So about this cold, I think I'm starting to feel a little better. And I hope you all had a nice Halloween. For me, I took a nap while my parents handed out candy to trick-or-treaters and I'm kinda surprised we even got any, considering how cold it was outside in the afternoon. Anyway, new chapter here for all of you.
Disclaimer: Turning Red and it's characters are the property of (c) Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios.
Elements are borrowed from God of War (2018) and Ragnarök, owned by (c) Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment.
C/W: Blood, stab wound
The being was massive with no exception.
The darkened parts of it burned with magma fire and ash while the brightened parts glowed a luminescent icy blue like snow and ice as it was to be a known fact that Ragnarök had been forged by a reactive combination of the primordial ice and fire from both Niflheim and Muspelheim, respectively, two of the first realms formed from creation and now here to become its undoing.
Glowing blank eyes staring chillingly towards all conveyed that he was now dead inside, a shell of his former self, an empty husk devoid of emotion, thought, personality and willpower, a mindless automaton that knows only destruction and chaos, that only wants destruction and chaos and will do nothing but destruction and chaos all for the minatorial machination of a vengeful goddess. Armed with his giant sword in hand, it lumbered forward slowly with giant, booming footsteps, striding treacherously and proving the ferocity of his sword by dragging it across the mountains, splintering it through them like a knife to butter, easily destroying them and creating flying boulders. Luckily, it was too far away for them to hit the group on the battlefield and Hel just watched with satisfaction.
The gods felt in their hearts as it pierced them painfully. The gut-wrenching fact was that the end was near and they were all doomed.
"Best of luck dealing with that, young ones. I shall see you all in the afterlife." Hel taunted them all before disappearing into the shadows.
"This can't be happening. This can't be happening." Stacy panicked on the verge of tears.
"How are we supposed to stop that?!" Rudolf exploded.
"We are so screwed." Moose blanched white.
"Mei…." That was all Kris could say, squeaking it out in a helpless murmur, seeing the overgrown Ragnarök tearing everyone apart with his sword and destroying everything, fearing in his heart that he may actually never see Mei ever again. In fact, he'll never even get to see Deathfest either after all his effort to get there.
"Get behind the wall!" Odin ordered everyone on the battlefield, raising his voice.
Making a quick haste as his command did not go unheard, all gods, berserkers, valkyries, Einherjar and others all took off away from the rampaging fire monster as it came forth without ceasing his spree not even for a moment. Michael grabbed Kris's arm and carried him with him on his back in bear form with Kris holding tightly as possible. A vast majority of the giants stayed behind to help Surtr off as much as they could, buying everyone time to come up with a plan once they were behind the massive wall, though, most of the more logical ones knew that no wall that bug and that thick nor that strongly built could keep even Ragnarök out for long. Within enough time elapsed to make their getaway, everyone got behind the wall in the city of Gladsheim. Odin, for what it was worth, dreaded having to risk any more lives in trying to slay the billion-ton flaming beast about to end the world. Worse over, he started having flashbacks to the moments in the past when Ragnarök came the first time and succeeded in eliminating the gods and the entire world of Midgard as a whole. Memories of the deaths of everyone, including his own. Angst and guilt panged the old man's heart because he knew that this was all this fault. Kris was right. They were all going to die because of him.
"Dear." Frigg shook him from his thoughts to get him to focus.
"He was right." Odin lamented with his voice cracking. "The boy was right. This is all my doing. If I had just given Hel a real life-"
"Father, none of that matters right now." interrupted Thor, getting real with him. "Yes, you were a terrible ruler and yes, you've made poor decisions as a king. But if you were given a second chance like the rest of us, then it was a good reason."
"What is to be done now?" His father mourned. "We were too late. We've failed. Ragnarök will be here soon."
"But we can't give up now!" Baldur persisted. "I may not have been around for when the end came last time, but I just know there has to be a way!"
"Stop being so positive, brother! What's the point?" Heimdall argued.
"My point is that Ragnarök must have a weak point or something!"
"How does a monster like that have a weak spot!?" balked Bragi while his wife, Idunn, pulled him back.
"We all need to calm down and think!" Freya yelled at the top of her voice forcefully when an earthquake occurred, indicating the squabble outside the wall. "The giants won't be able to fend off Ragnarök for long! We need a new plan!"
