810ad
-
It has been quite some time. I've had nearly 400 years of training and preparation, and the day for me to take over for my brother's As guardian of The realms is here. The condition for them being allowed to leave on their trip was simple- I must defeat Freya in 1 on 1 combat.
It literally took me 300 years of training and battle throughout the realms in order to finally defeat her in a fair spar. That's how fucking strong she is.
And by fair spar, I mean even with my future sight, because for some absurd reason Freya has the ability to confuse my future sight. I have to really concentrate in order to get it to work right, so I usually forego the use of it altogether and opt to simply fight her normally.
She told me that the reason this happens is because she has a passive magic charm cast on her to confuse those looking in on her future.
Which is bullshit.
-
"Dont fet cocky now, boy!" My mother says seriously as she deflects on of my strikes, clad in her armor. She is no longer untouchable to me, but still quite the formidable foe.
I circle arpund her in an attempt to catch her off guard, and feign low. She barely moves stepping backwards and allowing her to properly block my intended strike, but utilizing my illusion magic(a trick I picked up from Loki and Freya) I manage to nearly hit her with a glancing blow to the other side. However, she manages to dodge deftly.
So. Fucking. Slippery.
I all the time we have been sparring my mother has not only gotten better herself, but I have only properly hit her 10 times. Ten times in 300 years. Honestly I feel inadequate; but the problem with that is I've gotten to the point where I can hold my own against Thor- I can't beat him when he has Mjolnir but I can at least make sure I dont die, and I win 2/3 matches without mjolnir. I win every time against Loki, but seeing as his main skill is misdirection and I can see through his tricks with my Eyes, he can't really ever beat me. That doesnt make him unskilled however, he is just a bad match against me.
Back to the fight, we have been going for nearly an hour at this point, and we're getting tired. Constantly fighting quickly wears one out, especially at this high of a level. I'm certain at this point that my mother is the only person in Asgard that has better sword skills than me, and It's by a slim margin.
"Im not getting cocky, Mom." Ireply back as I begin another volley of strikes feints and slices, attempting to catch her off guard or trick her into letting me through. My main advantage over her is my strength and my ingenuity. She is more fluid and graceful, but her strikes add no weight, so blocking her is easy enough.
She then turns the tide back to me, and we continue this dance for the next few moves. I feel the sweat trickle down my neck, exhaustion creeping in as I feel my limbs burning. But I refuse to give in. Not when I'm so close. Today should be the day! Thor and Loki need to be able to count on me to protect the realm!
And that's when it happens. A mistake. A flaw. The first one in years that I've caught and could take advantage of. She raised her sword to block a feint, one that I embedded with illusion magic to trick her into thinking it was a real strike. I finally pulled it off! I managed to trick her!
But just when I thought I'd won, I see her smirk, and I watch the illusion she had set up disappear in front of me, her swords deflecting mine and I find myself on the disadvantage yet again.
This woman is crazy, and annoying.
"COME ON THEN! " I yell out, getting frustrated and letting out my rage. I feel a strange heat course through me, and the world around me goes slightly red, but I dont stop to wonder about it. I feel stronger, and I feel faster! I immediately dash at my mom, taking her by surprise with my newfound speed, and managed to duck her counterstrike. I then knock her sword from her hands, but it was yet another illusion.
But she's concerned now. She looks just the tiniest bit proud.
"Seems my boy is a berserker!" I hear my father's voice boom with pride from the top balcony, and I look up to find him looking at me with a small smile.
"Father, whatever do you mean?" I ask, the world around me returning to normal.
"Why, you have managed to unlock something that very few do- Battle Rage! And you seem to be in the early steps of it! Maybe step 2?" He says, stroking his grey-ish beard with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
"The hell is battle rage?" I ask, feeling slightly exhausted, but it's nothing I can't handle.
"A skill of the berserker- it isnt a skill that can be learned, only one that is forged in battle. It is also only learned when one has felt great rage on the battlefield, and your body learns to channel that rage into power. Once you reach the 3rd step, you learn to willfully activate the power. Quite the interesting skill you seem to have picked up, my boy." The all father explained, quite usefully might I add. I've never heard of something like that before.
Yet another thing that wasnt in the comics. Though, I guess it makes sense. If people like Iron fist can learn powers, or someone like Doctor Strange can borrow magic from the Vishanti, or the Hulk can get his power from the One below All, then why the hell is learning a rage based skill out of the question?
-
As it turns out, my Mother decided that I was finally ready to take over for my brothers. The decision came as quite the shock, considering I hadn't technically beaten her yet, but she explained the decision.
