”You scout out the munitions for starters with the birds. You and the boys stay.” he looked to Bruno and waited for some confirmation before doing his own looking. There was a set of binoculars he found in the vehicle. Even with the one eye Sam had a feeling what to expect. It was going to be a pretty simple base, well one with antiaircraft weapons. ”Then you notify me if there is any trouble. Anywhere.”

He heard a low sigh from Bruno knowing that it was because he was leaving again. A hand reached behind him and he pet his best friend before continuing, ”Our new friend is going to walk me right into base. If they shoot at us well. I’ll improvise from there. Without killing.” he added and rolled his eye. He needed the subject to be beaten to death so at least he remembered. X-Men don’t kill. Something he found himself saying often. The more he said it the less he felt like he belonged on the team.

“They will no doubt shoot at us.” the nervous German said behind him in between the two dogs ”Well you best be convincing then huh?” Sam said opening the door. ”This is a good as spot as any. Lord Odin waits for no man, hurry up.” maybe he’d keep the name.

Tapping his ear piece and looked to Liz, ”You run at first sight of trouble, get to the Jet and call for backup.” it was an order. She wasn’t on the team yet but she needed to listen. Liz was a good teacher and a better person and he didn’t want to deprive the school of one of their best. He on the other hand, well he was raised for this. This would have been a Monday back in the day, and he hated Mondays.

Ice armor formed as he touched down on the cold ground his thermal vision already expanding outwards. Sam waited for the hostage and tapped him on the back, ”Let’s go see the puppet master.”

Elizabeth kept her eyes focused on the base as she absorbed the plan. Simple enough, much like their previous plan with the research station. She’d stay put but keep an eye on things while Sam did the dirty work. If all else failed, she’d call in more help. She didn’t bother worrying about the realities of the situation - namely, the fact that if she had to call for help, help could not arrive in time - she and Sam had the jet, after all.

“Understood,” she said with a sharp, decisive nod. She added no extra commentary. Time to be serious. Deadly serious. They were on the hunt and surrounded by other predators - they could afford no mistakes.

The ravens followed Sam and the prisoner out, glad to be able to stretch their wings again. The dogs stayed inside and off the snow, relishing the vehicle’s heat. Liz decided to keep the engine running for a while, for the heater, keeping track of the fuel gauge at the same time. Fortunately, these people had gassed up the vehicle before leaving, so she figured they had hours before even starting to worry about anything.

Liz rolled down a window just a few inches and stuck a gloved hand out. With a wiggle of her fingers and a psychic impulse, it wasn’t long before Munnin landed on her hand. “I’ll scout the place quickly and be back before you get there. I’ll be on radio silence until then.” As fantastic as they were, the ravens couldn’t use earpieces.

A moment later, Elizabeth was soaring into the sky, the arctic air ruffling her feathers and calling to something deep and primal in her. SHe resisted the urge to screech in joy and instead, started flying toward the base.

Not long after that, she returned to the vehicle and was able to report. “I don’t see much activity on the outside. There are two ships at the dock, only a few crewmen on the outside. Lots of packed snow from footprints around the largest two buildings. Peeked through the windows, saw some office-like rooms and a barracks. Other building might be a garage or storage depot - lots of treads and tire tracks leading in. Other than the anti-aircraft gun, I don’t see any else. I’d have to get closer to be of any more help.”

And then….she waited.

“.... Lord... Odin.” the man said next to Sam, before Sam realized the man was talking to him. Oh yeah, he was supposed to be an ancient Norse god. Sam wasn’t the best actor but tried to play his part while shoving a hand on the man’s back to keep him, moving. ”What?” he asked as one of the taller buildings was pointed out to him. There was a spot light and a lone figure sitting atop it. Sam couldn’t imagine the windchill off the ground for someone effected by the cold.

”Thank you.” he was warning Sam. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad after all. Even if he wanted the end of the world.

Liz chimed in shortly after confirming what was pointed out to him. His lone eye looked forward as the snow under their feet lifted them onto a slide. Sam skated along dragging the former gunman with him.

