Legendary

Our impressive display hit a little snag when we entered the courthouse and were confronted with the metal detectors. The guards, while suitable impressed, were unbending, but finally they let us go through the x ray screener. It was a waste of time, though. Even I hadn't brought weapons with me, and I never went out without a blade. Besides, if we were there to cause mayhem, we didn't need weapons to do so.

We entered the courtroom without fanfare, although if it had been a movie, there would have been dramatic music and better lighting and stuff. The judge looked weary but intrigued, and on Kipp's face was a trace of dawning realization that she might be in over her head. Sort of a "these are not the cowering wretches that we were promised" look. Bwahaha. Her lawyer looked unimpressed, but he was just hired for the occasion. He wouldn't be paying the piper. Behind us came a crowd of people. There wasn't any point to a closed hearing. More chairs were brought for the unexpected increase in valkyries at our table; they had to sit behind us but they were ok with that. There was another stir. I turned to see Bucky and Steve coming down the aisle. They sat behind us, saving a place for Damian. The room was abuzz; apparently the press had done their homework.

The judge looked at us all and shook her head, tapping her gavel. "For all you new people, I run a tight ship. Any outbursts from the onlookers will result in immediate expulsion. This is a court of law, not a circus. Since the defendant's movie has created this situation, media will be permitted to record the proceedings despite defendant's objections. Now. It looks like we have some new plaintiffs. Counselor?"

"The new plaintiffs are all who remain of the valkyries who fought at Ragnarok. They have come from Asgard and Svartalfar to testify and join the lawsuit," Andrews said.

"Your clients are dressed most colorfully."

"I can have them explain." She nodded, and I stood.

"We covered our faces for the trial because we wanted to be left in peace. But our hopes for an anonymous life have been trashed by the malicious actions of Ms Kipp, and she stated in the press last night that she wanted to confront her accusers in court. So here we are." I smiled at the judge. "We are the valkyries, created in Valhalla and we are of Asgard. In accordance with the treaty signed by Thor with the UN, we have dual citizenship, given that courts have ruled that returnees can claim citizenship in their first country of birth as well as where they were returned. We are wearing the traditional battle dress of the valkyries, as seen in the film."

She studied me. "There's significant damage to your armor."

"Yes. It was torn and punctured when I fought first for everyone's lives, then specifically mine. I was in a coma for a long time, and when I came out, I was too weak to fix it. And since I thought my battle days were over, I didn't fix it after. I wanted to move on."

"You're a blacksmith?" she asked me.

"Yes, although mostly I made blades. But this is my personal armor and I'm fussy about who works on it. I could return it to the smiths on Asgard; Reginn made it originally, they have the commission to make the armor and initial weapons for the valkyries. If I want the embossing and repousse to match, it'll have to go back to them."

"But you didn't bring any of your weapons."

"No. We're committed to the legal process to get some justice. If I were to have brought my blades, it would be vengeance. Although I don't necessarily feel that vengeance is out of place here, there's no point to calling for single combat as I could do on Asgard. She has no training and there would be no honor to killing her outright. I am done with slaughter." I sat down.

"I admire your restraint," the judge said acerbically after a moment of silence. "Counselor, please explain why we're here."

Ms Lee rose to her feet. "Yesterday at the Tribeca Film Festival, a version of Ms Kipp's documentary on Ragnarok was aired that not only didn't remove the frames showing the identities of the original four valkyrie plaintiffs but expanded the film to show additional scenes. The opening was changed to mirror the opening of the Nazi propaganda film "Triumph of the Will," made by Leni Riefenstahl in 1935. My clients object to this defamation. The court order was disregarded both by the filmmaker and the film festival, which is why the organizers have been joined as parties. Information given to us by one of the initial backers indicated that another backer had agreed to supervise the edits required by this court. Given that these edits were not made, we have amended our complaint to include him."

"What a mess," the judge muttered. "And what about these new women?"

"They are the rest of the surviving valkyries. They have asked to join the action against the defendant to enforce removal of their images as well. Several of them have additional concerns."

"Fine," the judge said. "This is what's going to happen. I have issued a preliminary injunction against further showings of the film in question. The defendant is ordered to surrender all materials related to the festival print of the film and affidavits regarding the form of the film that was submitted to other festivals. If this version was submitted to other festivals, theaters, or made available for any public viewing, the defendant must withdraw the film immediately. Ms Kipp is in contempt of court and will be taken directly to jail following this proceeding. The original court order was public well before the film festival and was covered extensively in the media. The organizers of the film festival and the backer who failed to ensure the edits, this Cal Strouse, are also in contempt and will be jailed at least until their lawyers are ready to defend their actions. Now, what about the version of the film that is set to open in theaters in a wide release?"

