Chapter 12

Loki stood, one hand slowly stroking his chin as he examined her.
"Well now. It seems you are quite a capable fighter."

He grinned, in a thoroughly unpleasant manner, then waved one hand in an 
almost expansive, friendly gesture. With a shimmering, twinkling glow, 
uncannily reminiscent of a Star Trek transporter beam effect, a column 
of light formed near to him, outlining a huge, bulky humanoid figure as 
it materialised inside it.

I wondered if part of Loki's punishment had been to watch TV while he'd 
been chained underground?

As the sparkling abruptly faded, the figure took shape and distinctness. 
I gulped. It was huge, he (well, I assumed it was male) was almost 12 
feet tall, and built like a bear. Coarse black hair, almost as thick as 
fur, with a curious reddish tinge to it, covered most of his exposed 
skin, but most of him was covered in thick, ornate armour. In one hand 
he easily carried a huge double-bitted axe that I doubted I could have 
gotten off the ground.
 
Loki gestured, and the figure grinned, revealing a set of blackened, 
sharp fangs that would have had the average lion drooling in envy, as it 
slowly moved forward.

"And, just to make things a little more interesting..."

He made a sharp, complex movement with one hand, uttering a short burst 
of deep, gutteral speech, and made a tossing motion at the giant. A 
reddish cloud of shimmering motes scattered across the huge figure, 
outlining it for a second as they settled onto it, leaving the armour 
and axe glowing a dull, sullen red.

Iczer-2 stared at the figure, eyes narrowing as her feet shifted, taking 
a balanced combat stance, sword held outstretched in one hand. Not 
taking her eyes of the advancing figure, she slowly moved closer, 
avoiding the rubble strewn across the ground, waiting to see what he 
would do.

The giant moved onwards, advancing with deceptive speed, covering the 
ground in long strides as he took his axe in both hands, suddenly 
striking out with it at her, looking to cut her in two and end the fight 
almost before it begun. Despite the size of his weapon, it cut a 
whistling arc through the air as it blurred towards her.

To no effect whatsoever, as with a dancers easy grace she ducked under 
it, moving closer and around him.

He growled, a deep snarling noise, and struck again and again, handling 
his weapon with deceptive skill; I guess Loki wouldn't have used him if 
he hadn't been good. It didn't help him, Iczer-2's speed and agility 
meant he was hardly even coming close, as she closed to attack him.

Suddenly, surprising us all, she screamed and leapt, her sword flashing 
forward, a blur I only saw by the afterimage it left, striking home 
directly against the trolls armour. There was a strange grinding crash 
as the energy-sword met the dull-glowing metal, leaving a small gash in 
it, but not seriously upsetting the giant. Iczer-2 looked surprised for 
a fraction of a second; I suppose she wasn't used to finding things that 
could stand up to her sword, then I realised she knew nothing about Loki 
or his magic.

That fraction of a second was enough for the giant. Although she was 
inside the arc of his axe, he slammed the haft against her, his 
monstrous strength sending her flying back through the air, until she 
rammed into a wall, smashing it, splinters and debris flying as she hit 
it with a loud *crunch*. I winced, and Skuld drew her breath in sharply. 
I'd almost forgotten she was standing there in the distraction of 
following the combat.

The giant grinned, and walked slowly forward to where she had 
disappeared. The grin died abruptly as her figure leapt up from the 
cloud of dust thrown up by her impact to land gracefully as she took up 
a stance facing him again, obviously unused to opponents getting up 
again after he'd done that to them. She looked a little battered, the 
impact hadn't done her costume any good, her dust-covered hair tossing 
in the strengthening wind as she glared at the giant, but the main 
effect seemed to be to make her seriously annoyed.

The combat begun again, with fairly inconclusive results. Iczer-2 was 
fast enough to evade the giants axeplay without any apparent effort, but 
this time she was careful not to close with him. I knew she was tough, 
but wouldn't have liked to have bet on her if he'd managed to get his 
hands on her. The giant wasn't that stupid either, he carefully refused 
to give her any clear shots except against his armour, and his reach 
made it difficult for her to get clear openings, even with her superior 
speed and skill.

After a little while of this, both opponents stopped for a moment, 
glowering at each other as they took stock. Then Iczer-2 grinned, giving 
a low chuckle as she tossed her blade in her hand...
"Now..."

She twisted her arm back, and surprised us all by throwing her sword at 
the giant! It twisted, flickering as it swung through the air - and 
then, to a collective gasp of disappointment from us, missed him, 
continuing up into the air behind him. 

The giant laughed...
"Now, pretty-pretty, I'm going to have fun with you..."

Iczer-2 merely looked at him, eyes narrowed, never leaving him as she 
crouched lower in what I recognised as some sort of unarmed-combat 
stance, her hands moving slowly in front of her. I gulped; she was 
tough, but there was no way she could take this monster hand-to-hand, 
surely?

