Chapter Twenty-One: Destiny Still Arrives
Thanos growled in rage and sent a wave of purple energy toward the heroes. Everyone flew back and hit the ground with pained grunts.
"I promised not to kill anymore, but you have provoked me." Thanos looked up at the ceiling, all six Infinity Stones glowing. "I offer up the lives and souls to my love, Hela! Hear my offering and rejoice, since I bring to you the most powerful souls you will ever collect!"
As if on cue, a red-orange portal opened up on the right of Thanos' throne. A figure dressed in black and green stepped through. Both the Avengers and Thanos stopped what they were doing to watch the woman enter. The young woman's cape snapped out behind her.
"Thanos," the young woman said, no emotion in her voice.
"Hela?" Thanos, Thor, and Bruce said at the same time, each one with more surprise than the other.
"My love! I knew you would come!" Thanos spread out his arms in an invitation for a hug. Hela ignored him and looked around. She tried to hide her disgust and shock as she saw her father lying helplessly on the floor.
"What happened here?" Hela asked. She made no move to come closer to Thanos.
"I had a little fun with my pet. You should hear him scream! It is the most wonderful sound in the whole universe! My love," Thanos grabbed Hela's hand and kissed it, "I have been waiting for you. What better way to express my love for you than killing the Avengers so you could add them to your collection of souls!"
Hela pulled her hand away from Thanos. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and tried to look casual.
"Are you sure that killing the Avengers is the wisest choice?" Hela asked.
"Of course, it isn't!" Tony shouted. Thanos clenched his gloved fist, and Tony gasped as the air was sucked out of him.
"This is a matter between my love and myself. There is no need for your input," Thanos said.
Tony said something along the lines of "Yeah, got that" or "Go screw yourself."
Thanos ignored the billionaire and stepped closer to Hela. Hela wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her father.
"My love, ever since I set eyes on you, I knew you were the one for me. The way death followed you was just irresistible." Hela raised her eyebrows in question at this. "I have been meaning to ask you this question, but you have been away from me."
Thanos knelt down on one knee and took off his gauntlet. The gold metal shrunk down to Hela's size. Hela covered her mouth with her hand in shock. Was Thanos really offering his entire life's work over to her? Never before had anyone ever given her anything this priceless. Tears started forming in her eyes. She seemed to be rethinking her decisions and view of Thanos.
"Together, we can rule the universe. You will be my queen and you can have all the souls you want. Loki will be our slave and you can do whatever you want to the Avengers. Hela, my love, will you marry me?" Thanos asked, his eyes looking expectantly up at her.
Hela let Thanos take her left hand and slip the gauntlet on. The Avengers watched in shock as the strangely romantic side of Thanos showed in all its glory.
The next three words that Hela spoke were quite simple, but they held a lot of meaning.
"I...hate you!" Hela shouted. She punched Thanos in the face with her gloved fist. "Do you really think that I loved you?! No! You kill for fun, but I hate it!"
She summoned the power of the Soul Stone. "Guess what, bitch. I've been working against you this entire time; undoing all your work." She aimed her fist at the throne. The throne turned into a portal, and one by one, the dusted heroes stepped through.
Wand and Doctor Strange were the first ones through. The two were leaning against each other; using their powers on the other side was extremely exhausting. The Avengers watched in shock as their fallen comrades appeared.
"Hela, you have betrayed me?!" Thanos exclaimed, his eyes wide in shock as Gamora glared at her father.
"Oh, really? Maybe if you weren't so dumb, you would have figured out by now that every child of Loki inherits a knack for tricking people. Guess it runs in the family," Hela snapped.
"Father," Gamora said.
"Gamora." Thanos took a step toward his favorite daughter. Gamora backed away and let Peter Quill step protectively in front of her.
"Back off, you murderer," Peter Quill shouted. "Leave my girlfriend alone!"