"I still say I'll go out and take him down myself!" proclaimed Freyr, raising his sword Ingrid into the air, which glowed as if to agree with him.
"Like Hel you will!" Freya growled at him, snatching Ingrid away from him.
"We can't all face him at once!" Skaði declared, fear in her eyes like the majority of them. "Even we don't have a chance against him!"
"Aye, Surtr is a' the full extent o' his power at the moment." Mímir chimed in. "Tha' braggart Muspelheim fire is unpredictable when merged wit' Niflheim ice."
"He does have a weak spot, in fact." Týr mentioned, making them all turn to him. "The glow from within his chest. Sinmara's heart is still there, beating soundly. But to get to it won't be easy. Even in his mindless state, Surtr will do whatever it takes to protect the last of her."
Kris was listening in on their conversation while sitting with the other teens all mopey and having lost all hope and faith. Ratatoskr sat with them for company.
"So I suppose this be it, eh, friends?" The squirrel asked them uneasily with a broken smile. "It was surely a pleasure to be by your side every step of the way."
"I'm trying to picture my last thought before I die." A tear-stricken Rudolf said, trying to visualize the thought of Abby in his mind. "Abby…Abby…..Abby…"
"This is worse than the SkyDome." Stacy sniveled, crying into Toshio's shoulder as he comforted her, crying himself.
"Anybody have anything they wanna say?" asked Roar, looking at all his friends.
"I'm gay." Willow replied, right off the bat.
"Well, yeah. We knew that already." Stig informed her grippingly.
"Ah just wanna say that, in case this is really it for all o' us, ah'm glad ah won't die alone." said moose, the present thought of his brother and sister looking scared still lingering in his brain.
"It really was nice knowing all of you guys." Carter said with a watery smile.
"We all got along so nicely." Ratatoskr hummed with delight, hugging Rudolf's leg.
Meanwhile, Kris remained silent as he began to think. Think of never getting to be with his Red Panda Girl again, never getting to see his mom again, never getting to go to Deathfest and never getting a chance to let Ming into his life. But then suddenly, a memory popped in the middle of his self-pitying thoughts. The one of the night he and his friends snuck out to have fun on their own until they met Hræsvelgr who showed them all an ability to tap into each other's memories via physical contact. That was when they saw all of the memories right in front of them by joining hands and when Hræsvelgr reminded them that even Surtr had redeeming qualities, a reason he is who he is from the trauma of losing his wife.
This suddenly gave him an idea.
Kris quickly arose to his feet and rushed over to the gods when the other teens watched in surprise until he made his case perfectly clear.
"What if we unlocked his memories?" Kris shouted above the overlapping chatter of the conversing and/or arguing batch, silencing them all and getting them to turn their undivided attention to him.
"I beg your pardon?" asked Freya, confused.
"What if we tapped into his mind and made him remember her?" The boy elaborated, getting into the middle of them. "You guys said he had a weak spot in his heart and he'd do whatever it takes to protect it. So what if we tried distracting him with the memory of his wife? Remember a time when Sinmara was alive?"
Make no mistake, the teens were surprised and almost drawn in by this plan since they, too, remember that night with the giant bird. Another earthquake shook them all.
"Are you serious?" asked Sif.
"How will you even do that? In fact, can you even do that?" demanded Vidar.
"When we were sneaking out that night, we ran into Hræsvelgr, who showed us how to reach into each other's memories in our minds by joining hands." explained Kris.
"Hræsvelgr?" asked Michael. "That guy?"
"Is that what you kids were up to that night?" asked Stefan.
"Well, that was before you found us." Kris corrected him.
"Hold on, are you actually sure about this?" Thrúd marched forward, looking unconvinced and concerned. "How can you even be sure that will even work? And how will you even be able to use that against him? He'll kill you all in a heartbeat."
"I know one way. Stig?" Kris turned towards his brother, who looked at him taken aback. "I kinda have a favor to ask."
"Uh, what?"
"Back at home, you went big. Bigger than ever before. You turned into a freaking giant as big as a mountain." Kris explained to him. "Maybe you can use that to help restrain him long enough."
"I almost got people killed last time!" disputed the goth.
"Well, you can try to control it this time." Kris insisted.
"Wait, like, just a minute, Kris." Stacy intervened. "Are you seriously suggesting we try to fight him?!"
