AN: Not much to put here, more action; the beginning of this chapter happens when Kurt and Enid appear on Earth, so a little happens when the others are fighting Thanos until after; sorry if the times don't add up.
disclaimer: I don't own anything
Chapter 74: Worthy.
One moment Enid was in Mystique's spaceship; the next moment, she was standing on a crowded street in New York; she looked around with a frown; Enid needed to get back to that ship; Enid had to help Saphira and Thor, and the others, how was she going to know if they were okay. Enid glanced at Kurt to see him stumble into someone who pushed him back towards Enid, so she grabbed his hand and dragged him into an ally between tall buildings; Kurt turned to her. His eyes widened, then he looked around.
"She tricked you." Enid replied, "She used the reality stone to make you think I was her and she was me, so when Saphira pulled away, you thought you were still taking her."
"I have to go back to get her," Kurt said; he closed his eyes and, after a moment of just standing there, stumbled and fell against the building.
"Kurt, are you okay?" Enid demanded.
"Yes, " Kurt replied, "I haven't teleported across the Galaxy before; I should have realized it takes a lot of energy."
"I guess that means we can't go back to help?" Enid asked.
"Sorry, Enid, my body won't let me teleport at this time," Kurt replied.
"We need to get the other's help somehow, but who? Rogue, Gambit, and Mystique are not able to right now." Enid asked.
"I might know ones that will be willing to help; let's hope they are close enough to them." Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket and called someone; Enid watched as he explained what was happening, then paused a moment, then explained the area their ship was in since he didn't know the exact location. He then hung up after telling whoever he was talking to please be careful and that he loved them, then turned to Enid.
"Who,"
"Mantis," Kurt explained, "She and the guardians of the galaxy aren't too far from our ship; they've agreed to help." He frowned and looked upset. "I just sent my girlfriend into danger to help my brother, I..."
"You had no choice," Enid told him, "Besides, Mantis can handle it; remember, she's a part of the team who has been keeping space safe."
"I know," Kurt replied.
"You know what Thanos was after, right?" Enid asked.
"The Infinity Stones," Kurt replied, "I left Saphira, and she has them. If anything happens to her, it'll be my fault; and Loki will hate me."
"That's not true," Enid replied, "Right now, we need to try not to think of anything terrible happening to them. We can't get back to them, so the best we can do is warn everyone here just in case because this will be his next stop. I need you to get to Bleecker Street, tell the Ancient One about Thanos and how he is coming for the Time Stone, and I'll go to Stark tower and warn him."
"177a Bleecker street," Kurt replied, trying to remember the exact address, "I hope she'll listen to me."
"You'll have to run like hell," Enid told him, "we don't know how much time we have, so run like the devil is after you."
"In a way, the devil is after all of us," Kurt replied; Enid nodded, knowing he meant Thanos, "Be careful and good luck."
"You too," Kurt replied. "I'll be praying for us all."
Kurt ran out of the ally, then turned out of sight. Enid didn't have time to think; she had to get to Stark, so she took off her heels, tossed them aside, and went running as fast as Enid could to Stark Tower; Enid didn't care about the stares or the people she had to knock over, they weren't hurt, they'll get over it. Once Enid got to the tower, she opened the door and ran into the building, scaring the woman behind the counter and ignoring her calling out to her Enid went right to the elevator and pounded on the button.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The woman told her. Enid ignored her, decided the elevator was taking too long, and headed to the stairs, "Ma'am, I will have to call security. You can't go up there."
"I am the Queen of Asgard; I'll go wherever I want," Enid told her as she opened the door leading to the stairs and took off running to the top floor, hoping Stark would be hanging out in the room they used to when she was still an unwilling member of the Avengers. Enid got lucky when she ran through the door; Tony Stark was standing at the bar, pouring himself a drink.
"Midgard is in danger; Thanos is coming," Enid said; Stark paused in taking a drink and raised his eyebrows; he looked honestly shocked to see her as Enid bent over to catch her breath.
"Um, take a wrong turn to the ball there, Cinderella," Stark demanded. Enid groaned.
"I don't have time for your stupid pop culture references, Stark." Enid snapped.
"But you have time to say that?" Stark asked, "And shouldn't you be on Asgard? Where is Thor?" Enid took a deep breath and then explained.
