LJ presents: Strange Horizons, part five
I've now seen Avengers: Age of Ultron twice, thanks to (a) stareyednight winning a Marvel/Disney competition and (b) bc_scrubs' access to $10 movie tickets. I enjoyed it both times. If the original Avengers film was a 9.5/10 (being as close-to-perfect as a super hero team movie can be), I'd rate the sequel a solid 9/10. The glitch, for me, was the number of info dumps certain characters had to provide to keep the plot moving. A necessity due to the sheer number of moving parts in the second film's plot? Absolutely - but surely there was a better solution than turning Nick Fury (and, occasionally, Thor) into Basil Exposition.
LJ saw it for the first time last night, and her opinion was much the same as mine. The first film sits very high on her list of all-time favourite movies; this installment didn't make the cut but she still very much liked it. For her, though, there was a bigger issue. "It's not as good as my Ultron games," she declared, "if you'll excuse the ego and boasting. I guess I just like my Ultron to be a little creepier, a little less insane and a lot colder." Can't argue with that, given her long history with the callous synthezoid.
Of course, in our house there's but one thing to do after inhaling a Marvel movie: run upstairs to play super heroes! So while the kidlet and I do that, please sit back and enjoy "one we prepared earlier"... also known as "SF is once again behind on chronicling LJ's stories but he's written this one so have a read while he gets even further behind". My daughter's imagination just won't quit, I swear.
----------
LJ presents:
STRANGE HORIZONS
PART FIVE
Written and directed by LJ
Novelisation by SF
Chilling winds whipped over the permafrost tundras of Jotunheim. In the distance, the glacial spires of the Frost Giant Palace rose majestically into the winter-night skies. Safe within an environmental force-bubble, projected by Ironclad's armour, the young heroes of Earth looked upon their destination and readied themselves for...
"Iris," Ironclad asked, "did you cut your hair while we were travelling across dimensions?"
Quickdraw's short-'n-stylish hairdo was, in many ways, the least shocking of the transformations five of the heroes had undergone. Sunburst's indestructible hair was braided in a new way reminiscent of ancient Krypton while her cape had given way to a crimson pauldron. Shield Maiden's signature weapons had been upgraded to hard-light holograms; her hair, too, had been cut short. Ironclad's armour had been upgraded, its arms reconfigured to absorb ambient energy for added flight-'n-fight power. Torunn was now wearing traditional Asgardian battle armour and, instead of wielding a lightning-summoning sword, could generate electrical weapons with her bare hands.
"Maria, did you amp up my shields?" Shield Maiden asked.
"No I didn't, Peggy," the armoured inventor replied. "I mean, well, I'd always intended on giving you hard-light shields some day... just like I'd planned to re-do my 'sleeves' like this... but I've never had the time or, honestly, the tech on-hand to do the work." She paused. "By the way, your hair looks awesome. So does yours, Iris - and yours, Lara."
"I look like my grandmother," Lara said reverently, catching her reflection in Maria's armour. "That's a good thing, by the way. And this pauldron's pretty cool, too."
"So what happened?" Iris asked. "Did our fairy godmothers grant us new looks? It's not like we deserve any rewards after the mess we made in Ponyville."
Torunn watched the lightning dance between her fingertips... took note of her fine new armour... glanced across at Selena, who was playing innocently in the snow... and, all at once, understood. "It's Selena," she said. "She's changed us."
The others were confused - all except Sunburst. "I get it, and I know why Torunn does and you guys don't," she said. "You guys don't know what it's like to be afraid of your powers. Iris, Peggy, you were born with your abilities; they're as natural to you as breathing. Maria, your powers are your mind and intellect. And some of that's true for me, too... but none of you guys could wipe out a city block with an unguarded sneeze, or break a person's arm just by shaking their hand."
"Mortals are such delicate creatures," Torunn added.
"So you train, and you prepare yourself, and you build in safeguards," Sunburst continued. "What if... well, what if Selena's subconsciousness knows how dangerous she is, and is afraid of it? Afraid of what happened in Ponyville happening again? What if, on some deeper level she doesn't even realise is there, Selena is trusting us to take her down if she gets out of control - like my Dad does Batman? What if she's made us as strong as we can be - as strong as we're destined to be - because we're her fail-safe?"