"You don't understand the misery I've been through today," Thanos pleaded. "The love of my life and my favorite daughter both appear, but they only carry hatred for me in their hearts. Surely you know what it's like to lose a loved one?"
"Hell yeah, I do! And because of you, I lost Gamora! You killed her for power!" Peter yelled.
"It was necessary to accomplish my goal; my goal to please my lover." Thanos turned to Hela, sadness was written all over his face.
"The feeling's kind of one-sided," Hela said. "You hurt my father and killed half the universe. You murdered people for me because you thought I loved it. Newsflash, dumbass, I don't! So why don't you come over here so I can send your sorry ass straight to Helheim!"
Thanos howled in rage and charged at Hela. Hela braced herself and landed a solid punch right in the middle of Thanos' stomach. Thanos flew back and landed with a crunch on the ground. Hela strode over and glared down at him.
"Buh-bye, loser." Hela raised her gloved fist and aimed at Thanos' head. Thanos caught her hand, ripped the glove off, and kicked back. Hela tumbled over and fell on her rear with an 'oof.'
Gamora raised her sword and charged at Thanos. Thanos created a forcefield around him. Gamora's sword bounced off harmlessly.
"Enough of this!" Thanos shouted. "I will no longer tolerate this!" He raised his fist; the Soul and Reality stones lit up.
"Dang it," Hela cursed. There went her theory of Thanos being able to use only one stone at a time.
Suddenly, an army of Outriders and Chitauri poured out in a burst of savage snarls.
"Kill them," Thanos commanded. The aliens howled in glee and charged at the heroes.
The onslaught and the sheer mass of the aliens forced the heroes outside. The garden was quickly destroyed as the two opposing forces fought for their lives. Flowers were ripped out of the ground. Trees burst into flame. Thanos stood gleaming in triumph on the top of the steps of the castle.
Hela sliced down a Chitauri soldier and looked around her. They were severely outnumbered. Even with the combined forces of the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, the heroes were going to lose if she didn't do something.
Hela turned her face towards the sky and shouted. "Pietro! Now!"
A second later, the ground shook as energy was released from the Gates of Valhalla opening. The honorable dead appeared seemingly out of nowhere, turning the favor to the heroes. Pietro Maximoff appeared next to Hela's side. Jormungandr, Sleipnir, Sigyn, and Fenris landed on their feet, their weapons drawn and determined looks on their faces.
"Which freak should I kill first?!" Jormungandr taunted and dove into the middle of the battle. He sliced down the opposing army with the strength of, well, a giant serpent. His double-bladed axe was quickly covered with the blood and guts of creatures who were stupid enough to challenge him.
Fenris, with his orange cape billowing behind him, froze aliens left and right. Soon, there was a large number of alien ice sculptures left in his wake.
Even Sleipnir, the quiet and caring one of the four, had amassed a terrifying amount of dead corpses behind him; each one with cuts from his dual-wielding Viking longswords.
"Where is Loki?" Sigyn asked Hela over the roar of the battle.
"I have no idea!" Hela replied and kicked an Outrider away from her. Sigyn caught the alien and sank her sword into its chest. It tried to claw at her, but it gurgled and moved no more.
"I'm going to find him!" Sigyn shouted and disappeared before Hela could respond.
"Okay then," Hela muttered to herself. She felt sorry for anyone who ended up in Sigyn's way. Although the Asgardian healer was the sweetest, most innocent person in the universe, she could be pretty vicious if anyone she loved was put in danger. There was no possible way that Sigyn was going to let Thanos get away with hurting Loki; Hela was sure of that.
Thanos. Hela thought. Where is that freak?
