The portal spat them out into what felt like the world's worst winter vacation.
Snow crunched under their feet, but it wasn't the peaceful kind from holiday cards. This snow was ash-gray and blood-stained, falling like dirty confetti over a landscape that looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to paradise.
"Well," Dean said, surveying the destruction, "this is what happens when frost giants and volcanoes have joint custody."
Earth-22681 stretched before them—Asgard in its death throes. Golden halls that should have gleamed with divine light were now blackened ruins. Jagged mountains clawed at a sky that couldn't decide if it wanted to be on fire or frozen solid. In the distance, what used to be Valkyrie's magnificent fortress was a skeleton of melted gold and crumbling stone.
Nathaniel's armor automatically adjusted its temperature settings. "What happened here?"
"Ragnarok," Blink said grimly, checking the Tallus readings. "But wrong. This isn't how it's supposed to go. Where is Asgards Army? Where are Thor and Odin?"
Fire demons crawled across the ridgelines like molten spiders, their forms shifting between lava and shadow. Some attacked from the skies on wings of flame, while others burrowed up through the snow, turning the battlefield into a deadly game of whack-a-mole.
At the center of the chaos, a massive realm gate pulsed with unstable energy. Each pulse sent ripples through reality that made Dean's teeth ache.
"Surtur's army," Khan observed, her hands already morphing into oversized fists. "They're—they're consuming this place."
Blink consulted the Tallus display.
[EARTH-22681: END-STAGE INCURSION]
[PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: LOCATE VALKYRIE]
[STATUS: STILL ALIVE]
[WARNING: DIMENSIONAL ANCHOR UNSTABLE]
"Good news and bad news," Blink announced. "Good news: Valkyrie's still breathing. Bad news: this whole dimension is about to collapse like a house of cards in a hurricane."
"Define 'about to,'" Dean said nervously.
"Could be minutes. Could be hours. Time gets weird when dealing with someone eating time itself."
That's when they heard the war cry.
A figure dove through the smoke-choked air atop a massive winged horse, its coat white as untouched snow, its eyes blazing like stars. The rider's sword burned with divine flame that cut through demon flesh like it was made of paper.
Valkyrie.
She fought with the kind of rage that came from watching your entire world burn. Outnumbered, wounded, with golden blood streaming down her armor—but absolutely, utterly unrelenting. Every swing of her blade sent three demons back to whatever hell had spawned them.
Her horse wheeled through the air, hooves striking fire demons with enough force to shatter mountains. She was magnificent and terrible and completely, utterly alone.
"That's not a warrior," Khan whispered, watching Valkyrie carve through another wave of attackers. "She's War Incarnate."
Dean stared as Valkyrie's blade left trails of light in the smoky air. "She's been fighting alone this whole time."
"Not anymore," Blink said, her hands already crackling with portal energy.
Blink quickly laid out the plan, her voice cutting through the distant sounds of battle.
"Alright, people. We're going to do this fast and clean. I'll flank from those cliffs, get high ground advantage and portal support where needed."
She pointed to Khan. "Khan—you draw attention from below. Make yourself big, make some noise, give Valkyrie breathing room."
"Nathaniel—ranged cover. Use that armor's targeting systems to pick off anything that gets past us."
Finally, she looked at Dean. "Dean—you manage teleport safe zones and provide support where you can."
Dean sighed. "Cool. I'll just be the super traffic cone again." He paused, watching another explosion light up the horizon. "Though honestly, magical traffic cone sounds pretty good compared to 'demon chew toy.'"
Dean narrowed his eyes at Nathaniel, focusing. He activated his system's Power Share scan with a thought—just like he'd done for Blink and Khan.
He waited.
Focused harder.
...Still nothing.
He blinked and tried again. And again.
Still. Absolutely. Nothing.
Dean stared at Nathaniel like he was a broken vending machine that ate his last dollar.
"Dude. Wait. You seriously don't have any powers?"
Nathaniel didn't even look up from checking his armor's systems. "Nope. Just brains and a very expensive suit."
Dean's eye twitched. "Hold up—I synced up with a freaking mutant who punches mechas," he gestured wildly at Khan, "a teleporting ninja assassin," pointed at Blink, "and you're just... what, Google with laser guns?!"
Nathaniel calmly adjusted his repulsors, a slight smirk playing at his lips. "Premium Google. With really nice laser guns."
Dean stepped back, hands up. "Okay, okay, no disrespect! I love the tech, love the pew-pews, very shiny and terrifying—"
"Dean," Blink sighed, but she was fighting back a grin.
"No, I'm good! I'm fine!" Dean waved her off. "It's just like... you know when you're gaming and you're expecting an epic legendary drop and instead you get, like, basic vendor trash?"
Khan snorted with laughter. "Did he just call you vendor trash?"
"I think he did," Nathaniel said mildly, powering up his targeting systems with deliberate precision.
"That's not what I—look, you're very cool vendor trash! Premium vendor trash! The Gucci of vendor trash!"
"Dean," Blink said, her voice carrying that 'shut up before you dig yourself deeper' tone, "maybe quit while you're behind?"
Dean threw his hands up in defeat. "You know what? Fire demons. Let's go fight the fire demons. At least when they roast me alive, it'll be quicker than this conversation."
Khan was already growing, her form expanding as she prepared to charge into the fray. "How do we get Valkyrie's attention without her trying to cut our heads off first?"
"Leave that to me," Blink said, opening a portal that showed her a perfect vantage point on the clifftop, still chuckling at Dean's expense.
"Dean, can you use Embigening properly now?" Khan asked, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
Dean looked at the distance between them and the airborne warrior, then at Nathaniel, who was still giving him that mildly concerned look. "With my current skill level? I'd probably slap myself in the face and fall off a cliff."
"Fair point." Blink stepped toward her portal. "We'll improvise. Everyone ready?"
Nathaniel's armor finished scanning the battlefield, targeting systems locking onto dozens of fire demons. "As ready as you can be for divine warfare."
Khan cracked her knuckles, each pop sounding like small explosions. "Let's go save a goddess."
"Just remember," Dean called as they prepared to split up, "if anyone gets eaten by a fire demon, I'm not explaining it to the cosmic entities!"
Blink smirked as she stepped through her portal. "Try not to die, Dean. You're too entertaining to lose."
The battle for Asgard was about to get a lot more interesting.