Screams of panic rang out across the glass, steel and stucco canyons that Arey had been told was a shopping center known as “The Block” in Orange.  Arey wasn’t exactly sure what any of those words meant, but she was aware this was a popular gathering place for the local people.

She and Billie had been called in by MAB as “consultants” when the mysterious figure they’d been hunting had suddenly appeared here and started wreaking havoc, smashing in walls and breaking windows.  MAB had established a perimeter, under the guise of local police, to prevent bystanders from getting too close.

Arey and Billie had arrived in Cat’s car, which Billie had “borrowed,” seeing as Cat wasn’t using it at the moment.  They parked a safe distance away in the parking lot, and approached on foot, Billie in his usual black, spiked leather outfit, Arey dressed in jeans and a heavy vest, with her sword sheathed at her side.  These clothes were unusual to her, but they were heavy enough to provide modest protection like she was used to with her normal leathers.

Rick approached them at a jog.  “We’ve got her penned in. She’s on top of one of the central buildings.  So far as we can tell, she hasn’t intentionally attacked any people yet. She’s just causing destruction.  Breaking things. We suspect she’s trying to get our attention.”

Billie rolled his eyes.  “Well, I’d say she’s got it.  It IS a ‘she,’ then?”

Rick nodded.  “All the eyewitnesses identified her as having a feminine form, but she’s wearing a mask, so identifying her is impossible.”

“What exactly are we here to do?” asked Arey.  “Isn’t this normally the sort of thing you’d ask Crys to help with?”

“Yes,” said Rick.  “But Crys isn’t available, and I don’t have a lot of wizards available for a special job like this.  You two happen to be the best tools I have in my arsenal for this kind of thing at the moment.”

“I see your point,” acquiesced Arey.  “Any ideas of how we should approach?”

Billie chuckled.  “I have an idea.”

****

Moments later, Arey and Billie were soaring through the air on some sort of winged, reptilian creature that Arey was not familiar with.  Billie had called them “terrorductiles” or something. They also had machine parts attached to their heads that shot searing hot beams of light.  Billie had warned her to keep clear of those bits for fear of “lasers.”

Below, they could see their prey: a lithe, feminine figure, garbed in a blood red body suit that shimmered and shifted, as though it were made of actual blood.  Her face was concealed by a mask made of what appeared to be steel. The mask was mostly featureless, without any nose or mouth; it just had two dark eyes.

Arey and Billie swooped low, preparing to drop onto the roof their objective was standing on.  Before they could do so, however, the figure turned towards them and reached up into the sky with spectral, misshapen, blood red arms, smacking Billie right out of the sky, where he fell, unconscious, to the ground below.  Her other arm, instead, snatched Arey right off of her terroductile, before smacking the winged thing off into the night sky.

Arey, clutched tightly in the grip of the otherworldly hands, was brought close to the red-clad woman.

“Hmm, no,” said the woman behind her mask.  “No, you’re not the one I’m after. But you know her, don’t you?  The other jötun. Loki’s ‘Bride?’”

Arey struggled against the iron grip of the woman’s disgusting claws.  “What do you want with her?”

“That is none of your business,” the other woman said.  “Just pass on the message, or I won’t stop at breaking things next time.”

With that, the Avatar of Nidhoggr tossed Arey out into the night, crashing into the empty parking lot.