More than a little sobered by the thought, the young heroes called Selena over to them and, as a group, made their way toward the palace. They were let inside after Ironclad spoke to the guards ("How many mythological beings owe you favours, and why?" Shield Maiden demanded) and were permitted entry to the king's chamber. There, resplendent on his enormous throne, sat Konkar. Years ago, the mighty Jotnar had turned his back on evil and sided with the universe's heroes. He had walked the path of righteousness ever since - and his change of heart had influenced his people for the better, leading to peace between realms. The Jotnar had named Konkar their king and he had led them well, all while serving as a surrogate uncle to Torunn.
"My dear little one," Konkar boomed, "how good to see you!" He welcomed each of the young heroes in turn... but was more than a little upset when Selena absent-mindedly transformed the contents of the royal treasury into cheese. That slight undone, all gathered turned to the matter at hand. "Amora," Konkar said darkly. "Like your uncle, Torunn, she of late escaped her confinement with the Midgard Serpent. I know she hides somewhere on my world but my troops have been unable to locate her." He growled. "I would see her leave Jotunheim, sooner rather than later."
"Then we can help each other," Ironclad said brightly. "Our skills and abilities, plus your knowledge of the terrain, equals success!"
And so Konkar, Ironclad, Quickdraw, Shield Maiden, Sunburst, Torunn and Selena Strange departed on their quest (leaving Sleipnir and Kikou in the relative warmth of the palace) through the ice and sleet of Jotunheim. Theirs was not an easy task; for three days, the heroes searched high and low, in every crevasse and beneath every snow drift, for any sign of their mutual enemy. Though success evaded them, they continued on in good spirits. Konkar regaled them with tales of his battles and gossip from his royal court; the young heroes caught him up on Earth's recent history, their adventures and on the fates of those he'd once called allies. It was like a fun camping trip...
... until, on the fourth day, Konkar stiffened. "Amora," he snarled, drawing his axe and club. "She's here, I know it." He paused, sniffing the air, and the young heroes tensed. And it was then, without warning, that the king of the Frost Giants turned and attacked them all! "Create all the mirages you like, they'll not impede me," he bellowed, swinging at them with his mighty weapons. "Release the children from where e'er you've imprisoned them, Amora, and send not these ghostly shades to vex me! Stand and fight, foul Enchantress!"
Though it pained them, the heroes had no choice but to put their enhanced abilities to the test and defeat Konkar. He fought savagely, convinced they were actually creations of Amora (or, perhaps, Amora herself); it was not enough to match the group's newly-increased power. As Konkar slumped onto the snow, unconscious, the author of their miseries finally deigned to show herself. Amora the Enchantress stepped out from a nearby cave, wrapped in furs, and regarded them all with a cool eye. Her expression changed, however, when she turned to look at Selena.
"By Odin's beard," she breathed. "Can it be? After all these years... dare I say it, dare I dream it?" Suddenly heedless to the arrows, repulsor rays and shields aimed at her head, Amora dashed across the snow and took Selena's face in her hands. "It's... it's you," she gasped, tears welling in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, my precious Selena... oh, my dear daughter!"
She buried her face in Selena's hair and pulled her close. The sorceress stiffened for a moment, but then a dreamy look passed across her unearthly features. "Mummy," she said at last, crying also. "Oh, Mummy, how I've missed you!"
The next few hours were uncomfortable for everyone save Amora and Selena.
Konkar, more than a little annoyed by the deception, nursed his sore head in one part of Amora's cave. The young heroes sat with him, trying to make sense of all that had happened. "It was years ago," the Enchantress had told them, still clinging to Selena, "during one of my... stays... upon the Isle of Silence. Odin had banished me there for some crime or another; I cannot remember my supposed transgression. And then he came - Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, in pursuit of an extra-dimensional demon that threatened all of reality. I know not why I was so moved but, in his arrival, I saw... something worthy. I offered him my help."
She'd held Selena's hand, stroked her hair, throughout the telling of her tale. "Though he trusted me not - and with good reason - Stephen accepted my aid. Tracking the demon took longer than he'd planned and we journeyed for many months. Over time he came to trust me, rely upon my powers, and we formed a partnership. Over more time that partnership became... something else." She'd smiled at that. "That I allowed myself to have feelings for a mere mortal - even one as powerful as Stephen - is more of a shock to me than to you, let me assure you."
"Ick," Quickdraw had deadpanned.
