Legendary

I assembled with the other valkyries and we waited to be assigned to teams. Thor was here as his father's general, and, smiling, proposed that he and Steve choose with 'rock, paper, scissors,' a game he'd just learned from Loki. We laughed and Steve smiled and agreed. Steve won the first round, scissors to Thor's paper, and chose me. I stood behind him and the other valkyries divided briskly. Once the teams were set, Odin and Frigga nodded to each other, Steve and Thor shook hands, and at Steve's signal, we took to the sky, getting above the arrows, then using gravity and acceleration for our benefit as the battle was joined. All was fine until little fireballs started searing trails through the air. After one narrowly missed me, I looked for the source and frowned. Tony had devised a cannon-like device that lobbed the little fireballs. Usually, we sort of ignored each other when we were on opposite sides, but apparently the gloves were off today. I dove, faster than he could track me, landing right by it and quickly studying it. I saw a couple of things that looked necessary and pulled them free, stalling the machine. "Hey!" Tony protested, and Bruce turned toward me from where he was readying more fireballs. "Take it easy," Tony said, then lunged for my hand holding the parts.

"I am taking it easy," I retorted. "Me being serious means me trashing this thing. And that will happen if you get it going again." I jumped back for the sky, stuffing the parts in my pocket. And I thought that was the end of it, but about a half-hour later, the fireballs started up again. Heidi flew up to me.

"How do we stop it?" she asked. "Would a rock dropped from a height do it?" I nodded.

"It should," I said, and she grinned.

"Distract them," she said, and I nodded, gathering valkyries as I flew. A mass would make a more tempting target, and engaged the other team. My first opponent, Carol, was felled by friendly fire.

"Dammit," she snapped as she dropped suddenly. I grinned and moved on. And all of a sudden there was a crash and the fireballs stopped. We didn't investigate, just kept on with our part of the battle plan, until Steve signaled for us to come and get a new assignment. Thor and Odin were closer to the front than usual, and we had the offer of a high risk, high reward gambit; we could sneak around the flank and attack. The sneaking would be hard, what with the white dresses; we had just over half our number left and if we failed, we'd all be taken out. But we decided unanimously to try it; usually both Odin and Steve were careful with their most versatile troops so it was a rare opportunity. We had to go back through our lines and sneak into the forest, flying at the level of the leaves for some cover, then landing as close as we could get. There was no way we'd be able to creep any closer, so we decided on a charge that would hopefully take the opposition by surprise and happen too fast to get significant defense set up.

We waited until the battle had shifted left, then the opportunity was as good as it was ever going to get. We charged up a slight incline, muscling our way past some warriors. I had just put my sword to Thor's midsection (he could still be killed and I didn't want to have to explain to Sif why I'd accidentally slain her husband in a training exercise) when we were startled by the sound of screaming. It was different from the normal sounds of battle, where warriors cry out with the pain of their wounds; this was anger, beyond fury, actually, and the hair at the back of my neck didn't just stand up at the sound, it saluted. Thor's eyes got big and he and I and Odin and the two valkyries who had gotten through to him stopped struggling and turned to see a small pack of Odin's warriors ripping their clothes and cutting down anybody who crossed their path. And by 'cutting down' I don't mean just taking people out with their swords or axes or spears; these guys were also tearing people apart with their bare hands in a terrifying display of atavistic strength. It didn't seem to matter if they were friend or foe; they didn't seem to be able to distinguish anything besides barriers to their progress. Their faces were red; if they'd been alive I'd have feared for their blood pressure. Their faces were frozen in a rictus of rage and it didn't seem like anybody was home, personality-wise. I turned and shoved Thor.

"Get out of here!" I shouted at him over the chaos and turned to put myself between him and the maddened men. My fellow valkyries also interposed themselves between Thor and the... berserkers? Had to be. Odin hadn't said he was going to start using them. And we were going to have a talk about that, damn him. "Get up in the air!" I shouted to my fellow valkyries. Ryna and Maggie weren't our strongest swordswomen and would have an advantage in the air with their spears. They wasted no time and leaped in the sky, using the extra axis for more maneuverability. Then the first berserkers were on me. They were like nothing I'd ever fought, their viciousness and psychosis outside my experience. Still, I stood my ground, cutting and stabbing with all my skill and ability.

It wasn't enough. Broken fingernails on inhumanly strong fingers raked my arms and tore at my armor and dress. Somebody bit me. An impact with my side broke some ribs. Someone caught my ankle and pulled, spilling me onto the ground. And I knew that my end was coming, I couldn't defend myself unless I was on my feet.

