That night, the people of Camelot beheld a sight like few others — a sight they would never forget. Or rather, the entire night was one they wouldn't forget, and not just them.
The people of Earth would never forget this day.
For those in Camelot, the amazement started with a bright pillar of light, shining in all the colors of the rainbow. It was a rare sight, but one they knew — the light of the Bifrost, the bridge that linked the Nine Realms together.
Despite it not being a unique sight, it was still a rare and amazing one, though what followed after that — that was something they hadn't seen before.
It began with light, a second sun, but far more sacred; it lit up the dark night and brought dawn early.
As that light faded away, they were all shocked by what appeared in the sky — a giant floating hall, or a ship, a grand, holy construction, shining as a star in the sky, grand silver rings, a heavenly palace sailing on the clouds like a ship on the ocean.
------
The winds were battering against my face as I stood upon the grand hall, Ehangwen. This was my Ruler Saint Graph's Noble Phantasm — a grand flying hall; not a true aerial fortress, but it sure could reduce one to ashes.
As a Ruler, it was only fair I had something like this. A Divine Spirit wasn't something simple; they weren't meant to be able to manifest — though when we did? We could toy with the world itself.
Manifesting cities and towers reaching to the sky is a minor thing; a Fate God, really, deserves the capital G.
And I was one of those, putting me among the mightiest of beings here — someone who could stand on my own against all the universe had to throw at me, as long as it wasn't the true cosmic overlords. Even I would likely end up having to hide in Avalon should I run into Eternity or someone of that level.
But that wasn't what I was going to face today. No, I rode upon Ehangwen's shining hall to face the minions of the Mad Titan, and I fully intended to do so in style.
Arriving with Loki and the Asgardian host would have been fast and smooth, but it lacked the flair of riding Ehangwen.
It was time to show everyone, both on Earth and beyond, that Arthuria Pendragon — the summer Lion King and ruler of the dazzling city of Las Vegas, and the Casino Camelot — could reach them anywhere and everywhere.
"Damn, Father, this is too cool! I want something like this!" Mordred shouted as she looked down from the edge, completely fearless about falling off.
"I am glad you approve, Mordred, but be careful, the winds up here are rather strong," I warned her, though she ignored it as she stared around in amazement.
Well, I couldn't really fault her — or the other knights who had reacted with equal shock upon seeing Ehangwen. After all, it wasn't really something I had while alive, so, yeah, they hadn't run into it before.
And who didn't like some kind of epic flying throne? Gilgamesh had his Vimana, and I, as another golden king, needed one myself.
I almost wished for another chance at a banquet like the one from the Grail War, where I could show off the more kingly side of myself. My Saber Saint Graph was far more of a knight than a king.
I was still a grand king, no doubt about that, but compared to Gilgamesh and Alexander the Great, I wasn't in the same league at all — not as a ruler, at least.
Now, however, with Lancer and Ruler thrown into the mix? I would show them what a real King was like!
"Please, Arthuria! Focus on where you are flying!" Sir Ector shouted as we tilted hard to the right because I got distracted.
"I meant to do that!"
"You are still a terrible liar, sis!" Kay shouted as she struggled to stand upright. "And maybe you should install some handrails? Or some seats? Standing here feels rather dangerous!"
"Don't be such a pussy, Kay, this is great!" Mordred shouted, running and jumping around like she wasn't getting battered by the rushing winds as we moved fast enough to break the sound barrier a few times over.
Galahad sighed, gripping his shield to steady himself as another burst of divine wind swept across the deck. "I admit, this is… impressive. But perhaps next time, we could fly lower? You know, closer to the ground and not the stratosphere?"
Tristan's cloak whipped in the wind as he played a few calm notes on his harp, seemingly unbothered. "Ah, but if we flew lower, we'd miss this view. Besides, what's a little turbulence compared to the glory of soaring beside the King?"
"Spoken like a man with no sense of self-preservation," Bedivere muttered, clutching a support beam. "I was forged for battle, not… this."
"Consider it training for when I take over! I'm going to be flying around like this everywhere — forget portals, this is way better!" Mordred grinned, throwing her arms wide as the clouds tore past. "Plus, if you can stand on this thing without falling off, you can stand on anything!"
"Then by all means, you can test gravity for the rest of us," Kay shot back.
I chuckled lightly at their banter. But I did agree that Ehangwen was clearly not designed for comfortable riding. It was all about being cool.
As was to be expected of the same Saint Graph that had a bunny outfit.
Still, while the wind was strong, our speed was equally fast, which should allow us to arrive both in time and in style.
-----
While Arthuria was racing towards New York to join the battle, Tony Stark was racing there to prevent it.
It wasn't that he had real proof that it would happen there, but he was still sure it would. He didn't know the hand behind these events, but from what he could see, they wanted a show. The attack in Germany?
