Little Valhalla (06-24-2022)

## Geo-7, Camelot [06/24/2022]

The Precocious Squadron along with Here Lies Fate touches down at Geo-7. Hellscream parks the Nazareth and opens the hatch. The team walks towards the HQ and rings for the Director. Archangel answers and greets, “Oh hello everyone! How may I help?” Imperialist responds, “We wanna check up on ya for a bit. We heard the news.”

“Oh, that. Yes, do come in.”

The door slides open and the Squadron walks in. They meet Archangel near the lounge and they all sit down to talk. Archangel smiles and asks, “So how much did you hear from Ms. Smith? Wait…Misses Larsson and Iridesca? You look…different.” Virulentus rubs the back of her head and Volume 0 smiles softly, responding, “We were appointed to the Aspects.” Archangel’s eyes widened in surprise and looked elated. He asks eagerly, “You were transcended?! How was it?! What was it like?” Volume 0 giggles and answers, “It felt slightly uncomfortable at first, but then it felt welcoming. Warm and embracing. Next thing I know, I feel…hopeful, strong, and confident.” Virulentus nods in agreement. Archangel nods and stares at Volume 0’s eyes. She looks confused until she realizes why he’s staring and answers, “The transformation changed my pupils. Didn’t change my sight, but it definitely looks different.”

Virulentus looks over and sees a bottle of chemicals near the sink. She looks at Archangel, who hasn’t noticed her line of vision and then looks back at the Squadron. They also haven’t noticed. She says while getting, “I’m gonna go find the restroom.” Archangel nods and continues to talk with the others. Virulentus reaches the sink and sees the plethora of cleaner and detergent. She doesn’t notice the Label near the wall that says “Council Member Void” as she picks up a spray bottle of table cleaner. She unscrews the cap and begins to chug the cleaner. She nearly empties it and starts on Void’s detergent. She thinks to herself as she reads the label, “*Dark Colors? What a cultured guy*.” She unscrews the cap and begins to take shots of the detergent. “*Super sweet*,” she says to herself as she throws the cap and drinks from the jug itself. She puts the jug down and sees a container of bleach and other things next to Void’s compartment. She walks over and takes a few swigs of the bleach. Over her head the name “Specter” is apparent. She starts chugging more until she hears a voice say, “But I’m in the wrong for licking an eyeball.” She quickly closes the bleach bottle and puts it behind her, only to see Hellscream. He has a disappointed but mischievous look on his face. Virulentus sighs and defensively says, “They shouldn’t have left it out in the open.” She then burps and puts the bottle away. Hellscream pats her on the back and says, “You could just ask. Stop sneaking. If you need it for you abilities, or if you just like it, go ahead. It’s obviously not killing you.” Virulentus nods and walks back to the table the Squadron and the Director is sitting at.

“So how was the King With Violet?” Archangel asks, while welcoming back Virulentus. Here Lies Fate answers, “The Squadron dealt with them with flying colors. I couldn’t have done it better myself.” Bloodclaute added, “Cassy dematerialized an entire beam of energy with her scream.” Volume 0 blushed and looked away. Hellscream then added, and Bri ended it off with a lightning bolt to his face!” Archangel looks in awe at Imperialist and Volume 0. “You took it down with a lightning bolt? Wasn’t it forty times larger than the Grail?” Imperialist nods and smiles. She comments, “I’ve fought worse. By the way, how was the Archfiend? I saw you out there.” Archangel then remembers his fight with the beast and looks around. They were all looking at him with a very satisfied look. He blushed and answered, “I had a good teacher.”

“You sure did. Seraph also taught us everything we know. We added a few more things for some flavor but most of it comes from the big guy himself.”

“Did he also see?”

“He did. We talked about it on the message board for hours. Actually I also have another question.”

“Yes?”

“Would you consider us friends? Not just allies, but actual friends?”

Archangel looks confused for a second but looks around and sees all of them looking at him with a bit of anticipation. He responds, “I feel like I’ve talked to you all off work enough to call you friends.”

Volume 0 looks up at Archangel and asks softly,

**“Can we call you Hakim then?”**

This makes Archangel freeze for a bit. He hadn’t heard his real name in years. It’s been so long, that he was convinced Archangel was his actual name. “Uh…yes…of course,” Archangel says with a bit of surprise. Hellscream explains, “We know your name because Pollyannus and Jehv told us when mentioning you. It kind of slipped out.” Archangel nods in understanding and replies, “I think…I *would* appreciate it if your group would call me by my real name.” The group smiles collectively. They had felt like they had finally gotten closer to Archangel. After many months of him speaking to them formally, he finally started to loosen up and call them by their names as well.

Hellscream picks up his phone and says, “Alright, since some of us are thirsty, we’re probably hungry too. I’ll order. What y’all want?”

“Fuck off,” Virulentus says playfully. “I’ll have a pufferfish, tell them to keep the toxic sac in.” Hellscream nods and takes everyone else’s order. Imperialist ordered a steak with mashed potatoes and leafy greens. Bloodclaute ordered a rare steak burger with cheese and no onions. Volume 0 ordered grilled and marinated rabbit with dumplings. Here Lies Fate ordered a chicken pot pie and iceberg lettuce with aged bleu cheese. Hellscream ordered smoked barbecue ribs with mac and cheese. He got to Archangel and he asked for a gator tail along with bbq brushed on top.

The group eats from their feast and talk trash about Heralda Smith as well as their experiences with the King with Violet and Archfiend. They finished their meals and wished each other well. Archangel watched them as they left and noticed Volume 0 leg behind. She turned around and asked Archangel, “Hakim, does Heralda seem off to you?” Archangel sighs and replies, “I would say so yes. There’s one phrase I noticed she uses a lot during her speeches and interviews.”

“What would that be?”

“For humanity.”

Volume 0’s eyes go wide and then stammers, “O-okay. That’s a bit suspicious. But I can’t make any final judgment. I’ll talk to the team. Thank you, Hakim. We’ll keep watch. Maybe..we’ll come visit more often. This was nice.”

“Of course Cassandra. Thank you for visiting me.”

“Give us a call whenever.”

Volume 0 smiles and gets in the Nazareth to leave. Archangel waves them goodbye as the ship takes off in seconds. He goes back inside with a smile on his face, and a full belly.