Hela looked around. The huge Titan shouldn't have been easy to miss, but he was nowhere in sight. She saw Pietro fighting next to his sister Wanda. The two were trying to catch up with their lives in the midst of the battle. Steve and Bucky, naturally, found each other and were fighting side by side like old war buddies. The two moved in perfect harmony and were unsurprisingly holding their own. Sam Wilson and Rhodey were flying above and were shooting down aliens. Tony had reunited with Peter Parker; the teenager was never out of the billionaire's sight. Occasionally both Tony and Bucky would turn and watch the teenager at the same time. It was clear that Bucky still felt a natural desire to protect the teenage hero, despite having known him for a short while
Fenris, who had enough of the huge army, summoned his little bit of magic and turned into his real form: a giant wolf. The wolf caused Bruce to finally Hulk out. Jormungandr, who was never one to back down from a challenge, grinned and turned into his real form: a giant serpent. The three mowed down alien after alien, never tiring, and only caused each other to push on because they had started a competition to see who could kill the most aliens. Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse, decided it was best to stay in his human/Asgardian form since it was easier to hold two swords with.
Doctor Strange and T'Challa had teamed up and were using their abilities to their fullest capacity. Natasha, Clint, and Scott had started a system: Scott would lead an alien to Clint, who would shoot it with an arrow from his spot in a tree. Natasha was watching Clint's back and was shooting any stray alien. Scott would occasionally shrink an alien and step on it to kill it.
The Guardians of the Galaxy had formed a circle and were fighting like the good old days. Nebula and Gamora were happy to be together again. Rocket never left Groot's side, and Peter Quill stayed as close as he could to Gamora without getting in her way.
Thor was… where was Thor? Hela punched an Outrider and cut off its arms. It was unnatural for Thor to miss out on a fight, especially if it meant revenge.
Pure luck, or some strange turn of fate, caused Hela to glance behind her at the castle. She caught a glimpse of purple disappearing behind the large doors. Either it meant Sigyn had gone inside to find Loki, or it was Thanos doing something, something that was clearly up to no good.
Hela was about to go check it out when a large explosion blew out the side of the castle. Lightning sparked through the air and Thor appeared out of the smoke. His axe was alight with energy and he hovered over the newly made hole in anticipation. Sure enough, Thanos leap through the hole, his gloved fist raised ready to punch.
"Holy shit!" Rocket cursed nearby.
"I am Groot!" Groot shouted.
Two more figures appeared from the smoke. Hela could barely make out the colors of their capes: purple and green, which meant Sigyn had found Loki. Loki was leaning against Sigyn, his right leg still bent at an odd angle.
"Dad!" Hela shouted and sprinted towards the two. Thanos noticed this and sent an energy blast at Loki. Sigyn yelped as the blast hit her, and sent her flying. His support gone, Loki fell down with a pained cry.
Thor leapt at Thanos, his axe raised. Thanos trapped Thor mid-leap, in a bubble of magic. Thor squirmed, trying to break free, but the bubble was too strong.
Thanos smiled and leaned down to pick up Loki by the hair. Loki grunted in pain as his dislocated knee was jostled.
The battle immediately died down as everyone turned to watch what was going on.
"Heroes." Thanos spat out the word like a curse. "I promised that I would never kill again, but I'm afraid that the only way to stop you from ruining my plans is to make a sacrifice."
"The last sacrifice you made was a huge mistake!" Gamora yelled.
"Ah, but daughter, this time I will not hurt you. Instead, I will take out a favorite of many. How would you feel, my pet, if I killed your brother?" Thanos shook Loki for emphasis.
"No!" Loki protested, but Thanos raised his fist and Thor started screaming in pain. Loki struggled to loosen Thanos' grip on his hair, but the gigantic hand wasn't moving. Seeing no other way, Loki whipped out his dagger.
"Do you really think that a tiny dagger could hurt me?" Thanos laughed as Loki sliced upwards and missed his hand. "You missed," Thanos pointed out amusingly.
"I wasn't aiming for you," Loki stated and cut right above where Thanos was holding his hair. Finally free from his grasp, Loki managed to execute a perfect roll as anyone with a dislocated knee and broken wrist could manage. Thanos lifted his right hand and stared intently at the lock of hair left in his hand. Thanos cursed and threw it down in frustration.
