you can't extend that kind of power outward, can you?"

Eshir frowned, but didn't answer.

"See, you can pin me here and hold me in place and try as I might, I can't move my fingers or arms. But," he smiled, putting doubt in Eshir's mind for the first time, "you've got to concentrate right here or you can't."

"Your point?" Eshir asked indignantly.

"The pressure on my arms and chest makes it act like a bar so I can move my feet."

"Your feet?" Eshir looked down at Ben-Vell's feet just in time to see Ben lurch his lower body forward to bring his legs up quickly, smashing them into Eshir's jaw, knocking him backwards. Ben flipped completely around, landing back with his feet on the ground. Taking advantage of Eshir's imbalance, Ben jumped forward to grab Eshir's boots and pull them up and over his head, proving to those that had doubted that he did have some super strength and causing Eshir to hang momentarily in mid-air with his feet up and his head down.

Ben wasted no time, kicking hard with his right foot into Eshir's back, causing his fellow Orphan to fall hard onto the ground, stomach down.

"Hurrah! Hurrah!" the crowd cheered, Toomi right along with them. K'Zan watched her with interest, wondering if this fight is what Ben needed - or what Toomi needed to see from Ben.

CRRRR-KKKOOOOOOWWWWWW!

The air electrified as a lightning bolt seared into the ground. The crowd hushed instantly as Beta Ray Bill dropped from the sky to land between Eshir and Ben-Vell. "What is the meaning of this!?!" he roared, causing the crowd to back away.

No one answered him.

Bill, anger evident in the way he moved, looked at the two combatants harshly. Eshir pulled himself to his feet, his eyes and Ben's never breaking contact.

"I see you have done damage to the Heimdall Library," he spoke accusingly, and at that Ben and Eshir looked over to the Dall's upper window that Eshir had sent Ben-Vell hurtling through. "Do you either of you wish to speak about this brawl that has so endeared yourself to the crowd around you?"

Ben and Eshir said nothing, did nothing but stare daggers at each other.

"Fine," Bill answered, drawing himself upright, "then you shall both receive your punishment. You will travel deep into the heart of Niffleheim and seek out the last Frost Giant. There, you shall stay and aid him in building a replacement for the window you have broken. And take care, Ben-Vell and Eshir," he warned, "that there are close to one million separate pieces of dyed glass that made up the Nine Realms display and you shall not leave until the Frost Giant is satisfied in your work. But be warned, the realm of Niffleheim is not just snow and ice. Danger lurks beneath and above it's icy surface. You will need to work together to cover it's expanse and find the last Frost Giant. If you fail to work together," he dropped his voice, "you will not survive to make it back."

Beta Ray Bill turned to walk away, the crowd parting to let him pass freely. He spoke one last sentence, loud enough for all to hear, "Then neither of you will be able to win the favor of Angelica."

"Hurrah!" the crowd erupted suddenly, laughter filling the Asgardian morning as Ben-Vell and Eshir continued to stare hate at each other. The crowd moved in around them to give their congratulations on being awarded such a glorious quest. Backs were slapped and words of encouragement given. The mood was suddenly even more festive than it was during the brawl.

To all but one, that is. As the crowds engulfed Ben and Eshir, Toomi's feet were rooted to the ground, a look of disbelief on her face.

"What," she asked out loud, but to no one in particular, "would Ben-Vell want to win the favor of Angelica for?"

K'Zan, standing beside her, made not a sound, thankful that Angelica was somewhere else at the moment.

NECROPOLIS

One of Thanos' highest ranking Generals returned to his throne room in Necropolis to find her lord and Ikaris waiting for her.

"Did the Wraith raid on Asgard go as expected?" Thanos asked.

"Aye," the female General answered, taking in the battered form of Ikaris out of the corner of her eye. "The Asgardians are still protecting the Plain of Ida as normal. The Deviants all met their death and their souls have been transported to the Pens for future glory." She looked at Ikaris, "What happened to you?"

"Captain America," Thanos answered for him.

The General in the Valkyrie garb laughed, "Still haven't bested your hated enemy, Ikaris? Perhaps you should listen to me when-"

"Silence!" Thanos boomed. "I have had enough of the Cosmic Protector. You will help Ikaris deliver a blow to America that he shall feel for the rest of his days."

"And how shall we do that?"

"By killing Dani Moonstar," Thanos' voice rumbled low across the room. "Yes, I thought you would like that, I thought you would enjoy killing the woman that took your place. Does that command make you happy … Bruunhilde?"

"Oh yes," the former head Valkyrie smiled, her red eyes blazing bright with hate.

End Words Not True, Actions Not False

At least you're alive. Jonas isn't.

YGGDRASIL

Comments c/o biscuit22@cyberzone.net

-- Mark Bousquet …

6.August.2000

Northern Bear Productions