"Once the demon was found and defeated, Stephen could not in good conscience return me to purgatory," Amora had concluded, turning to look at Selena as she spoke. "He set me free and, soon after, I realised I was with child. Being who I was then... focused, as I was, on personal power and vengeance... I made the regrettable decision to leave you with your father and go on with my life. Yet I never stopped thinking of you, wondering about you or loving you. I felt it most keenly after my last defeat, soon after which I took up residence in this cave. I wanted... needed... time to determine my future. And I want that future to be all about you."
"She says all the right things," Ironclad commented, snapping them out of their mutual reverie.
"Aye," Konkar nodded, "that is foremost amongst her talents."
"But do we believe her?" Shield Maiden asked. "It's not like we know all that much about Doctor Strange. He's always off in some other plane or reality, spouting off alliterative incantations and spells, messing with 'things the minds of mortals must ne'er know'!" Despite the grim situation, she chuckled at her impersonation. "I guess my point is we've never had enough exposure to him to know whether he'd... well, whether he'd be... umm... 'open to alliances' with the opposing side."
"Real tactful, Peggy," Ironclad sighed.
"Actually," Sunburst countered, "we do. Remember what Strange said? 'While I've had the pleasure of knowing many amazing women in my life, none of them could have been Selena's mother'. Sure, that could have been said out of modesty or out of a desire to just get us the heck out of the Sanctum Sanctorum. But don't you think he'd have phrased it a little differently? A little less assuredly?"
"It ain't much, but it's a start," Quickdraw said, drawing an arrow from her quiver. "Let's go see if it pokes any holes in her story."
Together, they stormed into the other half of the cave and demanded to know the truth. Amora denied it, of course, insisting her version of events was correct and repeating her love for Selena. But exposure to the world beyond the Sanctum Sanctorum had changed the young sorceress... and not for the better. In the short time she'd been away from her father's home she had seen cruelty and evil. She had seen lies and betrayal. She had been hurt, both physically and emotionally. Her sense of wonder had remained intact but her sense of trust had not.
"If my friends say you're a liar," she said, pulling away from Amora, "then you're a liar. Because they're the only ones I can trust."
The Enchantress' expression turned to ice. "Pity," she sniffed. "This would have been so much easier with you willingly on my side." From out her fingertips leaped bolts of sizzling magical energy; they splashed across Selena's torso ineffectually. At least, they were ineffectual in terms of dealing injury... their impact upon the young sorceress' emotional state was something else entirely.
"Aw nuts," Shield Maiden spat. "Fire in the hole!"
Thanks to Quickdraw and Sunburst, the heroes and Konkar made it out of the cave before Selena detonated. In the course of that explosion she transformed, as she had in Ponyville, into a nameless, formless, indescribable force of nature. Some piieces of the ruined cave hovered in mid-air while others became sentient, fashioned weapons out of the air and went on a rampage. Snowdrifts and glaciers turned to molten magma and oozed upward toward newly-forming volcanoes.
"My home," Konkar gasped. "She's destroying my home..."
In the very eye of the storm, the Enchantress howled with fury and hurled spells in all directions; Selena took as much notice of them as a tank does a dust storm. "Release me, creature!" Amora screamed. "Release me at once! You are nothing but a font of eldritch energy - a power source for others to use as they see fit! And by the fires of Valhalla, you will be mine to command!"
Ironclad called out to the others. "We've got to stop this - no more Ponyville incidents," she commanded. "Sunburst is right: this is exactly what some part of Selena feared would happen, and that's why we're like we are now. Like it or not, it's up to us to put this right."
They moved as one. Shield Maiden's new hard-light shields were able to absorb and redirect the magical energies flying around the area. Ironclad's upgrade allowed her to absorb that radiant power and channel it into her on-board Arc reactor, allowing her to navigate the frightful conditions. Quickdraw's speed and Sunburst's power, each now unencumbered by resistance or drag, proved pivotal. The four heroes made their way into the eye of the storm and surrounded Enchantress - not to protect her, but to prevent their friend doing something she'd forever regret.
Torunn joined them. "I hope you see the folly of what your actions have wrought this day, Amora," she snarled at her foe, "and that your sleep will be forever disturbed by the knowledge that we saved your miserable life." She turned to face the storm, fists crackling with lightning. "Selena! We are your friends, and we love you!" She raised her hands and loosed the lightning. "And so we bid you return to us!"