"Last I saw Thor; he was on Loki's spaceship; Thanos was attacking it; he was after the infinity stones that Saphira has and the one in Vision's head, Thanos will come here next, for The Time Stone, you have to call whoever it is that protects this realm, warn them Earth could be under attack, to get ready to fight him off."
Tony Stark looked at Enid for a long moment; then, his eyes went to her shaking hands, and he took note of how she was still out of breath. Then he sat his glass down and led Enid to the couch and had her sit down. Then walked back over and started pouring another drink.
"Why were you on Loki's spaceship?" Stark asked, walking the drink over to Enid and handing it to her.
"Thank you," Enid replied; she took a drink before explaining, "Asgard blew up; we were fleeing."
"Oh, " Stark replied, "That's a good reason."
"Stark, please call whoever you need to warn and tell them about Thanos," Enid said. "I don't know how long we have, but we need to get ready; he's nearly impossible to beat, and if he has any stones, he'll be ten times worse."
"Yeah, about that," Stark said, walking past Enid, then turned around. "There is no one to call, though I guess Ross might listen, and I have no idea where Nick Fury is."
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what happened to the government's plan to keep the earth protected?" Enid demanded.
"Government scrapped it," Stark answered, "I have a few sentinels left that weren't dismantled by the government or destroyed by mutants, but they are in storage and might take a while to get running."
"Scrapped?" Enid demanded, "What do you mean scrapped?"
"I argued against it; they wouldn't listen," Stark said, "Said it cost too much money, something about Loki being a one-time thing, and if something were going to happen, it would have by now, and how they could use the money on better things."
"Oh, for crying out loud," Enid swore. "What about the Avengers? The ones that didn't run?"
"Well, besides the kid, that would only be Barton and Romanoff," Stark replied, "Barton retired a few months later, no idea where he went. Romanoff stopped answering my calls over a year ago, right before her phone got disconnected."
"Damn," Enid said, "I kept in contact with Steve, but my phone left on Asgard, and I don't know if he'll answer your number; I can try..." Enid trailed off as a dark shadow came over the room, and there was a sudden bang outside, then people screaming, accompanied by another blow.
"What the hell is that?" Stark demanded, walking towards the tall windows and looking out; they saw a giant doughnut-shaped spaceship; Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian were standing in front of it, as people ran away, screaming.
"Um, Stark," Enid said; "They were with Thanos when he attacked our ship. If they are here, then, then."
"Hey, those guys' being doesn't mean anything; I'm sure Thor is fine," Stark said, "I'm going to need you thinking straight; you're the only help I have here."
"Kurt is with me, but he's gone to warn the one guarding the Time Stone," Enid replied.
"Okay, so we might have the stone guardian and a former X-MEN for help," Stark replied, "Not much, but better than two; you wouldn't happen to have a change of clothes, would you?"
As an answer, purple magic formed around her, and her dress turned into black trousers with red leather boots, gold armbands, a leather top, a gold breastplate, and a black cape that had red on the inside; her hair was now neatly in a braid, her tiara still sat on her head.
"That's new," Stark commented, looking out her armor.
"A coronation gift from my husband," Enid replied. "He thought as King and Queen we should match."
"Only Thor would buy his wife battle armor for a gift." Stark snorted, "Well, Cinderella, the ball is down there. Are you ready to dance?"
"To be honest, I've never been one for dancing," Enid replied before turning and heading out of the room; Stark followed, and they made their way outside and towards the spaceship.
"Hear, me and rejoice. " Ebony Maw, "You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to."
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today," Stark called out to them. Ebony Maw turned from him to Enid.
"So, this is where you went." Ebony Maw said, "Did you warn the stone keeper? We will still get the time stone anyway; you can't run from destiny."
"Stonekeeper? Time Stone?" Enid asked, faking ignorance. "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Pretend all you want, Asgardain, but we will get that stone." Ebony Maw said.
"There is no stone for you here; you best get on your craft and get out of this realm," Enid demanded.
"She means to get lost, Squidward!" Stark yelled.
At that moment, two portals opened behind them; in one portal, out stepped an Asain man, the next a man wearing a red cloak, and Kurt stepped out behind him, then both closed, and the two guys got into fighting positions with magically gold circles around their hands.
