To Storm Asgard

[asgardian_angel]

Tensions were running high, but that was par for the course, given everything that had just happened. The Avengers were back at Avengers Mansion, mugs of hot tea, hot cocoa, and mead being passed around as wounds and injuries were tended to and salves and painkillers were being administered by Night Nurse, who had presumably been called in by Jarvis.

Niklas Thorson of Asgard - currently better known as Nicky Blake of Midgard - snapped the cape off of his armor and leaned against the wall. He was silent, waiting for the planning to commence, of things that needed to happen next. It was something he would be left out of - Hela had succeeded in locking him out of Asgard for the forseeable future - but he was only too glad to stay here and help out with the planning, give the others whatever information they needed about his home...perhaps give them a note to send to his father, who he had not seen for awhile now.

Gratefully, he accepted a large, frothy mug of mead from Jarvis and took a long gulp.

Then, when everyone seemed as though they were ready, Nicky nodded his head.

“I suppose we should work out a plan for what comes next.”

Comments

[wateronthebrain]

"Do we know where Loki is? I mean if we're chasing after him.... I seem to recall reading there are nine realms. I don't know about you but I don't think I can chase him over nine of them." Erin's brow wrinkles in confusion then she stops to drink the tea Night Nurse had pretty much ordered her to work on. She needed it to get her body to level out properly.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie curled up on an armchair, the scent of blackberry sage tea wafting into her nostrils. "We don't even have enough manpower to split up into groups and search each realm," she pointed out. "Even if we did, that would take far too long."

[lil_hulk]

Jay loomed in the background. Mostly because that's what big guys his size did. Though he was sipping a tankard of hot cocoa. With his pinkie out. It was time for civilized conversation.

Which is why he was sipping his drink rather than saying anything.

[comic_awareness]

Bruce had used up a lot of his energy during the fight. Fortunately, he was soaking up some electricity, thanks to a cord drawing off the mansion's power. Not as good as solar energy, but he could use just about any kind to charge up.

"That's a good question, Erin," he said. "Nicky? Any ideas on where he's most likely to be?"

[asgardian_angel]

"Considering the Frost Giants? I would say Jotunheim. That's their, ah, natural habitat," he said. That was also ideally located for them so that they could terrorize both Asgard and Midgard. "It's cold there. Frigid, obviously." His brow furrowed. "The giants are also at their strongest there."

[vincent_amora]

"Unless he knows we're coming already..." Vincent speaks up. He's been keeping off to one corner, holding the Casket inside a protective field to keep it from giving his arms frostbite. "--Loki has Audhild in Asgard. That was what my preliminary divinations indicated. We need to get closer to zero in on her."

There is something in Vincent's tone that indicates he is prepared to be... decisive; and yet his fear for Audhild's safety is obvious.

[avengingwarbird]

"How trustworthy are your divinations right now?" Roxie asked. It was a fair, valid question. He'd been through a lot and his little sister had been taken. "And is it possible that Loki could have done something to throw them off?" He was, after all, a trickster. And worse.

[lil_hulk]

Jay slurped some cocoa. "Where would he want to lead us to cause the most trouble? I owe him a ragdoll treatment."

[wateronthebrain]

"Would it hurt us to look," Erin asks suddenly. "I mean it will save us time if you can divine if Loki is there or no."

She raises an eyebrow in thought. "I mean... You must have an idea of what his magic is like. He was here wasn't he?"

[the4thblackknight]

One member of the team was not physically present. Once he'd gotten his ribs taped, Marcus headed outside to tend to Aether. The health of his horse was his primary priority right now.

His comm was still active, so he could hear the conversation inside. Even though he'd rather eat his helmet than go into battle with Vincent again, he wasn't going to punish Audhild for her brother's idiocy, so he'd be ready to go when the decision was made.

[comic_awareness]

"Okay," Bruce said, "I might have a plan. Much as I just chewed you out for it, Vincent, we might need another enchantment here. But not a locating spell. Odds are, Loki's prepared for that kind of thing."

He went on. "But I'm betting you've got a spell that can boost the range on someone else's abilities. Like Roxie's seventh sense."

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky stole a look at Roxie before looking back at Bruce. "That sounds as though it's as good an idea as any," he finally stated, deferring to the leader of the Avengers. "I doubt that Loki would have prepared for something like that." Divination spells, almost certainly. Electronic ays of location, possibly. The Kree seventh sense powers of a Greek demi-goddess?

Almost definitely not.

"Roxie, would you be amenable to that?"

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie was silent for the longest time. Ever since the Kreenapping, she had steadfastly ignored the powers she had gotten from her mother.

But this was for something entirely more important, and just this once, she could put her issues aside. That's what being a member of a team meant.

"Of course," she nodded. "Whatever you guys need. I'm only happy to help." Besides, she'd always harboured a soft spot for little Audhild.