"The owner of one of the theaters very kindly allowed our associates to view the film early this morning. It appears that this film, which the owner assured me was the copy that everybody got, had the necessary edits made. We are not asking that these theaters be prevented from showing the film on schedule, since to do so would be contrary to the verdict that the jury returned in the first case." She put a slight stress on the 'we'.

"All right. I want your motions filed by noon," the judge said to our attorneys. "And your responses by five pm tonight," she said to the defense team. "We will reconvene here tomorrow at 8 am. Be ready to go." She tapped the gavel with a little more force than was really necessary, we stood, and she left the courtroom. I watched with satisfaction as Kipp was placed in manacles and removed from the courtroom. Early turned to me.

"I've been thinking about your dog," she said. I'd asked her about the possibility of getting Eira legal rights of her own as a sentient citizen of Asgard who just happened to be dog-shaped. "Thor said that it has never been a question on Asgard that these beings think for themselves and are treated as such. We think that it would be a good time to tack recognition for her onto this lawsuit since people will be afraid of her after seeing that festival version of the film." I nodded. "Bring her tomorrow. We'll arrange some sort of test to show that she understands what's said around her and can respond. Thor has said he'll explain about this 'All-Speech' thing."

Then we left the courtroom, again as a group, our heads high. We commanded a certain air of respect. Conveyances were present to take all the valkyries to their next destinations. Serena and I changed in the car and he dropped us off at school. I'd only missed one class. In a break between classes, I tracked down my Intro to Conservation prof and explained the situation. He stared at me, then rubbed his eyes. "You're kidding," he said.

"Wish I was," I said, a little bitter. "It's not my intent--at all--to cause disruption or problems. I am here strictly to get an education, and up until the festival, I thought that I'd be able to leave the past in the past." I waited patiently as he checked the news feed.

"Well, Ms Barnes, I can see where this will be a problem for you and I'm willing to work with you regarding any absences you might have regarding court appearances. Do you have any idea how long this will take?"

"It shouldn't take too long, actually," I said thoughtfully. "The initial trial was just a few days. This hearing is all about the violation of the jury verdict, contempt of court. We've got a few witnesses--I'll be testifying for the four of us and there will be testimony of one of the valkyries who lives on Asgard now. Thor will probably testify, and that's it for our side, I think. The filmmaker, the backers, and somebody from the festival will have to testify in defense, and then it's down to the judge to determine penalties. I would be surprised if I missed more than one additional class."

"That's not as bad as I thought, then," he said, then handed me a piece of paper and a pencil. "We had a pop quiz. You have the twenty minutes I permitted the class to have."

So I took a pop quiz after a dramatic court appearance about people now knowing I killed a bunch of fire giants. My professor didn't seem to care.

He did let me hang around while he graded it. 97%. I got partial credit for a two-part question.

This state of placid acceptance didn't last, though. All students got a text that the university was restricting access to the campus due to the media who had been swarming the place looking for valkyries and interviews. Admission to the campus would require a valid student ID. And some of my classmates either subtly or pointedly kept their distance from me. Others wanted me to dish dirt about the whole thing. I have never been more grateful for my professors, who said that anybody who didn't want to focus on architecture or historic preservation material needed to leave the class until they could focus. I spent the rest of the day tracking them down--along with my faculty advisor, who additionally took me to the head of the department--to explain and apologize for the disruption. They weren't all as accepting as the first professor had been, but the head of the department, supported by the president of the university, assured me that any prejudice against me or any of the Asgard forces (basically Serena and Bucky) who were enrolled in classes would not be tolerated and that if I experienced any problems to report them immediately. I really appreciated the support. I didn't want to admit that having people turn away was hurtful. The state had anti-discrimination laws that specifically prevented anti-mutant discrimination; it wasn't clear that the wings qualified since they were more mystically induced (not that I admitted to still having mine) but I still had the mutations that had been induced in the lab experiment. Odd, you'd think that the return would have taken care of that, but apparently resurrection wasn't as perfect as was commonly thought. But at least you couldn't see them.