Tapping his ear, ”Hold them back till I disable the guns. I want help to arrive should we need it. Can you locate the radio tower? No doubt they will be jamming long range transmissions.” that was the second thing he needed to destroy. Sam didn’t go directly towards the base, instead he cycled around it kicking up snow as he moved to hide him and the prisoner.

“For-give me lord Odin but I am cold.” he said before Sam focused on controlling the cold around them. It was a few seconds before he shivered a thank you but by the time that happened Sam was closing in on the guns. ”Stay close to me. Or you’ll die.” it wasn’t a threat or a promise. Just a fact. It was about to get very cold on the base and the main focus was the guns. Which put him between the ships and the rest of the base.

It took a few minutes and some more snow cover but Sam managed to disable the first one by lodging the barrel with ice and snow. The man closest to the gun didn’t realize until Sam was already behind him. It was a quick drop but the cover was enough to hide him after. Sam made a mental note to find everyone after, Liz didn’t want anyone to die.

The second anti aircraft gun was a little better manned and he only managed to dispose of two of them before the third one shot a flare into the air. Sam had to sever his thermal vision for a moment before shouting, ”About to get real here, send in the eyes!” the flare went up then came down as a siren started to blare around the base.

“My god!” the hostage said behind him before Sam tossed him a radio. ”Serve you’re purpose. Tell them it was a misfire!” Sam shouted before leaping to the man who shot the flare and slamming him to the ground. Ice crawled over his body as he did so. The antiaircraft also shifted as the snow under it lifted it till it tipped over. There. No more anti aircrafts.

“Radio tower? I didn’t see any towers at all,” Liz responded. “A few small buildings are on slightly raised platforms, but that’s for level ground not height. No way I missed any towers though.” She closed her eyes and stared out through Muninn’s. No, she didn’t see any towers there at all. Suddenly she felt like she’d let Sam down. And the scientists.

If radio communications were indeed being jammed then they had no choice but to succeed in this mission.

Then the flare went up, almost painfully bright in the dusk sky. A moment later, sirens began ringing across the wasteland and Sam burst into her ear. “Send in the eyes? To do what?” she asked frantically. He meant the ravens, right? This wasn’t part of a plan! The base was far outside of her range of influence and if she possessed a bird, she’d be out of communication with Sam unless she literally got within speaking distance. If she drove in closer, the vehicle would just be a target. What…what…what on Earth could she do?

Meanwhile, the hapless guard was torn. Serve the god or Herr Weltgeist? Then again, Weltgeist wasn’t right there and destroying things with the power of ice itself. “Achtung!” he shouted in the radio before continuing in German, “Misfire! I repeat, misfire! Cancel the alarm!”

There was a burst of static and then the angry voice of Commander Schmidt came over the radio. “Shultz? Is that you Shultz? Where have you been? None of your squad reported in! What happened out there?”

Shultz stopped moving. He chose his words carefully. Odin said he’d wanted to meet Herr Weltgeist, right? “It’s Odin, sir! Lord Odin is here!”

“What the Devil are you talking about, Shultz? What’s going on out there?”

“Odin the Allfather is here. He’s come for his spear!”

“Well we’ll see about that! Where’s the rest of the team?”

“They’re frozen, sir. In ice.”

“How the…? Nevermind. If he wants his spear, he can take it himself!”

Men with guns began pouring out of buildings.

There were no birds in the sky, none to tell him where to go next. The buildings weren’t tall enough for a jammer, meaning it was more than likely hidden in the other buildings. Which meant Sam had to check them all. Too bad they weren’t as obvious as the anti-aircraft cannons. Luckily those were off the table for now. Meaning if they did get word out someone would come to Liz’s rescue if he was captured or killed. Both weren’t something he was looking forward to.

Hearing the conversation in the radio behind him he slowed his breath and waited feeling the warm bodies near him come to life as they exited the buildings. Visibility was still low meaning they were the only ones that couldn’t' see him that well. Sam slowed the frozen fog and brought it down a bit so others could see him. ”Tell them to lower their weapons. I’d rather not kill unless I have to. A request has been made by my... assistant?” did Odin have an assistant? A request to stop him from killing anyone.

