Chapter 24 – Light In The Dark

Republic City

The skies turn black as night, the SHIELD/United Forces units froze once they saw darkness fall upon them all. The Horsemen and corrupted Equalist soldiers began to experience a sudden surge of power within them, their darker parts changing their physical appearance and turning them into real life monsters.

The agents and UF soldiers scattered as the beasts smashed through the streets and flipped cars upon the retreating forces of good. The SHIELD strike team, The Avengers, made an opening for the retreating SHIELD agents and United Forces troopers.

"This doesn't look good." Wasp said to her boyfriend, the Giant-Man while they aided the soldiers escaping off the streets and into the plaza.

"This defies all logic, Janet!" Giant-Man replied, being a science man himself this countered and puzzled him greatly.

"Not everything is test tubes and lab jackets, Giant-Man." Spider-Man said as he landed on the giant's shoulder. "Sometimes weird shit happens, and this seems to be the occasion for it."

Nova joined them, "Its Korra, something happened in the South Pole, something bad. We need to go help her!" Mako stated.

"And leave the soldiers without back-up?!" Wasp replied.

"Then I'll go with you." Spider-Man volunteered. "I always wanted to see the South Pole anyway…is it cold?"

"Just hop on my back." Nova told the wall-crawler.

The South Pole

Only the light of the southern portal lightened the tundra, below piles of snow the last living Son of Odin regained consciousness and came out of the cold snow. "Ugh…" His body ached, he could feel every fiber in his being just yelling to stop moving and just lie on the soft cold snow. Then he remembered…"Korra!"

He looked for Korra, but all he could see was snow and ice. "Oh no…!" Thor yelled at himself.

"Thor."

Thor turned to see who called him…it was Doom, and he held Korra on his arms. The young prince's eyes turned from extreme worry to extreme hatred in an instant. "You…!"

"I am not here to do you harm or to the Avatar." Doom said, "My job has been completed, the Avatar is no more but Korra still lives."

Thor walked towards him and took Korra from his arms. "You just ruined the entire universe, do you realize that?!"

"I do, at first I believed that this was the only way to obtaining freedom from the rule of benders. But now I see that I was sadly mistaken." Doom replied. "Part of my mind was tainted, with the darkness of Ares and I am afraid that soon my body will cease to exist…consumed by Ares once he reclaims the power he had given and my minions."

"Then…"

"I will not intervene on your way to defeat the God of Evil, but it will impossible. Farewell." Doom said walking into the dark disappearing from Thor's vision. He sighed and then looked at the unconscious Korra on his arms.

Then he heard the sounds of…something approaching, he looked at the dark sky and saw a spot of light coming towards him. It was Mako and Spider-Man who held onto him desperately not wanting to fall, they landed in front of the bruised prince.

"Spirits…" Nova said once he saw Korra. "What happened?"

"The Avatar Spirit…it's gone." Thor replied.

"What do we do now?" Nova asked.

"First we need to cure her." Thor replied.

"I have an idea, my family was originally from the Northern Water Tribe, and we were a family of healers! Even if some of the men didn't want to admit it." Spider-Man revealed.

"You can bend?" Mako asked.

"Webbing is not the only thing under my command, Bucket Head. If there was only some spirit water lying around…"

"Follow me." Thor said.

Realm of Yggdrasil

The trio walked into the Spirit World, which was equally as damaged as the material world. Spider-Man was amazed once he entered the land of the spirits and gods; he saw that in the sky were different worlds and planes of existence hovering above the tree that stood in the center of the realm.

Thor walked towards a small river that passed through the Yggdrasil and placed Korra in it. "This is the source of all spiritual water apparently…okay, do your work." Thor told the man of spiders.

Spider-Man breathed and motioned his arms so the water could move around Korra's body; the water glowed as it healed the former Avatar. She woke up, coming out of unconsciousness. Korra quickly stood up, looking around in panic.

"Whoa, calm down it's all right." Spider-Man said trying to not let Korra hit him in the jaw.

Korra touched her head, feeling that it would explode at any second. "Did you...did you stop them?" She asked Mako.

"No, most of the forces are retreating back to the plazas around the city." Mako replied with some sadness.

