All usual character disclaimers apply.

C&C WANTED

For what came before, read chapters 1-9!!

Dave Row

Chapter 10

I groaned, loudly. "Damn, that HURT!"
I could feel a horrible pain in the back of my head, as well as other 
lesser (though by no means ignorable) ones in other parts of me. My 
vision still seemed to be fuzzy, and I could feel the dampness against 
my neck as what I suspected was my blood ran down from my scalp...
Looking above me, I could see that I'd been lucky (if you could call it 
that). I had gone through some less solid parts of the wall, and seem to 
have been primarily stopped by the wooden supports, mainly by going 
through a number of them.

I heard running feet, and then Skuld's anxious face looked down at me.
"Oh!"

She looked almost surprised to see me, as I tried groggily to get up... 
Then she looked at some of the broken supports I'd gone through, and her 
eyes widened ever further.
"I can't believe it, you're not only alive, you're still conscious!"
Hopping down beside me, she put an arm behind me, helping me to my feet. 
I reeled, and nearly fell over again, as a flash of pain cut through my 
head like a razor, but managed to stay upright.

"Owww...." (sometimes my witty repartee amazes even me...)
"It's OK, Skuld... I don't think anything's permanently damaged. 
Sometimes it pays to have a skull like concrete."

Wincing, I almost touched the back of my head to see how bad the damage 
was, but just managed to stop myself. Things were still fuzzy, hardly 
surprising considering the thickness of a couple of the supports I had 
apparently broken with my skull, and I was having difficulty keeping 
things together.

Skuld helped me get a bit out of my new hole, and then stopped. Looking 
past her, I could see why...

Standing in the middle of the garden was Loki. Head thrown back, 
laughing. Facing him, Urd and Belldandy stood, swords gripped in their 
hands. I wondered a bit vaguely where they had got them from.

He looked at them, and laughed even louder..
"Foolish women! To take up swords against ME! Don't you realise that 
nothing of this world can harm me now??"
Urd didn't seem to be awfully impressed by all this. Grabbing a broken 
metal rod from the ruins beside her in her right hand, she whipped it 
forward with blinding speed, releasing it and sending it arrowing 
towards Loki's chest, the broken jagged end glinting in the fitful 
light.

Unfortunately, Loki didn't seem terribly impressed either. He grinned, 
and stood there, allowing the missile to strike. With a curious *tink* 
noise, reminiscent of a sparrow impacting on a window, 
the improvised spear hit him in the centre of the chest. And broke into 
fragments, leaving him completely unaffected.
Urd looked like she would have facefaulted, if the situation hadn't been 
so serious...

I looked at him, gulped, and then at Skuld.
"Nothing?? He isn't even scratched?!"

Skuld looked concerned.
"It should have hurt him! But...if that boast he made about Baldur was 
true - we're in serious trouble!"

I looked down at Skuld, and almost sighed. Trouble? And just what did 
she think we'd been up till now!?

"Can you tell if it hurt him at all? Maybe he's just faking it, or it 
hurt him a little?"

Skuld hmmd, and nodded. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out what I 
assumed was a pair of binoculars, that is if they'd spent a few 
unobserved nights mating with the VCR in the living room. 
I started to nod at her response, quickly stopping as a dagger of pain 
through my skull reminded me that this was not a good idea. I was fast 
getting the idea that this would have been a really good day not just to 
sleep in late, but not to get up at all...

Putting the device to her eyes, Skuld examined the still laughing 
figure.
"Nothing. Urd's spear tore his clothing, but it didn't even scratch his 
skin! I can't believe it"
She scowled, cutely (this IS Skuld, after all!) and moved some controls.
"No, nothing. Not a scratch"
Then she frowned, and adjusted it again.
"That's very odd..."

I looked down at her, my anger slowly growing. Not only did this mad god 
kidnap me, destroy this place, attack us, but he couldn't even be hurt. 
This was NOT fair. I felt a slow burn of rage start up inside me as I 
thought about Loki. Only to be disturbed somewhat as Skuld poked me in 
the side...

"Where did you hit him?"

"Huh? What do you mean, where did I hit him?"

She frowned again. 
"When you hit him, before he tossed you away"

"On the mouth, as hard as I could, why?"

