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Thor took a deep breath and found the air to smell cleaner and feel better as it passed in and out of his lungs. He opened his eyes and he was graced with a beautiful sunny afternoon, he was laying in grass as opposed to the rough sandy landscape of Svartalfheim. Thor pulled himself up and looked around "Where am I?" he asked out loud as a calm breeze blew around him.
"Hello, Son" came a voice behind him.
Thor turned quickly to find Odin standing before him in a comfortable set of clothes "Am I dead?" Thor remarked as he stood and found his body was still mangled.
Odin let out a belly laugh, "No, you are not dead…at least not yet" he said beckoning Thor to follow him. Thor followed as Odin took a seat on a rock overlooking a cliff that had an ocean view underneath. "You are King of Asgard now…is it as wonderful as you had imagined?" asked Odin as Thor dropped to his knees next to Odin.
"I failed…Mangog is too powerful to stop" answered Thor as his shoulders dropped under the immense pressure of the situation. "How do I do it? How do I stop Mangog?"
Odin looked over "You already have everything you need son" he said getting a quick look from Thor. "The power…it's there…all the power you need to defeat Mangog once and for all."
Thor shook his head "How do I get to it? No matter how much I try, no matter how hard I focus it can't reach it."
Odin sighed "Son, the only thing holding you back is your own doubt. The Odin force is there…you just need to believe son" explained Odin as Thor looked at his father's face. "Thor, when I was crowned King…I was a little older than you are now. I was so confident and so sure I was going to be a great King. I married your mother, and had a son named Baldur. A young warrior made king is not always the best combination. I made war after war and soon Asgard was in control of all the Nine Realms." Odin got up and took a few steps towards the cliff, "The only people who stood in the way of me and Hela from conquering everything were the Angels of Heven. Then your mother was pregnant with Aldrif and suddenly conquering the universe didn't seem so important. I was ready to let if go when Olympus was destroyed by Kronos, after defeating him I was supposed to hide the Soul Stone somewhere no one would ever find it…but I couldn't bring myself to do it, something told me to keep it."
Odin turned to look at Thor who was hanging on every word "When the Angels of Heven kidnapped Aldrif…I launched the largest attack in the history of Asgard and after all the fighting I still didn't find my daughter…it was then that my mind turned to the Infinity Stone. I saw what Kronos did to Olympus and using the stone to defeat the Angels made complete sense." Odin sighed and looked down with a disappointment. "I couldn't control myself and I lost Baldur and completely decimated Heven. Mangog was my curse for that." Odin dropped to his knees and put his hands on Thor's shoulders. "You see son? You are a far better person than I ever was, you have everything you need to do this and everything you need to be better than I was." Odin stood and began to walk back towards the cliff where the sun was beginning to set under the horizon.
Thor looked up "But I'm not ready" he said prompting a chuckle from Odin.
Odin turned to look at Thor "Neither was I"
Svartalfheim
No sooner had Thor hit the ground did Mangog begin to laugh loudly in Sif and the Warriors Three faces. "I must be honest I expected something a little more dramatic, but if this is all I'm going to get than why drag things out any longer?" it sneered as it turned toward Sif and the Warriors Three.
Sif was at a loss for words and ideas, without Thor they lacked the necessary strength to overpower Mangog and if Mangog spoke truthfully about the state of Svartalfheim then they did not have the ability to hold him off and allow Svartalfheim to do it for them. The warriors all exchanged worrisome looks as Mangog slowly marched toward them.
Mangog was about to strike when lightning gathered in the sky, it looked back and saw the storm gathering over Thor. Mangog turned and started heading towards Thor and arrived to stand directly above him. "Got some fight left in you Odinson?" Mangog cockily remarked as Thor's eyes popped open and they were filled with lightning and suddenly lightning burst from the clouds above and struck Mangog sending it flying away from Thor.
Mangog got up and looked over to find Thor standing, his hair burned in spots, his left arm still dangling uselessly. Thor called Mjolnir to his right arm and stared at Mangog defiantly "It's time to end this" he shouted getting a laugh from Mangog.
"Now this is more what I had in mind" replied Mangog as it steadied itself.
