Sif was at Bill's side in a moment. She looked at his shoulder, the one that carried the implant. It was burned black, the thinnest trail of smoke rose up from it. "Your implant?"

"When you knocked me out, I managed to reset some of my core systems, including the one that deals with foreign infections and invasive technology." The cyborg's eyes searched the cavern,

Sif raised an eyebrow. "You planned this?"

"Getting knocked out wasn't part of the plan, though it did expedite things." He glanced at her for a moment. "Impressive technique."

Sif paused. "Thank you," she said, looking away.

A crash thundered throughout the cavern as Ulik landed, cracking the stone beneath his feet. His gaze fell on the pair of combatants in the center. An assortment of metal rings interlocked around his fingers like brass knuckles. But they weren't brass. No, Sif recognized the metal immediately: Uru, the metal used in the creation of Thor's own hammer. Where could this monster have obtained uru? "Step aside, Asgardian. Your death comes later. It is the cyborg first."

Sif's face twisted in anger. Commanding a warrior of Asgard to stand aside. He would learn the meaning of war. As she stepped, Bill grabbed her arm. "Your implant is still active," he said. His voice grew low. "I will deal with the troll."

Before Sif could respond, Bill surged forward, meeting Ulik in a thunderous collision, sending waves of force across the arena floor.

Odin's beard, Sif thought. They're as strong as Thor. The other trolls stood ready on the arena walls and balconies, each carrying a weapon of enormous size, be it warhammer or blaster. Sif could feel her the passive heat of the implant and she had no illusion that she could fight off a horde of armed trolls while resisting its effects. She had to remove it, but how?

Her answer came from a glint of light on the far-side: her sword. She had thrown it as a means of distracting Bill during their bout and it had embedded itself within the wall. She looked down at her shoulder. Only the ends of the wiring stuck out, the rest hidden beneath muscle and sinew.

Lady Sif sighed. What the Hel? she thought, leaning forward, grinding one heel into the ground. It's worth a shot.

…

Bill brought up his arms in time to protect his face, but the troll's metal-studded knuckles slammed into him with enough force to send him back skidding back a good twenty feet. The troll was stronger than he expected, but underestimating the wrong people was becoming something of a trend.

Good thing he's slow, Bill thought, dodging through a series of haymakers. A wide shot and an opening. Bill slammed both of his fists into the creature's solar plexus with enough strength to dent Chitauri metal. The troll grunted and smiled, revealing a row of blocky, uneven teeth. "Is that all you've got?"

Bill didn't care to respond. To fight one has to know their purpose. Bill knows his purpose and it isn't to talk.

A streak shot past Ulik's back, Bill's eyes following it instinctively. Sif? he thought. What in damnation—? Bill only just managed to duck to the left, avoiding the troll's enormous fist by a hair; he couldn't dodge the follow-up, which slammed hard into Bill's side.

If Bill had a need for air, the stone wall would've knocked it out of his lungs; instead, the pain was cold while trailed along his mechanical nerves. He looked far to his left. Lady Sif had reached her thrown sword and ripped it free from the wall. Damn it, Bill thought. She couldn't be planning trying to fight with her implant still live.

Instead Sif held the blade close to her face, turning it about in her hand. Examining it. Then she flipped it downwards, raised it, and shoved the blade into her shoulder.

…

Sif's shoulder exploded with pain and quite possibly actual explosives. She clenched her teeth against the scream in her threat. Soon it'll just be another scar earned, she thought. When she looked down, she was pleased to see her shoulder did not actually explode, but she could hear the whir of dying machinery. A few more shudders of pain and she managed to slide the sword out. The damage was clean.

She had still had some function in her right arm, but moving it reignited the wound with fresh fire, as if it was stabbed all over again.

She turned to see the two combatants had paused their fight to look at her. Bill was staring at her a mixture of disbelief and…was that admiration? Maybe a speck of it. It only took Ulik a moment to realize what her purpose had been.

"Room for one more?" Sif said, taking the sword up in her left hand.