"No. I'll try to lure him away from the city while Stig pins him down."
"You gotta be kidding me." Stig was not so sure he was interested in this plan. "There is no way I can fight that!"
He pointed to the top of the stone wall where the faint glimpse of the transformed Surtr was, still running amok, destroying everything and setting all ablaze with his sword and he appeared to be getting closer and closer, taking his apocalyptic rampage towards them now. He would be there soon, so they needed to act fast.
"I honestly don't see any other alternative." Toshio commented.
"Can it really work?" Willow asked, eyes locked onto Kris.
"I'm only 80% sure this would work. That's my best estimate at the moment." Kris remarked to them honestly.
"Kris, he will crush you in seconds. Are you really serious about this? What if it doesn't work?" pointed out Michael, who looked more worried about his son getting himself killed going up against a giant flame/frost giant a thousand times his size. He had already put his life on the line during the fight against the undead.
"I know it will." Kris insisted. "But maybe you could help us out."
"I…..I don't know abo-"
Another earthquake shook the ground even harder and rougher this time, knocking everyone to the ground and the reason for this is because Ragnarök has finally reached the outer limits of Gladsheim and has broken a hole through the stone wall like it was nothing and sending broken stone boulders and fragments as he smashed his way through, eyeing everything on the other side with that same menacing stare. The horror of the situation settled in like molten rocks in your stomach burning through tissue, gnawing at your flesh and clinging to your soul until your heart stops so it may schlep away into the dark next world, slinking your soul away with it. The time was to act now or the rest of the world suffers the consequences.
"He has to catch me first, which he won't." Kris assured his father, but then he hugged him tightly as if it'll be the last hug he ever gives him and he was hoping it won't be. Michael nonetheless hugs him back. "I love you, dad."
"I love you, too, son." Michael told him back.
After they let go, Thor came over with Mjölnir securely held in his tight fist.
"And when he's down, I come in with my hammer." He clarified, offering up his help for the boy's plan.
"That should work." Kris nodded in acceptance before taking flight, shooting up high into the air like a missile taking off after being launched and flew over to Ragnarök, who was now beginning to tear up the city with his sword.
Now Kris had to be sure this plan of his were to work. He needed to believe it would. Believe for the sake of everyone else.
Like a military fighter jet, he flew close enough to the monster's head until it turned to face him directly in the eyes and Kris could still see he had a soul in him, yet his mind was not in his control anymore. So thinking this, perhaps seeing his memories of his wife would help snap him out of it. And without a doubt, Kris was not gonna enjoy having to attack him since he's already talked Surtr out of murdering him.
"Hey, big guy. Sorry to have to do this." Kris apologized to him before charging up with electricity and shooting him in the face with powerful lightning bolts.
Now irritated and ready for a fight, Ragnarök swung his hand out at Kris to swat him away like a fly, but Kris flew out of the way and zipped downward to attack him from different angles at various weak spots that he believed hurt the most, using more lightning and actually causing the humongous humanoid monster to wince in pain and growl in anger. He then made an attempt to strike him down with his sword, even destroying more of the wall in the process, but Kris was too quick for him. The boy made it out of the way of the giant blade that looked to be made of hardened lava now.
"You'll have to do better than that!" Kris jeered and blasted him again with his lightning, square in the open eye this time, pissing the beast off even more. With his fury focused solely on him, Ragnarök chased after Kris, making him fly away as Kris started leading him away from the city and everyone from below started to see his plan working and you can imagine their faces and their reactions
"Holy crap, he's actually doing it." Stig marveled at the sight.
"Now that looks like a good album cover." George commented, eyeing the scene of the giant flaming monster wielding a sword under a burning sky and imagined that on the cover of their band's next album.