Loki managed to gather enough strength to pick himself up and looked at Thor who was focused on Mangog, many things that Loki wanted to say went through his mind but one thing seemed to fit the situation better than the others "Kick its ass" he muttered as he began to run to a safe distance.
Mangog watched as Loki scurried to a safe distance and laughed "When all this began, I could barely form a thought but as I consumed more and more souls…the more I understood. Do you know what it's like to ponder your own existence, to have nothing to strive for but a name and the feeling of rage that came with it. Odin destroying Heven and the Angels being used to create my original form was what led me to believe that vengeance was my destiny. After Odin sacrificed himself in hopes of protecting everyone else…a part of me wanted it to be over, to let all the screams and the death be done. Instead I returned with a new-found level of power and knowledge. That knowledge showed me the truth, after I destroy you and consume your soul to gain your power, I will then take your coward of a brother and with his knowledge of the paths between the worlds I will spread across this universe forever." Mangog raised its hands and gathered the dark energy in them, "That is my destiny…I AM THE UNIVERSE'S END."
Sif and the Warriors Three were watching intently when Loki limped into their area "You have to get away from here right now" Loki remarked as he passed them by.
Fandral watched Loki walk past them and then turned his attention back to the action unfolding before them.
Thor looked at Mjolnir for a moment, if his father was right then he needed to trust himself. The only plan he could think of would be to channel his power through Mjolnir and send a powerful blast towards Mangog and hopefully overcome the creatures own attack and destroy him. Thor closed his eyes and thought of his father, if his father believed that Thor had the power within than so did he.
Mangog could feel its power reaching the necessary level to destroy Thor, it chuckled for a moment, "Now you die" it shouted as it fired the dark energy at Thor.
Thor's eyes turned back to lightning filled as he used Mjolnir to channel the power that he had left and sent it towards Mangog. Sif looked at the two attacks "Loki was right, everybody get back" she shouted as she turned to follow the Warriors Three who headed off to where Loki had taken refuge.
The attacks collided in a blinding flash of light that gave way to a power struggle as each combatant tried to overpower the other. Thor pushed hard as his attack began to push Mangog's back causing the armored monster to snicker as he put more power into the attack pushing it back towards Thor.
Once at a safe distance, Sif turned her attention back to the fight and watched the energy battle ebb and flow between Thor and Mangog and it was certainly looking like Mangog was winning. "This could go on forever" stated Fandral as his rapier sat in its scabbard.
"It won't, one will give it up eventually" answered Hogun who was holding his mace.
"If only we could give Thor some extra power or something, instead of just standing here" remarked Volstagg who was leaning on his heavy ax.
Thor dug a little deeper and managed to push the dark energy back to the center in the deadly game one-upmanship he was playing with Mangog. Mangog began to openly laugh at Thor, "This must be so difficult for you thanks to those wounds I gave you…I bet this just makes them BURN" it shouted as Mangog once again put more power into the attack pushing it ever closer to Thor.
Thor pushed back but still felt no different, Mangog was still toying with him. Thor needed an opening to turn up the heat enough before Mangog could react and counter.
Sif was standing closer to the action than everyone as the dark energy began to push light blue energy of Thor back towards the God of Thunder. She could see that Thor was losing and that with his injuries his body would soon give out. She looked back at Loki who stared at her, clearly trying to figure the Shield Maiden of Asgard out. Sif sighed as she came to the only decision she could come to, she drew her sword and charged.
"Sif, where are you going?" shouted Fandral as she ran across the landscape towards Mangog.
Sif ignored Fandral as she worked her way around the back of Mangog who was so distracted by Thor that it failed to see her approach. She was directly behind it and she got a running start and leapt into the air as she brought her sword down on Mangog's back and cut it open. She had hoped to see a pained expression or to hear the monster cry out, but all she got was an annoyed look as Mangog pushed some of its dark energy out of the slice in its back and sent Sif flying back.
Loki watched Sif's attack and put her plan together in his head "That might work" he muttered to himself as he looked over at the others.
"Well that was a terrible idea" remarked Fandral, "What did she expect? Run off and cut Mangog in the back and save the day."