Ironclad unleashed her unibeam at the same place the lightning struck. Sunburst added her heat vision to the assault; Shield Maiden and Quickdraw continued to play defence. There was a loud popping sound, then an anguished scream, and finally the chaotic maelstrom ceased to exist. Selena reappeared, right at the spot they'd attacked, and dropped into the snow like a rock. Quickdraw and Sunburst went to her, joined by Konkar, while the others dog-piled onto Amora to ensure she'd not escape.
Slowly, Selena regained consciousness. "Not again," she cried, "please, no, not again."
"It's okay, sweetie," Sunburst soothed. "It's all okay. We stopped you before you hurt anyone. Just like you'd wanted, deep down inside."
Selena looked at her, eyes as wide as saucers and rimmed with tears. "But what about the next time?" she asked, terrified.
"There won't be a next time, Selina," answered a familiar voice, "because you're coming home, right now." Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, stepped out from an inter-dimensional portal. Thor, prince of Asgard and leader of the New Avengers, was by his side. Neither of the veteran heroes looked particularly happy.
"What is my father doing here?" Torunn asked.
"I sent word to Asgard of your arrival," Konkar answered. "Why? I thought you'd be pleased to see him."
"I am pleased you sent word, friend Konkar," Thor interrupted. "Young lady: I would have words with thee."
"Not before I do," Strange cut him off. "And not just with Torunn, but with each and every one of you. You entered my home, uninvited, kidnapped my daughter and went traipsing across the realms, placing not only her but those very realms in terrible danger! I warned you what the consequences would be. I explained to you why Selena was raised as she had been. You have disrespected my home, my wishes and..."
A deep, unpleasant, haunting, unmistakably evil laugh boomed over the frozen tundra. "You are disturbed when your home is disrespected, Stephen? Oh, how I long to see the expression on your fleshy features, then, when I desecrate your entire plane of existence!"
High above them all, at the very spot where the young heroes had focused their combined energies, there was a second dimensional portal. This one did not link Jotunheim and Earth, however. It was a gateway to a dank, fetid, corrupted, loathsome place spoken of only in whispers - the fearful, frightful Dark Dimension. And the being standing at the threshold of two worlds... the being who laughed at his ancient enemy's familial misfortune... was the entity who ruled that dimension with a fiery fist: the dread Dormammu!
"Allow me to solve your little mystery, little beings," Dormammu chortled. "I am Selena Strange's mother!"
-----TO BE CONCLUDED!-----
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF
LJ saw it for the first time last night, and her opinion was much the same as mine. The first film sits very high on her list of all-time favourite movies; this installment didn't make the cut but she still very much liked it. For her, though, there was a bigger issue. "It's not as good as my Ultron games," she declared, "if you'll excuse the ego and boasting. I guess I just like my Ultron to be a little creepier, a little less insane and a lot colder." Can't argue with that, given her long history with the callous synthezoid.
Of course, in our house there's but one thing to do after inhaling a Marvel movie: run upstairs to play super heroes! So while the kidlet and I do that, please sit back and enjoy "one we prepared earlier"... also known as "SF is once again behind on chronicling LJ's stories but he's written this one so have a read while he gets even further behind". My daughter's imagination just won't quit, I swear.
----------
LJ presents:
STRANGE HORIZONS
PART FIVE
Written and directed by LJ
Novelisation by SF
Chilling winds whipped over the permafrost tundras of Jotunheim. In the distance, the glacial spires of the Frost Giant Palace rose majestically into the winter-night skies. Safe within an environmental force-bubble, projected by Ironclad's armour, the young heroes of Earth looked upon their destination and readied themselves for...
"Iris," Ironclad asked, "did you cut your hair while we were travelling across dimensions?"
Quickdraw's short-'n-stylish hairdo was, in many ways, the least shocking of the transformations five of the heroes had undergone. Sunburst's indestructible hair was braided in a new way reminiscent of ancient Krypton while her cape had given way to a crimson pauldron. Shield Maiden's signature weapons had been upgraded to hard-light holograms; her hair, too, had been cut short. Ironclad's armour had been upgraded, its arms reconfigured to absorb ambient energy for added flight-'n-fight power. Torunn was now wearing traditional Asgardian battle armour and, instead of wielding a lightning-summoning sword, could generate electrical weapons with her bare hands.
