Chapter 22 – The Convergence

Realm of Yggdrasil

Ares stood inside his prison within the Tree of Life, he looked around and smiled. The realms were aligning above, and soon darkness will fall upon the realms of light.

Gaea…I know you can hear me.

Republic City

Korra jolted awake, it was the night after the attack on the city and Doom's uprising. She didn't know what had happened while she and her friends hid within Iron Man's hideout. Korra heard a voice talking to her, but instead of hearing her name she heard someone else's…

"Hello?" Korra asked, she came out of bed and looked around her dark room. "Is someone there?" She lighted fire on her hand, lighting a bit of the room.

Are you enjoying these moments of peace that you still have left?

Korra recoiled when she heard the terrifying spectral voice again. "Who is this?!" Korra taunted the dark voice.

You know who I am, Gaea, after all…we are spiritually connected.

Korra then got visions of another person's life…as if she was looking through the person's eyes. "Agh!" Korra yelled in pain as more visions flooded her mind. Then someone knocked at the door.

"Hey Korra, you okay? I heard you yelling." It was Thor who had been knocking. "Korra?!"

Outside Thor was wondering what in blue hazes was going on in there, from the next room Mako came running to see what was going on as well. "Thor! What's happening?!"

"She's screaming in there!" Thor replied as he kept knocking at the door. Mako tried opening the door but it was locked.

"It's locked." Mako said, they looked at each other and nodded. Mako used firebending to melt the door knob and Thor, now that the lock was…melted, kicked the door down. They quickly entered to find Korra kneeling and grabbing her head. She was sweating heavily and breathing intensively.

"Korra!" Thor and Mako quickly ran to her and helped her up; they helped her sit on her bed. "What happened? Are you okay?!" Thor asked worryingly.

"Amon…his revolution…the attack…it's all just…the beginning." Korra said through deep breaths.

"What do you mean?" Mako asked.

"This is bigger…the Convergence…Avatar Wan…Ares…" Korra replied trying to piece everything together again.

"Right now you have to rest; we will talk about this tomorrow with the others." Thor said looking at Korra, he noticed that Korra had said Convergence but right now they needed to sleep. "Alright?"

Korra nodded, she was still shaken by the sudden memory flood that had occurred. Thor and Mako went back to their rooms, but Korra couldn't go back to sleep.

Dwell in your thoughts, Gaea, cherish these final moments of peace for a storm is coming.

It was morning, and everyone was already in the small conference room that had been hastily made in the large dining room. Iron Man sat in the far end of the luxurious table, Spider-Man and Spider-Woman sat to his right and left respectively and Team Avatar were given seats on each side.

"It has come to my attention that our friend, the Avatar, has been given some important news about Amon's attack." Iron Man said, he was still adjusting his armor's gauntlets.

"Last night, I was woken up by this…weird voice that kept calling me Gaea. I didn't know who that was…but then I was engulfed with all of these memories and visions of one of my past lives…one of the past Avatars." Korra informed them.

"Whoa, like how far back?" Spider-Man asked.

"Really, really far back…he was Avatar Wan the first Avatar." Korra replied surprising everyone but Iron Man who still kept checking his armor configurations. "He and this being…spirit or whatever fused to create the Avatar Spirit and together defeated the darkness…Ares."

"And what does this, wumbo-jumbo, have to do with anything?" Iron Man asked clearly showing his skepticism.

"You don't believe in the Spirits?" Bolin asked the man in the armor suit.

"Kid, the only thing I believe in is technology, my brain capacity and the fact that there is a maniac outside enslaving the still breathing population." Iron Man responded.

"Can we let Korra keep going with her story?" Thor asked, Iron Man crossed his arms and sighed.

"Anyway, the point is that Amon somehow got in contact with Ares, the lord of chaos, darkness, evil and all that bad stuff, and is trying to ready our world for his coming." Korra said. "From what I remember, the spirit portals in the poles have to be both opened for the day of the Convergence when the Nine Worlds and those beyond align."

"I still don't understand, what will Amon gain in all of this?" Spider-Woman asked.

"Whatever he is seeking, we have to stop him." Asami responded. Mako was looking at his hands, he was thinking if he should reveal his powers to the rest. It was as a good time as any…

"Everyone…" Mako started. "I think I've been keeping a secret from all of you."