"My boy, just as you have grown from our duels, so have I. I am much more adept at fighting then I was 300 years ago when the condition was set, and even so you nearly bested me today. Your new skill needs tempering, and training, but even without those things it is a formidable card to play. Not to mention your skill with your blade, and your adept usage of illusion magic mid-fight. So, tomorrow your brother's are going to be sent out on their quest to learn the locations of all the Infinity Gems. They may be gone for many years, so tonight we celebrate! It will be a truly Asgardian feast, as requested by Thor, of course!"
"Tomorrow? Wow, I never thought the day would come... makes me nostalgic. Three hundred years ago, Loki joked that I would be able to beat you for a thousand years, so I imagine he'll be quite annoyed that he lost our little bet."
"Yes, the look on his face when he learned they were finally leaving was quite amusing. Your brother like to think he can hide his emotions, but he is dead wrong on that front." And we both laughed at that.
-
The feast had now come and gone, and around mid day a small crowd had gathered near the rainbow bridge.
"Brothers, I will miss you dearly. Please be safe on your expedition. If you die, I swear I'll go to Valhalla myself and send you to our sister again!" I say with mock seriousness, clapping a hand on both of their shoulders before pulling them into hugs.
"Verdi, take care of yourself. We'll only be gone for a couple decades, so you wont even notice we're gone." Thor said as he patted me on the back, a slight hitch in his voice as he tried (and failed) to mask his emotions.
"I concur. Take care brother, and I'll make sure this oaf doesnt get us killed." We all laughed at Loki's comment, even Thor himself.
And with that, the two left through the bifrost, not to return for another 100 years.
-
The year is 908 ad. My brothers have been gone for 98 years. And while I can positively say I missed them, I can also say the time flew by like no one's business. An Asgardian's sense of time is ridiculous, even for me, who always knows what time it is.
But finally, after a short century, my brother's have finally returned home. But they are not alone.
"All-father! Your son's have returned!" A guard announces as he barges into the throne room during my report on my recent mission to Voromir.
"They're back? Awesome! Where are they!" I SAY AS i stand up and rush after the guard, only to be stopped by the guard's next words:
"They came injured! It appears that they were running from someone! They didnt tell me who, but they seemed worried!" He said, and it was then that I immediately ran towards the medical bay.
There I found my mother treating a lightly injured Thor(a feat in and of itself, even as young as he is) and a heavily injured Loki.
"Brothers! What happened?! Who did you idiots piss off?" I asked annoyed but also worried. Who indeed, could it be someone scary?
The collector maybe? Or maybe the high evolutionary? Definitely not Galactus, seeing as they'd be dead. But the worst possible case is probably-
"Some dumass purple guy named Thanos! He came after us, and demanded we give him our knowledge on the wearabouts of the infinity gems we had aquired over the years. We refused, and he attacked without warning! He's immensely strong, Verdi! Even with mjolnir, the monster kicked both our asses and sent us packing. We only managed to escape because of luck!"
"Fucking Thanos?! Of all fucking people you pissed off the worst fucking one! God you're dumb! How did you even run into him?! Fuck we're so screwed! How bad did you piss him off?" I yell at them, surprising them with my knowledge and my outburst.
"Hey! We were just doing what we were told to do! We weren't about to just hand over our hard work to some nutsack chin piece of shit!" I almost laughed at that- or I would have if he wasn't talking about Thanos. The mad titan.
And just then my father decided to storm in.
"So what if they pissed off some youngling, who is this... Thanos? You mentioned him before." He said as he walked over, and I quickly spotted Ugin and Mugin. Those fucking crows always spying on people. (A/n: A little Easter egg if you arent aware, in the 2012 avengers, ugin and mugin can be seen during Loki and Thors encounter after Thor takes Loki from the quintet. I only noticed recently but I think that's pretty cool.)
"Father, Thanos is known as the Mad Titan. He... Let's just say he's a fucked up guy. He tries to court death- literally. As in fucking Lady death herself. Not the goddess- no- the fucking cosmic entity! He's a Crack pot, with a brain full of hate and rage. His ultimate plan is to use the Gems to do some fucked up shit."
"Use the gems? The infinity gems, yes? Hm... if he is as you say then he is very much worth paying attention to. Thor, Loki, do you two believe he may come here, seeking revenge? Or your knowledge?"
"To be truthful, we know very little... unfortunately we didnt get very far in our search for the gems, only really finding one and bringing it with us." Thor says, pulling out a small circular container that clearly contains an immense power.
Then, Thor opens the container to reveal the infinity gem previously controlled by Kree intelligence- the mind Stone.
