"Did you kill her?"
Thor stared at the Valkyrie insignia on the woman's armor, and his expression shifted. By all rights, he should have attacked Mario immediately. Friend or not, this was a Valkyrie. The elite warriors who'd served his family for millennia. But he didn't move. The reason was simple: he couldn't beat Mario anymore.
"Yeah. She attacked first."
Mario pulled out his staff. Holy light descended, and the Valkyrie's eyes snapped open. She sat up abruptly, scanning her surroundings.
"Where am I?"
Her eyes landed on Mario, and recognition sparked. She launched herself at him.
Before Mario could raise his axe, Thor grabbed her arm.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
Thor's logic was simple. The Valkyrie could fight him if she wanted. he could take it. But she couldn't fight Mario. He wasn't the fallen prince from the original timeline. He was Asgard's first heir, future king, the guy who'd inherit the throne when his old man finally kicked the bucket. No matter how legendary the Valkyries were, they'd been his family's guards. He wasn't about to let one of them attack his friend.
"You're a Valkyrie?" His grip tightened on her wrist. "Why are you here? The Valkyrie legion was supposed to be extinct."
The woman stopped struggling at his words. She turned to face Thor directly, and her expression twisted.
"Valkyrie? I'm not a Valkyrie anymore. I'm just a scavenger working for the Grandmaster on Sakaar."
She looked him up and down. "And who the hell are you?"
Thor frowned but released her wrist. He straightened to his full height, trying for regal dignity. "I am Thor, God of Thunder, son of Odin, future King of Asgard."
"King?" She let out a bitter laugh. "You're incredibly naive, princeling. Looks like Odin's still breathing. You should count your blessings. Once Hela returns to Asgard, you won't be standing anywhere talking to anyone. You'll be dead."
Without another word, she turned away from Thor and fixed her attention on Mario. A short dagger materialized in her hand.
"What did you do to me?"
Mario's response was a smile and the smooth draw of his nano saber. He spun the blade once, testing its weight. "Nothing much. Just cut your head off. I assume you remember the first time. Want to go for round two?"
He moved before she could respond. His body blurred forward, leaving afterimages. The nano saber whistled toward her throat.
The Valkyrie's reflexes were lightning-fast. She brought her dagger up to intercept the blade, positioning it to block the strike. Her pupils dilated in shock as the nano saber sliced through her dagger. The blade continued without slowing, its edge gliding across her throat.
Mario's voice followed a heartbeat later. "I remember looting your corpse. Where'd you even get that dagger? Were you hiding it in your..."
But the Valkyrie couldn't answer. She clutched at her throat. Blood poured between her fingers. The first two times she'd died, it had happened too quickly to process. This time, Mario had only opened her throat. She could feel every second as her life drained away.
"What are you doing?"
By the time Thor snapped back to reality, the Valkyrie was already on the ground again.
Mario looked at him. "Helping her remember to be polite. Don't worry, my healing magic is great."
Oh, thank you so much, the Valkyrie's dying eyes seemed to say sarcastically. How about you heal me BEFORE I bleed out?
Thor stared at Mario, then at the dying woman, then back at Mario. "You know what? Her attitude did need some adjustment. And you can bring her back, so... yeah, okay."
"Wait." His brain finally caught up to something the Valkyrie had said. "Who's Hela? I've never heard that name before."
Mario watched the light fade from the Valkyrie's eyes before pulling out his staff again. "Hela. Goddess of Death."
Holy light cascaded down as he spoke. "Odin's eldest daughter. Your older sister. Right now she's sealed away on Earth by your father. When he dies and goes to Valhalla, she'll break free from the seal. According to prophecy, she'll bring about Ragnarok."
"Sister?"
Thor's eyes went wide. "I have a sister? I thought I only had a brother."
The holy light finished its work. The Valkyrie gasped, both hands flying to her throat. The skin was whole. She sat up slowly, shooting Mario a look. Then her eyes dropped to where his hands rested on his sword.
"Awake already? Still want to know what I did to you?"
He lifted his thumb and brushed it along the nano saber's edge.
-12 HP
What the hell? Just touching it damages me? And I'm wearing the quantum suit... shouldn't that make me immune to physical damage? Does self-inflicted damage not count?
His thoughts raced, but his face remained composed as he sheathed the weapon.
The Valkyrie climbed to her feet. She straightened her spine, lifted her chin, and glared at Mario without saying a word.
"Scared now?"
Mario waved his hand dismissively. "Follow Thor back to Asgard. Sakaar belongs to me now, which means your scavenging gig just ended. Personally, I think you should return to Asgard as a proper Valkyrie. Picking through garbage really doesn't suit you."
Thor's mind was still reeling. One moment everything made sense, the next his entire worldview had been pureed and served back to him in a cup marked "SURPRISE!"
"Mario, I need to go back and ask my father about my sister."
He turned to the Valkyrie. "What's your name? Will you return to Asgard with me? I think my father would be very pleased to see you."
The Valkyrie wanted nothing more than to punch Thor's perfect teeth down his perfect throat and then beat him with his own hammer. The Valkyrie legion had been destroyed by Hela. But seeing Mario's smile, she made the wise choice.
"My name is Valkyrie. I'm not part of the Valkyrie order anymore. The legion is gone."