My arm was twisted, dislocating it at the shoulder. But before anything else could happen, Odin chanted and energy raced from his spear Gungnir to strike the berserkers. They jerked and twisted and howled in the energy before collapsing. I heard Odin declare that the scrimmage was over, and Ryna and Maggie landed beside me. I shook with reaction and tears leaked--those berserkers had scared the snot out of me--as the magic worked and my wounds healed. Maggie fixed my dislocated shoulder. I stayed on the ground, trying to get a grip, and Odin came over.

He looked at me, seeing that the damage was repairing, then spoke. "Why did you defend Thor? He was my general, not yours."

"Thor isn't one of us," Ryna said. "Those things didn't know or care what they were killing." I nodded.

"There were too many of them for even Thor. And Magni isn't nearly ready for rule," I said, wearily getting to my feet. Maggie clucked at me and helped me arrange my dress so the tears weren't showing anything private. Ryna cleaned my swords and handed them back to me. Then I glared at Odin. "You said that you weren't going to use berserkers in these scrimmages." They started to stir, and we three valkyries raised our weapons and moved reflexively so we were back to back.

"Peace," Odin said, using Gungnir to lower my swords. "They are depleted from the berserker rage." And they did seem weak and disoriented. He looked at me sternly. "I did not order the berserkers to fight, but their nature cannot always be contained."

I sheathed my swords. "Next time I see those things, I'm out of here, they can butcher whoever they can catch." Steve and Frigga arrived at this point; Steve looked around in puzzlement; Frigga frowned when she saw the berserkers.

"Peace, wife," Odin said, a little impatiently. "The berserkers did not respond to my call."

"Berserkers?" Steve asked alertly, and his shield twitched, probably with the temptation to throw it and take the former berserkers out again. "Are you ok, Alex?" he asked, seeing my face, which still had some moisture on it, and thunderclouds gathered in his face when he saw my torn dress.

"Yeah," I said, quickly scrubbing my face. "It was just a new and not fun experience, is all." I looked around, and saw my swanfeather cape trampled into the mud. I scowled and picked it up. With the added mud, it weighed a ton. I shook it gently as more people arrived. Maggie and Ryna helped by each taking a lower corner of the hem. The self-cleaning magic the cloaks all held helped the mud slide off, leaving no trace behind. They helped me swing it over my shoulders when it was clean again and this helped to hide the ruined dress, very nice as other war leaders were showing up, including, predictably, my uncle, Emma, Tony, and the remainder of the valkyries. By this time, those who had been possessed by the berserkergang were being helped off the field to recover and their victims were healed too. Little trace remained of their rage, but I huddled with the other two, who were also shaken. We listened to Odin formally concede the fight to his wife, then I slipped away to change before the banquet. There wasn't time enough to clean up, but I didn't want to wear the ruined dress any longer than I had to. I took the opportunity to brush my hair--very soothing--and rack my armor. I kept my swords on the belt, though, and put a nice little switchblade and a comforting push knife in my pocket after washing my face. I was as tidy as I could manage, and caught up with Ryna and Maggie on their way to the Great Hall. I noticed that they both had also kept their capes on. The weight was comforting, as was the ability to instantly have an escape route.

We had places at the high table for our bravery in facing the berserkers and protecting Thor. It was nice, but I wasn't very hungry, still reacting to the battle, and wishing I could just grab some food on the sly and creep back to my room to decompress. I'm not kidding, the berserkers had been terrifying. I made it through the feasting and the toasting and all, but when the music started up, I took advantage of the activity to slip away. I started at the hand on my shoulder and whipped out the little push dagger as I turned. Steve held his hands up and I lowered my hand, putting the dagger back in my pocket. "Wanted to check up on you," he said. "You looked really shaken and haven't improved much."

"I've heard about the berserkers, who hasn't?" I said, and he nodded. "But the reality... those men were feral. They didn't care who they attacked, or what they did. They were like wild animals instead of men. They were trying to rip my arm off." His face fell and I edged closer. I didn't know where Bucky was, but I could really use a hug. I was relieved when he opened his arms and I stepped into his hug. He was taller than my uncle and the lack of flannel was a loss, but he also gave high quality hugs. "Thanks, Uncle Steve," I mumbled, and he patted my back gently.

"Didn't take you long to replace me," Tony said behind me, his voice caustic. "Does Emma know you're cutting in on her action?" I'd had it. I pulled away from Steve and popped Tony's nose with my fist. Fairly gently.

"Steve is an uncle to me, and he was checking up on me after today's battle," I hissed at Tony. "Don't you dare try to make something out of nothing, it degrades you."