"Come on before they get too far away!" The enthusiastic and desperate Stacy ordered all her friends and despite all odds, they followed her as she ran towards the fight going on up ahead so they could be ready for when Ragnarök gets pinned down to enact the next stage of their plan. For obvious reasons, Michael went with them after turning into Björn to help him run faster while all teens hurried after as Kris kept the giant monster busy and by now, he was using physical force rather than bolts he slammed into one spot on his body after another with his fists with bullet-like speed. The impact of his fists against the titan's molten rock-like skin tone had no effect on the boy in any way thanks to his stamina and endurance and it didn't even hurt a little bit. Because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
"You know, this is nothing personal…" Kris spoke to the mountain-sized giant as he aimed for the right hip like a trajectory. "...and I have no pleasure in your pain, no sir…." Then he fired himself at the fist as it came toward him, using his lightning for extra thew. "...but you're about to end the world, my world…" Flying around the back, Kris punched Ragnarök right into the back. "...about to kill everyone I know and love…." Ragnarök jabbed his sword at Kris, who dodged it and let it go straight into the ground. "...and that right there pisses me off!"
BLAM!
And then Kris flew right up with blazing speed and socked Ragnarök right in the jaw in a powerful uppercut, the powerful measure of the punch actually stunned him for a moment.
"He's not gonna face him alone forever." Stig explained matter-of-factly, observing the scene from below with worry.
"Then what are you waiting for? Go help him!" Willow encouraged him. "He needs you right now!"
"But I can't! I don't even-"
"Just do how you did it before!" She instructed impatiently while she and the rest stood by on the sidelines for their chance.
For the most part, Stig was hesitant. Last time he did it, he had no conscious control over his actions or his sense of direction since he kept moving forward in a beeline. But if he were to concentrate heavily this time and not worry about getting hurt or anyone else getting hurt for that matter, theoretically it'll be more manageable.
"Okay." He sighed passively and shut his eyes, focused hard and suddenly he felt it and when he felt it, he let out a loud yell of determination. He was getting bigger, bigger and bigger…
Meanwhile, Kris was still keeping Ragnarök occupied with fighting him, zapping him with more lightning all over his body and even near the glowing hole in his chest where the heart of Sinmara and in direct instinctive response, the giant beast acted out of defense and successfully managed to smack Kris out of the sky with his hand, sending him falling miles and miles away into the burning forest, thrashing against the ground painfully and even slamming into a burning tree hard enough to break it down. After groaning in pain and nursing his injuries briefly, he got back to his feet.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought." He reminded himself before flying back into the air, summoning his Draupnir spear this time and when he could see Ragnarök in the distance, he saw something else too. Something he remembers from before and it made him smile. Stig was in the form of a massive giant again. The same giant from before that almost stumped through a town of people. But this time, he was in full control of his mind and everything and when he saw Ragnarök smack his brother away, he got angry.
"Now we're talking!" Carter cheered.
Thankfully enough, Stig was just as big as Ragnarök, so this gave him the edge he needed to fight him. He raced over and body-slammed Ragnarök to the ground, separating him from his sword. Kris flew back over to the scene and got up close to Stig's face and they both shared a glance of familiarity together. But then Ragnarök got back up and tackled Stig and the two entered a one-on-one tussle as the two titans duked it out. The fire giant punched Stig in the face over and over until Stig caught his fist and punched him back. Then Stig went crazy, landing several blows on Ragnarök repeatedly while roaring and growling and with a final blow, he sent Ragnarök to his knees. However, he reached for his sword and used it against his new opponent. Stig quickly dodged each swing of Ragnarök's sword and was almost at the mercy of the apocalyptic titan so Kris went in to assist his brother. He flew up the one side of the destructive titan's body, zapping him with stronger bolts of lightning until he landed a punch to Ragnarök's face, distracting him and allowing Stig to grab onto the wrist of the hand holding the sword and deliver his own punch to Ragnarök's face, nearly breaking his jaw.
"Get him, you guys!" Stacy shouted at the titan battle above.
"Bring him to the ground!" Toshio shouted too.
Now infuriated, Ragnarök ripped his wrist away and swung more swipes of his sword at Stig. And although the long-haired giant tried punching him away, his attacker only dodged them effortlessly and slashed at Stig's arm with his sword, which made him wince and grab it as it began to bleed. Thanks to this, Ragnarök plunged the tip of his twilight sword deep into his abdomen on the lower left side only a tad next to the spot where his liver would be located, nearly impaling him and the helpless Stig wailed in agony as blood poured out of his wound, much to the horror of his friends below.
"Stig, no!" Willow screamed with mortal terror.
Michael roared in anger at seeing his son get critically wounded in the process.
