I didn't update yesterday because I was so busy guys. Anyway, only less than 5 chapters left for the book to end. Then I can concentrate on APD and AS:AIDC.
Daily chapter release for APD and AS:AIDC after my job notice ends on march 20.
(Jin's P.O.V)
Odin and I sat on a dais, overlooking a huge arena I had crafted for this sole purpose. We hadn't seen eye to eye, which wasn't a surprise because Odin's ultimatum was unacceptable. He wanted his son's killer, failure to that the earth would become a vassal world under Asgard and answer to him as King.
He knew that humans would not give up their freedom easily and so the army of 1000 Asgardians was with him for the sole purpose of crushing any opposition.
When I informed him that his son's killer was dead, he demanded compensation. Submit to Asgard for 100 years or all out war. This Odin was stubborn and arrogant. Believing his strength to be absolute. I could easily beat him. My Jin-Force was much stronger than his Odin-Force.
But I wanted to humiliate him more, so I proposed a deal. His army vs mine. By mine, I meant Sif and Ariana. He had scoffed at me and ridiculed my Sif by calling a weaker copy of the real thing and Ariana, a scared little girl who knew nothing of battle.
Sif had clenched her jaw and tightened her hand on her sword. She didn't say anything out of respect for the Allfather. He was right about Ariana though. She was still not used to the outside world and strangers. What he was wrong about however, was saying that she was scared. I decided to let him find that out the hard way.
Odin, seeing no way he would lose, agreed and I mass teleported everyone to my universe. I created a large Arena in a far off Solar system, made it breathable and constructed Runes that would allow killing blows but instead of death the losers would be ejected out of the Arena.
It was my universe. I could change rules however I wanted. Odin's eye had widened at the casual display of power and I could see that he had evaluated my threat to something he couldn't hope to overcome.
I was streaming the whole thing to LightSpeed and Shield. Earth wasn't ready for this kind of war and I wanted to open their eyes to what aliens and beings outside of the earth were capable of out there in outerspace.
Ariana and Sif stood on one side while on the other were the warriors 3, Lady Sif from Odin's side and the other Asgardian soldiers. They looked intimidating. Loki on the other hand was imprisoned for betraying his father. Man, Odin was a lousy dad, or was Loki the lousy son? All I knew, was that without Thor, Odin had… changed from the one I recognized.
"You still have time to back down, boy."
He told me snidely.
"First of all, next time you call me boy, I'll take your other eye and secondly, you're too confident Old man. My girls will win this. Just wait and see."
He scoffed and looked on. I shook my head and returned my attention back to the scene.
(General P.O.V)
Fury sipped his coffee while watching the screen. He rubbed his eyes in irritation. The past few hours had been exhausting. Between the invasion and the council choosing to bomb New York, Fury had had enough but now he was stuck watching a match between two powerful alien forces that would decide the fate of the earth.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the veteran spy. He watched the young man sitting opposite him across the table. LightSpeed was the last hope Incase the earth lost. The only question was if the young hero could step up and do what was necessary.
The rest on the table were Phil Coulson, his left hand and Maria Hill, his right hand. Maria had suggested showing the footage to the World Security Council but Fury refused. Who knew, they would probably ask where the battle was happening and send a Nuke.
Fury swallowed the snort of amusement but judging from Hill's side glance, she guessed something was up. He ignored the questioning look and watched as the two forces, one outnumbered and the other outmatched begun to fight.
Fury's bet was on the women.
Sif looked at Ariana and saw determination burning deep inside her eyes. She smiled knowing that she had someone she could count on during this battle. For Sif, none of this was easy. She had deep respect for her fellow warriors, especially after the sweat and blood she had shared with them. It didn't matter if they were alternate selves or not. She was Lady Sif and Asgard was her home.
Sho she decided to look at this as a spar. A deadly spar that didn't allow for holding back. She looked over at her alternate self, standing side by side with the Warriors Three. She gave a nod to her, knowing just how much effort she had given to reach that position. It filled her with happy resolve when her alternate nodded back.
"Listen Ari, don't hold back. Odin will listen to nothing else than absolute domination. So let's give him that. Use your full power."
Ari nodded from beside her after seeing the seriousness on Sif's face.
"Take them all out. Leave the four at the front for me."
Ari smiled and stepped forward. Sif turned her gaze to Jin who was watching everything intently.
'Just wait and see Jin. See the depths of her power and understand why she seeks to stand right by your side. No one else is her equal.' Sif thought.
Everyone went silent when Ariana stepped forward. She raised her hand and the commander of the Asgardian army gave the order in response to her action.
"Archers, fire!"
Thousands of arrows rose up like a cloud of death, all aimed at the young woman standing alone. Sif's sword came out of it's scabbard in preparation. However there wasn't a look of panic in her eyes.
A smile appeared on Ari's face. At the same time, Jin's eyebrows rose up in shock.
"She's the…same."
