Runa's Skills: Eldritch Magic
James' Skills: Accelerated Healing Factor, Strategy
The pain didn’t register for a bit. He stared in shock at the hand on the ground and the bleeding stump on his arm. He watched as it healed over with an eerie calm His eyes darted between the two for a few moments and all he could think was
“I should have fucking shot her again.” That was all he got before the pain slammed into him and screamed every profanity he knew. The white hot
burning on his stump took over everything, not even noticing her trapping him in the other dimension. He wouldn't really understand what she did even if he had noticed. His vision was blurred and spotty but he clenched his teeth and forced himself to focus. The longer he was out of it, the more likely it was this
bitch would take advantage of it.
He took a deep breath and calmed himself down, focusing instead on the situation at hand. What he wanted to say,
Are you a fucking idot? would only get him killed that much faster and damn whoever thought he was going down easy. He still had his pistol but he dropped the ICER here… there… Wherever he dropped it. The pistol was a last resort. He had to get her to let him out. Or drag someone more powerful in. The gears in his head worked overtime as considered how to handle this. He was outclassed, in a world he didn't understand, and this absolutely idiotic woman was the key to all of it. Fuck.
"Lance is in danger. The last transmission I made told everyone where he was but now he is knocked out and alone on the ground in the middle of a field with people running around screaming as the Hulk smashes everything within range. James said carefully, sighing at the end of it. It was hard keeping the pain out of his voice and he wasn't entirely successful, the strain clear. He sat down, shoulders slumped as he stared at the girl.
"Get on with it. Play with me however you want. Everything was for nothing if he dies. If only Klara agreed to be set free." He shook his head in disappointment.
The ex-Asgardian stared at James, her eyes still surrounded by fragmented purple skin. Logic and rationality went out the window - she barely heard his words, just seeing a personification of everything horrible that had ever happened in her life in front of her. She blamed James now for things he never did - for the rumors that swept around Asgard that she was evil incarnate, for giving her the love of her life only to set into motion the events that would take him away from her, for the prophecy that her father would die an unworthy death and that her mother would succumb to grief. She let out a scream, not even forming the words for the incantation, and she tried to let out the raw power to set him on fire -
to burn him alive just as they were about to do to her cousin, Klara. But her emotions made her unfocused and nothing happened.
James looked left and then right and then left again as the girl all but screeched something at him. Nothing. He sighed again, disappointed that apparently the Lance issues was less serious than he thought. He needed to figure out what she was thinking or get that fancy toy she fected yesterday that let her open portals. Well, he’d provoke her a bit more and see if maybe he’d get her to actually say something this time. He pulled out his pistol again and fired two shots, missing wildly, and shrugged. That shoud be enough to rile her up some more. Maybe she’d take offense to the gun and deal with that next. Might buy him some more time to figure out how to redirect her.
“Oh look at that. We both suck at this.” James drawled sarcastically as he put the pistol on the ground next to him.
“Though if you’re going to slaughter me and send me to whatever hellish realm you think I’m going to, mind telling me why? I shot you, thats fair, but this is a lot of anger for just being shot. I thought Asgardians were used to battle wounds.” Runa flung a disc of magical energy at James, hoping to decapitate him. However, her frisbee skills needed some work as she just gave him a slight graze, resulting in a tiny cut on the neck, and the magical disc then whizzed off into the distance.
"When your father is Baldur the Beautiful, your mother is the Goddess of Springtime, your brother the god of Justice... And you're the Goddess of Lies, you never get happiness," Runa informed him, slipping into the signature villain monologue.
"I'm going to have my happiness taken away from me. I can't change that. At least I can make you suffer for what you've done. I'll enjoy that." James hissed as a fresh pain blossomed from his neck. Nowhere near as intense as his arm but with his entire nervous system feeling raw and brutally sensitive, it burned like a bitch. He clenched his teeth for a few moments, his free hand coming up to check the wound. It was miniscule since the woman missed its likely intended target. But her words were what interested him. He almost found it amusing, the family issues plaguing the Asgardian. Apparently even gods struggled with those.
“And what evil is that? Please enlighten me.” James asked.
“Wait. You’re the Goddess of Lies? You’re telling me, you are literally the person in charge of falsehood and conveniently I’m being constantly told this entire reality is fake? So now that some mutant idiots discovered your plot, you’re going to murder me or is this just becasue someone is playing in your sandbox?” James really thought he was fucked up but these Asgardians were really taking the cake. The first one got herself captured over some petty insult and the other is throwing a temper tantrum because someone is playing in her domain. Laughter bubbled out of James and even though fresh tears fell as the pain rocketed through his body, he couldn't stop it. This whole situation was just too fucking hilarious.