"You were saying?" He demanded, and as Ebony turned to the cloaked guy, Enid turned to Kurt.
"Whose your friends?" She whispered; Kurt leaned in to answer.
"The guy with the cloak is Dr. Steven Strange; the Ancient One died last year, and he took her place as the boss wizard or whatever; the other guy is Wong; they guard the stone now," Kurt explained.
"So did they hide it," Enid asked. Kurt leaned in further and lowered his voice.
"The idiot has it around his neck," Kurt answered.
"Of course he does," Enid mumbled as Obsidian walked toward them.
Stark walked forward, pulling on his hood strings, then tapped his arc reactor a couple of times, and his Iron Man suit formed on his body; Cull Obsidian came at him with his hammer thing, and Stark ducked down, making a shield appear, the hammer hit it, and then Stark and blasted Obsidian back with his lasers from his hand blowing, Obsidian about, a little. Stark stood up, and this laser thing came out of his back and blasted Obsidian's back; Ebony Maw had to use his telekinesis to knock him away from hitting him, then he pulled trees out of the ground towards them; Enid walked up to Stark.
"I'll take the big one you can have, lizard man," Stark told her; just as he sent the trees at them, Enid stopped them with just a stare; she tilted her head to the left, the trees flipped over, and with a nod, they went speeding back towards Ebony Maw, who ducked and they went smashing into the parked cars behind him.
"This will be fun," Maw said, raising the cars and sending them flying at Enid, who waved her hands, and the cars turned to knives; then, she had them turn and sent them flying towards Maw, who was able to avoid most of them, but a few cut him, one even left a pretty good gash on his cheek.
"How did you do that?" Kurt asked.
"Elven magic," Enid replied, "It's a bit different than Asgardain magic."
"Okay, you got this," Stark said; he flew passed Maw and tackled Obsidian out of sight; as Maw raised some of the knives and sent them at Enid, Strange opened a portal and sent them through. Enid used her telekinesis to raise a parked car and hovered it over Maw; then, she used her magic to turn it into the sand and bury Maw underneath; he wasn't there long until he was able to use his abilities to burst out of the sand and sent it flying towards them, and went everywhere.
"That wasn't a good idea," Enid said, trying to get sand out of her hair and eyes as Kurt stepped in to fight Maw while she was distracted for a moment, using spells, and creating doubles to try and confuse Maw; he learned a lot from Loki over the years, and had gotten pretty good when Enid stepped back in Kurt took a break, and Enid and Maw kept tossing things at each other, he would pick up a tree, or car or even light pole and send it flying at Enid, who would turn them around and send them back at Maw, who would either knock it away from him or send back at Enid, who would then turn them into something else. Strange helped; he would make gold spark ropes and hit Maw with them; at one time, he had Maw tied with it. Unfortunately, Maw got loose, and their battle continued sometimes; they'd hit each other with stuff, and at one time, Maw made needles appear and sent them flying at them, which stung like hell.
Enid didn't know how long this battle was going to last, but they had to win; Ebony Maw couldn't get the Time Stone to give to Thanos; she had no idea what happened on Loki's ship after she left if her family was okay, or not if Thanos was able to get the stones from Saphira or if they escaped, Enid kept telling herself Loki teleported away with Thor and Saphira had just gone to Alfheim or someone else, which is why Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian showed up here, for the Time Stone, and Thanos probably went to search for the Soul Stone; Enid knew that was all just wishful thinking, but had to keep believing it so she could fight now. She, Kurt, and Stephen Strange were the ones fighting Ebony Maw now; Wong went to help Stark with Cull Obsidian, and Enid was sure she saw that Spider kid, Peter Parker, swinging around on his web at one point; she figured he saw what was happening and came to help, they needed all the help they could get, but Enid wished it didn't have to be a kid.
There was glass lying on the ground everywhere, from the cars they tossed around and from windows in the building busted out from the fighting, and Enid raised some of the glass when the top of a hammer attached to a chain came flying at them.
"Watch out!" Kurt cried, tackling Enid to the ground; the hammerhead missed both and smashed into a light pole, taking it down, causing the buildings to lose power and sparks to fly from the lines.
"Sorry, " Kurt said, helping Enid to her feet like the hammerhead was jerked back down the road.
