21

This is a volcano in Japan. There's nothing special about it...except the reason why the local Japonic folk can't settle here. But there might be, as of recently. The Vorm, after all, won't settle in the Himalayas.

The sun barely shines out here. And the fog is temperamental.

Somewhere on the slope, a portal opens. Mordo, Murakami, and Davos step through it. Mordo closes the portal. They spread out, stretch, wiggle, and get used to the higher air pressure.

Davos already is...mostly. Alas, New York nearly made a glutton out of his lungs.

This is Murakami's homeland. But he can't go home yet...not until the Wizardkiller is slain, and his bones are made into the resurrection elixir that'll be required to renew the Hand.

The Wizardkiller is Mordo's main weapon against the multiverse's sorcerers. He needs it back. Davos knows more about the species than he does. And Murakami wants to be around in case they find the Wizardkiller dead. At least one of the three won't go home empty-handed. But then, if they're all villains, it's far more likely that they'll never go home at all.

Davos asks about the mind-controlled Daughters of the Dragon, and whether they should've brought them along. Mordo insists that he won't summon them until he's sure they've found Wizardkiller.

And so they separate, and search high and low for the beast. Davos will know the scent of him in rut if he smells it. And he will be, if the Vorm's still with him. He'll notify the rest of the team if he smells it.

All around, they search. They end up having to teleport to another volcano.

In the lowlands, there's hot volcanic soil. It's black. It's warm. And it's medical.

Two men are buried in it. Their heads are exposed. It's piled atop both of them. They lie next to one another, in sweet brotherhood.

One is Danny Rand. The other is Ward Meachum. Back in America, they are co-officers of Rand Enterprises. Here, Rand mentors Meachum in the arts of self-defense, and protects the little locals as they go along.

And they are little locals. Meachum has even gotten friendly with a few...

Rand's mound glows yellow as he's in it. It seems this soil makes his qi energy feel strong.

Meanwhile, this is Beerenberg. It's virtually on the other side of the planet. It's an active volcano...that hasn't erupted since my sister was born. And yet, there's been a lot of activity inside it recently...but not for the reason locals would think.

Brunnhilde has followed the Vorm here. And she partially followed it to New York. Alas, she had to change course when she found out it had run off to Beerenberg with another dragon-looking beast. Like an airship, she flies her skiff close to the volatile mountain's summit, and dismounts.

The Vorm and Wizardkiller are probably up in the crater, melting the ice. Even so, Brunnhilde creeps around with sure feet.

She misses her booze, of course. But the Vorm might be a threat to Midgard; and for that, she must stay out here until she can tell her boyfriend's subjects to rest easy.

Here and there, Brunnhilde hears some rocks fall. Whoever's causing them to fall is WAY too small to be a polar bear. A cub, maybe...if it was like polar bear cubs to wander off so far away from their mamas. And if it was, Brunnhilde would steer clear...but naturally, she's pretty sure that whoever is causing those rocks to fall is just as much a bear as she is a lemming.

A gyrfalcon, maybe, but... How far north do hawks live, anyway?

Up the path, she goes. It sounds like those noises are getting closer. Up ahead, the path forks-in her direction. She's got no idea what she's about to walk into...

They see each other. They leap back. Brunnhilde draws her sword. Her assailant draws a pair of long knives.

She's as youthful as Brunnhilde...if not as young. Brunnhilde's an Aesir, so she imagines she's older than everyone on Midgard... She keeps a recurve bow close to her, and has a quiver strapped to her back. They stare at each other for a long time before one makes the first move.

Brunnhilde asks her what she's doing out here. Her new company, whose name is Kate Bishop, says that she saw two dragons fly away from New York city, one looped around the other as it flew. She knows they landed here. She's here to find out what they're up to.

Brunnhilde knew the two dragons went a long way west before almost doubling back east to Beerenberg. Now she knows both where the Vorm went, and where the serpentine dragon came from. Nonetheless, Brunnhilde introduces herself. Bishop does the same.

Bishop admits that while she usually doesn't do this, her mentor is traveling-something about a mad titan who's killed half the universe's population-whatever that means. Brunnhilde chuckles, and admits that while she's from a similar background, she's the regent of a new settlement, and she's got to come up here and find out what that Vorm is up to while her boyfriend, the settlement's koenig, is...coincidentally, going after that mad titan as well.