"What is it Mako?" Asami asked.

"Well…long before this started an alien being crash landed near the city and I found him and he gave me his helmet." Mako revealed.

"Ooooookay, clearly this vision thing is common among you all." Iron Man said.

"No no, I'm telling the truth. Watch!" Mako then, with a single brief motion, made his Nova Centurion helmet to appear on his head and his Nova Centurion armor to materialize and replace his regular clothes except his red scarf. "I am Nova Centurion Prime of the Nova Corps…actually, the last Nova Prime."

Everyone inside the dining room was left speechless and with their jaws hanging. "Told you." Mako said with a smirk.

Following the meeting, the heroes, Bolin and Asami were talking and inspecting Mako's Nova armor and asking him more question which he was gladly answering to.

Korra was alone in a corner thinking about was going on, she was joined by Thor. "Hey, what are you thinking about?" Thor asked her.

"I was thinking…about the Nine Worlds, if they are connected like I saw maybe we can get you back home." Korra said smiling that something good may come out of this.

"I don't want to leave." Thor responded.

"What? But I thought…"

"I was born in Asgard, I lived there my whole life but…it wouldn't be home without you."

"Do you write those cheesy lines down or something? Listen, if the Nine Worlds are connected then Ares and Avatar Wan are also involved in this Convergence thing." Korra responded.

"Now that you mention it, I have heard of the Convergence before." Thor remembered.

"What is it?"

"My father once told me the story of how the worlds of man were separated from the world of the gods. He said something about my grandfather, Bor, fighting in a great war that threatened cosmic balance…he fought against this ancient beast called Surtur." Thor told her. "And during the war, the forces of darkness crawled out of the void and fed off the conflict."

"Ares…" Korra said. "But what about Gaea and Avatar Wan?"

"Beats me." Thor didn't know, the name of Gaea was not known is Asgard or any of the other worlds. "We need to find Amon and stop him, but we have to stop Ares from escaping during the Convergence."

"We got a plan for that." Iron Man stepped in. "I was listening in your little chat, and I think I got the solution."

"You do?" Korra asked.

"Yeah, Mako, Spidey, Spidey-Woman, Asama, Bolin and I will stay here and take Amon down. While you two head towards the Southern Portal since it's the closest here." Iron Man replied. "And don't worry; I got friends crawling around that will help us."

"Sounds like a plan." Thor said.

"Then let's do it." Korra added.

The South Pole

Korra and Thor were dropped off by Iron Man and his…private super-airplane. "I didn't know that he had an airplane." Thor said.

"You never know with this guy." Korra added, she had told Iron Man to drop them off inside the icy desert that was the South Pole. They were beyond any sight of civilization and temperatures dropped enough that it had made Iron Man's armor form an icy layer on top of his shell before he left.

Luckily, both Korra and Thor were wearing parkas that were ideal for this type of weather and climate. But they had to find the southern portal before the Convergence arrived. "Korra, you know where the portal is at?" Thor asked.

Korra looked around, "I can sense something…its faint but I can feel the energy from the portal." Korra responded. "Which is weird since I never felt spiritual energy before."

"Well…this is convenient then! Lead the way." The two of them walked through the pole looking for the only way into the Spirit World.

Republic City

Meanwhile in the city, Iron Man and the others had emerged from the hiding spot which was actually a highly specialized bunker. "You have to tell me where you get this stuff." Asami said to the man of iron.

"Maybe later, there are some buddies we got to meet." Iron Man replied leading them into the midtown area of the city. In the sky, several Equalists airships were scouting around the area looking for anyone in the streets. They had been ordered by Doom to annihilate anyone trying to make a run for it.

The team slowly moved through the alleyways to avoid detection, which was surprising since two of them wore highly shiny armors. "Hey Mako, can I call you Buckethead?" Bolin made fun of his brother.

"Not right now, Bolin." Mako responded silently. They soon arrived in a building, Iron Man knocked at the door.

"Password." A man from the other side asked.

"Extremis." Iron Man responded and the door opened allowing them to enter the building. Inside, already waiting for them was Colonel Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"It's good you made it." Fury welcomed them. "Looks like you brought the whole party, where's the blonde kid and the Avatar?"

"They got their own mission, the others?" Iron Man asked.

"Right through here." They followed the eye-patched man into another room, suddenly from behind them the man known as Lugaan or rather; the Wolverine appeared from the shadows.