But seeing his brother in pain, Kris got angry himself. Positively livid. No way he was going to let Ragnarök get away with hurting his brother. Whilst Ragnarök was trying to plunge the blade even deeper and as Stig gripped it to prevent it from going in any further, Kris put a good distance between them, then he aimed his spear outward and flew with lightning speed right at Ragnarök's head from the right side. Then like a bullet being shot at him after being fired, Kris blasted himself through the monster's head with the help of the tip of his spear, allowing him to cut his way through. Of course, this wasn't enough to kill him, but it did hurt a lot and it made Ragnarök scream in pain when his cranium was punctured.
"Nobody hurts my brother!" screamed Kris furiously.
Now that Ragnarök is distracted, this bought Stig time to get the upper hand. He socked him in the face and pushed him off. Then he ripped the sword out of his abdomen no matter how much it hurt and broke the sword in half. Flying down, Kris zapped at Ragnarök's foot, making him lift it up in pain and then Stig snatched his opponent's arm, twisted it painfully around his back before grabbing him by the throat. And then Kris flew around and slammed into Ragnarök's other leg, helping Stig knock him right to the ground as Stig piled on top of him, holding him down from all sides after laying him onto his back to leave his chest exposed. Luckily, they were right next to the others on the ground as Stig struggled with all his giant strength to hold Ragnarök in place right where they needed him. Kris back down to the ground, reuniting with his friends after that intense battle.
"Kris, oh my god! Are you okay?!" Stacy cried out, hugging him.
"Man, ye are a wild one, ya know that!" Moose congratulated him, impressed.
"Look, I'm fine, okay? Now let's hurry up and do this while he's still down!" Kris urged everyone while he led them over to near Ragnarök's down body with some almost afraid of getting close to him. So in order for this to work, Stig held onto Ragnarök's hand while lying down on his body and keeping his other hand down with his foot and brought his gigantic finger down to the miniatures on the ground. Everyone came forward and hesitantly joined hands - Björn joined them as well with his paw - and Kris held onto Stacy's hand before he got ready to touch Stig's finger.
"This better work." He sighed and concentrated on his thoughts as he pressed a hand onto the skin of Stig's large digit.
Suddenly, his mind went blank for a second and the minds of everyone in the group holding hands, including Ragnarök's, were being completely melded together into one like a sea of consciousness and in the process, Ragnarök ceased fighting as the Mind Tap caused his body to lose control of itself. A wide array of bright and vibrant, hypnotic colors swirling around in creative directions and patterns until at last, Kris and the rest were standing in a void of memories like they did before, only Michael was there with them this time. All of their own memories were all around them from every angle.
At this familiar sight, everyone knew what this meant.
"It worked." Roar said gobsmacked. "Holy shit, it actually worked!"
"I can't believe it!" Carter cheered.
"Stig!" Michael finally saw his adopted son there and rushed over to check to see if he was okay as any father would. "Please tell me you'll survive!"
"I'm fine now! Look!" Stig lifted up his shirt to reveal the scar on the spot where the sword impaled him. It was no longer open or bleeding. It was as if time had already done its work on it. "Yeah, it really hurt, but it doesn't anymore."
"Alright, brave young man you are." Then Michael hugged his son tightly before he whacked him on the head sternly. "Never scare me like that again, mister."
"Ow! Okay!"
"Still can't believe you actually faced a giant head-on!" Carter said to him, still amazed. "It was some real Attack on Titan-type stuff!"
"I'm just glad the mind thing was able to work, even in his giant form. We finally captured him." Kris responded with relief.
"But how? Where is he?" Rudolf looked all around for the one they were hoping would be here.
Sure enough, they didn't see Surtr there with them, so they tried to go look for him in this large, expansive museum of their own past. Even Michael was flabbergasted to be here right now.
"So this is it? This is how it works?" Michael asked, eyes moving all around. "These are our memories?"
"Yeah." Kris nodded. "All of our minds being shared all at once. Even yours."
"Huh."
And as Michael looked, he even saw exhibits of his own memories back from when he was still alive in the real world. For instance, the day he was watching TV with his teddy bear, Benny, when he was 6. When he and his brothers were out camping together with their father. When he played basketball at middle school and at high school. Memories of hanging out with Elsa and Ming during high school and when he briefly dated Ming Lee, who would shoot him flirtatious glances now and that one time she brought him to that janitor's closet and that one time during prom when he had Ming and Elsa as his dates. When he started dating Elsa and married her, then they moved into that farmhouse together. The day when Kris was born and sadly, also the day he was murdered at that store.