”Shultz. You have done well.” was all Sam offered as he folded his arms as the gunman surrounded him. ”I guess I’m going to find the communications room.” Schultz heard it but said nothing. Sam was talking to Elizabeth. ”Keep an eye on Bruno for me. He gets needy if I’m not around for a bit.”

The gunman surrounded Sam and aimed their weapons shouting at him to lower his arms. Sam didn’t budge and waited as Schultz steeped in front of Sam and then pointed to his armor and the snow below them. It was in another language but the message was clear as a few other gunman dropped to a knee.

Maybe Sam should keep the name. He was a fan of the respect it commanded. ”Now, where is my spear?” he asked wanting to get a tour of the facility. One two find the comms room, and two to find everyone that went missing.

Shultz glanced aside in equal parts fear and awe as the fog cloud vanished just enough that…Odin…could be seen. His comrades had heard his message and a few of them had actually followed along, bowing in obeisance to Odin. Others were more skeptical. But none of them fired - Shultz had said the man wanted to meet Herr Weltgeist and nobody was going to get between them.

“If you will, ah, follow me, my lord?” Shultz said with a bow. He did his best to hide his trembling hands as he marched toward the largest building, the one that had the most security and contained the crux of their operations.

Once inside, they quickly passed the galley and the storerooms, where the cooks supplemented their rations with what they were able to hunt from the local wildlife. They passed a corridor of offices and a conference room, as well as a couple of rooms that looked like laboratories. Several storage rooms were passed, where they kept archived materials. Another room had a group of men and women in basic fatigues repeating a series of commands and instructions that a uniformed guard was shouting at them.

The soldiers from outside followed them, their boots striking the harshly lit tiles in perfect sync. Other armed men appeared from various side hallways, casually blocking all escapes, until they came to Herr Weltgeist’s office. Shultz glanced back furtively at the one-eyed god and licked his lips before knocking on the door.

---------------

Herr Weltgeist had been pouring over the latest updates on the search, maps and documents strewn over his desk in what would appear to be chaos to the unenlightened eye. No, everything here was in perfect order, even if he was the only one capable of seeing it. It was a drawback to being blessed with such a brilliant and capable mind - he was generally the only one able to fully appreciate his own talents.

He was aware from the get go that there was an intruder on the base. He’d listened in as that dummkopf Shultz announced the arrival of Odin. As if a god would announce himself to someone like Shultz. Nevertheless, Weltgeist was somewhat curious to see what kind of man would try to pass himself off as a god and have the audacity to storm Weltgesit’s compound.

With the spear in question hanging on the wall behind him, Herr Weltgeist leaned forward at his desk and rested his elbows on it, his fingertips touching to form an elegant arch as a knocking was heard on the door.

“Enter,” he said gruffly, his voice devoid of any noticeable accent.

The idea of going into the unknown structure with this many well armed guards around wasn’t normally his idea of a mission. There would be less of them, and he’d already be in the building by now. Liz stated ‘no killing’ meaning his usual methods for rescue was off the table, so he continued to play the part of ‘All-father’ just to see where things would lead him. If they did try to capture him, there would be several signs for Liz which also meant that the lines of communication to the mansion would be open. There was enough skill on the team that they’d recover everyone who was still alive.

”Very well.” Sam said following Shultz. Both knew how quickly Sam or ‘Odin’ could take down this many people. They were closer and didn’t have a helicopter. The icemancer was confident he could beat his old record if he needed to.

As they walked Sam kept his head forward but his eye swiveled around making a mental map of the building making sure to note each room and everything he could see inside. They passed a room with some men and women who were preforming some kind of group calisthenics. The echoing of the boots wasn’t lost on Sam, however drown out as he tried to hear everything he could as well. Whatever he couldn’t see or hear he did his best to ‘feel’ as a chill followed him down the hallways till they reached the ‘bosses’ room. It was obvious by the wall of guards that had been blocking most of his exits. All of them were well armed and ready for a fight.

Sam needed answers. Their comm room and where the hostages were. Those were his immediate concerns so they’d have to hold off on fighting him. For now.