It wasn't just to get the iridium. No, they had it; they didn't need Grimm to go on a rampage there — just like there was no real reason to attack them, to unleash the Hulk. It was pointless, needless.
It was impressive, yes — it drew attention — but honestly? That wasn't a good thing.
With the ability to control people's minds and teleport around, there was no need for distractions, no need for grand displays of brutality.
Everything could have been done without being seen, without a sound, yet the enemy had clearly done much to be seen, to be heard.
Clearly there was more to it than they saw; whatever it was, it meant the enemy both wanted to be fast but also needed to cause distractions — to cause chaos, to draw attention.
Nothing made sense, but Tony would give half his company on it having something to do with Asgard. When it came to aliens, only other aliens could explain it.
And from everything he knew, Asgard was apparently big on the cosmic scale, so attacking Earth — which, on the grand scale, belonged to Asgard? Yeah, they had to be involved somehow.
And if someone wanted to grab attention, there were only a few places to do it.
One was Camelot, a city that still today is admired by the entire world. While traveling there was restricted somehow, entire TV channels were excited to show the city all day long.
Cause chaos there and the world would know in minutes — but it did come with risks, namely Arthuria.
To cause chaos there meant risking her, and while Tony didn't know what this alien could do other than mind control, he figured that they would still hesitate doing anything there — too risky when there were other options.
And he knew what that was: New York, the shining heart of America — a massive city famous across the world, and anything happening there would also be huge news.
What's more, he had just started an arc reactor inside his tower, one that would be perfect for making a stable portal, allowing them to do it right in the heart of the city. If they wanted attention, that was the place to do it.
"What do you have for me, Jarvis?" he asked as he flew as fast as his suit could handle.
"I'm not detecting everyone, but I have lost control of the reactor. I need to reconnect to it, which will take around five minutes," Jarvis said a moment later.
"Fuck," Tony cursed. He wasn't too surprised that the enemy could hide from Jarvis; they did have Reed Richards working for them, and if there was someone who could find a way to disable parts of Jarvis without getting detected, it would be that man.
"ETA to the tower?"
"Seven minutes, sir."
"What are the calculations saying about how long it would take to open a portal?" he asked.
"Once they are hooked up to the power supply, it shouldn't take them long. Slowest estimations are ten minutes," Jarvis replied.
Tony sighed because he didn't think someone like Reed would hit the slowest estimations — at least he would hit five minutes. Which meant they would have opened it before he got there.
He would then need to connect Jarvis back to the main server so he could retake control of the reactor and shut it down… so, maybe ten minutes. If he was lucky, they could shut the portal down after that…
"Any movements from the Army? From SHIELD?"
"No movements from the Army, sir, but SHIELD is acting. However, it seems that they are largely crippled without their flying aircraft carrier."
Tony cursed — cursed Fury for betting everything on that stupid flying coffin of his. Sure, it was impressive, but what use was it when it could be taken down by one mind-controlled archer and some mercenaries?
"Then we have to do it ourselves. Have you ensured Pepper is out of danger?"
"Yes, sir. Miss Potts is being taken to a safe place as we speak by Mr. Happy."
Tony took a deep breath and calmed himself. Clearly they couldn't avoid this fight, but maybe they could still win — they just had to end it fast.
"Any chance we can get some help from Arthuria?" he asked, hoping she would return — or maybe her Knights would come. After all, they had that teleport pad thing he still wanted to pull apart.
After all, a tech-based portal tool was lightyears beyond anything Earth had access to right now. With that tech, he might be able to push science forward by centuries!
"Yes, it would seem that Lady Arthuria has returned and is currently on her way," Jarvis reported.
"On her way? Like here — teleported here and already at the tower?"
"I'm afraid not. It appears she is flying in a massive flying object. I don't know what it is, but classifying it as a UFO seems wrong, given the potential alien invasion."
"Great, now she decides to fly rather than get here instantly — just brilliant." Once more, Tony cursed.
"Can you bring up some satellite images of where she is?"
"Right away, sir — just one… I believe we have more important things to deal with, sir."
"Yeah, no kidding." Tony could see the letters spelling his name on the side of his tower by now, but that hardly mattered — not when compared to what was above it. High in the sky, a great blue portal was opening, reaching a hole into the pitch-blackness of space.
"Guess we have guests…" he muttered, as he saw something fly out of the portal — a lot of somethings. Hundreds… thousands… and every moment more came; every moment the portal just grew bigger.
"Jarvis, I need you to shut that thing down, now!" he screamed, close enough to the tower that he could connect with Jarvis's main server through his suit.
"Starting shutdown of the reactor — countdown, five minutes."
(End of chapter)
Support me at patreon.com/unknownfate - for the opportunity to read up to 30 chapters ahead.
Or on boosty.to/unknownfate