I did get support, though. One of the workers in the school cafe where I got a late lunch gave me a large helping of potato salad on the house, and other people treated me normally. I called Damian to tell him about the closed campus and arranged to meet him at one of the least used campus entrances. We dropped off Bucky and Serena before going home ourselves, and as Damian put a casserole that Alfred had brought by for us into the oven, I sat down with Eira to explain why I wanted a court determination that she was intelligent and she immediately understood the advantage. She liked people and didn't want them to be afraid of her.

After dinner, though, we had some fun. Our architect had sent over the plans for our house; unless we wanted revisions, these would be the final plans and we could have the house built whenever we wanted. The house outwardly looked pretty modest, a stone exterior where we could train up ivy or Virginia creeper for color and to soften the stone. On one side of the house there were little niches where birds could nest; we had a lot of song birds in the area. Solar technology had come a long way and the roof panels looked exactly like slate tiles. There was an arched covered breezeway connecting the exterior door of the library with the back yard that ran down one side. Inside was a welcoming entryway with walk-in coat closet. Visible from this was the great library, a wood paneled two-story round room with a large fireplace, lined with bookcases and a walkway that circled the upper floor. A stained glass dome crowned it all. Down the hall to the right was a dining room to seat twelve (big parties would still have to up at the main house) and the kitchen, a spacious, high-tech homage to the culinary arts that terminated in a turret-shaped glass room with a less formal table for regular meals. The accompanying drawing showed potted plants and a set up for Eira. A closet for cleaning and maintenance supplies was tucked in between the kitchen and the glass room and a butler's pantry between the kitchen and the formal dining room. Down the hall to the left was a living room where we could keep the viewing screen, and it was shown with a pool table. There was a mudroom to the side of that which included the Eira-activated grooming station and laundry facilities. A chute from the upper floor allowed laundry to be dropped right by the washer. A palatial guest suite completed the rooms on this floor. There was a staircase to the right if the entryway that had a half-bath underneath.

Upstairs, glass paneled doors showed off the glorious library and allowed a discreet entrance to the second floor walkway. To the right was our luxurious master suite with a walk-in closet similar to the one we'd had at the main house and spacious bathroom. There were fireplaces in both the bedroom and the bathroom. To the left were two additional large bedrooms that shared a bathroom, with small fireplaces in each bedroom. Above all this was an attic that didn't run the length of the house because of the library for storage, and, beneath it in the basement was a room for a purpose we hadn't settled on yet that occupied half of it. In the other half was an underground saltwater swimming pool. It had an arched ceiling, uplit with niches along the sides, and in a touch that was both over the top and awesome, little fires, one on each side of the stairs into the pool. It had a feature that provided a current if you wanted to swim against resistance but otherwise permitted 25 yards for lap swim.

The next morning I got up early and gave Eira a good brushing, trimming her claws and brushing her teeth, something we were supposed to do regularly but Eira hated it so we didn't. She selected a green leather collar for her court appearance. I was in the shower, washing all of me in a sort of symbolic preparation, when I felt the water creep up over my feet. I looked down and saw some feathers clogging the drain. Right on cue, my wings started to itch. Of all the times for a molt to begin... Damian peered in, attracted by my sigh of disgust, and grinned. He hopped in after I cleared the drain and washed my wings with a soap with oatmeal colloids to help with the itch, gently removing a few other feathers as he worked. We had to hurry to get ready for court.

The next day, we still apparently looked impressive going up the marble steps to the courthouse, but Eira kind of spoiled the dangerous look of things. Which was kind of the point. She pranced along beside me, fluffy, friendly, and adorable. To my surprise, partway up the steps, Tony in a stylish suit was being interviewed. "Nah, nobody has to be afraid of them," he said in an engaging way that nevertheless blew off the concern that we'd start rampaging down Fifth Avenue. "They trained to become skilled fighters, it's true, but they are much more than that. In Valhalla, they did a lot of things, but they were responsible for providing cloth we used, made textile artworks. They spun the thread and wove the cloth. They like to read and pursue their own interests. Now that the battle is over, they've moved on to other things. We all have. Things that have absolutely nothing to do with war." He nodded to me. "Hey, T-- Alex." I nodded back. He smirked and crouched down. "Eira! Aren't you lovely today!" She pranced over and greeted Tony with a head bonk and he skritched her ears, her tail wagging madly before she shook herself out and rejoined me. We continued up the stairs and into the courthouse.

We rose when the judge came in and she tapped her gavel immediately. The spectators quieted instantly. She surveyed her courtoom, eyes lingering on Eira, laying on the floor at the end of the table. "Let's start today with this thing about the dog. How do you propose to demonstrate that she is an intelligent, sentient being?"

