Avengers: The King of Kings Chapter 36: Rogers VS The Hammers From Hell, an avengers fanfic

Avengers: The King of Kings.

Summary: "One year after Ceil Zak'Vael's defeat, tensions are running in all new highs as anticipation for the Black Hunt's return takes its toll. After reaching a breaking point with Loki, who has grown distant as "the inevitable" looms closer, Thor returns to Earth in hopes of clearing his head before the fight that is to come. However, his "pity party" is quickly interrupted when he inexplicably reunites with the Avengers, who give him some disturbing news: millions of people have been disappearing, and some of the biggest cities in the world have gone dark. With S.H.I.E.L.D scrambling for answers, they're finally forced go after the one man they believe capable of such chaos- Loki. Now, tasked with saving the Earth from certain doom- and his brother from wrongful imprisonment- while at the same time trying to find a reason to keep fighting, Thor's got to decide what's worth what and, most importantly, why, before an old enemy returns to wreck havoc on the one place that was supposed to stay safe- and with a near-silent, morose Loki by his side and constant infighting within the Avengers to boot, Thor's got his work cut out for him… but when tragedy strikes too close to home, it's time to get serious again."

Warning: "This will be a relatively tame fanfic, with the exception of some blood, violence, angst, some language, a character death or two, and other adult situations. So, to be on the safe side, we'll be going with Rated T. I have watched the Avenger's movie and all relating Marvel movies, but this does not mean that I am perfect and/or know absolutely everything there is to know about, and I'm bound to forget or misuse some small detail. So, with that, please forgive me if I screw up, and just enjoy the story."

Disclaimer: "I do not own Thor. Please don't ruin my day by thinking I do."

Author's Note: This story is dedicated to PhantomLilac AND MischievousChaos."

N._.s._.S

Chapter Thirty-Six: Rogers VS. The Hammers From Hell.

"You can't hammer in a nail with words... but you can start a war with them."

- Ben Galley.

Cap dived into a small alleyway, managing to get behind a dumpster just as the air behind him crackled and exploded. He landed heavily on the ground, but wasted no time quickly pulling himself back to his feet and throwing his shield up in a futile attempt to dampen the blow from the next blow. It didn't do any good, though, and he ended up loosing his footing again anyway, rendering him trapped and (mostly) defenseless as Xu'Vael approached out of the swirling, ashen remains of his magic.

It is useless, The Vael growled at him, swinging his two hammers dangerously close, as though he meant to smash them together again and create another powerful explosion soon,You are trapped.

Cap didn't bother to answer the taunt. Instead, he slowly got back to his feet again, keeping his blazing, steely-blue eyes trained on his foe, swinging his shield over his shoulder again as Xu'Vael stepped closer, obviously preparing for another blow.

Your shield is made out of some strong stuff, Xu'Vael commented, suddenly, after a long, tense silence, It has held up so resiliently against my Hell Hammers. Such a feat is unheard of.

"It's no ordinary shield,"Cap answered, hoping to buy time,"Not even Mjolnir can make a dent."

Mjolnir was forged within the heart of a dying star, Xu'Vael's pitch-black eyes flashed rather thoughtfully at Cap as he replied, quite calmly, Or so I have heard. Such Asgardian tales are not meant to be taken seriously, as their Aesir tellers usually inflate them to justify their inbred arrogance.

Cap had a sneaking feeling Xu'Vael had just insulted Thor, and his fists clenched at the thought.

Much like the Jotun, the Aesir often believe themselves to be on a much higher level than the other Realms, Steve Rogers- though obviously it is quite the opposite, Xu'Vael continued, ignoring the obvious anger mounting behind Cap's steely eyes as he added, But I assume fighting alongside Thor Odinsson and his intrepid little brother have taught you so?

"You're wrong," Cap told him, quietly, after the silence had drawn out for a moment.

Am I? Xu'Vael chuckled, hefting up his hammers again, How now?

"Thor and Loki fought to protect Earth and stop you- they were our allies, and our friends, no matter Loki's dealings with us in the past," Cap declared, surprising himself with the sheer certainty and strength in his voice, "And Loki even gave his life to save us, and give us a chance to take you down."

At that, Xu'Vael actually laughed.

The Vael's laugh was high, chilling, and truly one of the strangest, terrifying things Rogers had ever heard or even seen in his life- and he'd faced down the likes of HYDRA, the Red Skull, Alexander Pierce, the Gods of Thunder and Mischief, an infuriated Hulk- and not to mention a drunk Tony Stark- without so much as a blink of an eye.

You truly believe that makes any difference? Xu'Vael demanded with a mocking, dismissive shake of his head, black eyes positively alight in mirth, All he did was get himself out of the way, saving Lor'Vael the trouble of wringing his neck himself.

