The Final Saga part 104: March of the Valkyries
By d_Galloway
Chaos-master let out another roar, mixed with what sounded like a mocking laugh. “Who is your little friend this time, Kai Lord? Another wizard like your last companion?”
Wil looked at Lone Wolf. “What’s he talking about?”
Lone Wolf did not look at his companion as he answered. “He means Banedon, my most trusted friend. He…” Lone Wolf’s face became flushed with anger. “Alright, Chaos-master, let us finish this!”
Loki and Val sat in a rear maintenance deck of the airship, a map of RPGC laid out in front of them. Several areas were marked off with red flags, including Merlin’s castle, the Task Force HQ, the RPGC Police Station, Shaheen Jim’s old castle, the shrines, and the whole of southern Quebec. “This will be the easiest conquest I’ve ever been involved in,” laughed the giant. “Soon, with all of RPGC under my control, I can march against Naar himself! Not even Odin can stop me.”
“We beg to differ.”
Loki turned just in time to duck under a large arrow, which embedded itself into the side of the deck before fading from view. Lenneth was standing before him, accompanied by a quartet of other valkyries, all armed with various pointy and sharp weapons. Lenneth quickly discarded the bow and switched to a sword, which she leveled at the statue-like Loki. “Ah, Lenneth. How I have missed your beauty.”
“You have escaped justice too long,” said Lenneth. She looked at Esker, who was still sitting motionless. “Robyn, what has this…beast done to you?”
“Nothing,” said Loki. “She was a gift, a reward for-”
Lenneth gripped the giant by the throat and threw him effortlessly to the ground. She quickly slammed her left foot onto his body, raising the sword over his heart. “Still have a love for the theatrical, bitch?” he spat.
“Die, you-”
Suddenly, the doorway opened, and GG Crono stepped through. “Loki, we’re calling a meeting and-” He finally saw the distracted valkyries. “HOLY MOTHER OF-”
Quickly seizing his chance, Loki grabbed Lenneth’s foot and threw her aside. One of the other valkyries charged forward with a large axe, but was quickly pushed down with a swift kick to the gut. Punching and stricking his way out of the herd, Loki raced to GG Crono, who was rushing into the fray. Before the amnesiac swordsman could even begin to fight, Loki grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back out of the room, dodging another seires of arrows courtesy of Lenneth.
“By Odin!” cursed Lenneth. Then she saw the still motionless Val. “Then again…this could work to our advantage.”
Loki and GG Crono steamrolled into the main chamber, where the rest of the Task Force, Wil 2, Gemini, F. Galloway, Yar Kramer, Crotanks, Yellow Tiger, Sir Percival, and a bandaged Galloway were waiting. “What the hell’s going on?” shouted Heaven’s Soldier.
“Valkyries!” shouted GG Crono. “Valkyries in the hold!”
“Val’s in trouble?” asked Kramer.
“No, not that Valkyrie, the OTHER valkyries!” said Loki. “They’re out to kill me!”
“Since the norse gods suddenly hate us, I guess it’s safe to assume they’re after us, too,” said Darkness Beckons.
Suddenly, Lenneth and her posse walked non-chalantly into the chamber, accompanied by Valkyrie Esker. Everyone quickly jumped into combat positions, and Lenneth’s valkyries did the same. “Hold, mortals!” shouted Lenneth. “Surrender Loki and Galloway, and no more harm shall come to you!”
“What about Val?” asked Crotanks.
“We were sent to bring her back,” said Lenneth. “Loki’s hold over her was easy to break; she now serves Odin again.”
F. Galloway took a few steps forward, poiting her finger at Lenneth. “Look, you twisted bitch, she’s-”
Within half a second, Lenneth raised her bow and fired an arrow, stricking F. Galloway straight in the leg. She fell forward in pain, with everyone quickly preparing for a massive, ungodly battle against gods. “So…you seek death, then,” said Lenneth. “Very well. Sisters, leave none alive!”
The two sides immediately threw themselves at each other, six valkyries against fourteen RPGCers…
“Ah, one of the major battles has begun,” said the old man. “I promise you, soon, you will be allowed to return.” Weiila and Nel both groaned at the news, praying that everything would turn out all right.
The battle was hopelessly one-sided from the beginning. The valkyries were gods, trained in styles of combat that were long-since lost to the rest of existence. They had thousands of years to train themselves, both physically and mentally, until they were nigh-indestructable. They were also gods, and therefore had a limited immortality. The RPGCers, on the other hand…were a bunch of freaks. But that’s a story for another day.