"Thor, wait." Mario's voice stopped the Thunder God before he could do something stupid. "Don't ask your father about this. It was his doing. If you want answers, ask Valkyrie."
---
After watching Thor depart with his new reluctant companion, Mario and Clark stepped through a portal back to the DC world. They materialized in the building Mario had designated as their base of operations. Bruce had purchased the entire structure along with surrounding properties.
Money talks, and Bruce's wallet never shuts up.
It was night in Gotham City, and the sky had returned to its familiar state of oppressive cloud cover.
"Once the mutants from the X-Men world grow up, I'm finding one who can control weather and dragging them here. I refuse to believe I can't fix Gotham's climate."
Coastal cities had variable weather, sure. But there was no reason it should be pleasant during the day and then immediately transform into a gothic nightmare every single night.
Clark wasn't paying attention to Mario's weather complaints. His super-hearing was focused elsewhere, scanning Metropolis for a familiar voice.
After days of training and growth, his auditory range now covered all of South America. Hearing what happened in Metropolis from Gotham was trivial. But at this hour, aside from dedicated criminals and Batman, most people were asleep. Reluctantly, he shut off his enhanced hearing. Otherwise his brain would be flooded with thousands of voices, and even his Kryptonian brain had limits.
"Thank you for everything these past few days."
Mario waved his hand dismissively. "Don't mention it. We're friends, right? You've helped me plenty too."
Clark's face darkened at the reminder. He knew the truth now, Hulk's other identity was Bruce Banner, chief biologist under Mario's company.
How did he find out? Simple. He'd been on his operating table.
"I'm going to buy some things. Tomorrow morning I want to surprise my mother. I haven't been home in too long."
"Sounds good. If anything comes up, I'll contact you."
Clark shot straight up into the sky, disappearing into the dark clouds in an instant.
After watching Clark depart, Mario took flight as well, heading toward Gotham's interior. Despite the late hour, he knew two people who definitely weren't asleep, Batman and Gordon.
Flying through the night air, he soon spotted Gordon, riding what could only be described as a genuine Ghost Rider motorcycle, tearing down the highway at insane speeds. The "Hell Cycle" left trails of blue flame in its wake, and Gordon's blocky skull head was impossible to miss. Interestingly, no angry motorists were trying to teach this reckless biker a lesson about traffic safety.
Seeing Gordon, he smiled and descended directly into the rider's path.
SCREECH. BANG.
Sharp braking sounds echoed off the empty highway, but he had appeared too suddenly. The distance calculation was off. The next moment, he went flying.
Twenty-five people's worth of strength was impressive, but the Hell Cycle wasn't an ordinary motorcycle. It was the Ghost Rider's exclusive mount, and without any game mechanics limiting it, knocking Mario backward was entirely possible.
He was completely unharmed. The wheel never touched his body, it was blocked by the quantum suit's shield. He'd simply been pushed back two steps by the impact force. Brushing off nonexistent dust, he looked expressionlessly at the rider. "Are you sure that wasn't on purpose?"
"I was thinking about something and didn't react in time... sorry."
Before leaving with Clark, Mario had given him the Spirit of Vengeance medallion in case he encountered enemies too tough to handle. Judging by current appearances, it was working well. Gordon dismounted from the Ghost Rider motorcycle and deactivated the transformation, apologetic expression on his face.
Mario shook his head and reached out to take the medallion Gordon returned to him.
[SOULS: 3540/10000]
"Looks like you haven't been slacking off." His face showed satisfaction.
Gotham had plenty of criminals, but not so many that every random person was a crook. Like vampires, criminals tended to move around, hide, adapt. Collecting this many souls had exceeded his expectations.
"Oh, right. I brought you a gift this time."
He pulled out a case. Inside were the enhancement injections Gordon had been desperately wanting. Gordon's face immediately bloomed into a smile. Everything else was just talk, only real power in hand truly mattered.
Just as he was about to reach for it, Mario waved his hand. "Hold on. I'll give it to you in a moment. Don't want you dropping it. Step back five meters first. I want to run an experiment."
Gordon was puzzled but complied, retreating about five meters. Mario checked the distance, then pulled out his wand. "Another five meters back."
Gordon retreated another five meters. Then Mario lightly waved the wand, and Gordon felt a surge of energy rise within his body. At the same time, a feeling welled up in his heart, he could withstand more damage now.
Clenching his fists, he looked up, about to ask Mario what this was about...
"OH SH—"
A tire wreathed in blue flames grew larger and larger in his vision.
BANG.
He went flying, soaring at least twenty meters through the air before hitting the ground and sliding another ten.
Mario's irritated voice followed: "A Ghost Rider bike can't brake properly? You just wanted to hit me!"
Gordon felt like every bone in his body had shattered, especially where the front wheel had struck his chest. But under the protection of that strange energy, he knew his body hadn't suffered too much damage, though the pain was extremely real. With a pale face, he supported his lower back and stood up, his body recovering rapidly.
It was true he'd been thinking about his daughter. But when Mario appeared, he'd hesitated for a moment about whether to hit him or not, losing a crucial second, that's why things turned out that way. But Mario didn't retaliate against Gordon again. Getting even once was enough. Hitting him again would just mean he was petty.
At least, that's what he told himself.