[vincent_amora]

Vincent nodded to Bruce's assessment. He'd had similar concerns with the initial location spell. He does visibly tense, however, when the conversation turns to Roxanne.

He turns to look at her slowly.

"I can do it."

Time practically slows down for him as he walks across the room to her.

[lil_hulk]

Jay slurped his cocoa. He would have put a hand on Roxstar's shoulder to make her feel like she back-up, but who knew how Vincent's magic would work? As it was beyond his ken and the plan needed more than just Jay smash, he started wandering toward Marcus and the injured horse.

Now that he wasn't fighting his anger about Vincent, he might be able to help Aether more. Besides, Jay did not want to be the horse's proxy and have to carry Marcus on his shoulders into battle.

[wateronthebrain]

Erin knows as much about magic as Walt Disney. She just does what Night Nurse directed her to do about her own needs so she can actually go with the team.

She feels tired though. It makes her wonder if a day at the spa might not be a good thing if she can manage it. A good rub down by a professional would do wonders for the aches and pains she's still feeling from the strain of using her powers like this.

[comic_awareness]

Yeah. He really wished he had a better plan than this.

But right now, it was all they had. And a little girl's life might hang in the balance. It would have to do.

[asgardian_angel]

"Alright, then it's settled," Nicky said, finally. "I won't be accompanying you guys up, for obvious reasons, but, you know, I'm sure you guys have got it covered," he added. "You guys can suit up or get whatever supplies it is you need, and I'll go check up on Jay, Aether, and Marcus." He scooped up his cape and turned to go, but then paused and turned back, looking at Bruce and Roxie. "If any of you guys see my father...tell him I'm alright, okay? And that I miss him."

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie nodded once at Nicky, understanding, and then watched him go.

Then she turned back to Vincent, glancing at him once, and then lowering her gaze to her lap.

"Ready whenever you are," she said softly.

[vincent_amora]

Vincent stood in front of Roxanne for a long moment, before unsurely reaching his hands to each side of her head. It takes him a moment of focus, but he manages not to run his fingers into her hair. He does wince, however.

Enhancing physical attributes is relatively easy, physical senses less so... and then there comes the class of powers that Roxanne's seventh sense falls under. He clothes his eyes and murmurs an incantation slowly and under his breath. He probes gently into her mind, feeling out the edges of the indelible mark of her seventh sense. He starts feeding energy to it, from his own being. His spark of the Odinforce threatens to react violently to that which makes her Olympian, but he beats it into a metaphorical box.

He does his best to keep his thoughts singular, on finding Audhild, but this first time being so close to Roxanne since....

It's not easy.

[comic_awareness]

One member he was forcing to take a leave of absence, one member who might not be coming back, and one newbie he'd been forced to put in a very precarious position because he hadn't had a lot of better options.

Yeah. His leadership tenure was turning out real well.

[pintsizedbruiser]

Roxanne will get the impression of Jotenhiem when she focuses. Audhild is cold but she isn't afraid. She knows they will save her.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie's eyes snapped open. There was a faint glow to them - they were still blue, but they were a sort of enhanced blue.

"I think I've got her," she said after a long moment. "She seems...fine."

[comic_awareness]

"Where is she?" Bruce asked.

[avengingwarbird]

"Jotunheim," Roxie replied. "At least, that's what I gather from all the snow, and the fact that she's cold." It was weird that Roxie could sense that, too, but she chalked it up to Kree physiological weirdness interacting with magic.

"That's about the best I have right now, but it's definitely a start, I think."

[vincent_amora]

Vincent almost has to force himself to let go of Roxanne.

"Thank you..." He says, his voice small.

"I'll begin work on a portal immediately. I'll be in the statue garden." He heads outside.

[wateronthebrain]

"Well what do we do?" Erin is tired but not ready to call it quits. She is though planning on going to a spa sometime soon because holy crap is she going to need some TLC from a professional.

Good thing Dad bumped up her monthly allowance for these sorts of things. He didn't want her getting spoiled but he also wanted her to be able to take care of all of her personal needs.

"I mean.... How do you fight a God?"

[comic_awareness]

"Without really knowing the layout of what we're going into," Bruce said, "forming any kind of serious, concrete plan is hard. But, on the other end of the question, while Loki himself is incredibly powerful, the average "god" so to speak, is really no more powerful than your average super-human. There's at least three or four people, if not more, in this room who are more powerful than your Asgardian on the street. Just remember our training sessions, back each other up, and we'll come through this."

[avengingwarbird]

"We're the Avengers," Roxie said simply. "The original group formed because of Loki. We might not be them, but if they can handle him - and if varying teams of Avengers since have been able to handle him - than it can't be all too difficult for us to do the same." She shrugged. "This is just our trial by fire. We do this, we get Audhild, we survive? We're bonafide Avengers, no argument."