The image of Loki lying unnaturally still, covered in sheets, back in the Med Bay of Stark Tower flashed in front of Cap's eyes, closely followed by the nightmarish one of Thor sitting covered in his brother's blood in the middle of an empty, flooded Boston street, cradling the body against his chest, his formerly brilliant, azure eyes painfully dark and broken; made Cap's blood boil instantly.

Without waiting for his opponent to act first, and without a word, Cap threw the shield, and since Xu'Vael hadn't expected the super-soldier to attack so soon, he was caught completely off-guard against it.

There was a sickening, splitting crack as the shield hit Xu'Vael square in the forehead. The force was so great that it made Xu'Vael drop his two hammers as he was rocketed backwards, landing a good thirty or forty feet away and even then flipping several times over before finally coming to a rest. Of course, the brilliantly-colored Vibranium shield ricocheted off the ground with its impact and was thrown through the windows of the building behind the Vael and unceremoniously disappeared again.

Cap dashed across the street after the Vael after it became clear that Xu'Vael wasn't moving anytime soon, hoping the blow had been enough to silence the terrible creature for good.

The soldier knelt by his fallen foe, cautiously peering into the emptiness of the creature's eyes.

Xu'Vael lay spread eagle on the ground, his eyes just barely open, black hair splayed across his face, shoulders, and over the ground he rested on.

It was then that Cap finally got a really good look at him.

He saw the unnatural sharpness of the Vael's body, lean muscle and black, smooth exoskeleton replacing where normal skin and curves should have been; saw the white, bloodless fibers exposed by the breaking of it, already starting to sizzle and burn away under the dim light of the distant horizon.

You are a fool if you believe this makes any difference at all.

Cap stared down at the Vael as Xu'Vael's dark eyes flickered open again. Even as Cap drew cautiously away, clearly expecting another attack, the dying creature paid no mind.

"Every little bit counts," He stated, gravely, as Xu'Vael shuddered violently at his feet, "Every fight, every struggle, everything always counts in the end."

Such simplicity is a Human's lot, Xu'Vael answered, My death does not prove you are right.

"And just because you have lost doesn't mean you're a martyr, either."

A martyr? Xu'Vael blinked up at him, That is not even close to what I am.

"And what are you, then?"

Xu'Vael's answer was brief, but grave. A servant.

Other than what Loki had told them about the Vael and the Black Hunt in general, Cap had little to no knowledge about Vael culture; but something about that response bothered him.

"Is that what they told you?"

They did not need to.

Xu'Vael watched with some faint, grim amusement as Cap let that sink in before continuing.

That is what is wrong with humanity. Even that peacenik fool Hernsson acknowledged it before his little coup, He declared softly, closing his eyes as his body shuddered again, You put far too much stock in freedom; decrying the lack of it as 'oppressive' and 'evil.'

"That's because it is."

At that, Xu'Vael laughed again; but unlike last time, his laugh was now more amused than derisive, and it had lost that unnerving, chilling edge.

How can you be so certain? He asked quietly, What if I tell you that many of the souls my Lord stole from your people, were wrought with anguish and suffering akin to the damned? When some were so vile that it empowered our Curse more than hindered it?

"If you mention the bad, then you have to mention the good," Cap answered, sternly, "I'll bet some of the souls fought back- I know Nat and Barton did."

They were weak, Xu answered, dismissively, They had near no bearing on stopping us.

"But they did fight."

Yes, they fought, Steve Rogers, The Vael said, shortly, with a roll of dark eyes and uninterested shake of his head, But they were nowhere near strong enough to overpower the Curse... or us.

"But they fought," Cap repeated, strongly, "And that counts for something."

Why are you so hell-bent on that fact? Xu'Vael demanded, impatiently, Yes, your 'good' people fought. Yes, they managed to hinder our Curse by a couple of hours. But in the end, it will change nothing!

"You're wrong."

Cap thought about Sam Wilson, one of the first souls taken by the Vael in one of the very first attacks, the one against Washington DC.; about Nat and Barton, the countless civilians taken- and of course, fleetingly, about a certain someone else who may or may not have been taken too.

"Man, you got to think," Wilson had told him, "Your team needs you more than he needs you right now. You got to go back to New York, before whatever the hell those monsters are get here. You can go back to finding him after we beat them."

Of course Cap had no choice but to listen to him; and just a couple hours later the Vael, hit DC, taking Wilson with.

He and Wilson had been on hot on the trail of the Winter Soldier for months by the time the Vael finally showed up- and Cap had been so close to getting him back before Wilson- and 600,000 other people- disappeared. They'd had a hell of a time getting to him, too, what with HYDRA remnants hot on their tails- and Bucky's- and HYDRA attacking Stark when his back was turned in Malibu in order to finally shake them off.