The door opened and Sam sent a chill into the room. A warning. He was supposed to be some all powerful deity after all and from the ‘one’ he met it was clear they were dramatic. Sam strode into the room, his armor still covering his body, cold exuded from him.

”You want my spear?” Sam asked curiously looking around to see if anything in the room would stand out to him. Locations mainly, maybe they were global and this was only a small group. They seemed to be well funded. They used to have a helicopter. ”All for Ragnarök?” he asked wishing he had the birds with them. They were better at selling the story.

”I want the team of researchers. One of them owes me a debt I’ve come to collect on.” he said arrogantly trying his best to channel someone with a superiority complex. It wasn’t a request.

Sam out of habit with meeting any potential ‘puppet master’ refused to make eye contact with the man. Just in case.

A small corner of Weltgeist’s lip twitched upwards as the temperature in the room noticeably dropped, even before the door opened. Ah, such a flair for the dramatic.

The man didn’t move an iota, not even a single hair on his salt and pepper head. Even his breathing was controlled to such an extent that it was nearly imperceptible - it definitely didn’t change in reaction to the savage-looking man who boldly strode right into the heart of the base, disrupting all the carefully planned order with icy chaos.

Weltgeist’s practiced eyes looked over the man, seeming to drink him in and drain him of everything he was, before sparing a moment’s glance for the slightly-trembling Shultz. In the hallway, soldiers were lining up, but none of them had their weapons at ready. They knew they wouldn’t be needed. It was Herr Weltgeist’s show, after all.

Welgeist waited until the man stopped speaking, allowing a brief silence to fall. He remained motionless, as frozen as an ice sculpture, before finally speaking. “Intriguing,” he said crisply. I’d always imagined you to be…taller, Lord Odin.” The slightest sneer danced on his tongue, the faintest traces of sarcasm.

The other corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly in a ghost of a smile. The man was avoiding Weltgeist’s gaze. Ah, it seemed as though Shultz had been talking. It didn’t matter though. That wasn’t how Weltgeist’s power worked.

“And what kind of a debt could a simple mortal incur with the likes of one such as you, Allfather?” Weltgeist said with just the barest affectations of humility and professional dissociation. “Why don’t you tell me more about what you want? Just one researcher? Which one would that be?”

His voice never changed. His inflections remained the same throughout, albeit with a slight amusement, a trace of sing-song musicality. It was a sharp contrast to the bravado and throwing-his-weight around of the one-eyed man. “I would dearly love to assist you in any way I can, my lord,” Weltgeist said without a bit of sincerity. “I’m just afraid I cannot do anything unless you give me more information. Perhaps you can even stick around and assist us. We are endeavoring to do your work, after all. Isn’t Ragnorak what you always wanted? An end to evil and senseless death? A chance to start over? Wouldn’t you like it if the world could begin anew?”

”Oh? Has anyone ever told you life is full of disappointments?” Sam asked still trying to stay in character, normally he’d quip back with something and then start fighting but he was supposed to be lord Odin after all. Maybe Sam was a method actor?

”The kind that is between a god and the mortal that owes the debt.” he said calmly the air dropped a bit more around Weltgiest and his salt and peppered hair. He was too calm. Sam took offense to that. Or was it because his Odin took offense to that. Sam continued, ”I’m a busy god. Lots to do.”

Weltgesit continued and Sam frowned with the change of tone. He was seemingly far too relaxed given the fact that Sam just invaded his base. Like the trap was already sprung. Sam’s thermal vision danced around the room and out into the hallway. No one had weapons drawn and they were all far too relaxed. Sam’s attention was brought back on the end of the world word.

”Only fools look for an end. Why would I choose you to survive Ragnarök? Why any of you? All you have done so far is make me ask for a third time now. I hate repeating myself. Release the researchers. All of them.” he folded his arms and continued, ”How are you worthy? Have you entered my halls? Have you seen the Rainbow bridge?” he asked glad he saw some movies recently revolving around the myths.

”Information comes at a cost.” he said tapping his patched eye. ”The events are already set in motion, it will happen on it’s own. You will do nothing here to delay it or speed it up.” Sam was getting tired of the theatrics and wished he didn’t tell Liz that he wouldn’t kill anyone. It could have been over already.