"Then he was right…my era is over." Korra said walking pass them and sitting on a nearby rock.

"Aren't you going to stop Loki and Ares?" Mako asked.

"No…they fused and ripped Gaea right out of me and destroyed her…Ares won." Korra replied.

"Oh man…I am too young to live through ten thousand years of darkness. Can't you talk with one of your past lives or something?" Spider-Man asked.

"When Ares killed Gaea…he also destroyed my connection to the past Avatars too." Korra said.

"Wait, if that's true…" Mako began to realize.

"The Cycle is over…I'm the last Avatar." Korra said as she began to cry. "I failed…I failed everyone."

Mako walked to Thor and placed his hand on his shoulder. "She needs you now, more than ever." He told his friend.

Republic City

It was utter chaos in the city; objects now began to fall from the sky, hitting the skyscrapers with brutal force. The United Forces and SHIELD tried to make an offensive but each time they held the line they were massacred by the dark beasts that once were the Equalists.

"This is too much; we have to get back to the ships!" General Iroh shouted at Colonel Fury as they hid behind cover, the SHIELD HQ had been overrun and Fury was forced to join the defense.

"Not while these monsters have our way blocked, General!" Fury responded, the legendary Captain then joined them.

"East side is completely lost and several men are requesting air support…which we lost when the skies turned black. General, we need reinforcements." The Captain said, using his shield to cover them from falling debris.

"Nice to see you get use to the times, soldier." Fury commented.

"I just adapt to the situation at hand. General?"

General Iroh began to think, "What about the mecha tanks? The Equalists left a lot of them emptied when they turned psycho. Captain, grab a handful of men and take those tanks."

"Yes sir!" The Captain acknowledged and left them.

The Captain ran through the trenches, avoiding the attacks of several dark beasts and friendly fire alike. He then quickly reached the western trench, were the Avengers were making their stand along with dozens of SHIELD agents. "I need five men to come with me!" The Captain ordered, Bolin and Asami volunteered along with several agents. "I asked for men, not for kids and girls."

"Excuse me!?" Asami snapped back.

Then Iron Man intercepted the conversation before things got out of hand. "Asami, the Captain is almost two hundred years old…" He told her, and then she realized that things were different a century ago.

"Well, I am the only one who knows how to work one of those things correctly." Asami said, the Captain looked at her as he was scanning her.

"Very well, follow me!" The Captain said, jumping out of the trench and back into the fray.

And there they were, the mecha tanks standing empty. Now if there weren't about dozen of dark beasts coming out of the woodwork their jobs would be a lot easier. "How are we going to get passed these guys?" Bolin asked.

"Leave that to me." The Captain replied, running directly into the mass of dark beast ramming all of them with his shield. He made a way for his team to run behind him and avoid the claws of the monsters of darkness.

They quickly jumped into the mecha tanks, "Pull the lever to your rights to turn the thing on!" Asami told them all and they followed suit. The hatch of the tanks closed preventing them from being clawed to death by the dark beasts. "Now push the button over your head to activate movement and then just wail your arms to hit them!"

The machines moved their metallic arms to strike the monsters that were clawing them, using every piece of weaponry the tanks had to bring down the numbers of monsters that were attacking the botched down troops of General Iroh and Colonel Fury.

Then one of the Horsemen of Doom landed in front of them, it was Deimos, now bigger than ever and expelling terror out of his very being. He roared and prepared to rip the mecha tanks apart until he was smashed into the ground by the incredible Hulk, Dr. Braner-Xing gone mad.

The green giant began to beat the living…dark out of the Horseman with every punch, the macha tanks went to aid Fury and the others to get to the harbor. With the Avengers they were able to clear the path towards Yue Bay were the United Forces ships were and commence a tactical retreat towards Kyoshi Island were Commander Bumi's fleet awaited.

"We have to evacuate the civilians!" General Iroh told Fury.

"Already in progress, sir!" Fury responded and as if it had been choreographed several boats then came out of the sewer tunnels. The city's population had been rounded up secretly by SHIELD ever since the first strike. They were on their move towards the war ships.

"Good! Let's get to the vessels!"