Early stood. "We would like King Thor to demonstrate that she can understand human speech through a series of commands."

"Objection," the defense lawyer said immediately. "They could have rehearsed it." I rolled my eyes.

The judge looked at me. "Her name is Eira?" I nodded. "Eira, come over and sit in front of the filmmaker." Eira got to her feet and ambled over to the defense table, where she pointedly scanned the faces and located Kipp. She turned around and sat with her back to the filmmaker, farting as she did so. The judge managed to keep a straight face, but the spectators laughed. Kipp flushed. "Is there anybody who can...translate for Eira?" the judge asked. "Anybody who is not a party to the trial?"

"It would have to be someone with All-Speech," Thor said, chewing his lip thoughtfully. He turned and scanned the spectators. "My brother Loki could do it."

Over the objection of Kipp's lawyer, Loki was sworn in and stated for the record that nobody had contacted him about Eira or suggested testimony. "What is All-Speech, Ambassador?" Andrews asked.

"It's an ability, magically granted, that allows the recipient to understand any language. Not many have it; the royal family mainly, the members of the royal guard who are embassy guards, although notable others have been given the ability as well. Alex has it, as does Emma Harrington-Rogers since she has two of the dogs herself. Anyone with this gift can understand any language so far encountered. Even now, I am speaking in the Asgard tongue but you understand it as English. It is both projective and receptive."

"And what kind of creature is Eira?"

"The god Baldur envied humans their dogs. We know wolves on Asgard, but we had no domesticated variants. So over a couple millennia, he developed these. Their lifespan is about half of an Asgardian, which is to say, about 25oo years. She's still a puppy, but she found Alex during on the battlefield and sort of adopted her there. Her parents weren't too pleased, but she knows her own mind. They look like very large dogs, yet there is not the genetic overlap you would expect. He created the dogs to be large and strong, but also compassionate and empathetic. They communicate through mental images and have distinctive personalities."

"So if anyone asked her a question you could relate the sense of the images."

"Yes."

Andrews turned to Eira, who looked at him alertly, flipping the hair out of her eyes. I'd wanted to trim that, but she thought that it was a cute mannerism that would make her look like a slacker rather than a killer. From the "aws" from the spectators, she accomplished her mission. "Eira, what do you think of your... person, Alixandryia Barnes?"

Loki looked intently at her and laughed. "She loves Alex, who gives her love and attention, the adventure of a whole new planet, and many new people to pet and admire her." The spectators laughed and the judge smiled. "But she also feels sorry for the grief Alex has suffered since Ragnarok." Eira padded over to Andrews and put her front paws up on his knees, looking down at him. I hadn't realized she was having another growth spurt. "She wants you to know that although she understands that the harm that the defendant has caused Alex and her friends isn't punishable with lethal force, she wants to go on record as not approving this. But she will comply." Eira put all four feet down and walked back to the center of the space between the parties and the judge. She sat again, looking attentively at the judge.

The judge considered her for a moment. "This court recognizes that Asgardians have beings that look like dogs but who are intelligent and we extend to them the same rights of residency as long as they are registered with the Asgardian embassy." Damian leaned over the rail and handed me my wallet, from which I took Eira's ID card. Andrews took it up to the judge, who examined it and nodded. "During the next break, the bailiff will have this copied for the court records. I may refer to her as a dog, but that is a convenient designation based on her appearance rather than her ability. Any Asgardian dog will have the rights of any member of the diplomatic mission, including the right to move independently as long as she has an Asgardian ID on her at all times. This identification can be in any form used by a humanoid on Earth, such as a microchip or some sort of an official tag on her collar." Eira got up and danced in place, waving her tail and whoofing. The judge smiled at her. "You may step down, Ambassador. Eira, you may rejoin the plaintiffs." Eira pranced over and I kissed her head before she sat down again.

"Now I want to see the film that the plaintiffs allege violates the court order. Because the film has been publicly screened, the spectators may remain, but no notes will be permitted and no one is permitted to record any portion of the work in question. Violators will join Ms Kipp in jail for contempt. Is that clear?" She surveyed the spectators. Nobody made a peep. Three projectors were brought in and set up against the white wall. Glasses were provided to all parties, and Andrews passed back a box to Damian, Emma, Bucky, Steve, Loki, Tony, Grandpa George and Aunt Becca. Serena's hand closed over mine as the lights were dimmed so that the 3D projectors could work most effectively. I squeezed back as the sky above Asgard appeared.