"Because... he has a small bruise there, and a trickle of blood. You 
hurt him!"

I looked down at her, unable to think of a coherent reply. Thought raced 
through my head, in a disjointed manner. How could I hurt him? I was 
only human, even without Baldurs' power he could trash me without even 
noticing. And Urd's spear hadn't even touched him! What was 
different...?

My train of thought, such as it currently was, was derailed by action in 
the courtyard. Urd and Belldandy, seemingly deciding that standing 
around while Loki gloated was a less-than-desirable activity, rushed 
him, swords raised.
Loki didn't even bother to dodge. He just stood there, and expression of 
vast amusement on his face, as they hit him.
This time, there was some effect. The force of their blows knocked him 
back, staggered. But that was all. He wasn't hurt at all, just slightly 
off balance. Urd managed to retain her sword, but Belldandy had dropped 
hers, and was holding her wrist, It must have been like hitting a block 
of steel, only worse.

"Well, little Norns? Satisfied you can't hurt me? Why don't you get on 
your knees and grovel, maybe if you do it well enough I'll let you live 
after I destroy the Nine Worlds. I'll have a need for good, dutiful body 
servants...

Belldandy looked shocked. Urd just looked disgusted. She rushed him, but 
this time he didn't just ignore her blow. Parrying her swordblow aside 
with his arm, he grabbed her, tearing her costume as he lifted her in 
his hand, grinning...
"My, what a lovely sight. The so-proud, so-arrogant Urd in my hands. And 
what shall I have you do, hmmm?"

He looked at the tears in her clothing, and grinned wider.
"Not bad. Two lovely sights...! Maybe you'll make a nice toy for my 
troll slaves after their days work..."
Shaking her, he dropped her, letting her fall. She managed to break the 
worst of it, but was still obviously shaken.

I looked, and growled. The hammering pain in my head was getting worse 
and worse, and the core of hate and rage in me was getting bigger and 
stronger by the second.
"You maniac! You do all this, destroy people, worlds, humiliate people I 
like... and worst of all, its all MY power you use to do it!"

Skuld looked up at me, eyes large, a worried expression on her face.
"David...please... you cant do anything. He'll only kill you."

Something about that made a small connection, somewhere inside my head.
Can't do anything. He's invulnerable. The goddesses can't touch him.
But...I touched him. He said something... what was it...

"Skuld? He said something about nothing being able to harm him. Can you 
remember exactly what he said??"

She grimaced. Most of her attention still on the scene before her.
"He... said 'Don't you realise that nothing of this world can harm me 
now??' but what has that got to do with...?

I grinned, as something made sense, and then scowled almost as fast.
"Damn... THAT'S why I managed to touch him. Baldur was unhurtable by 
everything other than mistletoe...because everything in the world swore 
not to harm him! But I'M not from this world, and I never swore that 
oath! So I can touch him! But how can I hurt him?? All I managed to do 
was annoy him!

Skuld poked me again.
"Look! Oneesama's doing something!"

I looked at where she was pointing. Urd was half lying on the ground in 
front of Loki, but Belldandy had obviously been working on something.
The air shimmered about her hands, and suddenly she was holding a wooden 
arrow and a bow. 
Looks like I wasn't the only one who remembered about Baldurs weakness; 
and it seemed like she was going to do something about it.
Something worried  me, though. Loki could see what she was doing, and 
didn't seem awfully concerned.

Looking straight at Loki, Belldandy raised her bow, pulling the arrow 
far back.
"Loki! Mad God! Face the vengeance of the Norns for what you have done 
to us and ours!"
She loosed the bow, the arrow speeding straight at Loki's throat.
Loki just smiled. And raised a hand, a shield of fire shimmering and 
blurring the air between them. 
The arrow hit it, and went through - as the flames consumed it, leaving 
nothing but some white ash to flutter to Loki's feet.
Belldandy looked shocked. She wasn't the only one. I guess we had all 
thought this one would work.

Loki sneered.
"Stupid female! Just the sort of stupidity I would expect from someone 
who would choose to live with a pathetic mortal on Midgard! Baldur was 
killed when he was taken by surprise. I am not, and mistletoe is wood. 
What use is a wooden weapon against a God who controls fire?"