"Maria, did you amp up my shields?" Shield Maiden asked.
"No I didn't, Peggy," the armoured inventor replied. "I mean, well, I'd always intended on giving you hard-light shields some day... just like I'd planned to re-do my 'sleeves' like this... but I've never had the time or, honestly, the tech on-hand to do the work." She paused. "By the way, your hair looks awesome. So does yours, Iris - and yours, Lara."
"I look like my grandmother," Lara said reverently, catching her reflection in Maria's armour. "That's a good thing, by the way. And this pauldron's pretty cool, too."
"So what happened?" Iris asked. "Did our fairy godmothers grant us new looks? It's not like we deserve any rewards after the mess we made in Ponyville."
Torunn watched the lightning dance between her fingertips... took note of her fine new armour... glanced across at Selena, who was playing innocently in the snow... and, all at once, understood. "It's Selena," she said. "She's changed us."
The others were confused - all except Sunburst. "I get it, and I know why Torunn does and you guys don't," she said. "You guys don't know what it's like to be afraid of your powers. Iris, Peggy, you were born with your abilities; they're as natural to you as breathing. Maria, your powers are your mind and intellect. And some of that's true for me, too... but none of you guys could wipe out a city block with an unguarded sneeze, or break a person's arm just by shaking their hand."
"Mortals are such delicate creatures," Torunn added.
"So you train, and you prepare yourself, and you build in safeguards," Sunburst continued. "What if... well, what if Selena's subconsciousness knows how dangerous she is, and is afraid of it? Afraid of what happened in Ponyville happening again? What if, on some deeper level she doesn't even realise is there, Selena is trusting us to take her down if she gets out of control - like my Dad does Batman? What if she's made us as strong as we can be - as strong as we're destined to be - because we're her fail-safe?"
More than a little sobered by the thought, the young heroes called Selena over to them and, as a group, made their way toward the palace. They were let inside after Ironclad spoke to the guards ("How many mythological beings owe you favours, and why?" Shield Maiden demanded) and were permitted entry to the king's chamber. There, resplendent on his enormous throne, sat Konkar. Years ago, the mighty Jotnar had turned his back on evil and sided with the universe's heroes. He had walked the path of righteousness ever since - and his change of heart had influenced his people for the better, leading to peace between realms. The Jotnar had named Konkar their king and he had led them well, all while serving as a surrogate uncle to Torunn.
"My dear little one," Konkar boomed, "how good to see you!" He welcomed each of the young heroes in turn... but was more than a little upset when Selena absent-mindedly transformed the contents of the royal treasury into cheese. That slight undone, all gathered turned to the matter at hand. "Amora," Konkar said darkly. "Like your uncle, Torunn, she of late escaped her confinement with the Midgard Serpent. I know she hides somewhere on my world but my troops have been unable to locate her." He growled. "I would see her leave Jotunheim, sooner rather than later."
"Then we can help each other," Ironclad said brightly. "Our skills and abilities, plus your knowledge of the terrain, equals success!"
And so Konkar, Ironclad, Quickdraw, Shield Maiden, Sunburst, Torunn and Selena Strange departed on their quest (leaving Sleipnir and Kikou in the relative warmth of the palace) through the ice and sleet of Jotunheim. Theirs was not an easy task; for three days, the heroes searched high and low, in every crevasse and beneath every snow drift, for any sign of their mutual enemy. Though success evaded them, they continued on in good spirits. Konkar regaled them with tales of his battles and gossip from his royal court; the young heroes caught him up on Earth's recent history, their adventures and on the fates of those he'd once called allies. It was like a fun camping trip...
... until, on the fourth day, Konkar stiffened. "Amora," he snarled, drawing his axe and club. "She's here, I know it." He paused, sniffing the air, and the young heroes tensed. And it was then, without warning, that the king of the Frost Giants turned and attacked them all! "Create all the mirages you like, they'll not impede me," he bellowed, swinging at them with his mighty weapons. "Release the children from where e'er you've imprisoned them, Amora, and send not these ghostly shades to vex me! Stand and fight, foul Enchantress!"
Though it pained them, the heroes had no choice but to put their enhanced abilities to the test and defeat Konkar. He fought savagely, convinced they were actually creations of Amora (or, perhaps, Amora herself); it was not enough to match the group's newly-increased power. As Konkar slumped onto the snow, unconscious, the author of their miseries finally deigned to show herself. Amora the Enchantress stepped out from a nearby cave, wrapped in furs, and regarded them all with a cool eye. Her expression changed, however, when she turned to look at Selena.