"You little trickster! Get back here!" Thanos broke his focus, causing Thor to fall down gasping, but still alive.
Jormungandr, who had turned back to his human form, stepped in front of his father.
"Get out of my way or die!" Thanos ordered.
"Suck it, fucker!" Jormungandr said and swung his axe at Thanos' leg. Thanos dodged it and slapped Jormungandr away like a pesky fly.
"Jormy!" Sleipnir shouted, but Thanos left the green-haired kid alone.
The few seconds that Jormungandr had distracted Thanos were just enough for Sigyn to catch up with Loki and help him to his feet.
"Back off!" Sigyn warned as Thanos stepped closer.
"My dear, I'd rather not hurt you, but I need my slave back," Thanos said.
"Too bad," Sigyn said. She noticed that Thor was slowly starting to get back on his feet.
Thor, who was right behind Thanos and out of sight, threw Stormbreaker. Thanos spun around and used the Space Stone to send the axe hurling toward Fenris. Fenris, who was busy in the midst of a large pile of frozen and dead alien corpses, barely noticed the axe speeding towards him. At the last second, Fenris turned back into his human form, held up his arms in the natural defensive mode, and… caught it.
"The frick?!" Fenris exclaimed in shock. The lightning from the axe was beginning to freeze as Fenris' icy powers channeled through the axe.
Everyone watched in awe as Fenris lifted the axe above his head in a triumphal pose. Even Thanos stopped trying to get Loki back and watched intently.
Loki used this distraction to summon his magic and aimed a bolt of pure magic at Thanos' back. The magic hit the Titan, causing him to stumble. Thanos turned on Loki with a terrifying glare.
"You dare?!" Thanos took a step in Loki's direction. Fenris threw Stormbreaker before Thanos could do anything. The battle axe cut off Thanos' left arm.
Thanos screamed in pain, blood gushing out of the wound.
Peter Parker saw an opportunity and took it. He swung down from where he was chilling on the side of the castle. Bucky and Tony saw the teenager approach Thanos at the same time.
"Peter! No!" the two shouted simultaneously.
The shouts caught Thanos' attention, and he didn't notice Peter shoot a line of webbing at his dismembered arm and pulled the glove it off. The glove was already off and out of reach by the time Thanos noticed it was gone.
"Pesky insect!" Thanos cursed. He advanced on the teenager.
Doctor Strange quickly said a spell and trapped Thanos in multiple orange strands of magic. Thanos struggled against the power, but it held fast.
"You cannot kill me!" Thanos taunted. "The only one who can is weak and is terrified of me! You have no chance at winning because I cannot die!" Thanos laughed, the sound ugly and scary.
An idea quickly popped into Hela's head. She focused her energy and teleported via shadows next to her father's side. Loki was indeed too weak to kill Thanos on her own, but what if she and the others channeled their magic and powers through him? It was risky, but Loki whispered back that he was willing to do it.
Hela placed bother her hands on Loki's shoulders and stood behind him. Wanda caught onto the idea and sent her red hex magic at Hela. The magic filtered through the Asgardian girl, and straight into Loki. The power coursed through Loki's system, awakening his own magic. Loki raised both his hands and aimed his magic at Thanos. The magic hit Thanos, but it was an ugly-looking color of green and was slowly dissipating.
"We need more!" Hela commanded.
Doctor Strange lent some of his energy to the two Asgardians. Sigyn steadied a shaking Loki with her hands and sent her own magic into him.
"You can do it. I believe in you," Sigyn whispered into Loki's ear.
"If I don't make it back, just know that I love you," Loki replied.
"No," Sigyn shook her head. "You are going to make it out alive. I won't let you. If you die—"
"You'll kill me?" Loki joked. Sigyn smiled, but nevertheless, a tear rolled down her cheek.
