TITLE: Shine On You Crazy Godling 2/?
SERIES: Dark Side of the Rainbow
AUTHOR:  Raven4  ( arcadian13_2000@... )
ARCHIVE:  If ya wanna, just let me know so I can blush.
FANDOM:  X:WP, H:TLC
PAIRING:  Ares/Joxer, Strife/Cupid
RATING:  G (Hey, man, I'm just getting' started) OC
WARNINGS:
1. Never stick a pencil in your eye.  It hurts.  Ask Odin, he'll tell ya.
2. Possibly a Mary Sue, but I'm not sure.  I'm still fuzzy on the whole Mary Sue versus typical character thing.
3. HUMOR AHEAD!!!  Parts of this series will end up being very funny.  Parts of it will be very, very angsty.  I'm 
working on the details of the backstory including Eris suffering at the hands of some of the Norse gods.  I'll 
label each installment so Y'all can be fairly warned.
4. Liberties have been taken with the Norse gods and Ragnarok.  But I don't feel bad about it 'cause Strife is a 
new god anyway, and dammit, if the Asgaardians don't like it, they should say so!

DISCLAIMER:  Strife isn't mine.  If he were do you think I'd still be using a lighter to set off stinkbombs?.  The 
Greek Pantheon belongs to the Greek people, but given the condition of the temples, I'd say their gods are ready 
for a change..  The Asgaardians belong to the German and Swedish peoples, but since they never had much in the way 
of temples to begin with, I'm adopting them too.  Pthbbbbt!!!.  Herc and Xena folks belong to Ren Pics and Flat 
Earth Prods.  Go ahead, sue me.  I'd have more time to write in prison.
NOTES:  (Deep breath)  This is a sequel to Dark side of the Rainbow Bridge, which itself was a follow up on 
Scorpio's Pathos of Joxer.  If you haven't read 'em, don't come cryin' ta me if ya don't get this one.  For those 
of y'all that don't know, the Bifrost was a "Rainbow Bridge", and was supposedly the only entrance to the land of 
the Norse Gods.  Flames will be cheerfully ignored or used to keep Asgaard burning.

SUMMARY:  Strife is getting bored and an unknown ally steps up to the plate.


The normally manic god sat in his favorite chair and brooded.  Well, actually it wasn't his favorite chair, it was 

a replica of his favorite chair, and that was the problem.  He'd only been here a few weeks, a month or two at the 

most, and already he was so bored he wanted to tear his hair out.



Being a god, he'd never really given much thought to death, at least not his own.  Other peoples sure, but usually 

only in the context of how much trouble could be caused.  He was a god, and death was not supposed to be his 

problem.  Then one blonde bitch on the rampage of overcompensation had unexpectedly made it all very personal.



As if it weren't bad enough being dead, he had to deal with a home that looked just like his, but was subtly very 

not his, and made so as to constantly remind him that it was just barely off.  He was quite sure that Hades hadn't 

arranged it on purpose, but he was annoyed because it was just the sort of underhanded irritating thing he'd have 

loved...if it hadn't been happening to him.



Scowling, the black clad godling rose and began to pace.  He'd always enjoyed pacing, it annoyed people.  Other 

than the halls of war, this room had been his favorite pacing place, but it just wasn't the same any more.  The 

room had been recreated six paces too short.



"Fucking Hades."  He swore and threw himself back into his chair.



"Irritated, my lord?"  A large black bird croaked over his shoulder.  He scowled at her for good measure.  The 

irritating avian had shown up here on his first day, pestering him nonstop.  She was disrespectful in the extreme, 

but she wasn't boring, so he let her stay.  As if there was a damn thing he could do to make her leave stuck down 

here without his fucking powers.  Dammit!!!!



"What the hell are you doing here, anyway?!"  The dead god shouted.  "I certainly didn't have one of you at home."



"Just trying to make your eternity a bit less onerous, my lord Strife!"  The bird fluttered off to another perch, 

offended.  "I mean it's not like I'm the one stuck here."



"Shut up, Munin."  Strife threw a candlestick at the perch.  It missed.



"Puh-leze, Lord Strife.  If that's the worst mischief you can make its no wonder you're stuck here."  Strife 

glared at her, debating, but then slid back into his chair, shaking his head helplessly.  It wasn't worth the 

effort.



"Just go spy on someone else and leave me alone, Munin.  I'm not in the mood."  The raven cocked her head to one 

side for a moment, then ruffled her feathers and headed for the door, cawing to herself as she flew.



"I've got to find something to shake him out of this funk if it's the last thing I do."  Scowling, Munin flew off 

in search of trouble.