Unfortunately, the aurora borealis from the south appeared in the skies, it meant only one thing. A being fell down from the skies and struck Yue Bay with enough force to create a mini tsunami, shaking the ships and the boats the city's population rode on.

"What in Agni's name…" Iroh said as they all saw the titan that stood before them. It was immense, easily dwarfing Avatar Aang's statue and the tallest of buildings in the city.

HAHAHAHAHA! It laughed, its voice echoing through the whole world. The sailors inside the ships noticed the beast and seeing that it was obviously bad news fired at it with their artillery and main cannons.

The fire balls and missiles did little to the Dark Lord, easily brushing them as if they were nothing but smoke. The Dark Avatar charged up a mighty attack releasing a laser beam out of its chest and devastating half of the United Forces fleet in one go.

"Shit! Fall back! Fall back!" Fury yelled for there was hundreds of debris falling over them from the explosions.

"This is outrageous!" Hawkeye yelled, "I didn't sign up for this!"

"Just keep running!" His partner, the Black Widow, responded.

Realm of Yggdrasil

"The other Avatars may not be able to help but I think I can." Thor said to Korra sitting next to her.

"No one can help me now." Korra replied.

"I know this looks bad, but I think I may know a way to stop Ares." Thor said.

"How?"

"You're still here, meaning that we can still defeat them." Thor started saying.

"No, I can't…I don't have Gaea anymore."

"We don't need Gaea, look over here." Thor said, Korra followed her beloved prince towards the Yggdrasil.

"Why are you showing me Ares's prison?" Korra asked him.

"You remember what I said about the Tree of Life? Well, this is the Tree of Life, I hadn't noticed before but now that Ares is out of it I can feel its aura." Thor said as he pointed Mjolnir at it. "My father used to tell me stories about the Tree of Life; it had many names like the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the Tree of the Skies, World Tree and the Yggdrasil."

"In one of the stories my dad told me was that when he was young, he had ventured here to connect his spirit with that of the universe. This is why he was so…smart I guess, many men tried to repeat this task but only Odin was the one able to do that feat." Thor informed her. "Come on."

They jumped inside the tree and saw hundreds of memories appearing, all of them being Korra's. "These…are my memories." Korra said upon seeing them.

"This is the Tree of Knowledge after all, it is alive and it's reading you and me at the same time. Even though I am Odin's son it seems that it has a keen interest in you Korra." Thor said.

Then a vision of Republic City being attacked by Ares and his monsters appeared, "The city is in danger, what do I do!?" Korra asked.

"You have to do what Odin did; you have to tap your spirit with the Universe. Korra, what made you strong wasn't Gaea…it was you." Thor told her.

"You really think I can do this?" Korra asked.

"Of course I do." Thor smiled, they hugged. Thor was about to leave her but before he did she pulled him back and kissed him deeply. They parted slowly, they both knew that this could be the last time they saw each other but there was a job to be done.

Thor exited the tree and Korra sat in the center of it, meditating.

There is never an end to light; dark cannot exist without it…find the light in the dark.

The Astral Plane

Korra opened her eyes to see that she was standing on top of a light bridge that went towards her own spirit hovering in the vastness that was the Universe. This must be it…

"Avatar Korra…" A voice spoke through the vastness of space to Korra.

"Who is this?!" Korra responded.

"I am the be all and end all of the Universe; you have arrived to finally become one with the cosmic forces that bind the Universe together." The omnipotent voice said.

"Yes and no one is going to stop from defeating Ares and preventing ten thousand years of darkness!" Korra said.

"I will not halt you in your quest." The voice said, it began to manifest itself into a being of light just like Korra's spirit. "I have been visited by many individuals throughout history, even one of the Avatars came here to search for enlightenment but the most noteworthy was the ruler of Asgard. He called me Ymir, but you may know me as Galactus."

Korra stood speechless, the being of light looked like it wield armor and a helmet that looked more like an immense crown, obviously reflecting on what his purpose was. Korra nodded and began walking towards her spirit, and entered within it.

"Now, be one with the cosmos…be one with the POWER COSMIC!"

Realm of Yggdrasil

"You think this will work?" Spider-Man asked.

"I dearly hope so, it's our last shot." Thor replied, he looked at his hammer. "That's weird."