Ulik growled, glare switching between the two. "Forget this," he said. "Get them."

A cacophony of roars shook the foundations as rock trolls leapt into the arena. A superheated projectile shot within a few inches of Sif's past, the air bursting with heat. They'll try and isolate us, she thought. Got to reach Bill.

The wound in her shoulder slowed her and impaired her skill, but Lady Sif traced through a mass of troll body's, leaving an untold number of scars in her wake. One particularly large troll shouldered an enormous energy cannon. Sif smiled. That will do.

She only had a moment to take stock of her opponent, but eyes that have seen a thousand years' worth of war and combat knew where to look. He stood at least twice her height. In her injured state, she doubted she could jump high to strike at his head, at least not quickly enough. His arms were within reach, but they were within his range as well. That left…

As she closed in, the large troll tried to crush her beneath his feet, but she slid through and sliced at his other foot; her sword met the back of his ankle and cut clean through, a red ribbon following the tip of her sword.

The troll falling to his knee nearly caused a tremor, but Sif didn't stop. She threw her sword into the creature's lower back; Lady Sif ran only a split second. Even as the troll staggered from the sword's impact, she leapt up and landed on the flat of the sword. It held her weight as she pressed off against the troll and threw herself against the cannon, knocking it from the troll's shoulder.

The cannon landed with a crash with Sif following nimbly behind it. Let's see what you can do, she thought. The cannon was large, at least seven feet in length. But, with a grunt, she managed to heft it onto her good shoulder. It didn't have a trigger; instead, an assortment of buttons on the side seemed to control it. Most of the buttons were ripped out except for one. Sif pressed.

A ray of molten heat shot from the head of the cannon. The beam slammed into an unsuspecting troll, vaporizing him completely. Sif released the button and the beam stopped. She stared in surprise at the gap she had created in the trolls' number. Oh yeah, she could work with this.

…

Bill tore a large-headed hammer from its owner's grip before swinging it back, sending the troll flying into a group of its companions. He wanted to say this wasn't the outcome he wanted, but he didn't really put much thought into his "plan."

A red beam cast its vibrant light through the cavern followed by troll screams cut short. Through the troll ranks, he could make out Lady Sif carrying some sort of cannon on her shoulder, firing in sustained bursts.

This woman is mad, he thought, but began making his way to her, slamming trolls out of his way. Soon enough, he had reached her. "Bill," she shouted over the pounding of the cannon's pistons. "You seemed to possess some semblance of a plan. Might I know what it is?"

"It was pretty much fight the biggest guy here," Bill said, moving to cover her flank.

Sif rolled her eyes, but before locking onto another advancing troll and sending a short blast its way. "Well, you fought him. What's the next step?"

Bill stopped himself from admitting he had no plan, not that she was unaware. He just didn't want to admit. He risked a couple glances towards the gates. More allies would be useful, but they'd be incapacitated by the implants. He doubted many of them would be willing to impale their own shoulders and he couldn't disable the implants quickly. But maybe he wouldn't have to it.

He blinked and the world turned a greyish-blue. The cannon on Sif's shoulder was alight and pulsing red. Other electronics pulsed with a similar energy. He scanned the room and saw something. A monitor of some sort, propped against the wall; it sent off faint signals that led towards the prisoners' holding rooms. An inactive signal. That had to be.

Bill's vision returned to normal. Batting another troll aside, he moved closer to Sif. "Fire at that upper monitor towards the bronze gate." To his surprise, Sif turned without a word and fired a single blast at the monitor, punching through it and melting the remains. Bill saw the signal die. "Now fire at the gates."

Once more, Sif responded. She held the beam steady as it melted the metallic gates, Bill crushing any troll that got too close. Moments later, Bill heard the warning he was waiting. "The prisoners are free!" Ulik's voice said with a hint of static interference.