"You're worse than Banner!" Stark had shouted when Cap finally came clean about the whole thing (that nearly got all of them killed), pointing at the stricken, good doctor as he added, "Christ, can none of you just trust anyone?!"

That time, Stark had been literally pulling out his own hair in frustration. It had turned into a full-scale shouting match- but this time, it had been the opposite of the usual. This time, Stark was yelling at Cap for being reckless; this time, it had been Cap to go back on his promise to be careful.

This time, Stark was actually right for once.

"It changes everything."

Despite all of it, though- despite his best effort- James Barnes disappeared once more.

You are a fool, then. Xu'Vael stated, dully, shaking his head again, keeping his eyes closed, Some of the people that lived on your planet rival the evils of Ceil Zak'Vael, and even by far surpass him. Why should you fight for this world, knowing that legacy can still live on?

His words were sharp, but Cap didn't let them get to him at all. The Vael before him, he knew, was goading him to talk back, to argue, but for what reason, Cap didn't know.

The crack in Xu'Vael's face, just above his eyes where the shield had hit him, combined with the impact with the ground, had cracked open his thick, leathery black skin all over his body. The white, stringy fibers that made up his innards were slowly beginning to separate, take to the frigid air, and then dissipate in the slowly lightening sky.

"Because I know good still exists," Cap answered, seriously, as he finally locked eyes with his his fallen, dying opponent, brilliant, steely-gray eyes pitted for what would be the last time against beetle, cold black ones, "That's who I fight for, and always will."

That is quite a noble sentiment...

Xu'Vael stirred, and his eyes opened, and Cap flinched and suddenly drew away again.

But I'm afraid it still changes nothing!

But it was too late.

Before Cap could realize what Xu'Vael was doing, his foe suddenly clapped his disintegrating, broken hands together one last time, resulting in one last and suicidal explosion that could be seen from all corners of the city, and even over the clouds.

Without the shield to protect him this time, everything went black.

N._.s._.S

The blast was stronger than any of the ones before it. It shook the ground, shattered it and brought entire buildings crashing down in gargantuan heaps of stone and broken glass. But even through all that chaos around him; it was still none other than Bruce Banner who braved it as he dashed through to find his friend.

"Cap!"

Banner knew his friend had survived the blast- he had to have survived, dammit! This was Cap they were talking about; the guy who who jumped out of helicopters without a parachute just because he could. This was the guy who could get up the stairs to the loft from the ground floor before the elevator (and won that stupid $100 bet against Stark without even breaking a sweat).

I'll bet you a hundred that my elevator is faster than you.

Seriously?

Do I look like I'm kidding?

You're on, Stark.

He had to make it.

Because Banner would be really, seriously angry if after all this, it would be some trick that killed him.

As he approached the place where he'd last seen Cap (he'd been following them ever since beating Du'Vael) he found the shield, half-stuck up in a pile of rubble. He pulled it out, turning the large, brightly-colored shield in his hand before putting it under his arm and continuing on, moving only a little ways forward before something made him stop in his tracks.

"Oh, thank God."

N._.s._.S

"Easy now, Cap. It's all right now, I've got you..." Banner said, soothingly, as he helped Cap to his feet, making sure that the super-soldier didn't collapse as he half-carried him out of the rubble, grateful that at the moment his friend was at least strong enough to walk because he knew he didn't have a chance at actually carrying him anywhere right then, "I've got you."

Banner peered into his friend's eyes and smiled as they slowly flickered open again.

"Want to know what I think, though?" Banner asked, letting his smile broaden as Cap mumbled some nonsensical, shuddering response back- but whether his voice shook from cold, pain, or shock from the blast (or from all three, which was certainly possible, of course), the good physician couldn't tell just then as he helped Cap slide down against the wall of one of the still just barely standing buildings, already checking his wounds, and after thankfully only finding scrapes and bruises, sat beside him; kindly letting his friend lean against his shoulder and close his eyes.

"... I think you really should've let Tony install that retraction signal in you shield," He said, pointing at the shield he'd set on the ground before the explosion, "It probably would've been useful in that explosion."

Without bothering to retort, Cap just grimaced at him.

Overhead, unnoticed by the exhausted Captain and his wearily-chuckling friend, a little golden bird flitted up into the broken black clouds swirling dangerously in the air.

N._.s._.S

"That was a bit anticlimactic, I think... but of all the dirty, rotten, under-handed tricks...!" Mimir chuckled with a leering, wolfish grin, leaning rather creepily over Loki's shoulder and peering into the Well himself, black eyes lighting up in some sick mirth, "I like it!"