It began to glow, "What's up with that thing?" Mako asked.

"I don't know…" Thor responded, the hammer then began to channel energy into Thor's body again. "Whoa!"

The sudden charge of electricity worried Thor's companions but the young godling smiled at what was happening. "My powers…they've been given back to me."

"How?"

"Only Odin is capable of doing this but…" Then they turned their heads to see Korra standing outside of the tree. Her entire body shone as silver in nature and her eyes glowed blue in color. "Korra?"

She then began to grow in size, becoming a giant like Ares. Korra looked up to the rainbow that the Convergence had created from the two portals and touched blending into it and disappearing.

"What the…" It was the only thing that Spider-Man was able to say.

Republic City

It was the end of the road, SHIELD, the Avengers and the remaining United Forces made a final stand against the dark horde. They had been cornered and the only thing left to do was to fight or die trying.

"HULK SMASH PUNY MONSTERS!" Hulk screamed as dozens of dark beasts besieged him. Giant-Man didn't have it better as hundreds of them climbed on his legs as if they were ants.

"Shit!" Giant-Man yelled as he tried to shake them off while his girlfriend, the Wasp, helped him.

"Remember the Omashu?" Fury asked the General.

"What better way to remember it?" General Iroh asked.

"By standing defiant! Attack!" The Captain yelled, the joint forces went for the offensive and brutally clashed with the beasts of darkness.

Ares laughed as he saw how the battle intensified, his power increasing along with it. He looked at the statue of Avatar Aang and with his arms brought it down into the bay.

No more light! Only darkness!

But then he noticed that the aurora borealis returned and something was traveling through it. He was perplexed at the thought of a non-divinity using it as transportation…and then before even noticing it Korra came out as light itself clashing into Ares.

It was a powerful strike, sending the God of War flying into the air and landing harshly on the bay's waters. Korra stood, she was amazing in both power and appearance, and this was going to be the battle that is going to define the fate of not only the human world but of the other nine worlds as well!

Realm of Yggdrasil

The trio entered the tree, and inside was Korra's physical body still sitting in the center of the tree.

"That must've been Korra's spirit." Thor said.

"That explains some things." Spider-Man added.

"Uh guys…" Mako said as he stood guard on the tree's entrance. "Dark spirits and plenty of them, they are coming for Korra's body!"

"Crap, well…let show them who's the god around here!" Thor responded holding Mjolnir tightly, his godhood had been returned and it was the time to use it.

Republic City

Ares stood back up, IMPOSSIBLE! I DESTROYED GAEA WITH MY VERY HANDS! Ares yelled. Korra's only response was running towards the Dark Avatar and unleashing a barrage of strikes at his face.

The Dark Avatar jumped back and with tendrils coming out of his back tried to grab Korra with them but she quickly grabbed them and twisted them and then pulling them forcing Ares into the ground. Ares growled in anger, he charged another beam of dark energy.

He fired; Korra quickly did the same with a blast of cosmic energy out of her chest. The beams clashed, being evenly matched. Korra amplified her power even more, beating Ares's power output and blasting him away.

The God of Darkness was relentless standing back up; Korra had to put him down quickly. Before he could notice, Korra hurled him into a nearby rocky protrusion just outside the bay. Korra then rammed her fist right into his face, seeing that he has been brought down Korra quickly searched for Gaea within Ares.

You are looking for something that isn't there, Gaea is dead!

Ares used his tendril to capture Korra, Now you will suffer! Ares blasted Korra with the full force of his dark laser beam. She knelt in pain from the pulse of dark energy; he laughed and kicked Korra back into the bay.

Realm of Yggdrasil

Thor, Spider-Man and Mako made their stand outside the tree; Thor used his lightning to back several dark spirits away while Mako rained down Hel from above. Spider-Man took care of those who approached the tree closer.

They were slowly being pushed back, "How much do we have to hold!?" Nova asked.

"Until Korra beats Ares!" Thor responded.

Republic City

Korra needed to stand back up, but the energy attack from Ares was corrupting her spirit…she could feel it. She had to utilize the cosmic power flowing within her to stop this dark god, but felt so weakened by that one attack. Like any other spirit, Korra's spirit could be corrupted by darkness but it was her pure will and power cosmic that prevented such thing from happening.