"Don't worry about it," Enid replied as Obsidian came charging at they swung his hammer-like weapon; Enid stopped it from hitting Kurt with her telekinesis, then used her ability to knock him back; Kurt ran at Obsidian and knocked him down to one knee by kicking his other leg; at that exact moment, Maw went flying by, and Strange was tied up floating behind him. "Shit,"
"Go; I'll keep him back," Kurt said, as there was a sudden light that beamed down in the distance.
"Are you sure?" Enid asked as Kurt jumped on Obsidian's back and got him around the neck; he nodded to the side. Enid looked to see Iron Man and Spiderman coming their way.
"I'll be fine," Kurt said.
Enid turned and ran toward the light. Fortunately, Maw hadn't gotten Strange on the ship yet. Instead, he had Strange against the wall of a building covered in bricks, trying to get the necklace on him off, wanting just the stone and not Stephen Strange himself.
"A simple spell." Strange was saying, "But quite unbreakable."
"Then I'll take it from your corpse," Maw replied.
Enid thrust out her hands, and Maw flew away; he stopped himself and headed towards Enid. At that moment, Strange burst out of the bricks and dropped to the ground; he made sparkly light ropes appear and wrapped around Maw, who, after a moment of struggling, pulled and sent him fleeing past him; Enid started tossing things at him using telekinesis again, and Strange tried to wrap him with ropes again, but Maw grabbed the rope, jerked it, and sent Strange into the light, which immediately started beaming him onto the ship.
"I'll get him," Parker called out, swinging by; he shot a web at Strange and started playing tug a war with the ship, pulling Strange back and forth; Kurt puffed in next to her.
"Go help the kid," Enid replied; Kurt puffed away again without saying a word, and Enid turned her attention to Maw, who was heading towards the light; she took off running after him; then, as she got closer, Enid used her abilities to lift herself, then launch herself at Maw; she tackled him to the ground, and they both rolled, separating, Enid climbed to her feet same time Maw did.
"You have gotten on my nerves for the last time," Maw said.
"Think of what you're trying to do." Enid tried to reason, "Thanos wants to kill trillions of innocent lives; that's insane."
"It may seem like a cruel fate, but they won't know," Maw said.
"That doesn't make it better; they'll still be gone," Enid replied, "If you don't care about trillions of strangers, think about your friends, or yourself, you could be one of the unlucky ones."
"Then that would be our fate," Maw said, "It will be quick and painless; we won't feel a thing, unlike the fate that befell the wife of Loki."
"What?" Enid demanded. "What fate? What are? You're lying."
"Am I?" Maw demanded; he smirked at her, and Enid stood staring straight into his eyes; she knew the truth. She could see it on his face; Enid refused to believe it.
"You're lying!" Enid screamed; a few windows in some buildings burst, and the first hydrant flew out of the ground, water going everywhere, soaking Enid and Maw as Enid fell to her knees crying, and Ebony Maw stood over her and chuckled. Enid felt the ground shake a little as Cull Obsidian came walking up behind her; Maw looked passed Enid to him.
"Cull, go ahead and put her out of her misery," Maw said, then turned and walked into the light to be beamed up. Enid sat where she was; a red blur flew by them she was sure was Iron Man, probably in a hurry to save Parker; Obsidian raised his hammer and came down with it; Enid moved out of the way, and it busted apart of the road, Enid dodged another swing and got behind him, and kicked Obsidian behind the knee. He fell to his knees, but before Enid could do anything, he grabbed her and threw her, and Enid hit the side of a car. She fell to the ground; Obsidian came at her with his hammer; Enid moved out of the way, his hammer went into the side of the car, and Obsidian tried to pull it out; Enid got up and kicked his back, knocking her into the vehicle, Obsidian came back with his hand and hit Enid away, Obsidian finally got his hammer out and arrived at Enid, too fast for her to move or do anything. He got her in the stomach, sending her falling; Enid moaned and rolled over on her side.
Obsidian came walking towards her, swinging his hammer; Enid, in a lot of pain, crawled away as he got close; he raised the weapon; Enid raised her hand and turned it into flowers; Obsidian frowned, confused, then growled, rushed at Enid, and grabbed her by either side of the head and squeeze as Obsidian lifted her off the ground pressing harder, Enid kicked out of desperation, he dropped her, and Enid turned and tried to crawl away. Still, he grabbed her again and squeezed; Enid gasped and tried to pull his hand away as it got harder to breathe.