He moved on her, steadily, axe raised high, as he prepared to crush the 
slender girl in front of him with one blow.

I don't think he ever realised his mistake, as with a crackling whir 
Iczer-2's energy sword swung BACK from its arc behind him, twisting as 
it pinwheeled and grew into a flaming circle of lightning, speeding up 
and slashing straight into the giants back, cutting him in two, the 
magically-protected armour hardly slowing it as it cut through it like a 
buzzsaw through wood. He stood for a second, blood spurting along the 
line of its cut, before toppling to the courtyard in a spray of crimson 
gore, followed a second later by the two cleanly-cut halves of the axe 
clattering after. The sword finished by slamming back into her hand, 
where she held it, looking calmly at the remains of her opponent as she 
stood in an easy, ready stance, then at Loki, raising one delicate 
sanguine eyebrow in a gesture I would have sworn was deeply sarcastic.
 
"Is that the best opponent you can offer me?"
 
While I assumed she was deliberately trying to provoke Loki into doing 
something stupid, I wished she'd be more careful about it; Loki's sanity 
wasn't exactly the greatest before this started, and I worried what he 
would do if she kept working at him.

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

Loki snarled, his orange-red hair almost bristling as he glared at 
Iczer-2. Then he looked at his captives, and over at Skuld and myself, 
and his visage writhed in new anger.

"So... you continue to defy me, Loki, Master of the Universe!!!"

He smiled again, his face undergoing a crazed, mercurial transformation 
as he smiled sweetly...
"Then I'd better let you meet my son, hadn't I?"

He looked at Iczer-2 again, and his smile widened, as his eyes almost 
glowed with madness.
"I'm sure you'll enjoy playing with my eldest son, he's such a playful 
lad..."

I shivered, and beside me Skuld *eeepd* in a high strangled voice!
"David - his son, it's..."

I nodded to her.
"I know the legends... it's Fenris, isn't it?"

She nodded, unwilling even to mention the name.
"He can't be stopped. Even Odin is fated to fall before him! How can 
Iczer-2 have any chance against him?"

I wished I had the answer to her question right then. Fenris was one of 
the deadliest creatures in Norse mythology, the son of Loki who would 
kill Odin in the final battle. The biggest wolf ever born...
Trolls and other minions were one thing, this was quite another. Loki 
was obviously playing seriously. It may have been a sort of honour that 
we had managed to make him raise the stakes this high, but personally it 
was one I would very much rather have done without.

Loki raised both hands high above him, throwing his head back as he 
started to chant, harsh words that seemed to make the air itself shiver 
with fear, grating on my ears and skin like a file. Beside me, I heard a 
low moan of terror from Skuld, as we watched his summoning.

Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds. Then the air high above us 
grew - misty, a curdling twisting space as something huge and ill-formed 
started to take shape. As it solidified, it grew large, moving to one 
side as it settled to the ground outside the temple, the earth 
shuddering as it impacted, not so much at its weight but with fear of 
its presence.

I looked up. And up. At a 200 foot tall wolf, its mad glowing eyes 
staring down at us as its tongue lolled, grinning at us before raising 
its head and howling, a terror-filled noise that blanked my thoughts as 
I pressed my hands to my ears, shattering buildings and glass for miles 
around.

Fenris was here.

Iczer-2 looked up at the enormous lupine face leering above her, her 
eyes narrowed. Then she turned, looking straight at me. Once again, our 
eyes met, and I found my feelings and thoughts almost mingling with 
hers. It wasn't telepathy - at least, it wasn't what I'd always imagined 
telepathy to be - I didn't hear any voices in my head, it was just that 
I knew how she felt, what her emotions were so well that it was as if 
she'd spoken to me. I'd forgotten how strong empaths the Iczers were..

* I need you now, partner, if we are to stop this thing *

I nodded, not needing to speak, the partial merging as my emotions and 
thoughts started to swirl about hers already confirming my suspicion of 
what she was going to do.

Part of the back of my mind did wonder idly if I was going to get to 
keep my shorts, though...

She turned, looking away from the wolf, towards an open area. Once, 
before the devastation, it had been a park. Now, it more resembled the 
results of a not-so-minor war.
Raising one hand, she made a slow, beckoning gesture, which ended in her 
suddenly clenching her fist, her face set in concentration.

"SIGMA !!!"

For a few, timeless moments, nothing seemed to happen.
They, down from a point in the air above the ruined park, a hairfine 
beam of actinic light speared down to impale the ground.
Iczer-2 looked up at the light, a small smile spreading across her lips. 
About her I could see a pale blue flickering, a sort of a cross between 
blue flames and a glow. Distracted for a moment by an even brighter 
light, I looked, and realised a similar, fainter effect was surrounding 
me, my fingers dripping an opalescent blue fire! I suppose I should have 
started panicking, the normal reaction to this effect, but so much had 
happened so fast, compared to that a little blue fire from my fingertips 
didn't really seem worth worrying about.