She stood back up and faced Ares face to face...Korra closed her eyes and called for the person that she needed most.

Realm of Yggdrasil

Thor felt a slight nudge on his shoulder, he turned but there was no one there but Korra's idle body. Dark spirits closed in, Thor felt it again but this time Mjolnir intercepted it and allowed Thor to know what it was.

"I have to leave!" Thor told his friends.

"What! We are getting massacred here!" Spider-Man yelled.

"Where are you going!?" Mako asked.

"Korra's calling me!" Thor responded, he swung his hammer and flew out of the tree. But before he left he created a thunderstorm that began to rain down lightning on the incoming dark spirits.

Republic City

Korra saw that a storm was appearing above, and she smiled. Thor came out flying from the clouds and threw Mjolnir at Ares knocking him back. The hammer flew back to his hand.

"I should really have a cape, I would look awesome." Thor said then he turned towards Korra. "I'm here."

He landed on her giant right hand, Thor began to glow golden. "Oh…then let's do it." Thor replied to a silent question. He began to fade into Korra's hand, and Korra felt an immense power up, this was the time.

Korra ran towards Ares, and with one powerful punch she ripped deeply through Ares's chest making the dark god scream. NO!

Korra felt a small spark light within; she smiled, and pulled it out. Out of the darkness a small Gaea appeared, she was still relatively small and hovered next to Korra.

"This is the end, Ares." Korra finally spoke, using the immense power of the mix of her spirit, the power cosmic and Thor's godhood to grab Ares by the neck and lift him over her head. With her power she ripped him in two.

A powerful shockwave spread throughout the city, vaporizing the entire dark beast horde or dissolving the power of several Equalists.

The halves of Ares began to disappear…I…I will return…light cannot…exist…without dark. And then he was gone, the darkness that covered the Earth began to dissipate.

The forces of good saw how their foes ceased to exist or returned to their original human forms. The Captain hopped out of his mecha tank, "Well I'll be…" He said once he saw the giant Korra standing in Yue Bay.

"Looks like light won." Iron Man said landing next to the living legend. "And we were this close to actually getting toast."

"That's the Avatar?" The Captain asked.

"Yep." Spider-Woman answered.

"Then my fight was not in vain." The Captain said taking off his helmet and putting it on the ground and finally breathing the fresh air of peace.

Gaea landed on Korra's hands; Thor appeared there as well… "Well, that was quite strange." Thor said, "Come on; let's go back to the Spirit World."

Korra looked at the aurora borealis and left the material world.

Realm of Yggdrasil

She returned to the Spirit World along with Thor and Gaea, there Mako and Spider-Man lied on the ground exhausted. "Next time…bring Hulk instead." Spider-Man said.

"Note taken." Mako replied. Korra left Gaea and Thor on the ground and returned to her body; the power cosmic left her once she entered her body. She woke inside her own eyes, and smirked triumphantly.

Korra jumped out of the tree, "Ares is gone, and we won." Korra told them all.

"The Convergence is almost over, we must unite once more." Gaea said, Korra nodded. They both hovered in the air, with Gaea becoming ethereal and entering Korra's body. Instantly entering the Avatar State, Korra touched the top of the rainbow made by the Convergence and once again became one with the force of light.

"How do you feel, Avatar Korra?" Thor asked.

"Better than ever!" She hugged him.

"All ends well then, what a ride." Spider-Man stated as he stretched his arms.

"There is one more thing I must do." Korra said, she and Thor walked towards the northern portal.

"Are you going to close the portal?" Thor asked.

"When I saw the vision about Gaea and Ares, Avatar Wan closed the portals to keep the spirits and man separate. I think that he didn't do this right…" Korra said.

"What do you mean?"

"What if man and spirit are meant to co-exist, what if…they are not meant to be separated." Korra said.

"Whatever your decision is, I will support you." Thor replied. Korra nodded and chose not to close the spirit portals.

Republic City

Some days passed since the attack on Republic City and the city was being re-built. Colonel Fury, General Iroh and Tenzin worked together to expand SHIELD's influence beyond the United Republic's borders backing its role in protecting Republic City to the last man.