"Sounds like you two ladies know some very brave men," a mysterious voice says, interrupting Brunnhilde.

Both women whirl to address their trespasser. Their arms are still out and at the ready.

Red Skull hovers over a boulder, above them. He looks sinister, as he always does-but he doesn't attack them.

"I have met this titan you speak of," he admits. "In another world, I led him to an object he desired. I told him its price...and then I just levitated, and watched as he threw his daughter-the only person he ever loved-off a cliff, as if she never mattered. It was a harsh thing to do, I know, but...the woman he killed did leave me stranded there, decades before then..."

Bishop puts her knives away, and switches to her bow.

Red Skull holds up his hand. "No please, before we all start flinging our strings or flicking our steel, let's here one another out. I am merely here to come save a land that was once my home. As of now, there are two dangers that threaten it more than I do-and I do believe both of them are up in that volcano...doing Odin-knows-what."

"Odin's dead," Brunnhilde accidentally says aloud, forgetting where she is and whose company she's in.

"Yes," the Red Skull admits, "so I've perceived." He approaches Brunnhilde. "In my time on Midgard, I looked up to your king's predecessor with all my heart. I also had many fond visions of the man who you now call both your king and your lover."

Brunnhilde shrugs. "He's a work in progress, but I like what we have."

"I learned of you in those days too. And I wouldn't expect you to show me hospitality if you ever knew who I was or what I did on Midgard centuries after your people saved ours from the Jotunns."

"Uh," Bishop mutters, "what's he talking about?"

On the other side of the island, all is quiet. A gentle breeze blows, and the white-capped waves gently land against the coast without influencing much.

A portal opens...from another dimension. A man falls through it. He's in ragged clothes he didn't buy...a sporran, among others. And he doesn't wake when he's dropped.

The portal closes. Moments pass before he wakes.

Back near the volcano, Red Skull and Brunnhilde finish their transaction. Bishop stands nearby, and watches the volcano, in case Wizardkiller starts getting cold feet-if he has any-about his commitment to the Vorm.

"So," Red Skull concludes, "are we agreed? Will you help me, in exchange for the Vorm's banishment?"

"She's from Vormir, is she? The Valkyrior have cut down a lot of Marauders over there." She blinks. "But there's something I don't understand. After all that war against humanity you said you raged when you lived here in Midgard, with the Space Stone, against my boyfriend's coworker... Why are you suddenly so interested in settling down?"

"Germany is my home. The Aesir are my childhood heroes. And now, both are at stake. I lost my job on Vormir when Thanos relieved me of my Stonekeeper duties. Vormir is a nice planet, and while I gladly would've settled there... I'd been developing a teleportation device with which I could've sent myself back to Midgard. Time with the Space Stone has taught me a thing or two about crossing seemingly infinite areas of space in small amounts of time.

"But of course, as I've just told you, I wasn't alone on that planet. There are dragons that can walk and handle objects like humans. With that said, they're very curious creatures. One time I let down my guard around one of my inventions, and the next thing I know, I sent a dangerous leviathan to Midgard that I'm not sure I can send back to Vormir just as easily as it accidentally sent itself there." He looks up towards Beerenberg's peak. "Alas, it's possible there is another explanation as to what drew that Vorm here, that likely has something to do with how potent that teleportation machine was as she sensed the K'un-Lun dragon's presence on Midgard..."

"And," Brunnhilde seems confused, "you promise that if I lock you up inside the New Asgardian dungeons, and give you a life sentence, you won't try to betray us if we help you?"

Red Skull looks her in the eyes. "Eighty years ago, I admit, I wouldn't have said this, but time with the Soul Stone has taught me a thing or two that, until then, I didn't even know was there to learn. I want nothing more than to live and die surrounded by the Aesir, far from alarm, in a land that I have always ever only called home, from my youth. I require nothing more from you or your people, Brunnhilde of Asgard."

She sighs. "Fine. I'll take your word for it." They shake hands. "I just want you to keep in mind that if we fail to do this, there'll be no Asgard or Germany for you to settle in. Also, in all my centuries as a Valkyrie, I've never once heard a prisoner of the Asgardian dungeons praise the food they serve there...although I suppose if you're a good boy, I can encourage Thor to commute your sentence..."