Crotanks was quickly cornered by a black-armored Valkyrie with a two-handed axe. Pushed forward by the sheer mass of battle, he was unable to pull himself out of her reach, instead forced to try to dodge while desperately searching for a means of getting past her guard. Finally, he saw a brief opened, grabbed a conveniently-placed piece of sharpened pipe, and rammed it into the valkyrie’s chest. Fortunately, he managed to strike with enough force to work past the armor and hit some insides; unfortunately, it was like a flesh wound to the valkyrie, and he was quickly retreating.
Suddenly, Kramer was sent flying from a strike by a green-armored valkyrie, landing right on top of the black-armored valkyrie. He was quickly thrown off, but not before Percival could see his badly wounded ally and charged forward, quickly pulling the demigoddess’ attention off of Crotanks long enough for F. Galloway, her leg covered in a split and bandages, to get to him with a first aid kit. Meanwhile, Kramer recovered from being tossed and charged forward, striking the black-armored valkyrie with a roundhouse to the back of the head just as Percival parried a powerful attack.
Meanwhile, Heaven’s Soldier and Darkness Beckons pushed themselves against the green-armored valkyrie, who effortlessly forced them back with a halberd. The weapon’s reach, accompanied by her skill and speed, gave her a great advantage over the comparatively slower Task Forcers and their shorter weapons. Just as it seemed everything was to end in a stalemate, Mabatsekker managed to reach his companions, grabbing the valkyrie from behind and pulling her down. Without a moment’s hesitation, he reached into his heart and used a technique Val had once taught him…
He pulled the valkyrie’s mouth open, and thinking about the Rosie O’ Donnell naked, vomited in the valkyrie’s mouth. Horrified and sickened by what had happened, the green-armored valkyrie staggered to her feet, grabbing Mabat by the throat on her way; however, this meant she only had one arm for her weapon, and although skilled, she was easily outflanked by Heaven’s Soldier and Darkness Beckons.
Meanwhile, kiro raised her bazooka, and aimed at a white-armored valkyrie, but was unable to get a clear shot with the sheer mass of movement. Fortunately, Yellow Tiger rushed forward and leaped on the Valkyrie, an energy blade emerging from a hidden section of her left arm. Before she could stike, the valkyrie forced her off, raised a war hammer, and slammed the ground hard, shaking the entire bunker in her rage. However, this movement gave kiro the moment she needed, and she fired a rocket right at the valkyrie. The explosion sent the valkyrie flying right into Yellow Tiger, who smacked her in mid-air with a right hook.
Meanwhile, a red-armored valkyrie engaged Gemini and Wil 2. The former, using the stronger staff, was able to block most of the valkyrie’s attacks, somehow managing to anticipate where her two-handed sword was going to strike next. Wil 2, meanwhile, fired every spell he knew that wouldn’t kill everyone in the room, but the valkyrie was not affected. Finally, the valkyrie managed to break Gemini’s guard, gashing a major wound in the mage’s arm. At that very moment, however, Wil 2 unleashed a series of lightning blasts at the valkyrie’s hands, shocking her into dropping the sword. Taking the chance, both struck her with their staves at once, aiming right for the throat.
Finally, Loki and Lenneth pulled themselves away from the crowd, the former smashing the latter through the wall into the kitchen. Buried under destroyed cereal boxes and smashed cans of pasta sauce, Lenneth threw herself at Loki, taking the deceiving god completely by surprise with her ferociousness. Still, he managed to push her aside, only to get a can of sauce right in his eyes. As he groaned in pain, Lenneth shoved her sword at him…but caught only the wall, as the god twisted to the side completely by accident.
MEANWHILE, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BATTLE…
Val was immediately sent flying through the roof landing with a thud on the hilltop. Galloway immediately teleported up there, GG Crono latched onto him. “Val, snap out of it!” shouted GG Crono. “Don’t make us kill you…again!”
Val’s face suddenly did something it hadn’t done in weeks; it changed positions. “What are you blabbering about, GC?” GG grumbled at the mention of the letters.
“Val…you can talk!” said Galloway.
“Of course, dipshit!” said Val. “Lenneth gave me back everything! That was one of the reasons she was here!”
“Then let’s get down there and stop this!” shouted GG Crono. “Someone’s liable to get killed!”
“Definately acceptable losses,” growled Val. She raised Gungnir, for the first time in a while doing it of her own free will. “Come on, we haven’t got all day!”
“Agreed.”
A shot rang out, hitting Val in the back of the shoulder. Glenton emerged from his hiding place, his sniper rifle still raised. “Hello, Bitchker. Glad to see you’re back.”
“Well, THIS just keeps getting better!” snarled Val. “Everyone, just give up and die like men, all right? We all have more important things to attend to!”