As I stomped away from Tony, who was bleeding freely from his nose, I heard Steve say, "You really put your foot in your mouth, Tony. I'm no ladies man, but even I know that jealousy isn't the way into a woman's heart."

I was glad for the cape as I chugged back to the complex; the night was cold and my righteous anger only got me so far. I knew Tony was insecure, but I wasn't in the mood to coddle him, especially after his rudeness. Steve was a really nice guy, now that I'd gotten to know him better, but there was nothing like that between us. Even if there was, he was with Emma, and I've never horned in on a relationship and wasn't about to start. When I got home, I started a fire and took a long hot bath after washing the battle off in a quick shower. My shoulder still felt a little tender. Then I pulled on my robe, put nice thick socks on, and picked up my quilting hoop, settling in by the fire. The rhythm of stitching relaxed me and I made good progress on my quilt, working for a few hours. When I was tired and calm enough to sleep, I banked the fire, pulled on a nightgown, and snuggled into bed. The hunter I'd dealt with said that my coverlet would be ready in a few days, and I looked forward to it. The bed felt cold and empty, and it looked like winter was coming early and hard. The mountains surrounding Valhalla were already combing snow out of the clouds. I made a mental note to spin some chunky yarn for extra warm sweaters and socks, and fell asleep.

Serena caught up with me at breakfast; she'd heard Maggie and Ryna's accounts and wanted mine as well. "We need to think about strategies," I said. "Now that they've shown up in one battle, I'm sure we'll be seeing them again." Serena nodded and we talked a little about how we could best fight them. I was of the opinion that staying aloft and shooting them full of arrows was the way to go, but that would mean carrying around another weapon. After we'd run out of ideas, I asked how her date with Bruce went.

Her eyes sparkled and she blushed delicately. "Oh, he's such a sweet man," she said enthusiastically, and I grinned, glad that the picnic went so well. "We have a lot more in common than I thought, beyond Avenging. We like some of the same authors and books, and he pointed out constellations to me." She sighed happily; it sounded romantic.

"I have my sewing machine in my quarters, so if you wanted a new dress, I can whip something up for you," I offered, and we talked about sleeves and necklines. I pointed out that she could fill in a low neckline for other occasions with a fichu, and she said she'd try to sketch something out when she brought over the fabric.

"So no progress with Tony?" she asked, and I rolled my eyes and scowled, telling her about the previous night. She just sighed and shook her head, and we parted, each for her duties.

Today I was on soul duty; I felt like Charon, but with a flying horse rather than a boat on the river Styx. I tried to be nice about getting the newly fallen to move on, but I felt the press of more souls waiting for me and sometimes went with expediency over niceness. I came across a man who was still battle-maddened and unwilling to listen to reason. While I was trying to talk him down, I noticed people looting a computer store; not a big box store but a mom and pop. I might be able to overlook looting a grocery store--everybody needed food--but this just wasn't right. I dropped into the mortal world where everyone could see me while my soul still tried to skewer opponents, drew my swords, and commanded the looters to put what they had taken. They stared at me, stock still with shock. I sliced open a sleeve and pointed with the sword. Everybody rushed back into the store and emerged empty-handed. I let them leave, but one man started babbling about avenging angels. I rolled my eyes, dropped back into the ether, and grabbed my soul by the nape of his neck, getting his attention. I told him that if he came with me he'd get the chance to try to kill people on a regular basis but he was dead and couldn't do any damage here. That got through, and I dumped him off in Valhalla. Cnut the Great, acting as Odin's right hand that day, gave me a funny look as I reluctantly dismounted and steered my soul by the back of the neck again. Odin gave the standard greeting and Cnut took him away.

"What troubles you, valkyrie?" Odin asked.

"The souls are, frankly, acting like assholes. They're still enraged when they rise, and there's so many of them that there's not time to talk them down. And the living are acting like assholes, too. The looting is terrible," I said sullenly.

Odin frowned. "How long has this been going on?" he asked.

I shrugged. "It's too hard to keep track of how time is spinning out on Earth; there's too big a gap in time differentials. But since before Serena got here."