She tried to cut off his other hand - three times even - but with no success. What sort of being was he? Runa narrowed her eyes, convinced that a secret Master of the Mystic Arts stood in front of her, laughing and jeering as if he didn't
know about the stigma surrounding Baldur's daughter. Everything in the universe loved her father - and similarly, it felt as if everything also hated her in turn. There was a balance there.
"I'm going to murder you because you DESERVE it!" Runa screamed. Something then clicked in her mind.
"... Of course. It's you. I should have known, Loki - any Midgardian would have been DEAD from my magic by now!" The laughter stopped. The Shield agent went rigid and still, eyes wide and unfocused as he stared past Runa into empty space. An entire other life assaulted his senses, one so aggressively foriegn to the man and yet was undoubtedly his. In some respects, they were similar. A few idle hobbies, mornings spent struggling in the library after ten too many drinks the night before, easy sunday afternoons finishing up a few pieces for his dad’s shop. But that’s where it all stopped. That James loved people, this James ignored them. That James laughed at the little things, this James ignored them. That James enjoyed helping people, this James didn’t care, only caring about the satisfaction of completing the next project. Emotions this James hadn’t experienced in many years welled up and, unbidden, tears trickled down his face.
James, both This and That, realized the crossroads they now stood at. Which way would they choose, for both believed their own the better. A dorky grin, the press of a shoulder and the grip of a hand, of laughter and tears all wrapped into brief moments of hurt, confusion, relief assaulted them. This James knew he would never have that, not here, not how he would be, and not with his goals. So he gave in. That James became James and This James ceased to be, only a string of nightmares one after another.
“I’m so sorry. So, so sorry.” James spoke softly and sincerely, trembling as he met Runa’s gaze.
“You’re right. We do deserve it. The me here has been nothing but horrific. But I’m here now, the actual me. Let me fix it and then you can kill us. Let me undo what he’s done, including where he shot you.” No part of her wanted to believe him. While the majority of her powers were gone in this reality, she still could tell the difference between truth and lies. James' statement did not give her that pinprick of pressure in her head - he was telling the truth. She wished that he was lying - she wished that he wasn't sorry and that he didn't ask to make things right. Her happy ending would have been beheading him, taking his mangled body and throwing it in front of the world as a warning to those who tested her. And while the power from the Dark Dimension was coursing through her veins and it was so tempting to just give into it entirely, she let out a breath and
let it go. Her face returned to normal, no longer featuring the decaying purple cracks around her eyes - though they were still slightly red from tears.
She stumbled slightly as the pain from being shot rushed back to her and she gripped her wound, pulling her hand away for a second to see fresh blood. Maybe he would be able to help her - or maybe she would die. Didn't she deserve it as well?
"Fortsett..." she mumbled, using the sling ring to open a portal that would allow James to leave the Mirror Dimension.
James watched her calm down and opens the portal, scrambling to his feet. He hissed in pain when he tries to use his missing hand for leverage and nearly toppled over. That would be a long adjustment. He was through the portal quicky, waiting impatiently for Runa. He hadn't missed the fresh blood on her. He wanted to stop the bleeding now but he wasn't sure how this whole portal thing worked so he didn't chance disrupting her focus
"Come on. Quickly. We have to get that bleeding stopped before you pass out " She nodded slightly, stumbling her way out of the portal. The portal thankfully was remaining open and would allow James to leave as well - especially fortunate since Runa fell to the ground once they were outside and back in what was considered the real world at the moment. There were horror stories about people trapped in the Mirror Dimension, unable to escape if they did something as dangerous as misplace their sling ring. While it was a great place for training or an uninterrupted battle, it also could easily double as a prison for some of the more powerful individuals on the planet with ease.
“Oh, fuck.” James swore as he rushed to the collapsed woman. Between trying to kill him, bleeding out, and jumping from place to place, Runa must have been exhausted. But for now, they had to get away. James’s specifically called for back up to secure Lance and it wouldn’t be long before Watts managed to wrangle them together. He knelt next to her, confirming the bullet wasn’t lodged in her. Thank God for small mercies. He placed his hand gently on her wound, the familiar pounding in his ears as he slowled the beeling and stitched the skin back together.
“There, you’ll be fine.” He wheezed as he caught his breath.
“Lets get Lance and your cousin before we bounce. And my hand. See if I can fix that too.” She took a breath and felt the pain subside. She didn't know if she should thank him or attack him again - a strong part of her wanted to do both. He bore a striking resemblance to one of her favorite gods on Asgard - Tyr. He was a god of war, but it was mostly due to James' lack of a hand. Tyr had lost his to the wolf Fenrir.
"Thank you," Runa then said, though it seemed like she really had to force herself to show him gratitude - he did save her life, of course.
"Maybe you are not completely horrible, Midgardian..." Looking around, she then attempted to locate Lance. In her anger, she had abandoned him on the ground, unconscious. It stung slightly to think about, yet if she could go back in time and do it all again, she would without a doubt.
