The Golden Realm did not shake at their coming. Nor did it tremble. But it noticed. The ever vigil eyes of Hemidall felt their piercing of the barrier between Midgard and Asgard, and whispered it into the ears of those who were Thought and Memory, the ravens of Odin.

The carried the guardian's words to the one-eyed god, who pondered their meaning, himself feeling the power unleashed upon his realm. That power, and another. Another power that had snaked its way through the heart of the realm, sending daggers of fear into the hearts of his people.

He reached out with his power, in order to get a better measure of those invading his realm. Two of them were known to him, the rest were not. Satanna was the sister to the Lord of Hell, and the Mistress of Limbo in her own right. She was someone he certainly would not want roaming through his realm on her own, however, her companion gave him pause. Janet Van Dyne was the mortal they called the Wasp, and a trusted friend of his son Thor. They had long served in the mortal fighting force known as the Avengers together, in fact both being founding members of said group. That Janet was with Satanna, and, at least as far as he could tell, was with her willingly, stayed his mighty hand.

Better, for the time at least, to watch as their purpose unfolded. If he was forced to strike them down, he would do so. But perhaps, these Avengers had come to Asgard to unravel the new plague that had set so many low; the one that had ravaged the very halls of Valhalla. Perhaps, knowing mortals, even if that had not been their original intention, they would find a way to do so anyway, once confronted with it.

He whispered to his ravens, telling them secrets of the Golden Realm, and watched as they took to the air to spread his word, watching them fly into the distance, and hoping that his hopes were not misplaced.

Lemar Hoskins, Battlestar, stared as the world around him changed. He had been on his way to talk to the Wasp about what was going on between Fandral and the Valkyrie Mist when the she had nearly ran him down in the hallway. She had looked up at him for a moment, said "You," and "Follow me," and the next thing he had known, he had been drafted for some sort of mission with that the Wasp was leading.

By time they had all come together, she had gathered up Satanna, the young and pregnant Timeslip, Nighthawk, Chloe Boudreaux, and some guy who called himself Doorman. The last one had been the hardest, since he had only arrived at the mansion to see what could be done for his friend, the fallen Mr. Immortal.

Lemar shook his head with a laugh. His resistance hadn't lasted long under Janet's stare. He had pretty much folded under the weight of her focused will. No one really stood much of a chance when they matched her head to head, which was ironic, Lemar thought, considering that it certainly wasn't the image she usually projected of the flighty shopping crazed socialite. There was an untapped depth that raged beneath, one that she usually didn't allow herself to show people. But when she did - that was pretty much it. They were as good as beaten.

They had gathered together in one of the spare bedrooms in a largely abandoned part of the mansion. Janet had been very nervous, and closed mouthed about what they were doing. But she managed to let Doorman know that he needed to allow Satanna to focus her energies through him. He nodded, glad to be getting out that easily as the demon Mistress of Limbo's hands came alight and she shoved her hands toward his black clad chest.

He tried to jump back, but she was too fast for him, her hands sinking deeply into a chest that didn't seem to be completely solid.

In fact, he was someone who could use his body as a portal, expanding it to allow people to go from one place to another. What Satanna was doing, they later learned, was expanding that ability, using her own might and awareness to grab hold of a single place, a place beyond the bounds of Earth. She fixed the location in his mind... allowing her power to hold open the gateway his body formed, despite his blood curling screams.

Doorman was literally sounding like he was being torn inside out, but the Wasp had assured everyone that he would be alright... and so... Lemar had found himself following everyone else through the portal that was the Doorman.

The world had gone black for a moment, and then extremely light. Not just out in the sun light either, but as if the sun had gotten much brighter, and closer to the surface of the Earth... as if... the air was what hit him first.

It was fresh, clean, in a way that he had only dreamed about. He took in a deep breath, as he saw Doorman pulling himself through his own portal, folding onto himself and muttering something obscene and anatomically impossible that he wanted to do to Satanna if he ever got half the chance.

The Wasp pretended that she didn't hear the remarks. Lemar caught a glimpse of the smirking Satanna before turning quickly away... she clearly was making no pretense.

"Where are we?" he heard Rina Patel, Timeslip, ask with wonder in her voice.

The Wasp smiled, and held out the expanse of her arms, "Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow members of

	May- Year 5
	#205

she announced with a flourish,"Welcome to Asgard!"

Yggdrasil

The Council of the Valkryrior gathered at the trunk of the tree of life, beneath the body of the one who had been their leader, Brunnhilde - whom mortals knew simply as THE Valkyrie. Her form still hung on the mighty tree, though she made no signs as to her current state. "Harokin has not yet risen," one of the Order said, breaking the silence, "Nor have any of the others..."