Glenton prepared to fire again, but Galloway blasted the weapon out of his hand with an energy beam. GG Crono ran towards Val, who quickly blocked his clumsy strike and swung the spear’s handle against his chest, knockin the wind out of the superhero. The thief, meanwhile, raised the Dragon’s Tooth sword and flipped over Val’s head, trying to strike from above; instead, she blocked the attack, tripped Glenton as he landed, and prepared to throw her spear straight through his gut.
Galloway raised the Sommerswerd and charged forward, tearing open a massive wound in Val’s left arm. Rather than scream or cringe in pain, she turned on her heels and lunged at Galloway with unnerving speed, which the kai lord just barely managed to dodge. Her last attack, however, tore into his side, opening one of the wounds he had received during his battle with Nyarl and causing a wave of pain to wash over him. GG Crono and Glenton tried to climb to their feet, but were still unable to move.
“You’re still weak,” said Val. “Even Glenton could take a beating like that!”
Galloway blocked her next attack. “Val, the norse gods are EVIL! God damn it, Thor killed two kids for no damn reason!”
“He kills LOTS of things for no good reason!” said Val. Gungnir struck into Galloway’s right inner thigh. “Odin damn it, he kills trolls every morning because he FEELS like it. What’s two more brats to the pile?”
Galloway pulled himself free from Gungnir, a look of murderous hatred in his eyes. “Uh…Val?” said GG Crono. “I don’t think you should-”
“Let her,” whispered Glenton. “She might just trip herself into her own grave.”
“Oh, is life suddenly valuable to you?” asked Val. “From what I hear, you didn’t shed a damn tear for me; you just jumped in your little helicopter and flew off to avenge me! What about all those people you killed with the Task Force? Your bother’s girlfriend? Adrianne? Over a hundred small-time crooks? And now two kids dying sets you off?”
“VAL, IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, DON’T!” shouted Crono.
It was too late, however; Galloway was irrevocably pissed…
Things were beginning to calm down. All the valkyries were down, save for Lenneth, who was still locked in battle with Loki. No one wanted to get too close to the battle, and kiro was out of ammo for her bazooka. Yellow Tiger, meanwhile, was kneeling over her valkyrie, energy blade raised, emitting a few muffled sobs every few seconds.
Finally, Loki was pushed to the ground again, his body covered in a mixture of Lenneth’s blood and his own. Lenneth raised his sword to finish it all…just as Val’s body was sent flying back through the hole created earlier, knocking the valkyrie to the ground. Galloway teleported back into the bunker, his entire body awashed in blood. Lenneth looked at Val’s body, and saw Esker had been practically gutted, and yet was still alive somehow.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lenneth raised her hands over Val, calling upon her faith to Odin in hopes of saving her sister’s life. Within a few minutes, Val was almost completely healed, now at least LOOKING like she should be alive.
GG Crono and Glenton pushed themselves down the hole, just as the other valkyries began to rise, walking over to assist Lenneth. None of the RPGCers stopped them; they knew that the valkyries were defeated. Lenneth turned to Galloway. “What madness is this? She is your wife.”
“Not anymore,” said Galloway.
“She was particularly venemous,” said GG Crono. “She…hit a few raw nerves.”
Val climbed to her feet, leaning against Lenneth as she did so. “Thank you, sister. Let’s go-”
“Why not tell her the truth?” said Loki.
Lenneth looked at the former god, her eyes filled with hatred. “Why should I take your advice? You enslaved her!”
“What…truth?” asked Kramer.
“Yeah…WHAT truth?” asked Val. Her expression had changed from gratitude to morbid curiosity.
Finally cornered, Lenneth sighed. “Robyn, when we let you leave…it was not because you wanted to. We knew that the Ragnarok was coming, and…we needed someone to serve as bait to bring out those who will cause it. We knew that somehow, this world would be where the evil would be drawn, and willed you to travel here.” Val’s face became flushed with anger. “You…were a needed tool in our plans to save the gods. We assumed that-”
Val pulled away, stumbling against the kitchen counter to maintain her balance. “Lenneth…you lied to me. YOU FUCKING LIED TO ME!”
“Please, sister-”
“Not anymore.”
Lenneth was completely motionless for several minutes, while the rest of the chamber was swept in complete silence. Finally, she hung her head sadly. “Very well, Lenneth. You have consigned yourself to death. Farewell, for now.” All five members of Lenneth’s group vanished, leaving a battered, tired, wounded, beaten, and destroyed bunch of RPGCers to pick up the pieces.
THE END OF PART 104
Next time: The Death and Life of Lone Wolf