Herr Weltgeist finally moved. He lowered his hands and sat back, leaning into his chair. “Ah, but you are right about one thing,” he said, holding up a finger while simultaneously crossing a leg. If the cold was bothering him, he didn’t show it. He never showed signs of discomfort. It was a point of pride. He was always in control, just like he was now.

“Events are already in motion,” he said crisply. “What happens here will not change that fact.” A small touch of pride entered his voice and he allowed it to remain. “It seems we have come to an impasse, you and I. For you see, I cannot release the researchers just yet. They know too much. They cannot yet be…trusted…on their own.”

His tone remained much the same. Affable, unhurried, precise. A note of musicality in it, a subtle rhythm. “It will be several weeks of course before they earn the privilege of freedom,” he continued, rising from his chair. He straightened his shirt and then crossed his arms behind his back, standing at stiff attention. “They have so many…bad habits…but I believe they will come around. By then, it’s very likely that none of them will want to leave.”

Weltgeist turned and strolled to a map on the side wall, a map that seemed to only cover Antarctica. “I must confess your presence here intrigues me, Lord Odin,” Weltgeist said casually. “Or should I say Cold Steel? Forgive me if I missed the press release about your codename change - it’s so hard to get a good paperboy out here.”

Weltgeist didn’t bother looking at the X-Men. It wouldn’t matter. There was indeed a trap there, one that had already shut. Now it was just about tightening the bonds.

“I suppose I should blame your upbringing for your lack of knowledge about the figure you’ve attempted to impersonate,” Weltgeist continued. “As I understand it, child soldiers rarely have time to study mythology. It’s a pity. There are so many delightful things one can learn from such things, such as what happens to tricksters when they’re caught.” That musical note in his voice was far stronger now. A general hum accompanied every word.

“But we shall have plenty of time for your education,” Weltgeist said, finally turning back to look at the X-Men. “First I need something from you. I want you to tell me why you’re really here.”

The silent music reached its crescendo.

The already frozen air in the room was unsettling to Sam. The back and forth between the two seemed almost pointless now. Something was wrong the icemancer just couldn’t place it yet. Was it the way he was talking almost sounding like he was going to break out into song? No, this conversation wasn’t with Carrick and most sane people didn’t break out into song often. Sam’s hand flexed on it’s own for a moment under his ice armor. He didn’t acknowledge it but tightened his grip when he realized it happened.

”Then it shouldn’t matter if I take them off your hands.” Sam said offering a quick solution that would get them all out of there and give Sam a chance to report everything. The former assassin adjusted his posture as the man spoke suddenly feeling something that Sam could only define as ‘squirmy’ he had to move but couldn’t place it.

When Sam heard his name his jaw muscles tightened, ”Rime, been going by Rime now actually.” the one eyed X-man chuckled. Well. So much for bluffing his way through it. He could fight his way out now. Shouldn’t be that hard.

”So it seems you know my name, and enough of my history.” Sam chuckled, ”You think you can stop me from taking the researchers now? You are here quite illegally as well. Seeing as I’m doing the heroics now, I can’t really let this place remain here.” Sam said trying to shrug. His body felt movement but it wasn’t the movement he wanted.

”I’m here for the researchers..... one in particular. His wife is worried about him and I owe him a favor.” Sam said revealing more than he wanted to. His hand moved up on it’s own but was restrained by the ice covering it. Looking down at his hand ”You’re trying to control me?” this time Sam started to laugh.

Herr Weltgeist’s smile was slow and languid, that of an eel moments before striking at the unassuming fish. “Rime? Interesting,” he stated far too casually. “Are you sure you’re not the one missing a press release? I was led to believe that title was…how is it said? ‘So last year’?” Weltgeist shook his head. “No, no, no, my puppet, no need to play coy with me. Someone with your history makes far too much of an impact for people such as I to not know about. Yet, I admire the attempt, feeble as it may be.”

The tone in his voice was louder and quieter at the same time, yet you could feel it like a pulse, a warbling note that rose and fell with hypnotic syncopation.