"By Odin's beard," she breathed. "Can it be? After all these years... dare I say it, dare I dream it?" Suddenly heedless to the arrows, repulsor rays and shields aimed at her head, Amora dashed across the snow and took Selena's face in her hands. "It's... it's you," she gasped, tears welling in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, my precious Selena... oh, my dear daughter!"
She buried her face in Selena's hair and pulled her close. The sorceress stiffened for a moment, but then a dreamy look passed across her unearthly features. "Mummy," she said at last, crying also. "Oh, Mummy, how I've missed you!"
The next few hours were uncomfortable for everyone save Amora and Selena.
Konkar, more than a little annoyed by the deception, nursed his sore head in one part of Amora's cave. The young heroes sat with him, trying to make sense of all that had happened. "It was years ago," the Enchantress had told them, still clinging to Selena, "during one of my... stays... upon the Isle of Silence. Odin had banished me there for some crime or another; I cannot remember my supposed transgression. And then he came - Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, in pursuit of an extra-dimensional demon that threatened all of reality. I know not why I was so moved but, in his arrival, I saw... something worthy. I offered him my help."
She'd held Selena's hand, stroked her hair, throughout the telling of her tale. "Though he trusted me not - and with good reason - Stephen accepted my aid. Tracking the demon took longer than he'd planned and we journeyed for many months. Over time he came to trust me, rely upon my powers, and we formed a partnership. Over more time that partnership became... something else." She'd smiled at that. "That I allowed myself to have feelings for a mere mortal - even one as powerful as Stephen - is more of a shock to me than to you, let me assure you."
"Ick," Quickdraw had deadpanned.
"Once the demon was found and defeated, Stephen could not in good conscience return me to purgatory," Amora had concluded, turning to look at Selena as she spoke. "He set me free and, soon after, I realised I was with child. Being who I was then... focused, as I was, on personal power and vengeance... I made the regrettable decision to leave you with your father and go on with my life. Yet I never stopped thinking of you, wondering about you or loving you. I felt it most keenly after my last defeat, soon after which I took up residence in this cave. I wanted... needed... time to determine my future. And I want that future to be all about you."
"She says all the right things," Ironclad commented, snapping them out of their mutual reverie.
"Aye," Konkar nodded, "that is foremost amongst her talents."
"But do we believe her?" Shield Maiden asked. "It's not like we know all that much about Doctor Strange. He's always off in some other plane or reality, spouting off alliterative incantations and spells, messing with 'things the minds of mortals must ne'er know'!" Despite the grim situation, she chuckled at her impersonation. "I guess my point is we've never had enough exposure to him to know whether he'd... well, whether he'd be... umm... 'open to alliances' with the opposing side."
"Real tactful, Peggy," Ironclad sighed.
"Actually," Sunburst countered, "we do. Remember what Strange said? 'While I've had the pleasure of knowing many amazing women in my life, none of them could have been Selena's mother'. Sure, that could have been said out of modesty or out of a desire to just get us the heck out of the Sanctum Sanctorum. But don't you think he'd have phrased it a little differently? A little less assuredly?"
"It ain't much, but it's a start," Quickdraw said, drawing an arrow from her quiver. "Let's go see if it pokes any holes in her story."
Together, they stormed into the other half of the cave and demanded to know the truth. Amora denied it, of course, insisting her version of events was correct and repeating her love for Selena. But exposure to the world beyond the Sanctum Sanctorum had changed the young sorceress... and not for the better. In the short time she'd been away from her father's home she had seen cruelty and evil. She had seen lies and betrayal. She had been hurt, both physically and emotionally. Her sense of wonder had remained intact but her sense of trust had not.
"If my friends say you're a liar," she said, pulling away from Amora, "then you're a liar. Because they're the only ones I can trust."
The Enchantress' expression turned to ice. "Pity," she sniffed. "This would have been so much easier with you willingly on my side." From out her fingertips leaped bolts of sizzling magical energy; they splashed across Selena's torso ineffectually. At least, they were ineffectual in terms of dealing injury... their impact upon the young sorceress' emotional state was something else entirely.
"Aw nuts," Shield Maiden spat. "Fire in the hole!"