"Whatever it takes. You have my word: I will not do anything that puts Germany or New Asgard in danger."

Still a wraith, Red Skull flies around the island, leaving Brunnhilde and Bishop where they were. Once he's gone, Bishop comes back down, and talks to Brunnhilde.

Bishop thinks she knows some people who can help. She recommends that Brunnhilde stay put, and make sure Red Skull, Wizardkiller, and the Vorm don't go anywhere they shouldn't. Someone's got to go to New York and get help, and they don't know who Brunnhilde is. Bishop promises she'll come back with a transport full of troops.

Brunnhilde has her doubts, but she accepts Bishop's offer. It's not that she values what Bishop offers; it's more like she prefers to work alone, and Red Skull, the Vorm, and Wizardkiller are all hard enough for one Valkyrie, let alone one Aesir, to manage.

With that, Bishop heads for the coast. And for the time being, Brunnhilde is once again alone on her trek.

Hour after hour, Brunnhilde circles Beerenberg. High aloft, Red Skull flies, and does the same thing.

She's got a lot on her chest. Her boyfriend's in upstate New York, fighting a mad titan. And rumor has it he's made a friend who's just as blonde, and prettier than her... And this Vorm is up there with Wizardkiller, and will probably kill anyone who tries to get her and him down. And she's just made a deal with a mad wraith, who was once a Nazi leader who tried to kill one of her boyfriend's coworkers multiple times. And she'll only be so strong when or if Red Skull betrays her.

She sits. This is all just too much for her to overlook. And when she sits, she realizes that her feet feel...really good... She smiles, takes off her boots, and rubs her own feet.

She opens her eyes. A pair of huge red feet are planted on the ground before her.

Her eyes trace their owner. He wears a pair of stretchy pants. His torso and arms are just as red, just as radiating, and just as scary-looking. And high above, he has a face that's familiar...except its all red, and the face (and body, for that matter) she knows is green.

Brunnhilde sits, frozen. He stares down at her, with red-lit eyes.

"WHERE," he roars, "AM I?!"

THAT was scary. But Brunnhilde mustn't panic...

"This is Beerenberg," she says. "It's an island. There's a volcano over there. There are two dragons in that volcano..."

"How did I get here?!"

Brunnhilde shrugs. "I don't know. I just met you. Although I DO know someone who's like you, if..."

Red Hulk leaps atop a boulder nearby, and roars will all his might. Brunnhilde looks around in suspense, dreading that he'll spook the dragons if he keeps this up.

He bows his head, and sighs. He stands like that for a long time. And, he falls over. He pants, as his body gets smaller, and loses its red color.

Brunnhilde creeps forward. She'd hate to get him worked up again...although if she were still available, she wouldn't mind having sex with him if he was still red...

Back to normal, Maverick sits, and addresses a plastic prosthetic in his chest. He flips a huge switch on it, and ejects something from it.

It's cylinder-shaped, and transparent, except for the plastic side which faces what's in front of him when it's plugged into the socket he's just ejected it from. The transparency is shaded. Inside, a small red ball glows, and radiates slender red streaks around it. It's a miniaturized gamma star.

A sporran hangs in front of his stretchy pants. He slips the plug-in into it, and snaps it shut.

Brunnhilde's here. She asks him if he's alright.

He scoots over, and offers her a seat. She accepts. He asks her where he is, and how he got here. Brunnhilde gawks, and suddenly realizes she understands Bruce Banner a lot better than she did.

He tells her he was in the U.S. Army. He was part of a program to create a supersoldier that was meant to be an improvement of Hulk. But something went wrong, and they terminated the program. He was lucky to desert before Thunderbolt Ross came for him.

Brunnhilde's disappointed that he doesn't know Banner. Alas, she considers it a relief to have more pleasant company-if he can stay in control-until or if Bishop gets back with reinforcements...if they're as good as she needs to send Wizardkiller and the Vorm-and Red Skull, possibly-back to where they belong.

She doesn't yet know of the six other dangers in New York that those reinforcements will probably bring with them when and if they get here...