Strife looked up briefly as the bird left the room.  He contemplated calling her back.  Isolated as he was, she 

was at least another voice to talk to.



"Fuck it."  He said at last, and returned to his brooding.


Munin flew low over the vales and streams of the Grekkenheim, Olympus.  It was too tamely cultivated for her 

tastes, but then, next to Asgaard anything would be.



"What Strife needs is a chance to make mischief even in exile."  She mused.  "Something to prove to himself that 

he's still got what it takes.  Then he can turn that dangerous mind to getting out of that hole."



Extending her hearing, Munin soared over several temples, fishing for any useful tidbit.  She was just passing the 

ghastly pink and white marble edifice dedicated to Aphrodite when she heard it.  Circling down, she perched on an 

arras and trained her ears on the conversation within.



Moments later she was winging back toward Hades laughing softly.



"Oh it's too good, it's just too good."



She blew into Strife's chamber, twittering to herself helplessly.



"Oh baby, are you gonna love this."  She croaked.



"I thought I told you to get lost."  Strife muttered from his chair.  "If I still had my powers there'd be raven 

stew for dinner."



"Poor powerless Strife."  Munin sing-songed.  "Tell me, mischief god, are you up to causing trouble without them?"



"What are you nattering about, birdy?"  He snapped, intrigued in spite of himself.



"I have some information for you, which, if turned to your purposes could lead to some truly dreadful Strife."



The deposed god pursed his lips for a moment, then sat back in his chair.



"Spill it."



"I've just come from your erstwhile home, Aphrodite's pink palace in fact, miserable excuse for a love goddess 

that she is, and I heard something with definite possibilities."



"What?"  Strife pressed, impatient.



"It would appear that she-who-grants-all-love had a match planned between two pretty boys she knows, but one of 

them is so straight you could level houses with him, so she herded Cupid into helping her, and they've come up 

with something dangerous."



"And that is?"  He asked, leaning forward slightly.



"A new arrow for Cupid's bow.  One guaranteed to change the sexual orientation of anyone even pricked with it."



Strife's eyes widened as his mind, lulled into sluggishness by weeks of inactivity, began to twist and whir once 

again.  Biting the corner of his full lower lip, he leaned back again, throwing one leg over the arm of the chair 

as he thought.



"That would indeed be a useful tool in the right, or rather, wrong hands, but how can I use it when it's up there, 

and I'm down here."  He looked at the bird pointedly.



"Honestly, my lord Strife," Munin said in an injured tone.  "You don't think I'd dangle such a tasty treat in 

front of you without offering some means of securing it, do you?  I can get you the arrow."



He patted the arm of the chair next to him and she glided over to perch on it, her glossy black beak inches from 

his wild haired head.



"What's your plan?"  He asked.



"I just get the arrow, you decide how and on whom it should be used."  The bird was regarding him intensely.  "I 

will work your will in the worlds, lord Strife."  She whispered.



"Uh huh."  He narrowed his eyes at her.  "And what's in it for you, Birdy?"



The raven fluffed up her pin feathers, looking wounded.



"How can you possibly doubt MY sincerity?"  She huffed.  Strife stared at her, lips quirked until she dissolved 

into giggles.



"Okay, okay.  I did something in my own lands; something no one knows about.  If the remnants of my people ever 

find out, I could be in pretty deep kimchee, so I need a new nest.  It works out for both of us."  Munin was very 

glad of the times she had spent with Loki in the before, learning the art of what he called the "con".  "I get to 

become your right hand.  I serve and protect you, you protect me when you can, and I get to go wherever you do, 

always."



Strife thought for a second, frowning.  It was an uncomfortably vague agreement at best, but since she was the 

only game in town and he wasn't likely to ever get out of this cage anyway, he didn't figure that it could hurt.  

At least, not him.



"It's a deal."  He said at last.



"Kick ass."  Munin said, and he could almost hear her grinning.  "So what do we do first?"



"Well," He paused, beginning to grin.  "Revenge has always been a favorite of mine, right after chaos.  I think 

we may be able to kill two...er...nevermind."



Munin cocked her head at him.



"Very funny, O pasty one."



"Yeah well,...  What season is it up there anyway?"  He asked, thinking hard.



"Two weeks until the autumn equinox, my lord."



"Oh that's priceless."  Strife launched himself from his chair, knocking the raven into a confused tumble of 

feathers and cawing that resolved itself into a glide and some ruffling.  Not noticing his new servant's offense, 

he began to pace rapidly.



"Get me that arrow birdy and let's have some fun."