It still stings to see himself get murdered and how horrified his son was to see his own father get killed in front of him. He only thanked the gods in his head that Kris was able to pull through his sort of harsh trauma growing up, especially when he was so young.
"Hey, guys, look." Willow pointed over to where she was looking and they all saw him.
Surtr, back in previous form before he was stabbed to death by Hel, was standing very still and hauntedly before a memory in a trance-like state, unable to look away for a millisecond as the group gently approached him, but all did nothing to get his attention since they didn't want to disturb him as he could be watching something important to him and it was.
He was watching a memory of when Sinmara was alive.
It was a scene where Surtr was working hard at his forge while his wife sauntered in. Only Surtr wasn't huge and burly then. In fact, he was smaller with a skinny body made of ash, no hair and a smaller beard, goldish metal strewn throughout his body (if you can make it out), gaps in his head and his cranium appearing to be hollow.
And as this memory played out freely, past Surtr was still hammering away until he felt a familiar presence nearby that gave off a welcoming aura indeed. A young, middle-aged giantess with flowing hair, cold pale skin and a gown adorned with a thick belt around her waist. Sinmara, his beloved wife, approached him and smiled in amusement while watching him at his work as usual.
"Still hammering away, I see?" She remarked softly.
"Forgery is in my blood, my love." Surtr told her, without looking at her. "I will still mold metals 'till the day I die."
"Working yourself to death, huh? I understand. Perhaps it would be an inconvenience if I were there to brighten your day." mused his wife.
"Never." deflected Surtr, finally putting away his chisel to face her. "I'd never not want you here. You know me too well."
"Mmm, that I do. I agree." Sinmara nodded, smiling. "I always enjoyed watching a busy man work."
"Do I spoil you so?"
"Don't flatter yourself." Sinmara rolled her eyes, laughing at him.
"And do I inconvenience you by showing my ugly face around?" asked Surtr, looking and sounding insecure.
"I told you to stop referring to yourself with such distasteful words." Sinmara scolded him. "I'd never imagine you that way."
"And I'll always be your stubborn mule, is that correct?" regarded the gruff-voiced man.
"Now and always." Sinmara professed, stroking his ashen beard. "Neither the gods nor the fates can force us apart. Just so long as you don't lose your way hammering metal and steel."
"Only if you're there by me, my beloved." Surtr whispered.
Surtr could swear that if he had his own heart right now, it would be beating a rhythm he'd wish he could hear.
Listening to his beloved's voice again helped fill that empty void he had been confined to all those years alone in his forge. And then he watched as the memory started changing to when the Æsir took over and when he and Sinmara had been forced apart, but traded each other's hearts to remember each other by as Sinmara was banished to the frozen wastelands of Niflheim by Borr and his kin where she eventually frozen to death, her body becoming an icy crystalline sculpture. Devastated by her death, Surtr worked extra hard at his forge and hammered away at his sword like there was no tomorrow. Never once did he leave his forge for any reason, no even to sleep, for he made it his life's mission to put an end to the gods once the time for Ragnarök came. And during his ceaseless hours of work, Surtr's body changed over the course of his time spent in the forge, his rage and grief slowly transformed him into the giant, towering, hulking mountain of a man he was now.
Nothing but the clang, clang, clang of his hammer against the wrought steel of his sword's blade was the only thing he heard for the centuries to come until he sacrificed his life to destroy all life and unto creation.
A wave of constricting emotions rang through Surtr's head at the moment.
Anger at the gods for separating them.
Sadness that his wife died alone and that he wasn't there.
Disgust for wasting his entire life at that blasted forge.
And disappointment in himself for not thinking of what Sinmara would've wanted.
Each of the teens watched with a mixture of both fear of the plan to wake him up from his mindless rampage not working and sympathy for Surtr and his losses. And it was easy to see where all that hatred stems from. The Æsir had made a lot of enemies out of the giants and such, even some amongst themselves and it's their campaign against the giants that wrought total annihilation on them all.
Surtr turned around and looked at all of them with a defeated expression and no words to express himself with.