"No, she didn't but she tried anyway" stated Hogun causing Fandral and Volstagg to both look at him.
Sif picked herself up off of the ground and spit blood from her mouth "Go…go Thor" she shouted as she picked up her sword and started heading back towards Mangog.
Volstagg smiled at Hogun "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked getting a smirk from Hogun.
"I do believe we are thinking the same thing" replied Hogun as he popped the spikes out of his mace and Volstagg picked up his ax.
Fandral looked between the two of them and chuckled "I guess we never learn, do we?" he said as he pulled his rapier out of its scabbard and the Warriors Three charged into battle.
Mangog was growing tired of this useless battle and was about to push it over the top in its favor when Sif returned and started slashing with her sword multiple times, Mangog was about to blast her away again when the Warriors Three arrived and joined the her. "Stop interfering" Mangog shouted which caught Thor's attention. Mangog unleashed more energy out of its back as Sif and the Warriors Three were sent out of attack range.
"Now" Thor thought to himself as he reached as deep as he could and sent a massive boost of power through Mjolnir that turned the tide in his favor. Mangog was surprised by not only the suddenness of the attack but of the power, it was actually pushing the creature as the blue overtook the dark and Mangog was forced to unleash more power at Thor that evened their battle again.
Sif brought herself to her knees as she picked up her sword from the ground "I'm not leaving you all alone out there Thor. This world isn't worth being in if you're not in it" she stated as she picked herself up and limped her way towards Mangog.
Fandral was moving behind her "Never thought this is how things would end, but hey, what a way to go out eh brother?" he said to Thor even though he knew that Thor would never hear him.
Volstagg lifted his ax and joined behind the others "We've had too much fun to have it end like this, besides this is going to make a hell of a tale one day in the dining hall" he shouted to the universe.
Hogun was the last to join the march towards Mangog "I have trained my entire life to protect the King of Asgard and now the new King needs me to help him. I will give everything I have to save him."
Mangog was on the cusp of overpowering Thor again when Sif and other resumed their attack, distracting the beast "You're all just lining up to die" it shouted as it unleashed a more powerful energy wave from its back towards the aiding warriors.
Sif could tell this attack was different but Mangog was too focused on Thor for this to work and now this attack would put them out of commission for good. They held on as long as they could until finally they could hold on no longer, Sif and the Warriors Three were sent flying all the way to the mountain.
Mangog laughed "No one left to save you Odinson, not your friends and certainly not your pathetic family."
Mangog unleashed all of its power and quickly overtook the energy that Thor was producing through Mjolnir, Thor could feel his feet beginning to skid across the sandy layer of Svartalfheim and was pretty sure he could feel the rocks beneath it start to give as well. "These are your last moments boy" shouted Mangog as he laughed boisterously as he started to send the last bit of energy required to do the job.
Mangog wasn't prepared for it, but the creature heard just for a split second breaking its concentration. Mangog looked for the briefest of moments before it felt the energy land squarely in the back and it certainly felt its knees buckle under the force of it all. It's first thought was how had Thor landed a blow from behind? It wasn't until Mangog looked where the attack came from when he spotted a figure standing a short distance away.
Mangog saw a green cloaked and golden armored God of Mischief standing with his weapon drawn and clearly breathing hard from the energy sent at Mangog "Loki?" Mangog questioned.
It was in that moment that Thor saw his opportunity, everything that his father had said finally struck him as a power deep within him rose to the surface and Thor took that moment to unleash every last bit of it at Mangog.
Mangog didn't even have to look to know it was over, the distraction from Loki had given Thor his moment. It turned and saw what was happening, Thor had overpowered its attack and it was too late to stop it. It looked through the attack and saw Thor approaching as he unleashed his unbelievable power. It was the sheer shock of the whole situation that hit Mangog first and then the questions, what would be the next chapter for Mangog? Was there an afterlife it could look forward to or would it simply cease to exist? The souls within cried out as the blast hit home, the magic of the Soul Stone that had kept its body alive was starting to fail as band after band of armor began to peel away and the souls within swept up by Thor's attack. Mangog had found its destiny but it never imagined it would be so painful.