Peter Parker handed the gauntlet over to Gamora. She gladly took it and channeled the full power of the Stones through Loki. The combined power of the Stones was slowly killing Gamora. It was too much. Nebula rushed over to her sister's side and helped support and channel the power. The energy flowed freely between the two; the sisters were shaking badly, but at least they were still alive.
Thor sprinted over to Loki and added his lightning to the mix. Tony and Rhodey fired their repulsor blasters at Thanos. Thanos was screaming from the pain, blood running down his face as the magic and power were slowly starting to tear his atoms apart.
The other heroes formed a protective circle around the ones attacking Thanos and defended them from the still very numerous amount of Outriders and Chitauri left.
The brownish-green magic was beginning to brighten up to its natural color, but Thanos was still intact.
"I need more," Loki gasped between breaths.
"Dad, no! You're going to kill yourself!" Hela protested. She could feel Loki's life force fading away.
"It doesn't matter. I've been dead before; I can handle it," Loki said.
"Dad, if you die, your soul won't come back to Valhalla! You'll die-die!" Hela cried.
"I need more energy!" Loki snapped. Sweat was pouring down his face as the exertion tugged on his deepest store of magic.
Tears started pouring down Hela's face, but she nodded. The others dug down deep within themselves and sent more power through Hela and into Loki. Loki screamed as the force took hold and pushed harder than he did before.
"You will never win!" Thanos shouted at Loki. His atoms were beginning to pull apart even more. Green light shone from his eyes and mouth. "You will never be a hero! You are nothing but a useless monster, stuck to do my bidding! Even with me dead, you are still under my control! I have followers; they will hunt you down and never rest until I am avenged and you are punished!"
"Ooh. It burns you to have come so close," Loki taunted with a hint of his usual, sarcastic self. "You lost your chance at winning. I know how it feels. I may never be a hero, but at least I didn't die a villain!"
With that, Thanos exploded in a burst of green light.
The shockwave disintegrated the Outriders and Chitauri and knocked the heroes down.
As the light faded and the dust settled, the heroes got up one by one.
"Did we win?" Bruce, who was back to normal, asked.
"I think so," Tony replied between deep breaths. The billionaire rested his hands on his knees.
The planet was silent for a few moments, letting the past events sink in. Then, with a joyful cry, the heroes burst out cheering. Teammates hugged each other, crying tears of sadness, joy, and relief.
Steve and Bucky ran into each other's arms and spun around for a few seconds before the two pulled each other into the tightest embrace they had ever shared. Rocket tackled Groot and hugged his friend close. Nebula and Gamora collapsed in an exhausted heap as they cried into each other's shoulders. Peter Quill wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head. The Infinity Gauntlet lay in a smoldering pile of twisted metal and green and yellow light. All except the Mind, Soul, and Time Stones were shot out into space. Peter Parker ran into Tony's arms and broke down sobbing. Mantis even kissed Drax on the cheek, shocking the warrior into silence.
The celebration was interrupted by a loud cry.
"No!" Hela, Thor, and Sigyn shouted at the same time. The three plus Sleipnir, Jormungandr, and Fenris huddled around Loki's unconscious body. Thor was trying to wake Loki up, but it was all in vain.
"Loki, no! No, not again! Please, Norns, be kind and let him be alive!" Thor cried.
Sigyn passed a shaking hand over Loki's chest. "He's alive!" she exclaimed.
Hela fell to her knees and started crying. Sleipnir knelt down and hugged his sister. Even Jormungandr let Fenris hug him.
"We need to get him to a medical room as soon as possible!" Sigyn ordered.
Thor carefully lifted Loki's limp body up. The heroes parted and let Thor board the Black Order's ship. Sigyn was following close behind.
"Everyone on board! We're heading back to Wakanda!" Steve ordered.
A few heroes cheered, but the sound was weak. Exhaustion was taking its hold on everyone. The heroes filed on board. The ship's door closed and they were off, leaving the planet Titan to suffer alone.