He has a definite point, there, I thought to myself. There's got to be 
something...but what? I cant hurt him... not on my own...

I was distracted from my thoughts, which seemed to be getting a 
distressing tendency to go off and ignore things despite our 
predicament. My headache was getting worse, it felt like my head 
was splitting. I wondered for a second if Skuld carried any hi-tech 
aspirin in that bag of hers...

Loki stepped back, allowing some of his pet trolls to move forward. One 
of them grabbed at Urd, grabbing her shirt and ripping it further, 
leering as his act bared a significant expanse of smooth tanned skin. He 
drooled, copiously, leaning down to lick slowly across her bared breast, 
leaving a trail of slimy saliva behind. Loki merely laughed, loudly.
"Well, Urd? Don't you think you'll have fun living as their pet in my 
new domain?"

This wasn't a very bright move for the troll, however. While Loki wasn't 
affected by her sword, the troll seemed to have forgotten that she still 
held it. With a scream of rage, she pulled back from the troll, exposing 
still more flesh in a display I suspect that I would have felt more than 
a little interest in if the circumstances had been less inappropriate. 
She swung her sword back, and then it blurred as she swept it forward, 
straight through the neck of the now very surprised looking troll, 
sending a jet of green blood spurting skyward from its severed throat. 
Then she disdainfully kicked the still-rolling head to one side, stepped 
back, panting slightly, glaring alternately at Loki and the trolls, 
daring the next one to step forward to molest her. Oddly enough, none of 
the trolls now seemed too keen to be the first in that enterprise.

Something about the action finally made a connection in my aching head. 
Sword. She used a sword. Weapon. I can hurt him, but I need a weapon. 
But nothing from this world can hurt him. 
Damn, It was so obvious. If nothing here could hurt him, well, I'd 
simply get a weapon from another world!
(somewhere deep inside me a small voice seemed to be looking at this 
statement, and going 'merely?? Yeah, right!')
But what weapon? What is powerful enough to hurt a God, that I can use? 
A nuke? But it would be nice if we could all survive it as well...and in 
any case, how am I going to USE it? I can't take time out to read the 
instruction manual. I need something with built in AI, not a dumb 
weapon...

************************************************************************

Skuld looked out at the scene in front of her. Belldandy was kneeling, 
hands clenched, staring at Loki as she tried to work out something, 
anything that would work to stop him, or allow her to summon help. Urd 
was still glaring at the trolls, the tip of her sword circling slowly as 
she dared one of them to take a step forward and become instant troll-
eunoch. She turned to the man standing unsteadily next to her - and 
stopped.

Swaying slightly, one hand grasping a piece of wood in a white-knuckled 
grasp to keep upright, face white through its coating of dust and grime, 
except where rills of blood traced down it, David was obviously in some 
sort of trouble.
He was muttering something she wasn't quite able to make sense of, 
something about 'weapon', 'intelligent', and 'of course, it's so 
obvious', before almost falling, his pupils closed to pinpoints as 
he stared unseeing at the scene unfolding itself in front of him.

She raised a hand, uncertainly, not clear about what to do about a 
mortal in this condition, but before she could do so was distracted by a 
faint *beeping* from her pocket.
"What? My detector? But...??"

Yanking out a small object, she looked at it. It buzzed faintly, small 
l.e.d.'s flickering in pretty abstract patterns across is facing. On 
impulse, she pointed it at David, and it *beeped* louder, the two 
antennae on it raising and lowering as it started to quiver in an 
almost-alive excitement.
"This is impossible! He CAN'T use magic, he doesn't know how! And he 
doesn't have any power available to him, I checked it already! But the 
readings rising off the scale...!"

************************************************************************

I turned to look down at Skuld, my vision tunnelled down to a small area 
of clear focus, barely able to see her. Talking with the careful diction 
of a drunk, or someone who felt his head was about to explode in messy 
detail all over the surrounding area (which described part of what I 
felt like right now!) I licked my lips..

"Skuld - can you contact your sisters without Loki hearing?"

Skuld nodded.
"Uh... hai, I can. But why?"