Thanks to Quickdraw and Sunburst, the heroes and Konkar made it out of the cave before Selena detonated. In the course of that explosion she transformed, as she had in Ponyville, into a nameless, formless, indescribable force of nature. Some piieces of the ruined cave hovered in mid-air while others became sentient, fashioned weapons out of the air and went on a rampage. Snowdrifts and glaciers turned to molten magma and oozed upward toward newly-forming volcanoes.
"My home," Konkar gasped. "She's destroying my home..."
In the very eye of the storm, the Enchantress howled with fury and hurled spells in all directions; Selena took as much notice of them as a tank does a dust storm. "Release me, creature!" Amora screamed. "Release me at once! You are nothing but a font of eldritch energy - a power source for others to use as they see fit! And by the fires of Valhalla, you will be mine to command!"
Ironclad called out to the others. "We've got to stop this - no more Ponyville incidents," she commanded. "Sunburst is right: this is exactly what some part of Selena feared would happen, and that's why we're like we are now. Like it or not, it's up to us to put this right."
They moved as one. Shield Maiden's new hard-light shields were able to absorb and redirect the magical energies flying around the area. Ironclad's upgrade allowed her to absorb that radiant power and channel it into her on-board Arc reactor, allowing her to navigate the frightful conditions. Quickdraw's speed and Sunburst's power, each now unencumbered by resistance or drag, proved pivotal. The four heroes made their way into the eye of the storm and surrounded Enchantress - not to protect her, but to prevent their friend doing something she'd forever regret.
Torunn joined them. "I hope you see the folly of what your actions have wrought this day, Amora," she snarled at her foe, "and that your sleep will be forever disturbed by the knowledge that we saved your miserable life." She turned to face the storm, fists crackling with lightning. "Selena! We are your friends, and we love you!" She raised her hands and loosed the lightning. "And so we bid you return to us!"
Ironclad unleashed her unibeam at the same place the lightning struck. Sunburst added her heat vision to the assault; Shield Maiden and Quickdraw continued to play defence. There was a loud popping sound, then an anguished scream, and finally the chaotic maelstrom ceased to exist. Selena reappeared, right at the spot they'd attacked, and dropped into the snow like a rock. Quickdraw and Sunburst went to her, joined by Konkar, while the others dog-piled onto Amora to ensure she'd not escape.
Slowly, Selena regained consciousness. "Not again," she cried, "please, no, not again."
"It's okay, sweetie," Sunburst soothed. "It's all okay. We stopped you before you hurt anyone. Just like you'd wanted, deep down inside."
Selena looked at her, eyes as wide as saucers and rimmed with tears. "But what about the next time?" she asked, terrified.
"There won't be a next time, Selina," answered a familiar voice, "because you're coming home, right now." Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, stepped out from an inter-dimensional portal. Thor, prince of Asgard and leader of the New Avengers, was by his side. Neither of the veteran heroes looked particularly happy.
"What is my father doing here?" Torunn asked.
"I sent word to Asgard of your arrival," Konkar answered. "Why? I thought you'd be pleased to see him."
"I am pleased you sent word, friend Konkar," Thor interrupted. "Young lady: I would have words with thee."
"Not before I do," Strange cut him off. "And not just with Torunn, but with each and every one of you. You entered my home, uninvited, kidnapped my daughter and went traipsing across the realms, placing not only her but those very realms in terrible danger! I warned you what the consequences would be. I explained to you why Selena was raised as she had been. You have disrespected my home, my wishes and..."
A deep, unpleasant, haunting, unmistakably evil laugh boomed over the frozen tundra. "You are disturbed when your home is disrespected, Stephen? Oh, how I long to see the expression on your fleshy features, then, when I desecrate your entire plane of existence!"
High above them all, at the very spot where the young heroes had focused their combined energies, there was a second dimensional portal. This one did not link Jotunheim and Earth, however. It was a gateway to a dank, fetid, corrupted, loathsome place spoken of only in whispers - the fearful, frightful Dark Dimension. And the being standing at the threshold of two worlds... the being who laughed at his ancient enemy's familial misfortune... was the entity who ruled that dimension with a fiery fist: the dread Dormammu!
"Allow me to solve your little mystery, little beings," Dormammu chortled. "I am Selena Strange's mother!"
-----TO BE CONCLUDED!-----
Greet the Fire as Your Friend,
SF