"Hello." Wolverine said to them all, who were still a little surprise from his sudden appearance. In the room they had followed Fury into was a stairway leading downwards.

"Through here." Fury said, they followed the Colonel to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. facility full of agents, heroes and a bunch of undercover agents ready to get back to the field.

"Looks like you got yourself dig in here just fine." Mako stated.

"This was the only location that wasn't compromised when Amon took down the Councilmembers and the police stations. If it was up to me, I would be having a flying HQ built by now." Fury replied, then he led them to where the other supers where at.

Inside the ready room were…Daredevil, Moon Knight, Dr. Hang Phim aka Giant-Man, his wife Janetto Vang Shung aka the Wasp, the twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Dr. Fahuo Braner-Xing, and there was a metal coffin in the corner of the room which looked awfully frozen.

"Meet my strike team, the Avengers." Fury introduced them all.

"Daredevil you here too?" Spider-Woman asked.

"Fury needed able bodies for the cause; we volunteered once things got messy." Daredevil replied.

"That's not all…since I am for means and purposes too valuable to dirty my hands in the job with you grunts I am sending with you all someone that can." Fury informed them.

"I knew that the metal coffin in the corner was for something." Spider-Man stated.

Fury punched in the codes for the locker next to the frozen metallic coffin and took out a shield. "This is the age of heroes, and who better lead this new era than the man who invented it in the first place?" Fury asked them all, he smirked. He then pressed the codes to open the metal coffin.

"Some Northern Water Tribe fishermen found him floating along the coastline, frozen and what not. The United Forces then brought him to the Fire Nation for analysis and cataloguing until we found out that he was alive. After S.H.I.E.L.D. was founded by the deceased Councilman Tarrlok and expanded upon by Councilman Tenzin we brought him here. It's time for him to get back to the world." Fury stated.

Southern Portal

Korra and Thor were able to locate the portal to the Spirit World, which was inside a heavily forested area which at first surprised both of them but then understood that these weren't normal trees anyway.

"Ready?" Korra asked Thor.

"It's going to be one Hel of a homecoming. Let's go!" Thor responded, they both ran into the giant pillar of light and vanished from the material world.

Realm of Yggdrasil

Coming out of the other side, Thor and Korra were met with a dark realm that was beginning to experience the effects of the Convergence.

"What now?" Thor asked.

"We close the portal." Korra turned to seal the Southern Portal but was stopped once more…

Finally you have come…

Korra turned to face the rotting Tree of Life in the center of the realm. She walked towards it, Thor followed not wanting Korra to get into harm's way. They arrived close enough to the tree, in the middle of the gigantic tree's trunk was a hole…and in it was…

"Ares." Korra coldly said.

Gaea, the circle is now complete. All is as I have foreseen it, the Convergence is upon us and your era will come to concluding end.

"This is where you're wrong Ares; we have already acted against your little plan. We are closing the portals and there is nothing you can do about it." Korra responded, turning to seal the portal.

"I don't think so, Light Goddess."

"That voice!" Thor recognized the voice coming from behind the tree.

"Brother, it has been so long." Loki said coming out of the shadow of the dying World Tree. "Do you see it? Do you see the beauty that is…Ragnarok?"

"The end of all things…you…" Thor couldn't believe to what he was listening to.

"Aye, big brother, I have started the final sentence in the great false book that is Asgard. Once Lord Ares is freed, true chaos will reign supreme!" Loki gloated.

"Not if I can say anything on the matter!" Korra responded, throwing rocks at Loki which the Chaos God easily avoided.

"I will hold Loki, close the portal!" Thor told Korra.

"But you can't…" Korra tried to stop him.

"Go!" Thor ordered, Korra went for the portal while Thor stayed to face Loki. "I won't let you do this!"

"You can't stop what I already set into motion, Thor, you can only witness it!" Loki responded, attacking Thor with a blast of dark magic. Thor was barely able to move out of the way.

"You're weak Thor, even with all of your former power which was…tiny, you wouldn't be able to face me." Loki stated. "Surrender I will end you like I did with Balder."

Thor couldn't hear no more, he came out of his cover, which was simply a rock, and smashed Loki into the rocky ground.