"Tell them to keep him occupied for a short while. I'm going to try 
something"

Skuld still looked very worried. Mind, if I could have seen how I looked 
right then, I'D have looked worried, as well!

I grinned - well, it was more like baring my teeth, what with my general 
condition and the fact that the top of my skull seemed to want to join 
the Shuttle in orbit about now, but what the hell..
"I'm going to get us a weapon...."

Skuld looked at me, gulped, and muttered "Oh Kami-sama... now he's gone 
and lost it"
Then she sighed.
"I guess I may as well - we haven't got much to lose, anyway"

************************************************************************

Putting her fingertips to her temples, she shut her eyes for a moment, 
concentrating as she passed the message onto her sisters. From 
Belldandy, she sensed the feelings of desperation, from Urd, mainly just 
anger and helplessness. She opened her eyes, to tell him they would do 
would they could, then opened them a LOT further, giving a small *eeep!* 
as she involuntarily took a step backwards.

Next to her, David was glowing faintly, as the air about him seemed to 
waver, light flickering across his body in shimmering whorls reminiscent 
of those that ripple across an underwater swimmer, his eyes closed, face 
rigid in concentration, obviously unaware that his hands were clenched 
so tightly the blood trickled down between his fingers to splatter in 
tiny crimson droplets onto the ground.

Skuld *eeped* again, then gulped, and stepped back further, then 
whispered to herself in a voice that seemed more outraged than 
surprised...

"It's impossible! An aura can't DO that!!!"

************************************************************************

I concentrated again, oblivious now to what was going on. Faintly I 
heard the sounds of Loki, Belldandy and Urd yelling and fighting, but 
quickly tuned them out. In front of me, the air roiled in a heat-haze-
like flicker, as a man-sized sphere started to form in the air, its 
surface lit by the fitful blue glow of Cherenkov radiation, fractal 
ripples flickering through it in rainbow colours.

Skuld watched, her attention diverted from the scene in the courtyard. 
Slowly at first, then faster, in a muffled 'popping' reminiscent of 
microwaved popcorn, bugs were appearing out of nowhere, then, before 
they could leap away, getting very surprised expressions on their faces 
as they were dragged into an irresistible whirlpool spiral that ended in 
the distortion in the air, which swallowed them without trace.
In her hand, her detector started to beep and  whistle, as its light 
display got brighter..

"But what is he DOING???"

My eyes snapped open, as I glared at the turbulence in the air. At last 
I had a focus for my anger and frustration. I didn't care what was going 
to happen, except that I was going to make Loki pay, bigtime. For a 
second, my mind cleared from its state of monofocussed fog, and I half 
grinned at Skuld.
"Magic here acts like technology, affecting the physical world, doesn't 
it?"

She nodded wordlessly.

"Well, Loki brought me here to use my magic. So I'm using it to modify 
Plank's constant, to allow a stable wormhole without having to use 
strange matter to keep it open. . ."

I concentrated again, eyes slitted as I glared at the area I'd chosen, 
not seeing the wide-eyed expression on Skuld's face turn from that on 
frustration at not understanding what was happening, 
to one of outright fear...
"But... how can he DO that! He said he didn't know about....!!!"
 
Quietly, without any fuss, the rocks and debris surrounding the sphere 
started to fall slowly upward.

************************************************************************

The sphere glimmered, turbulent darkness sprinkled with pinpoint azure 
stars of flickering energy filling it as a humanoid figure started to 
take shape inside of it. I could feel my strength draining away, but it 
didn't matter. Nothing else mattered.

Skuld looked wide-eyed between her detector and the sphere, as the 
figure inside solidified, and the sphere faded about it, leaving a 
faintly glowing film of colours across the figure for a moment, 
before that too evaporated into nothingness. In her hand, her detector 
did the closest mechanical equivalent of having an orgasm, then went 
quiet at last.

Gasping, I finally opened my eyes, and looked up at the figure standing 
in front of me. I felt exhausted, too tired even to smile.
"Well, Skuld, I got what I wanted, a weapon from another Universe to use 
against Loki. Now to see if the weapon destroys us first..."

I looked into the crimson-glowing eyes of the weapon I'd evoked, and 
prayed I'd got this right...


End of Chapter 10
To be continued.