Hela's POV
Looking down at the projection of the crowd below from my throne — all I could think was:
Damn. That's a lot of people.
Like, Avengers-level crowd. Endgame-tier attendance. I half-expected someone to yell "PORTALS!" and have T'Challa stroll out with a Bluetooth speaker.
Wanda was beside me. As an introvert by nature, this isn't a place for her. "I've never seen such a big gathering in my life," she muttered, eyes wide.
Well, to be fair, she did spend like a fifth of her life locked up, another fifth being a baby, and the rest on a small island, so… yeah. It tracks.
On my other side? Jean. And holy hell, she's leveled up. Not in the 'ding! new XP bar' kind of way. No, more like she went through a whole anime training arc in four days—or a year?
But hey, proud of her. She's no longer 'I'm scared of my own power' Jean. She's leaning more toward 'try me, b*tch' Jean now. Growth.
As for me? Oh, you know. Just in my Hanging Gardens of Babylon, no biggie. Used the Space Stone to rip open a portal and roll up to Earth in style. No longer in Astral Body or in Jean's body.
Took me three and a half years in Hyperbolic Time Chamber time to study every single rune on my body. Those shtty glowstick squiggles the Allfather slapped on me? Yeah, I finally fcking cracked 'em.
And guess what? I'm finally free. No more nonsense. No more divine babysitting. I'm out here with my full power—a chaos goddess with zero supervision. I laughed so hard when the last rune burned off, I probably woke up the entity at the end of the universe.
And let's talk power, because damn, I'm stacked. Space Stone? Check. Hel energy? Check. Ethernano? Yup. Runic mastery? Hell yeah. I'm basically a walking cheat code.
Odin might still have the edge in raw physical strength—I mean, sure, he could probably punch a star in half while I'm just over here crushing Mjolnir like an aluminum can—but magically? We're toe-to-toe now. And with the Space Stone? Pfft. Dude's gonna need a patch update to keep up.
But the real game-breaker? The Hanging Freakin' Gardens.
I seriously underestimated what 'EX-Rank' and 'Anti-World Noble Phantasm' meant. This place isn't a building. It's a whole damn realm. It makes Hel look like a sad off-brand haunted house.
In here, I'm not just powerful—I'm broken. Like 'nerf her or the game's dead' broken. The place reality-warps in my favor. Every spell, every fireball, every flex of power? Automatically cranked up to 11.
If a regular fireball used to hit for 50, and my max was 200, guess what? Now every fireball is a 200. And it barely costs me anything. It's like I turned on God Mode and forgot to tell the devs.
My psychic powers? Even when I was borrowing Jean's body, I wasn't this juiced. Here, I could actually take on Odin. And not just survive—I mean win. With flair. Possibly with theme music. (Note to self: Recruit some singer no matter the cost.)
Honestly, this place is such a cheat I'm pretty sure if anyone from the Type-Moon universe saw me using it, they'd throw a chair and yell 'LORE VIOLATION!'
But hey—I don't play fair. I play to win.
The very moment the Hanging Gardens waltzed out of Hel through the space there and entered Earth, I felt it—like billions of psychic champagne corks popping in my brain.
My mental range stretched like yoga pants two sizes too small. I didn't just feel Earth. I felt everything. The Inhumans having a quiet little moondance up on Luna? Those sneaky hidden realms cloaked under 'no access' signs? Got 'em.
Honestly, if I squinted hard enough with my mind's eye, I might just catch someone tripping over their own tail in another galaxy because I can literally sense everything in this galaxy just with my mind.
Okay, the truth is—I can't exactly measure the limit of my mental reach now, but it feels like... the universe cracked open a few extra tabs for me. I would have loved for this to be my own innate power.
Not something that I can only do in the Hanging Gardens—just raw me. But hey, a girl can dream. Who am I kidding—I'm absolutely going to hit that level. No, scratch that. I'm going to be Multiversal.
Anyway.
"Alright, Wanda," I said, putting on my best queen-of-all-I-survey tone while adjusting the sheer fabulousness of my robes. "Act solemn. Maybe show a little bit of arrogance. You're the left hand of this Queen, remember? No peasant energy allowed."
But of course, my girl was wide-eyed like she just stepped into a sci-fi theme park for the first time. I bless her bumpkin little heart.
Truth be told, the reminder was more for me than her. I was about to make my entrance. Or well, a projection of me was. Close enough.
First, I needed to prep the venue. The chamber was big, yeah, but not 'cram in over a million awe-struck mortals' big. So, I politely bullied the Space Stone into doing some home renovation. Expansion? Done. Cosmic cheat codes, baby.
From the outside, it still looked the same—just a big palace, even. But inside? Oh honey, we were serving TARDIS realness. The entire space now mirrored the full crowd standing outside, like folding a stadium into a snow globe. All thanks to my glittery little blue gem.
Even Jean, who had been silent, had to speak. "No matter how many ridiculous things I see you pull off, you still manage to blow my mind."
And I grinned, because duh. "I'm a walking miracle. Of course you should be impressed."
To be fair, she's earned her stripes. After hearing the story from last time, she took some introspective time like a true philosopher. Then, we dipped into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber—just the two of us. I sent Wanda back to Earth for a few last days of normie life.
Jean stuck it out for a whole damn year in there with me. One full calendar of intense magical learning, runes, messing with Ethernano, and binge-eating the chamber's conjured snacks (which are surprisingly decent, by the way).
She finally tapped out because, well, solitude is a diva, and even the toughest queens need social stimulation eventually.
So yeah, she's not some baby duck anymore. She's seen things. Done things. She's leveled up.
I gave her a wink and stretched my arms with flair. "Okay, showtime. I'm projecting us outside now. Behave. Don't trip. And for the love of everything sparkly, don't make that weird confused face, or I'm introducing you as my two Chihuahuas."
...
...
...
From the outside world's point of view, that palace looked insane enough from a distance—but up close? It was straight-up majestic. And once Hela casually snapped the Space Rift shut, the satellites orbiting Earth got an even better view of the whole thing.
At this point, pretty much everyone who had eyes in the sky was watching. Nick Fury, the Inhumans chilling on the moon, every major government on the planet, and all the rich folks with private satellites—yeah, looking at you, Tony Stark—they all got a crystal-clear look at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in all its glory.
Hela didn't keep them waiting long. After a quick chat with her two companions, she broadcasted a live feed of the inside of the palace.
There she was—Hela, sitting like a true queen on her throne, radiating power. Jean stood at her side with a perfect poker face, and Wanda was clearly digging deep into her inner zen to stay calm and collected.
The projection was massive—honestly, it was probably bigger than the palace itself. And then Hela started speaking.
"Hmm, looks like a lot of you out there are bored with your lives. Excellent."
No formal greetings, no pretense. She just dove straight into the point like she owned the whole planet. And the way she made her voice heard? It wasn't some normal speaker thing where it's louder up close and quieter far away. Nope.
Everyone heard her loud and clear, no matter where they were. It made zero sense scientifically, but hey—this is the Marvel Universe. Logic checked out a long time ago.
And honestly, with that many superpowered folks in one place, there was no way things were going to stay peaceful for long. Hela knew that too—especially since she could feel the presence of several powerful beings who were clearly not fans of hers.
Then, out of nowhere, a voice cut through the air, just as unnaturally as Hela's.
"It seems being alone for so many years has made you stupid, Hela."
.....
Almost didn't make it, who do you think is coming? And don't forget to vote