• The blades of grass crumpled under his feet as he walked through the churchyard. The church loomed over him, dominating his field of view. Damn, I hope they get here soon. This place is scaring the s**t out of me. He stubbed out his cigarette on the church wall, scuffing his shoes against the sidewalk. Sighing, he ran his hands through his black hair. He hated being kept waiting. These punks were trying his last nerve. First, they have the nerve to set a meeting here, of all places, and then they decide to make him wait. He pulled out another cigarette and lit up, making shapes in the smoke as he exhaled.
    Then he saw movement from the corner of his eye. Finally, took your damn time, didn't you? He turned to look at the group of kids coming toward him. One was a tall jock sort of guy, muscular build, kind of dumb. He fit the stereotype nicely. The next was a short, red-headed kid. He didn't look like much, but appearances could be decieving. The last few kids were nondescript, like clones.
    "So, you actually showed up. You're dumber than you look." The jock thought he was being clever. Such an idiot, he probably didn't even know half of what he was saying.
    "At least I'm smart enough to be on time. You're at least an hour late, and I was getting tired of waiting. So, what do you have planned for tonight's festivities?"
    The red head decided to speak up this time. "We were planning on winning a bet. Hopefully you can hold up your end of the deal."
    "That won't be hard. If you win, that means I'm dead, remember? I'm surprised at you, Lex. You're supposed to be the smart one. Have you thought of how you'll explain his death to the others?"
    "Yes, but I feel confident that he'll win. Just look at him." Lex glanced at his champion, quite probably the dumbest creature in existence, but close in strength to an angry orangutan.
    "Ah, but you don't see the irony in that statement. If you're so confident, then why would you have thought of how you're going to explain his death? Anyway, let's get on with it. Not like he has much longer to live anyway."
    He put out his cigarette and grabbed his bag that was leaning against the church wall. He unzipped it and slid out a sword, secured in its ornate scabbard. He looked up at Lex and his ape and smiled. So far nothing had come away from this razor-edged blade. He unclasped the scabbard and drew the blade forth, its length shining in the dark. Lex began to look nervous, but didn't withdraw his champion.
    The gorilla didn't look even remotely phased by the blade, but he stared at it with the interest of an infant. He seemed to have an infant's brain capacity, so it all fit together. Lex clapped his hands and two of the mindless drones behind him brought forward a large case, emgraved with Norse symbols. Lex ran his hand over the surface of the case and opened the clasps. He looked like a child who had just discovered something he knew he wasn't supposed to.
    Inside the case was a large silver hammer, ornately engraved with many Norse runes and symbols. The head of the hammer was massive, and carved into its surface were a lightning bolt and several runes, shining silver. The swordsman wasn't sure from this distance, but he had an idea what the symbols said. So far, it wasn't good.
    The jock looked at the hammer and smiled gleefuly. "Mjolnir, hammer of the great god Thor." Lex smiled triumphantly, as if he had already won. The big monkey grabbed the hammer and swung it esperimentally a few times, getting a feel for its weight.
    Lex called the two warriors to the middle, where the battle would begin. He raised his hand high, and then dropped it quickly, signifying the start of the battle.
    The swordsman jumped back, dodging the awkward swing that the monkey tried to pull off. Looks like he hasn't totally adjusted to its weight yet. The swordsman rushed forward, his blade spinning in a dazzling lightshow. As he expected, the ape-man went to block the first swing, expecting it to stop there, but the swordsman transitioned beautifully into a new stance, blade coming up and under his opponents defenses.
    He met with a hard substance, sparks flying, his sword bouncing off like a ball. He should have expected Lex would use armor. Cheating b*****d. Now he had to figure out how to get past the armor, preferrably before the big lug adjusted to Mjolnir.
    If there was armor, there were straps. Now, the problem came in finding them. He assumed they were at the shoulders, but that wasn't necessarily true. Only one way to find out.
    The swordsman weaved himself around the large man, placing himself in a positon to strike the shoulders. As his blade landed, there were more sparks and his blade was repelled again. Maybe there weren't straps, but instead clasps. That would render his efforts useless. Instead of wasting time trying to discover if the armor had clasps or straps, the swordsman decided to try a different tactic. He jumped up the other fighter's back, easily avoiding a sloppy backswing with the hammer, and then thrust his blade down into the man's head. Messy, but it got the job done. He pulled his sword free and landed gracefully on the asphalt, the big monkey falling in a heap on the ground.
    "I believe I win, Lex. Now, I will claim what's mine." The swordsman grabbed Mjolnir and walked over to where its large case lay, on the ground, surrounded by the clones. He placed the hammer inside and slid his sword back into its scabbard, then placed it back in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He walked off, picking up the case containing the hammer on his way.
    Lex stood dumbfounded as all this was going on, but when the swordsman began to leave, he called out, "Wait! You can't do this to me, Van. You can't leave. That hammer is mine."
    "Well, it's mine now, as per our deal. By the way, you can call me Baldur." And with that, the swordsman left the churchyard.