Oh, man, that sucked. The projectors played, one with the film as it had originally been screened in court, one with the version that had gone out to the theaters, and the festival version. The projectors were synced so that where footage was added in one film, the other two paused so that they all moved through the material together. Some of the valkyries, including all of the ones from the other worlds, left while the films were showing. I didn't, and neither did Serena. We were the only two who watched through to the credits, but it was hard work and I used techniques my therapists had taught me. A few of the spectators threw up and more left the room. And this was without the 'enhanced sensory experience.'

There was silence in the courtroom as a bailiff left to retrieve the valkyries who had left. Some, but not all, of the spectators who had left returned. Lee called me to the stand to testify on the effect the festival version had on me.

"I think you understand why I have nightmares," I said dryly to the judge. "But since this film was shown, it's affected me in other ways too. The night and day after, I couldn't get online to do research for class or to catch up on the regular news because sites kept crashing due to the heavy internet traffic. Since my identity was released to the public, the way people have treated me has changed. For every individual who is kind or doesn't show a reaction, there's at least one person who moves away from me in class. Access to the campus has been restricted to students, staff, and faculty, and you have to show your ID to get entrance, which is a nuisance and creates lines at the entry points to campus. Anti-mutant groups are mentioning me and the other valkyries specifically as people should be sent back to Valhalla. A man I've never seen before called me a jackbooted thug on the street a few days ago. It's... really unpleasant."

There were a few more questions to clarify, then the defense lawyer got his shot. "Alixzandryia Barnes. Alex. But it's not like you're a stranger to notoriety, is it? At least by association. You married Damian Wayne, a member of one of the richest families on the Eastern seaboard, and in your first lifetime, you were a well-known socialite. You left your jewelry to the Smithsonian, who recently put together a rather fawning exhibit of pieces from that collection with some ephemera. And you're the niece of the infamous Winter Soldier, a legendary HYDRA assassin. Killing runs in your blood."

Lee leaped to her feet to protest, and I felt paralyzed by an attack I hadn't anticipated would be so personal. Then I saw Tony frowning in the spectator session and stiffened my spine. Damian would charm the crap out of everybody, but I couldn't do that. Not that charming. Tony would go on the offensive, though. I could do that.

"You can call me Ms Barnes." I stared at him until he flushed. "You forgot that I'm also an MIT graduate and scientist who has her name on several patents in bioluminescent technology and ran the labs at Stark Industries for many years," I said faux-humbly. "Yes, I married Damian, and I married him again once we were returned. Yes, he enjoyed giving me jewelry and I enjoyed going to parties and functions with him. Not so much after he was killed, though. And yes, I left an extensive collection of the gems he gave me to the nation's museum. You forgot that some time ago that there was a mini-series that was made about our romance. Apparently its ratings were spectacular, although there were inaccuracies. And yes, we did cooperate with the new exhibition. The curator emailed us that it's increased foot traffic in that single museum by 53% so people continue to be interested. In us or in beautiful sparkly things, I really can't say. And yes, Bucky Barnes is my uncle. You should have done your research. If you did, you'd have run across a book written about a century ago, in continuous publication since, that used then-newly-discovered HYDRA documents to explore the creation of the Winter Soldier, which involved years of brainwashing and torture, interspersed with years of cryogenic freezing because he always showed signs of breaking his conditioning. He was a war hero before that, a friend and comrade in arms to Captain America, and an Avenger afterward. As an Avenger, he helped to safeguard the rest of us from superpowered criminals and took over the combat training program. In his personal life he was a patron of several important causes, supporting veterans' organizations, foster children, and animal shelters. I'm proud to be his niece."

"He was the first teacher to show you how to kill," the lawyer pressed, regrouping.

"He taught me hand to hand, for self defense. Systema. I'm really good at it, and I became his assistant trainer for the Avengers and later took over for him. I also taught Thor's children hand to hand and weapons work, as well as some of the valkyries. In the blink of an eye," I blinked, then counted on my fingers "I could think of six ways to kill you with things that are right at hand, including my hands. But knowledge isn't behavior, and my first reaction to an attack is always threat assessment, not violence. Good thing, in your case." Snorts of laughter and snickers from the spectators. The judge tapped her gavel idly, and I was dismissed.

Whew.

Damian smiled at me as I sat down.

Tony smirked.