Bill threw his hammer, letting it fell a group of trolls moving towards the hesitant prisoners. "No more slaves!" Bill shouted. "Claim your freedom!" At his urging, the prisoners took up the arms of the already fallen trolls. A kronan lifted Bill's hammer and let out a roar that sounded like a crumbling mountain. The trolls' numbers began to dwindle.

"It seems your planning is working, Bill," Lady Sif said, smiling at him.

"Well…I did have some help," Bill said, turning away. Things had gone far better than they deserved and now came the part where he actually did have a plan. Reach Skuttlebutt. "We need to get to my ship."

…

Sif left to Bill to aid the prisoners push back the trolls. She met her fellow Asgardians by the gate; they had taken up weapons, but hadn't joined in the fray.

"Stick together," Sif said. "We think we have a way, but we need to reach it." They nodded their understanding. "Good. Who among you is the leader?"

They paused a moment before a blonde woman raised her hand, hesitantly. Sif raised an eyebrow. This one? she thought. She didn't look a warrior at all. "I am, Lady Sif," she said. She spoken evenly, at least. She didn't seem any more frightened than the rest; better composed, if anything. "My name is Lofn."

Sif was skeptical, but all the other Asgardians seemed to content. "Well, Lofn, it is our job to lead our people to safety." Lofn nodded. "Let us join Bill and the other prisoners."

Bill was speaking with the kronan when Sif and the Asgardians arrived, but before Sif could speak, her vision flashed and all her senses left her. She was kneeling and she felt…grass. And a breeze.

Another vision. No, the same vision. A location unknown on Midgard.

"Lady Sif," came Odin's voice. It was solid this time.

She turned and saw him. Odin All-Father sat on a stone, no longer in the golden armor he had warn for thousands of years. No longer carrying his mighty spear, Gungnir, by his side. But he was here. He looked solid, real. Moreso than when she saw him last, than when…he banished her from Asgard.

Sif knelt before him. "All-Father," she said stiffly, eyes focused on the ground beneath him. She didn't want to look at him. She told herself she didn't deserve to; she had been banished after all. Her heart skipped a beat. Is that why he was here? Would he allow her return? "It pleases me to see you."

"Lying was never your strong suit, Lady Sif. Nor Thor's," he said. "Now that is one gift I am glad I did pass onto him, or you, for that matter."

"I'm…afraid I don't know what you're talking about, my lord."

Odin laughed. It was soft. Not the hearty laugh of an Asgardian, heavy with mead and light on reason. "I suppose you don't. Come now," he said. "On Asgard, you were always a beacon of truth. Lies possess no allure in your eyes, I already know this. So I want to hear the truth from you."

Sif swallowed. "What truth?"

"The truth is you, Lady Sif, most loyal servant of Asgard…are angered with me."

Sif finally looked up, a mix of emotions running through her mind. Fear, shame, doubt. Anger. "N-no, my lord…"

"You were angered by your banishment, yes?" Odin said. Sif paused. "You were angered that, after over a thousand years of dutiful, fighting over thousand wars, you were banished from your home. All for aiding my son in saving us all."

"…Yes," she said slowly. "Of course I was." Sif stood. Her mind felt clear. "I am still angry."

Odin smiled. "And not unjustly," he said, standing. His clothes looked as if from Midgard. What has he been doing? "You were wronged. I wish I could make things right." For the first time since Queen Frigga's death, Sif saw a terrible sadness tear away at Odin, his expression growing grim as if he aged another thousand years before her eyes. "I wish I could make so many things right."

"Then take me back," Sif said through clenched teeth. "Please. I want to go back to Asgard. I want to see its golden halls. I want to fight beside its people. I want to spar with Hogrun and banter with Fandral. I want to sit and eat with Volstagg's family." She realized tears had started to form. She wiped them away with a sigh. "I want to see Thor grow to become the king I always knew he would be."

The All-Father sighed. "Lady Sif, I am sorry," he said, bowing his head. "I am so sorry. None of those things are possible. Asgard…" Odin looked up at her with his one eye. "Asgard as you know it will soon be gone forever. Ragnarok has begun."