"Domain…Reign of The Green Goddess."
Different from Yuki's water domain, the blast of energy released was much bigger in magnitude, enough to change the surroundings to match a forest.
A huge tree erupted behind Sif and Ariana, easily over 300 feet. Odin rose up in shock.
"Yggdrassil."
Huge vines twisted in the air leaving behind afterimages as all the arrows were blocked successfully.
Green light started pulsing from the roots of the tree, rising up to the branches, leaves and then the vines. The vines turned their pointed ends towards the Asgardian army. Then they bloomed into flowers. As a collective they all stepped back in fear.
Then, with the fall of Ariana's arm, chaos followed.
"Explosiiioooooon!"
Everyone looked at Jin like he was crazy. He coughed lightly and fell back on his chair. The excitement had gotten to him. That blast of green energy had taken out everyone. Everyone barring Alternate Sif and The warriors three, who were spared only because of Sif's request.
The tree behind the two disappeared and Ariana swayed in place as the attack had seemed to take it's toll on her. Before anyone could do anything, Jin had teleported to her and taken her into his arms. He floated up towards the dais while smiling down at the beautiful Elf.
"That was amazing Ari. I'm proud of you."
A dazzling smile came onto her face as she snuggled into his arms some more. She didn't leave his arms even once he arrived at his seat. Odin looked at the Elf warily.
"Such power in a young girl."
Jin held her tighter as she fell asleep.
"I told you…you still haven't seen anything yet. I suggest you watch closely at what happens next. This battle is far from over."
Odin wisely kept quiet as he contemplated Jin's words. He spread out his senses to probe the Sif and surprisingly…she sensed him. A feeling of uneasiness rose up in his heart. He wasn't sure about his chances anymore.
When the dust cleared up it was to reveal a speeding Hogun who jumped at Sif with a mace aimed to smash her skull. Sif's hand shot up and gripped the shaft of the weapon. She twisted and slammed Hugon to the ground. Hugon's eyes went wide as air escaped his lungs. That slam felt like it had been done by Thor!
The air was sliced apart by Alt. Sif's sword which was parried to the side. The follow up was a kick to the mid section that threw her away to slam against Volstagg. His war cry was cut short when Alt. Sif slammed onto his belly. The axe fell out of his hand and in the reflection, Sif caught the sight of Fandral's two swords aiming to behead her from the back.
She stepped back, close to his body, making the swords miss her due to the close proximity. She drew a hand and the elbow was thrown back into Fandral's belly. A blast of air was released from his back upon contact. Despite his uncommon durability when compared to other Asgardians, Fandral crumbled down to the ground, dead. His body disappeared away from the Arena.
"That's one down. Three to go."
Sif's ears picked up on a few arrows that were shot to her position with scary precision. Hugon.
Her sword came up and sliced them all apart. She stepped forward and blurred towards his position, knowing full well that it was a trap. And as if to prove her true, Hogun didn't look at all afraid when she turned up above him.
Instead of attacking however, she smiled and pointed her sword to the left. The weapon lengthened, speared through Volstagg's neck and came out from the other side. The huge Asgardian fell to his knees and Hugon's face finally showed shock. Sif pulled on the weapon and in the same motion separated Hugon's head from his body.
She landed and twirled the weapon. The drops of blood fell onto the ground as the dust from the earlier devastating attack finally settled. Everyone watching was astonished. That was including the 1000 Asgardian soldiers who were watching from the seats of the Arena.
"How?"
Alt.Sif asked in astonishment.
"This is what we're capable of. I won't lie to you, I had help in achieving this level of power but there are so many opportunities I didn't take in Asgard. Magic for once."
Alt.Sif looked unconvinced. Sif's face went hard.
"No matter, beating you will awaken that same hunger for improvement that we had but lost."
Alt.Sif brandished her sword in resolve.
"I won't give up."
After the drop of her words, she made to attack, only to feel a coldness spreading through her chest. Blood started dripping from her mouth as the pain made itself known. Weakness assaulted her body but instead of falling, she found herself leaning on Sif.
"It's not about giving up or not. It's about recognizing your limits and breaking past them. I hope you put that to mind."
With that, the winner was decided. Sif looked at the dais, making eye contact with the Allfather. Odin's jaw clenched but then a sigh escaped his mouth. He rose up from his seat and was silent for a few seconds.
"Asgard…accepts it's defeat."
Jin smiled and made a thumbs up to Sif. Ariana was still in his arms though, which made it awkward when he tried to see off Odin and the rest of the Asgardians, so instead, he snapped his finger and they disappeared back to Asgard.
"Good riddance, I say."
Zoren suddenly appeared by Jin's side.
Jin agreed with his words. He was glad that it was all over because the alternative was to destroy Asgard due to Odin's stubbornness. Zoren looked at the sleeping Ariana in Jin's arms but chose to say nothing.
"Everything is ready Jin. You can begin now."
A smile spread onto Jin's face.