"You speak the obvious," another countered, "The very fabric of Asgard is in peril."

"Truth," a third responded, "But what shall we do about it? Odin has declared that no new warriors may be acquired until we solve this dilemnia, for fear of contaminating their souls as well. But without warriors..."

"What good are the last forces of Asgard?" Ollerus the Unmerciful's reply went unheard by those assembled, as he watched their plight from his stronghold, gazing into the reflecting pool. "Not much good at all I would hope."

It had been a simple spell... the best ones usually were. Simple, yet elegant.

It was the nature of Valhalla to serve as a place for the souls of dead warriors to battle each other every day, only to rise again in the evening to revel in their glories. His spell, his wonderful little spell, had simply stopped them from ever rising again once slain.

He watched the Valkyrior Council... gathered together far from the protection of the walls of their stronghold, perhaps hoping their words to go unnoticed against the greater glory of the roots of life. He watched them fret over what steps to take next... he saw them look up to their leader, to his old foe, Brunnhilde, and laughed.

If they were truly considering detaching her from her sacrifice, then they were truly more insane than he had ever given them credit for being. Removing one attached to the source... could be... he stopped and thought for a moment, the more he thought of it, he could not honestly say he knew what sort of move it would be. After all, no one had ever removed someone from the Yggdrasil without their consent.

It could very well destroy everything.

The self-proclaimed heir to the fallen Hela felt his heart start to race, and a laugh spring into his throat. He let it out, letting it echo through the empty corridors of the stronghold that he would soon be abandoning as he made his move against what would soon be his.

Elsewhere

Hela screamed again. Her voice echoing across the backdrop of eternity.

She had been betrayed... she focused on that, it gave her strength, purpose. It helped her maintain her concentration.

She had been betrayed by the one calling himself Set, although he was much darker than any Egyptian version of herself.*

(*He was in fact the returned father of Daimon Hellstrum, Satan, as revealed in #200! - GD)

He had stripped her of her powers, of her being... only to have the same stripped from himself. Her being had been forced into the orb along with him, as if an afterthought. The others he had betrayed met with a similar fate, she could hear their screaming, echoing along with her own. She could feel them... their pitiful state of darkness barely enough to maintain the scream.

They were, for the most part, creatures of pure intangible being. And as such, they were far more trapped than she.

She was a goddess, one with a corporal form. All she needed was to somehow...

She reached out with what was left of her consciousness, trying to find a hole to slip through... trying to...

She felt a hand reach out to her from the darkness.

"Come with me if you want to live," it said.

She grasped the slender hand before her like a drowning victim, clinging to her lifeline, holding it as if it was really freedom.

The Gates of Valhalla

"Hold!" a voice called out from the wall. "Return from whence you came. There is no audience granted this day in the Golden Halls."

Satanna smirked at the Wasp, "I'm sure they don't mean us." Janet returned the smile with one of her own.

"We come for the one called Brunnhilde!" The Wasp shouted back toward the wall, "We have come for her return to the mortal world."

"Then you have journeyed in vain." a voice said from behind the group.

Chloe turned with a start, her hand flying out of its own volition, sending the speaker down to one knee clenching her throat. Two armor clad woman stepped up in her place, swords drawn. They started forward, but the downed woman rose a single hand for them to hold.

She looked up at Chloe and smiled, "Well struck," she replied, regaining her feet.

Chloe inclinded her head, "Now explain yourself before you get something worse." she challenged, wishing that she felt as brave as she sounded.

Battlestar was standing on her right hand side, with his energy shield crackling. Nighthawk was on her left, silent but ready.

"We are from the Council of the Chosen - the ruling body of the Valkryrior" the Valkyrie explained, as she rose to her feet. "The gates of the Great Hall have been sealed to keep out further contamination."

"Nice sentiment" Satanna smirked.

The Valkyrie's looked confused for a moment, before the leader spoke. "Nay. It is not you who are the contamination - but rather the rest of the Realm that must be kept from that which dwells within these halls."

Janet raised her right eyebrow, "What sort of danger is in the hall of the Valkryie that you're protecting the rest of Asgard from. And more to the point - what does it have to do with our seeking Brunnhilde?"

"She is needed here." the leader explained, her face ashen, "She is the only one who can save us from what dwells within."

"And that is?" Janet Van Dyne asked again.

"Death itself."

The leader stared at them for a long moment, as if taking their measure. Finally, she gave a long slow nod to the others.

"We can not let you within the walls of Valhalla. But we can do something better for you - if you truly are comrades in arms to Brunnhilde. Perhaps there you might understand our peril."

Janet didn't bother looking at the others. She knew what she was, what they had come for. Anything that was going to help in her return would be a step in the right direction.