The man looked on in amusement as Cold Steel laughed. He even joined in, spreading his hands like a host at a party. “Of course not, Mr. Johnson!” he said gaily. “I would never dream of such a thing! I am merely telling you what I want and helping you and I get on the same page! Wouldn’t you like that? You want to agree with me, don’t you?”

The music soared and pounded.

Then Weltgeist glanced to the side, where Shultz had stood stiffly the entire time, hardly daring to breathe or even shiver as the room got colder and colder. Shultz, ever the idiot, ever the fool, ever loyal beyond comparison, was frowning. Now that was interesting. Shultz never had anything serious enough in his head to frown over.

“What is it, Shultz?” Weltgeist said cajolingly. “Please, speak your mind.”

A flash of fear splashed on Shultz’s face as he realized he was in the spotlight. “Uh, oh, it’s nothing, sir,” he said quickly, trying to clear his expression. It failed.

“Nonsense,” Welgeist declared. “Please, share with us. We’re all friends here, right, Rime? Don’t we all want to be friends? Friends tell each other everything.”

Immediately Shultz’s face softened. He took a deep breath. “I don’t understand, Herr Weltgeist,” he said. “If he’s not Odin, then how did he do that thing with the birds?”

Weltgeist stilled. “Birds?” he said.

“Yes,” Shultz nodded. “He had two birds with him. Crows. And a woman, but the crows talked to us. They threatened to eat us piece by piece, starting with our eyes.”

The eel-like smile returned and something dark and delighted entered Weltgeist’s eyes. “Well done, Shultz! You might be up for a commendation after this!”

“Th-thank you, sir.”

Weltgeist turned back to Cold Steel. “It seems as though you have more friends here than just me,” he said in feigned surprise. “Now that just won’t do. I love friends, I can never have enough! So why don’t you go bring me this friend of yours? I want you to find her and bring her to me, by whatever means possible. Now.” The song was roaring, screaming, shouting.

Weltgeist turned back to admire the spear on the wall. “It won’t be much longer now…” he breathed.

The icemancer half-listened to Weltgeist and Shultz’s interactions Sam was too busy trying to figure out the power the man held over him before he did anything he’d regret it was taking all he had to hold back his ‘control defense’ response. Making sure there were no little girls appearing out of thin air made of ice he flexed his hands the best he could. It seemed easy enough but Sam felt he had to think about it too much to get the hand to do what he wanted. The ice over said hand was more compliant.

”She isn’t exactly the friendly type.” Sam lied to the man before his body started to move to the door. Once again Sam was doing everything in his power to break the hold short of getting stabbed by his own power.

As he passed Shultz, Sam’s lone eye locked on the man as a chill surrounded him. ‘I’ll kill you for this.’ it didn’t need to be said but the message got across as Schultz backed up to a wall and slunk down a bit before the door opened for the icemancer. ”You should hold you’re breath.” he shouted back to Weltgeist as he moved down the hallway back the way he came.

It was a slow walk back, every step he tried to stop himself without his powers. The armor moved with him but it was staggered and slower. He wouldn’t do well in a fight like this so he decided to buy some time. Or was it the puppet masters plan all along? Sam didn’t have time to dwell on it. He was too close to Liz now. Bruno was the first to sound his arrival.

”Liz.... Keep your distance!” Sam shouted to her as he approached. ”Land the birds on me!” he said hoping to communicate with them instead of her directly.

Weltgeist was unmoved by the X-Man’s shouts and comments. It didn’t matter. He’d come around to Weltgeist’s way of thinking soon enough. They almost always did. What mattered was that the man still left.

Weltgeist’s power wasn’t like most other mind-controllers. Mind control wasn’t even the best description for his power. It was so…barbaric a term. He didn’t force people to do what he said - he could, but that commonly proved damaging to their minds when they inevitably fought it - but rather he nudged their minds, slowly gaining influence over them the longer they were together and the longer they talked. The longer they heard his psychic song, the more time it had to start rewiring their brains, until they wanted to do everything he said. They always fought it at first, even as they found themselves obeying him, but soon their fight would vanish as they began to want to help him in sincerity.