Korra arrived at the portal, she was about to use her power to close it when another hand grabbed her by the wrists. Out of the portal came out Doom, "Our endgame has been delayed for too long, Avatar." Doom said. "And like I promised you, I will destroy you."

Korra in retaliation kicked Doom in the face forcing him to let her go. Doom was barely scratched by the kick. "It was a good idea to leave the Red Skull in charge of the revolution in the city while I took the important matters into my own hands." Doom said, attacking Korra with his metal claws.

Korra ducked away from the sharp slashes, Korra bended water into ice freezing his feet not allowing Doom to move. "Don't move!" Korra yelled, running past the maniac and to the portal attempting one more try to close it.

"No bending can stop me now, Avatar." Doom said turning the ice into water.

"You can…can bend?" Korra couldn't believe it…he had been lying this whole time.

"That is irrelevant now, what is relevant is that I will rip your heart out and offer it to Ares once he gets out." Doom threatened, Korra knew that she had to do something now or she would be a goner.

Thor headlocked Loki so he wouldn't be able to move. "Stop, brother! Stop this ridiculous cry for attention!" Thor yelled.

"This is not cry, this is obliteration!" Loki responded, knocking Thor off him with an area of effect attack. "The era of Loki has come, Loki is triumphant!"

Then a star flickered in the distance, growing closer and closer. It moved in speeds which even the God of Speed, Hermod would pale in comparison. It was the mallet known as Mjolnir flying quickly through the air and crashing in between Loki and Thor.

"What the!?" Loki yelled as the dust from the crash blinded him. Thor looked at the hammer that had landed in front of him.

Odinson…worthy.

Thor heard a voice in coming out of the majestic hammer; he grabbed the hammer by the handle and pulled. It was light, not heavy as before and this time Thor felt a surge of energies coming from the hammer and running throughout his body upon touch.

"How…how!?" Loki couldn't believe that the hammer had chosen him after all the idiocy and arrogance that he had showed so much in the past. "I am worthier! I am worthy!"

"No brother, I am!" Thor attacked.

Korra bended the rocky ground to stop Doom in his tracks, but the herald of darkness could not be relented. The young Avatar was panicking; she couldn't stop this monster and close the portal.

Korra…you have to open your soul. We are one, you are me and I am you. Allow us to become truly one.

A soft voice told Korra, she had run out of options and had little time before the Convergence. Korra bended a rock cage around Doom. "What is this?! A cage? Priceless." Doom mocked her.

Korra surrounded the rocky prison with a layer of ice to keep Doom in longer. She quickly closed her eyes and focused on wherever the voice had come from. Korra quickly realized that the voice had come from deeply within her.

"You…"

Yes.

Korra then opened her eyes and they glowed. She had finally had unlocked the Avatar State, Doom ripped his prison apart to witness the enlightenment of Korra. "This won't save you!" Doom yelled, throwing dark blast at her.

Korra effortlessly blew it away with a simple wave of her hand using intense firebending. "Away with you, dark herald." The voice of Korra had mixed with that of several. She airbended a powerful gust of wind at Doom blowing him away.

She turned her sights at the portal and proceeded to close it. Thor had overpowered Loki with the help of Mjolnir which had powered his mortal form enough to match Loki. "This ends now brother!" Thor exclaimed.

Loki looked at the sky, the realms…they had aligned. "Yes brother this does end now." Loki laughed, Thor looked at the sky as well and his face paled.

The portals reacted, the energies intensified. The pulse of energy threw Korra away as she was closing the Southern Portal; it also knocked her out of the Avatar State. "Oh no…" She had been conscious of what had been happening.

The two portals united into one, harnessing the energies from all of the realms into it. A great storm covered the realms and the realm of Yggdrasil. Lightning bolts struck the entire dimension, and several of them concentrated its fire upon the World Tree. And in a powerful release of ancient powers, Ares's prison shattered…

The gust of power blinded all those present for an instant, and when they saw again they witnessed that which had been imprisoned for so long…eternal darkness.

Ares flew out of his prison, his dark power engulfing existence itself.

I AM FREE! FREE! AND NOW GAEA, YOU SHALL FINALLY SEE THE ENTIRE WORLD BE CONSUMED BY ETERNAL DARKNESS!

Korra and Thor watched in horror as the God of War, Destruction, Domination, Revolution, Energy, Ambition and Darkness was now freed from his prison.

The end had finally arrived…