Enid couldn't believe this; after everything she's been through, she was going to die like this, not knowing if Ebony Maw was telling the truth about Saphira, not knowing what happened on her ship, if Thor was okay if Loki was alive, did Thanos get the stone? Enid was queen. She had to think of not only her people but the Galaxy; Stark was gone, Spiderman was gone, Kurt, Dr. Strange, and Enid had no idea what happened to Wong; with Thor's fate unknown, Enid had to step in as she had vowed to take her husband's place as the protector of the nine realms when needed. Enid may be the universe's only hope; the Queen of Asgard, wife of Thor, couldn't let this be her fate; the world might need her. And as queen of Asgard, even if she and her people no longer had a home, it was up to Enid to try to stop Thanos, to save the rest of the realms; she had to be their protector now; grieving would have to wait, dying had to wait, this was no time to be selfish.
Enid suddenly heard a whistling sound, as if something was falling; she was able to look up and, to her shock, a familiar hammer was flying towards her; Enid had no idea what made her do it, but she held out her hand, and Mjolnir landed right in it, as thunder rumbled and storm clouds gathered, Enid brought the hammer back and got Obsidian right in the face, he let go of Enid, and he stumbled back, Enid quickly stood and turned to face him, as he held his nose checking for blood, Enid looked down at the hammer in her hand, she was worthy. How was that possible? She looked around and didn't see Thor anywhere; she had no idea how Mjolnir got here or if he was okay. Hopefully, he had a way to defend himself without the hammer right now; Enid would use it to defeat Cull Obsidian.
Enid glanced back at Obsidian, who seemed to be waiting on her to make her move; she looked back down at Mjolnir in her hand and found a newfound strength; she looked at Obsidian and grinned, remembering how Thor always used the hammer; she started trawling it as she took off, running toward Obsidian; lighting crackled around her; Obsidian charged towards her; Enid jumped up. She got him under the chin with Mjolnir, and Enid landed on her feet as thunder erupted.
Obsidian strengthened up and ran back at Enid, who tossed the hammer as Thor does. It got Obsidian in the face; Enid held her hand out, and Mjolnir came back to her, and she threw him again; the hammer hit his stomach; a plan suddenly formed in Enid's head as she charged at Obsidian; she kept tossing Mjolnir at Obsidian causing him to back up until he was at the end of the road.
"Everyone move!" Enid called to the few people standing behind him; she then threw Mjolnir at him one more time; it hit Obsidian hard, and he flew up and back right into the powerlines, which made a loud popping sound, sparks flying; Enid held her hand out, Mjolnir came flying to it, and she held it up, thunder roared as lightning struck down on the hammer, then Enid tossed it at Obsidian, the lightning struck him, and combined with the electricity already going through his body, he burst in flames, with a loud pop, Enid backed up, along with a few people who came out of the buildings to watch, sparks flew, electricity popped, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. The fire didn't last long, as Enid having the powers of Thor at that moment, was able to make it pour down, putting the fire out when it was all gone; Cull Obsidian got burnt to a crisp, with the upper half of his body still tangled in the lines.
Enid looked around; people were cheering and holding out phones, taping her, and taking pictures of Cull Obsidian; even with Thor's hammer, Enid couldn't do this by herself; the universe needed to be protected. They needed to stop Thanos, and they needed a plan. She had to call Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, even Erik Lensherr, who may know how to get ahead of Charles Xavier and the X-MEN; they needed to get ready.
"Hey, does anyone have a phone I can use?" Enid shouted, and immediately she suddenly had dozens of people standing around her holding out smartphones of all different brands.
AN: Hopefully, this was done good, and about Mjolnir, when Thanos sent it through the space stone, it ended up near-Earth in space and just went to the nearest person the was worthy of it; I hope that makes sense. I don't know if teleporting through the Galaxy would tire Kurt out, so he can't do it for a bet, but I needed a reason he couldn't get back in space at first anyway. I know it might seem like Enid didn't seem saddened about Saphira's but remember, she doesn't know if that's what Maw meant or if he was telling the truth or anything.