He didn’t control minds. He created loyalty.

He found it far more effective. Allies who could exert independent agency to achieve your cause because they believed in you were far more preferable to chained tools who fought you every step of the way.

However, he ensured that he wouldn’t be underestimating this X-Man. Many law enforcement agencies around the world continuously trained in anti-mind control techniques and mutants were especially unpredictable to control - you never knew when they had mental resistances or psionic powers of their own to bring to bear.

“Shultz, please inform Burkhalter that I want a squad of soldiers monitoring the new recruits,” he addressed the shuddering man. Shultz snapped to attention as best he could, despite the frost that had formed on his skin and clothes. “Tell him that if they feel the temperature drop even a single degree, they are to kill the new recruits.”

“At once, Herr Weltgeist!” Shultz said with a shivering salute before retreating into the hall.

-----------------------

Long before the blonde was spotted, she’d noticed the man in a suit of ice. The sky was beginning to erupt into explosions of color as twilight approached, heralding the onset of the diminishment of the efficacy of her raven scouts, but the wind was blowing in from the ocean, meaning all the smells of the compound were washing toward Liz and the super sensitive noses of the dogs.

Bruno made a noise but Liz squelched any further sounds from him immediately. “I know you’re excited,” she said soothingly as she stroked his head, “But don’t blow our cover yet.” Wordless images and feelings of danger and guarding flowed from her mind to his, even as she scanned his thoughts for what his nose detected. Sam was coming back but…something was off. Where was his ice slide?

When he finally hailed her, a dark feeling in her stomach began to arise. Zorro’s hackles rose in solidarity. “Acknowledged,” she replied over the comm. Something was terribly wrong indeed. He clearly didn’t want her close, but since she didn’t know the game plan, all she could do was hope to follow along.

<<Land on Sam/Ice Man/Cold Human/One Eye,>> she commanded the ravens as she rolled the window down. She flashed them images of Sam, from her own memories and even memories from seeing him through the eyes of the ravens. She detected bored recognition in the birds, as if to say her reminder of who he was was unnecessary, but there was compliance as well. <<Obey him, please.>>

The ravens took to the frigid air and swiftly streaked through the sky until they descended unto the man’s shoulders. Liz stayed quiet, letting him control the next play. Maybe other people were listening. Maybe they were watching. Maybe…oh God….wasn’t there a mind-puppeteer?

That feeling in her stomach grew darker and more unsettling.

Legs moving on their own were difficult to counter. Sam could feel himself wanting to move his legs on his own, to find Liz. It was what was requested of him and Sam had enough sense to tell the difference as to why he wanted to find her. For her to get to safety. Not by following him, no doubt Weltgeist wanted that. Maybe he should?

Sam’s hand trembled into a fist as he kept moving more due to the ice armor closing in around it. His powers seemed to be working a little bit differently under Weltgeist control. Which was good. This was nothing like Private Dancer’s powers. More like Amanda’s powers if anything. Only he was actually conscious the whole time. Not just seeing it in his nightmares. Sam made sure to stop thinking about Amanda. He didn’t need another manipulator in his head at the moment. One was enough.

The birds circled once then took their perches on his shoulders. Sam slowed. Liz was with him now, that was what Weltgeist wanted. However that also meant once he got close enough to the base she’d lose command of the birds. Sam frowned under his armor. He wanted to bring her. The snow around Sam’s feet shifted under the direction of his power for a moment and then he snapped his fingers (something Sam intended).

”Liz. Got an idea. You’re probably not gonna like it though...” he said talking to the birds hoping she was listening. ”I was instructed to collect you. Almost compelled to do it however I know what's going to happen when I do. I’m pretty sure I can get myself out of this, you on the other hand... not sure my methods will work the same.” he said not outright saying ‘I’m going to stab myself!’

”You familiar with the works of Homer? Pretty sure your boyfriend and you gab about all this stuff.” he said smirking under his armor making sure not to release his body from it for fear what he might do. ”How’d they ignore the call of the sirens?” knowing it was a long shot.