Awakening to Greatness

[American Dream]

Eyes, so heavy...where am I...?...floating, weightless... Shannon Carter, the girl known as American Dream opened an eyelid ever so slightly. It took all of the strength in her body to do so, she was teetering on the very edge of life and death as it were.

She managed to glimpse the thunder god THOR holding her in his arms as they entered a huge hall. They had been only moments before in the land of Limbo, where....she was recalling it slowly now....she had been mortally wounded. An ax to her back, spine must have been severed, something not right here...I should be dead.

Hands, caressing... holding.. carrying me? What is happening? she thought in fragments. Flashes of the world around her were making their way into her mind. Suddenly - PAIN!!!




The ax in her back had been forced free, she felt the icy cold of the air. Drafty in this place, what is that murmuring sound? she wondered. It seemed like something was happening in her like a warmth was filling her from the pit of her stomach, the place where she always went to for her guidance. Shannon never relied too heavily on her thoughts, she went with her guts. It was the place she trusted most, the place where courage dwelt, where fear would take hold and twist if you weren't strong inside, and she was so very strong inside. She had no super powers to speak of and yet in her time she was one of the Mighty Avengers. She was the last Avenger, she carried the burden of that knowledge and the shield of the first Avenger. If Captain America had been the Alpha, she was most certainly the Omega.

Opening her eyes fully she saw she had been laid on the floor of a great hall. There were several robed figures above her, one held the ax in his hands. Sitting up she looked to see Thor, standing there with little Elixir's dead body over his shoulder. "Thor?" she asked finally finding her voice "Where are we?"

[THOR]

Thor smiled at American Dream and handed her Captain America's shield. "Welcome to Asgard, Lady Shannon Carter, American Dream," he said with a smile at her. "We are inside the Valhalla. Thou have brought thee to my home, for the chance to stay alive and be honored as the hero thou is," Thor said as he turned to look at the robed Asgardian healers. He bowed to them and smiled at American Dream.

He brought them here for a reason, feeling something in the dead girl's spirit that showed a sign of an Asgardian worthy blessing. That and in the Hall of Fallen Heros, he felt that there was someone that would want his shield back. Thor smiled at the thought of some of the others in that hall, mortals from his past that had proven themselves worthy of an Asgardian blessing to live out eternity until the final battle Ragnarok where they would fight for Asgard and the Universe.

"Once you are ready to walk, we will go to Valhalla, into Hall of Fallen Heroes. Only warriors that have proven themselves worthy are allowed entrance. Our healers have brought you back from the brink of death, for your destiny is still ahead of you," Thor said with a wise look in his eyes as he looked over the woman that literally sprang on them.

[American Dream]

"Val---halla...?" Shannon said her eyes going wide as she turned to see the source of the light that was flowing through the huge arched doorway behind her. "This is..? You mean I was...? This is Asgard?" she said taking the shield as it had been offered.

"Oh, ready to walk? I'm ready to walk THOR. No question there." she said sliding the shield into place on her arm and gripping tightly around the leathery handle. "What's with the girl though? I know she died bravely for her fellow mutants, but why bring her here? And what is this destiny you have for me to face?"

Never one to shirk her responsibilities. Nor one to back down, well she wasn't always the hero she came to be today. There was a time when Shannon Carter was only just a scared little girl. Powerless and orphaned. She had been in the car accident that had killed her parents, seat belt buckled in the back seat. She had found herself wheelchair bound and without a will to face another day, and she was only just a kid, about the same age as Elixir when it happened.

Her Dad had been a small town cop, big on law and order, even bigger on responsibility.Her Mom taught second grade. They were the typical Midwestern family, living the American dream...until that fateful day. Not wanting to think of them in pain Shannon chose to believe her folks died instantly, without pain, without fear. She herself lay trapped for what seemed like a million years.

Another million years it seemed passed while she lay in a hospital bed as the powers that be tried to find her next of kin. One day Aunt Peggy arrived and it was not a happy day. She explained that she was her father's cousin and seeing the old woman drove home the fact that all of it, the accident, her parent's death, her own broken body, was not just some crazy dream she would awaken from.

Shannon would eventually come to learn that her Aunt Peggy was something of a family celebrity. She had worked in Avengers Mansion for years. She had actually met Captain America, Thor,Iron Man and many other legendary heroes. Those heroes who had given their lives for the betterment of the world. Who had passed away themselves in defense of freedoms and liberties she was thankful to have.