The light brightened, and started to widen, and that's when the noise 
and vibration hit us. I don't know why I expected a dimensional portal 
to open quietly, I suppose it was a subconscious reaction to all those 
I'd seen on TV shows, but this one was anything other than subtle..

With a crackling roar, the splinter of light widened, spreading out as 
it changed into a rectangular plane of energy hanging in the air, its 
surface a hellish blue-white glare of shimmering energy, the air about 
it lit with the flickering of twisting, writhing lightning as the air 
frantically tried to discharge stray energy into the ground, destroying 
still more of the area, the sound of the thunderclaps almost irrelevant 
against the howling, tortured noise of space being rent asunder in such 
a manner.

Then Sigma appeared, a gigantic foot stepping through the opening, 
the ground heaving and shuddering as it reluctantly took the weight of 
the enormous device, as the portal gave a final brilliant flash and 
suddenly vanished, leaving us deafened and half-blinded.
Leaving us gaping at 500 foot of gleaming blue-black mecha. Seriously 
dangerous looking mecha.

Beside me, Skuld's mouth dropped open, her face a curious mixture of 
terror at our current situation, and sheer unbridled lust at the sight 
of it. A tiny part of my mind grinned, and wished I had a camera to 
record the expression!

Iczer-2 looked up at the towering mecha, her face for a moment with an 
expression I could have sworn was fondness on her face, then she leapt 
upward, her graceful jump turning into full upward flight, her glowing 
form swooping upward towards the mecha's faceplate, as with a final roll 
in the air she vanished through it.

I blinked. Through it!? It must be the distance, I could have sworn that 
she had sort of melted through the face of the mecha, rather than it 
having opened for her entry.

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly by a pale beam of light that 
flickered down from Sigma's chest, illuminating me. Just as I realised 
that this was making me a really good target for somebody, I was 
distracted a LOT more by the sudden movement as I rose up into the air. 

I made a muffled moan, my inner ear objecting to this arbitrary 
violation of gravity, as I finally remembered how an Iczer's partner was 
inserted into one of these robots. As I rushed towards its chest area, 
the protecting metal armour moved aside, a strangely organic flowing of 
thick plates, leaving a transparent membrane enclosing a medium glowing 
with a soft golden light. I hoped I wouldn't get airsick before I 
arrived.

My speed didn't seem to be slowing, as I moved straight at it...then 
abruptly felt a warm, wet sensation all over my body as I suddenly found 
myself immersed in a thick liquid medium.
For a second, I looked down, and sighed. Nope, I didn't get to keep my 
shorts...

At the moment, though, I had far more important things to worry about. 
Like the writhing mass of tenticular-like cables reaching for me, 
attaching them to me in a rather embarrassing fashion, and the rather 
more major one of how was I going to breath?

Eventually, of course, the latter solved itself. After a minute, my 
vision was starting to blur. Iczer-2 couldn't have brought me here just 
to drown me, right? I hoped, anyway...
With a shudder, I breathed in.  For a couple of seconds, I panicked, my 
throat gagging and locking against the unfamiliar wet weight, then I HAD 
to breath, and did. It felt weird...something like breathing normally 
with someone sitting on your chest, but despite the fact I wasn't having 
problems getting enough oxygen, I still didn't like it!!

While I had been experimenting as to exactly how long I could hold my 
breath, the cables had been busy attaching themselves. It was the 
strangest feeling, almost making the breathing of a liquid seem normal.
One part of me was here, slowly turning in a thick amniotic medium as my 
body slowly assumed a fetal position. The rest of me was seeing with 
Sigma's, or Iczer-2's, vision. I couldn't tell if there was any 
difference between them, they seemed so merged. And I could... feel... 
her emotions; not as though they were mine, but...as though they were 
overlaid next to mine. Words are so clumsy, I can't really describe the 
way it felt using them. It was just the way it was, after a moment it 
seemed so normal, I couldn't understand what I'd been so worried about.

Our/her/my/Sigma... oh hell, _our_ eyes looked at the wolf. It had been 
eyeing us steadily, with a frighteningly cunning intelligence, panting 
slowly, its saliva smoking and burning as it dripped onto the ravaged 
ground beneath it. Fenris didn't seem awfully worried, but I hoped that 
was because he thought Sigma was just an ordinary robot. At least from 
my new vantage he looked a lot smaller, only about as big as a two-foot-
at-the-shoulder wolf would normally have looked to me. Only. Right.

Pity we couldn't have painted a JSDF or ADPolice insignia on, just to 
really make him really overconfident, I had a nasty feeling we were 
going to need any advantage we could lay our hands on.

To be continued