"How in the fuck did you get this away from the Kree?!" I asked in pure befuddlement after Thor showed us the stone, only to recieve a glare from my mother at my language.
"Well, we didn't. It wasn't with the kree."
"Who was it with? Father said they were the ones he knew had it."
"To be fair that was 350 years ago, Verdi. Things change." Odin said calmly, trying to diffuse the situation.
"We Acquired the stone from a man known as the collector-"
"You mean stole right under his nose, you oaf." Loki butted in then, now wrapped in bandages.
"Hey!" Thor tried to refute, but couldn't find the words.
"So, safe to say Thanos is probably coming to us. We should prepare the army." I turn and say to Odin, only for him to nod.
"Thor, get that stone to the vault. Freya, take Verdi to get suited up and meet me at the rainbow bridge. I will gather the army."
"Very well; Verdi, Let's go get prepared."
-
Not two hours later, and a large ship appeared on the horizon of Asgard. The imposing thing was easily larger than our largest space ship, and was clearly meant to intimidate us.
But we are Asgardian. We do not back down from tyrants.
Then, a single being stepped out from the ship and fell to the raindbow bridge, slamming into it without leaving a dent. He was truly huge- a easily 9 feet tall and dark purple.
It was Thanos- nutsack chin and all. He stood there, his massive glave in one hand and wearing his golden armor. He was rather far down the bridge, and we had taken to staying near the plaza it led to to fight him there, where our numbers would reign.
The mad titan is truly intimidating. Nothing can possibly prepare you for him. He's even scarier for me- someone who knows exactly what he can and is prepared to do for his cause.
Although he does look rather young.
Once he got within a hundred yards, Odin's voice rebounded as he sat upon his mighty steed.
"Halt! Do you know where you have come, Boy?! You dare come to Asgard to pick a fight?!" And good lord does Odin's voice pack a wollup! Even outside his acoustic friendly palace, his voice carries. Kinda makes me feel inaddequate, not gonna lie. In comparison I sound like a whiny child.
"I am Thanos! And I go where I please in my search for the infinity gems! I can feel their cosmic might! You are in control of two, and as such I will be taking them. I care not for you silly island, give me the gems or you will all fall!" Arrogant, yes, but it is not unfounded.
"Fool. Prepare to face defeat today!" Odin announces, and at that Thanos charges at us.
Interestingly, while he is a strong fighter, it seems he lacks true experience.
He charged in blindly, thinking we couldn't hurt him. What was strange is that he wasn't using any of his powers- laser eyes or the like. Just immense physical might. Several times he overpowered Thor with physical might, with ease might I add.
Odin, for all his threats, seemed to want to watch his people battle the titan. It's strange though, Doesn't the Titan usually not pick battles he knows he can't win? Does he simply not know how strong Odin is?
"Thanos!" I yell out as I block a strike from his blade, sending me kidding back a few feet. He hasn't managed to kill anyone just yet, but that's only because the army has decided to hold off on attacking on Odin's orders. It is only us- Thor, myself, Loki, and Freya, along with the warriors three and the battle trio,- that have been allowed to engage.
However, once he decided to pull out the laser eyes, the tide quickly turned in Thano's favor. He had been fighting us(granted, on the losing side) for roughly ten minutes before he decided to use his lasers, and when he did, he managed to hit loki, if barely.
I grew enraged as I watched my brother fly into a pillar, smoke coming from his side as it burned from the green lasers.
"Play time is over, foolish Asgardians!" Thanos called out, only to be met my an enraged Thor and myself as Freya went to heal Loki. With my Battle Rage activated, my speed and strength multiplied, and I found myself finally able to keep up with Thanos. He was still stronger, but he was now slower than me. But his stupid eyes were still a pain in the ass. Luckily, my eyes allowed me to predict when he'd use them.
"Fuck you!" I yelled out as he managed to land a hit on Thor and flung him back. He'd be fine, but it still enraged me further.
However, the Hulk I am not. More rage does not equal more strength for me.
And so, when I found myself flying into a pillar myself, I groaned, and watched as Odin nigh-effortlessly defeated Thanos in two moves. Fuck, I forget how damn strong Odin is.
When Thanos was sent flying backwards, the look on his face was fucking priceless. The terror at having underestimated his opponents was hilarious.
With another energy blast directed at Thanos, the Mad Titan went down. And with that, he tapped a button on his arm, and telepoeted himself back to his ship.
He escaped, but now he was wiser and had learned a very valuable lesson.
Dont fuck with Odin.
But we learned a lesson as well that day.
Thanos doesn't fuck around, and we all need to get stronger. Safe to say, if Odin wasn't around, Thanos would've killed us all.
I need to get way stronger.