"This rise in incivility is troubling," Odin said. "Go, do your best." I nodded and went back. This time I was on a college campus; it looked like a protest had gotten ugly and the students were facing off against police in riot gear. The police looked frightened and disturbed but they fired on the crowd regardless when somebody threw a stack of fliers at them. I watched as some students tried to aid the fallen, others engaged the police. One young woman whapped a sign down on somebody's gun hand, causing the gun to fire into the ground instead of a knot of students. She looked like she was using considerable force; the police she hit clutched his wrist, gun dangling from his hand uselessly. She went after another officer--I was getting a real Kent State vibe here. Then an officer shoved her and she tripped over the edge into a sunken courtyard. Her head hit with a sickening crack, and I waited in resignation until she sat up, pulling free of her body, strolling over to give my speech. She looked around at the chaos, shook her head, and hopped up behind me.

Everywhere I went was the same; protesters against armed forces or two groups of opposing armed forces. Protests where passers-by got violent and the protesters responded with violence of their own. I started dreading these assignments, even the ones where we had to prepare for a major battle. And it wasn't just on Earth; the violence and anger could be found across the Nine Realms. Thor got a lot busier putting down insurrections.

One evening Odin summoned the valkyries to a meeting before dinner. Loki was there; there was time to ask how he was doing. His second summit had gone well, but plans for a third were on hold as the participants, including trade legations and politicians were too touchy. He shook his head, then patted my shoulder as his father called to him and we settled down. Loki described the uncertain tempers across the Nine Realms and the violence on Midgard, saying that the current mood had existed for close to three Earth years now. There was a lot of property destruction, insurance rates were through the roof, countries were calling for martial law. There wasn't one cause, or even a couple; it was as if people were permanently at the high end of a hormone swing, touchy and ready to take offense at the smallest thing. Odin listened gravely and told us that he wanted to be kept up to date in what we saw and heard. He didn't tell us why he was concerned, but he would when he had something to say.

One afternoon I decided to go to Earth to see what the media was saying about the civil unrest, and went to the New York Public Library. I logged onto a computer using guest access (I still knew my library card number but surely it had been deactivated after all this time) and scanned the New York Times. There were a lot of theories, some of which involved end-of-the-world stuff as well as thoughts about a massive financial and social inequality gap. I tabbed over to the entertainment section, just to see what the kids were watching these days, and recoiled in horror to see a picture of Damian and me from our wedding in a flashy ad for a "showstopper series" whatever that meant "that explored the lives and love of the legendary Waynes." It apparently had the support of my damned descendants and interviews would be part of the series. Oh, barf.

The guy next to me looked at my screen and smiled. "Yeah, it's really good. I didn't think it would be, but--and let's keep this between us--but it's so romantic. They both won the genetic lottery, which helps with initial attraction, but they really seemed to be soulmates." He looked abashed, but brightened when he really looked at me. "Hey, you look amazingly like her."

"Yeah, I get that sometimes ," I said. I excused myself and poofed back to Valhalla once I was in an alley.

Over dinner, I told my fellow valkyries about the research I'd done on current events and I think everybody was disappointed that even the living didn't know the cause of the chaos they were generating. Irene went back after dinner--for some reason it was easier for her to manifest herself physically at night--and came back with more research from other sources around the globe, but no new information. She sat down at the table where the valkyries were playing cards, looked at me and started to laugh. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her as she mirthfully started to tell the others about the television event, pausing first to explain TV to the older valkyries like Dagny. Apparently there had been a viewing party in the library. Damn it. "It started with an interview of her great great great-grandkids, who themselves are maybe middle-aged, they did it in the manor, apparently," she said. "It was episode two. The first one covered your and Damian's early lives--his identity as the descendant of Ra's al Ghul was known, but they didn't say anything about Batman--in the interview part, at least-- and they showed your baby pictures." I muttered an obscenity. "There weren't any pictures of Damian until he was ten. The show started with you in high school, new to the city, how you made friends with a girl named Aslyn who set you up with Damian on a blind date. It showed Damian being a spoiled rich boy but it mostly focused on you, your meeting with Bucky and Emma, your internship at Stark Tech, the accident, all that. It spilled the beans about why you went to Wayne Enterprises, too. Did your aunt and Tony really try to have you fired?" I nodded and rested my head in my hands. "Geeze. It stopped just when the Joker abducted you guys from that party and the second episode had the interview where they explained that the information from this came from your father-in-law's diary. They read passages that expressed concern about the kidnapping and Damian's idea to try to protect you, what you said." She looked at me with sympathy. "It wasn't explicit, but part of the story was a preview of how the Joker kidnapped you after your graduation and how you got through that--they used old police records to reconstruct." I looked at her in horror.

"Oh, fuck. Those little shits. I'm going to haunt them forever," I said, shaking with anger. How dare they allow that to be used for entertainment?