SHIELD's task force, the Avengers, helped the rebuilding efforts around the city and the apprehension of several Equalists, including Asami's father, Hiroshi Sato for his contribution in Amon's revolution.

The Captain now back to the land of the living, stood on top of a building's rooftop and contemplated the view of the entire city and the sea beyond. "Yuan for your thoughts?" Iron Man asked the Captain as he walked to stand next to him.

"So much has changed, the people, politics, culture…everything, it's like a mix of everything that made the four nations great plus more." The Captain said. "I'm just the representation of an era long passed."

"Then adapt." Iron Man responded.

"What?"

"Adapt, this may not be your era but it damn sure needs someone like you. I thought of myself of a leader…but I was wrong. You Cap, are the leader we need."

"The Avatar is here for that."

"No, Korra is our Avatar but you are our Captain, and we will need you more than ever."

"Thanks, you know it might take some time but I like this age already." The Captain said smiling as he looked at the brave new world that waited for him.

Inside a warehouse, the Masters of Evil reunited not being erased when Ares died days ago. "This was embarrassing, I control by a maniac? Disgusting." The Red Skull said.

"It wouldn't be the first time." Magneto replied.

"Now what do we do?" Deadpool asked.

Then a man in a green cape and hood appeared on top of a railing above them, "We continue with our plans, each of you will do your goals."

"Doom?" Magneto asked.

"The world is a dark place and needs someone to lead it out of the shadows, and that one will be me."

Air Temple Island

Korra rested within Air Temple Island, she had given a speech about the opened portals and what not to the public, but all she wanted to do was rest. These past months have been the hardest in her life and all she wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

It was then that a portal opened inside her room, and out of it came out someone she didn't expect at all to appear in the first place.

"Hail Avatar Korra, I am Odin the Lord of Asgard! I have come to reclaim my son!"

"Thor!" Korra yelled.

Outside in the temple's courtyard the mighty All-Father stood looking at the mortal plane of existence. And he liked it, but he had come to do something, to take his son back to Asgard.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Thor asked his dad.

"I have to take you back to Asgard where you belong." Odin replied.

"Go back to Asgard?"

"Aye." Odin then opened a doorway into Asgard, the realm eternal appeared on the other side and the warriors waited for their prince. They yelled in victory once they saw Thor, "Your throne of light awaits."

"Wait!" Korra intervened. "You can't take him away."

"Sure I can, I am the All-Father and my word is law." Odin responded.

"Sorry your…Highness…" Tenzin said. "But Korra meant…"

"I know what I meant, Thor can't go!" Korra yelled.

"And why not?" Odin asked, Thor stood in the middle looking at both omnipotent father and hot-blooded girlfriend on each side.

"Because…because I really like him that's why!"

On the other side those were the only words that the Lady Sif heard, "By my beard, a mortal in love with a god? It has never been heard of…" Odin said.

"Father." Thor spoke. "I would love to go back to Asgard and will all of you but…I think I've found my place here…on Midgard."

"Are you sure my son?" Odin asked.

"Yes." Thor answered, he then offered Mjolnir back to Odin.

"No, it has chosen you to wield it. May the eyes of Asgard watch tenderly over you, my son." Odin said hugging his son. "But if you're going to stay here, you must look the part."

With the Odinforce, Odin changed Thor's outfit to fit that of a god among men. He dressed a black combat vest which had the nine worlds decorating it as metallic buttons which two held a crimson red cape. A winged helmet was given to him and black gauntlets protected his hands.

"Avatar Korra, take good care of my son." Odin said, Korra nodded, the mighty lord of Asgard then entered the portal which closed once crossed it.

"Well…I do look better." Thor said, the vest was a little too big and the helmet was still a little on the big side as well but he liked it.

"Like a true god, huh?" Korra asked him.

"Dad said it had never been heard of." Thor said.

"Well people will hear all about it." Korra replied kissing him, Tenzin just smiled at the sight. For now they could have some peace.

That is…until the next foe made appeared, but by then a new team of heroes were ready to face any foe that came next. And with them was an Avatar and a Thunder God.

The End.