"Lead on McDuff"

"My name is not..."

"I know, it's just an expression."

"You from Midgard are more than passing strange."

"I resent that" Satanna snickered.

"I'm sure she didn't mean you" Rina said with a smile as she put on her hand on Satanna's shoulder. "After all, you're not exactly one of us strange Midgarders now are you?"

"I should think not."

"Then no worries!" Rina said, her smile broadening as the group starting following the Valkryrior Council on Janet's lead.

Chloe stared straight ahead, lost in a world of her own.

No one seemed to notice.

Kyle Richmond looked around as they walked, wishing he could fly on ahead.

But their guides were walking. So he was grounded.

Asgard was beautiful. More beautiful than just about anything he had ever seen before, and the further he got from the halls of Valhalla, the better he felt.

Something about the place was calling to him. Something was... pulling at him. He wanted to go there. He wanted to be there. Which made sense, he knew, after all - he was a dead warrior. Maybe not the greatest of warriors, but dead was dead.

Except when it wasn't.

Valhalla knew.

It knew he was dead in a way that not all of his brain seemed to. It knew he belonged there. It knew... it knew things about him that no place should. That he never wanted anything or anyone to know again.

The structure itself whispered to him.

The further they got from it, the weaker the voice became.

If he could fly... the voices would be gone, he knew it in his heart. But instead, it was one step after the other, trying to drive the sound from his head, trying to escape the pull.

"I should have never come here," he told himself, "I should have never..." he stopped himself in midsentence.

The group had stopped aburptly. He looked up from his thoughts.

He hadn't seen it coming. Certainly, he knew of its existence, but when he looked on the horizon, it literally hadn't been there. But it *should* have. By all rights it was big enough to BE the only thing visible on the horizon. Instead, they had managed to walk right up to it before it was visible.

"Magic" he muttered to himself before adding the "well duh".

"The tree of life" the leader of the Valkryrior announced.

"Yggdrasil" The Wasp intoned in awe, "I never imagined..."

"Few could," Satanna reassured, her own voice cracking.

Rina Patel stared at the trunk in a daze.

"You wish to know what has happened to your comrade? Look no further than the fountain of all knowledge in the universe - to that which is Yggdrasil. Odin once hanged himself here, sacrificing his eye for that which is to come. You have but look up to see another who follows his path."

Janet's were the first eyes to rise up the base of the tree.

Satanna's followed. Battlestar looked up before taking an involuntary step backward.

Chloe stared upward, taking its measure.

Rina's eyes were fixated on the trunk, as she moved toward it.

Doorman's eyes rose up the trunk until he saw the figure. She had been nailed there, literally crucified on the trunk. Long iron nails pierced her hands and feet. Her head was tinted up to the sun, as if looking for inspiration - or release.

She was clearly in agony. But also, strangely enough, at peace. She was.

"Brunnhilde" Janet exclaimed. "What are you doing to her?!?!"

The Valkyrior were calm. "Nothing that she did not wish. She is becoming one with the source. When she has endured this trial, she will be one with the universe. She shall be able to truly lead the Valkryrior."

"Meanwhile," Satanna slyly replied, "You have a crisis that she would be the ideal person to solve."

The leader of the Valkryrior stared at Satanna for a moment, attempting to hide her surprise, "That is certainly a valid interpretation of our current dilemnia."

"I'd call it spot on." Satanna smirked, "So why don't you just take her down? Seems easy enough to me."

"She is making a sacrifice for her people. We do not have the right to deprive her - or us if truth be told, of that sacrifice."

"Which is more important?" someone asked.

The group turned as Chloe stepped to the fore.

"Pardon?"

"Which is more important?" Chloe asked, "The sacrifice of that she is making - or your gain from that sacrifice?"

No one answered.

Chloe waited for a moment before continuing, "Because it strikes me that you have quite a bit to gain when she eventually comes down with that knowledge -- and even more if she doesn't."

"I'm afraid your mortal logic is flawed."

"Is it? From where I stand, the only reason you're not getting her the hell down to solve your problem is that once she's down, she's back in charge."

"Perhaps that is the way things work on Midgard. I assure you - it is not the way of Valhalla."

"Then prove me wrong, detach her. Solve your problem and move on."

"I will not be spoken to this way by anyone, much less a mortal."

"Then you might want to put your hand over your ears because I'm going to keep talking. Are you so full of your own self preservation that your ignoring..."

"Chloe, perhaps..." Janet was saying.

Chloe ignored her, focusing in, tensing her muscles to react to the slightest provocation.

Which is why her control slipped when Rina Patel screamed... and everything went wrong.

NEXT: Everything goes wrong.

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