"Alex, wait," Irene said, but I wasn't in the mood for it. I timed it for midnight and arrived in the entryway to Wayne manor. It had been redecorated since my time, still tasteful, but different. I went to the room where the Bucky display had been. It was still there, which was nice to see. They'd knocked out a wall and expanded the library into the next room. The tete-a-tete couch was still in its corner although it had been reupholstered. A cat ambled in, stretched, and I scratched its ears then headed upstairs. I went to the master bedroom, Bruce's old suite, phased through the door, and stood at the end of the bed, looking at the couple sleeping there. I tapped my foot.

"Wake up!" I shouted, and they sure did, jerking awake in confusion.

"Who are you?" the man said in shock. "How did you get in?"

I compared the two. The woman had fair skin but inky hair shot with silver and Damian's blue eyes, while the man had brown eyes and blond hair. I smiled involuntarily then remembered my purpose and addressed her. "I'm Alixzandrya Barnes Wayne, and you are in a great deal of trouble, young lady," I said, using my most severe mom voice. It worked, both of them quailed slightly. "How dare you use what the Joker did to me for entertainment?" I bellowed.

"Oh, god, it is her," the man muttered. "He said she'd be furious."

"He who?" I barked.

"Grandpa Damian came by after the first episode," the woman said, yawning . "I'm your great great great grand-daughter Natasha," she said, waving a little. "This is my husband, Ethan. He was so pissed, said you'd be worse."

"Damian was here?" I tensed.

"Yes, he looked about the same age that you look--"

"What afterlife is he in?" I cut in.

"He didn't say and I didn't think to ask, sorry," she said. "It was a bit of a shock. At least you're kind of expected."

I slumped. "If you see him again, tell him that I'm kind of stuck in Valhalla but I hope to see him someday."

"Really?" Ethan said interestedly, and I nodded, distracted by the news.

"Tell him I miss him if he comes back," I said, trying not to tear up.

"He seemed good," Natasha said encouragingly. "Aside from being kind of terrifying, that is. He said he'd seen Martha and he loves you and misses you and that he hopes you're happy, other than this. He said that what happened was very private and I should have thought about how I'd feel if it happened to me and was luridly exposed to the public." That sounded so much like Damian, always having my back. "But let me tell you why we did it." I nodded after a moment. "The NYPD were doing a massive purge of old, closed cases, destroying evidence for cases more than fifty years old, and somebody saw your name and read the files, went to the press, who published it, salacious journalism. So the information was already out in public," she said gently. "Then that renewed interest in the sort of romanticized golden age of Gotham--that's what they're calling it--and the Wayne family. Then a production company was working on an unauthorized biography. We--the family--offered to cooperate in turn for some control over the scripts. We got it toned down a lot," she assured me, and Ethan nodded. "It was pretty.... graphic in the first scripts and the series sort of focused on you and the Joker as some sort of ultra-twisted romance." I wanted to throw up. "So we threw in the offer of family interviews here in the mansion, allowed them to use some family property in the movie like the pearls--Martha's and the ones Damian gave you--and they reframed it to the romance between you and Damian. And not overly saccharine, either. But it is kind of a fairy-tale romance."

I thought about it. "Thanks," I said grudgingly. "Sorry I just barged in and yelled." Natasha smiled. I sighed.

"Grandpa Damian told me about caches he had around the city and I agreed to make sure they had current funds in cash and pre-paid debit cards. Yes, they still exist, Grandpa was also surprised--in case you could use them. There are four left, the ones in Central Park, Avengers Tower, Chinatown, and the Yale Club." I smiled a little. I remembered them, it was where he and Bruce had stashed stuff that either didn't fit in their utility belts or held resources like cash. Batman usually didn't carry much.

"I usually don't hang around in physical form," I said. "It's tiring. But it would be nice to have resources, just in case."

"So...Valhalla?" Natasha asked, leaning forward.

"Yeah," I said, and gave them the highlights of my career so far. Both she and Ethan were laughing at the end.

"I'm proud to be your granddaughter," Natasha said, chuckling. I went around the side of the bed and indulged myself stroking her hair. Thick and soft, just like Damian's, styled into a cute pixie. Natasha told me about their family--they only had one daughter and Natasha was Batman; that part of the family legacy was still secure, and my control of my physical form started to get shaky. My cape flicked into wings. Their eyes widened, and it was time to go. I kissed Natasha's hair and patted Ethan's shoulder. "Come back any time, Grandma, I'll tell Grandpa you miss him if he comes back," Natasha said, and I just smiled and returned to Valhalla, emerging near the complex. I went up to my room without seeing anybody and thought about what Natasha and Ethan had told me.