Aunt Peggy had tried to encourage her to get up out of the wheelchair, and walk. Shannon could remember the day like i was yesterday. The rage, over losing her parents, the defeat she felt at the savage blow fate had dealt her. They had told her at the hospital she would never walk again, and she believed it. She had cried out, in a fit of anger, how she couldn't walk. Then Aunt Peggy handed her something that changed her life. A stack of hand written diaries she said belonged to her sister Sharon.

Aunt Sharon had been some kind of government bureaucrat, at least that's what everybody in the Carter family thought. They couldn't have been more wrong. She was an agent of S.H.E.I.L.D., and her boyfriend was the one and only Captain America. For what seemed to Shannon the next few centuries she devoured the words written in the diaries. Thrilling to the exploits.

That was when she learned that no battle was ever truly lost, no cause ever completely hopeless, as long as you had the courage and determination to find a way to win. Filled with a newfound sense of strength, and inspired to start her struggle and overcome the long odds against her, she agreed to physical therapy. She would walk again! She would walk, and she would do far more than that!

[THOR]

"Verily the answers to these questions will be revealed! Come!! We enter the Hall !" the God of Thunder proclaimed as he led the mortal woman Shannon Carter into the most amazing structure any mortal eyes would ever gaze upon while still living.

Inside the Hall of the Fallen was a warm and earthy atmosphere. It smelled of smoke and roasting meat and the din of conversation was heard spiked through at times by loud exclamations, or proclamations of acts of valor. Boasting was not uncommon, as many of the Heroic souls herein had much to be proud of. The clatter of dishes was heard as well at the far end of the hall beyond the long feasting table that stretched the entire length of the room and was in the center of the floor.

Around the outside of the table a tier of levels of floor showed through the smoky air and there was much adornment on the walls. Swords and shields hung there as well as spears and bows, axes and helms. There was a conspicuous spot on the wall, it looked bare as a snail out of it's shell, and at the table, seated before it was a man who was hardly recognizable under a heavy growth of beard.

"Thine shield thou carry. It doth go there, behind the man that thoust very breath doth honor." THOR pointed to the spot on the wall devoid of regalement and color. "Thou knowest him, go and introduce thyself, give back to him that which he gaveth to thee."

[American Dream]

Glancing around the room Shannon saw the ceiling and the walls there were pillars and soft plush looking pillows and animal skins and many many men, some younger some older many bearded. Then as Thor spoke to her she looked to see him, the man he said she honored. "Who? the little guy? The blond with the beard?" she asked.

Hefting her shield she walked over to the far end of the table, around the raised outer level of the room and as she got closer to the man she saw he was not so very small. He was a big guy and massively muscled in a manner that looked quite agile, but in comparison to all of the other men in the Hall he was a bit on the small side. "Excuse me?" she said finding her voice as she approached him. No it isn't...is it? she thought as she got a closer look at his face. It was in his eyes, she did know this man. "You're Captain--- you're my hero.." the words caught in her throat and as if form a scene out of an old western movie all the noise in the whole of Valhalla ceased at her words.

"I have your shield, still... thank you" it was strange, she knew she carried a shield that had come from another man, and yet he was the same man just from another reality, here though it didn't seem to matter....here it just was him, it just seemed right. "I have taken good care of it and I suppose it should go here on the wall." she glanced to the spot where the honored symbol of the 'Symbol of Honor'- Captain America's, shield should belong, "Uh, one day I'll get it again from you?... or something?... I guess?" it was confusing as American Dream tried to shuffle it all in her head ...time travel...dimensions...lands of god...of demons...

Hearing a young girl's voice the sound of it as if she was waking up from a long sleep she turned to see that Thor was placing Elixir down before a woman who looked quite striking. The girl took a knee and bowed to the woman. Words were exchanged between them as Shannon watched for a moment before returning to her senses and taking her shield off to give back to it's rightful owner. "Thank you Cap, thank you for everything...you helped me to be who I am today." She smiled as she handed it back to him.

At that moment the woman who stood before Elixir spoke loudly, to American Dream, her words echoing off the hallowed hall and sounding quite commanding "Now YOU, Shannon Carter will help my young Valkyrie to become who she shall be." Shannon's eyes widened at the tall order she had been issued, and she turned to look at the woman and the small blind girl. Valkyrie!?! Me?... train her...to be a Valkyrie??? Ooooh, so this is the destiny Thor mentioned.... she thought.