But at that same time, Thor came rumbling in from raging storm clouds above the heavens that roared and sparked with the loudest thunder and lightning as he flew downward with Mjölnir at the ready, sparkling and crackling, and he roared a loud cry into the air as he plummet straight toward the glowing hole in Ragnarök's chest while he was distracted by memories of his former life and pretty seen, Mjölnir impacted the empty place whereas a heart ought to be and just like that….
KA-BAM!
Explosion!
Shockwave!
It successfully blasted the giant monster's body apart, rupturing it to pieces when lightning met fire and ice in the deadliest combination like no one could've imagined and the resulting shockwave instantly snapped everyone out of the Mind Tap quicker than the snap of a finger and they were sent blown back. Luckily for them, Stacy acted faster than they did as she created a huge pile of snow for them to safely land in and to cushion their fall. As for Kris, Björn grabbed him with his bear arms and held him down until the seismic wave had subsided.
"Oh, jesus!" cried Willow, shaking her head.
"That almost broke my neck!" Toshio complained.
"At least we're okay." Roar said, grabbing some of the snow. "Well, thanks, Stace."
"Woo!" The blonde girl shook her head. "What a rush! Did it work? Did…did we beat him yet?"
Once the blast ended and debris stopped falling, Björn lifted himself off of his son and Kris stood up to see that ash was now falling from the sky like a grayish snowstorm, pale black flurries fell and fluttered all about and all teens got back up to observe the falling ashes, eying it with wonder. In a moment, Kris figured that this must be the remains of Ragnarök's body and if that's the case, then that has to mean Thor must've taken the opportunity to smite the giant rampaging beast of apocalyptic doom down right when the chance revealed itself to the open. Precautiously, Kris meandered into the direction where they were blasted from and confused, his friends and Björn followed him as they were getting showered by ash, though this bothered them the least at the moment. Mid-way in their trek, they were met with Thor himself, who looked a bit exhausted, no doubt from the explosion earlier. Kris and the thunder god exchanged no words, only giving each other assuring glances.
There came a distant groan from behind the fat man with the hammer. Thor marched down and led everyone a half a mile to the large blast zone where Ragnarök's body once was. The result was a massive spatter of burnt ashes everywhere, trees within the vicinity blown to bits and left charred and blackened, looking like the aftermath of a nuclear bomb test explosion and at the very center on the scorched earth was a tall, scrawny man. It took Kris and the rest a moment or two of remembering a memory earlier to realize that the man was none other than Surtr himself.
Destroying Ragnarök once and for all had not only freed Surtr, but reduced back to his original, feeble and decrepit form.
Kris was half-tempted to walk over to him, but Thor held onto his shoulder, silently reminding him against it. Nonetheless, Kris obeyed and stayed put and just watched from a distance as did everyone else.
With a shake in his legs, Surtr mumbled and moaned as if he had awoken from a terrible nightmare and gently arose to his feet, but with difficulty. Regaining his bearings, he looked all around and turned to see everyone watching him, then his eyes locked with Kris's. The boy swallowed his spit and looked on sadly. Growing weaker and weaker after being sapped of his physical strength, Surtr allowed it to overtake him, but not before uttering a single word in a soft voice like an autumn breeze.
"...Sinmara…"
And with his final phrase having floated from his ashen lips, Surtr's entire body, from head to toe, turned to a cloud of ash being blown away by the wind, leaving nothing left of the fire Jötunn.
Surtr was no more.
Kris almost felt a wave of tears, seeing as how Surtr was now dead since Hel killed him to bring the monster out of him, but at least he can be with his wife again.
"Damn." Rudolf gasped, breaking the ice.
They all stood there for a few long moments to catch their breaths and process the moments that transpired, but then suddenly, a hypnotic light appeared from the dark sky. A very familiar light, indeed.
Yes, it was almost too good to be true.
Looking up, the moon was there once again, lightning up the night sky.
Surprised, their shock turned to glee and then relief when all the teens let this remind them all that they've won. They've defeated Ragnarök, saved the entire world and in doing so, they've undone all of the damage that had been done to the Nine Realms and the real world as well.
The sun and moon have returned and judging by the moon they were currently seeing, it was nighttime now.
With this revelation, the teens all happily shouted and cheered, all glad to have everything back to normal now after all the blood-chilling insanity that took place. After everything they've endured, everything they've suffered through, it has all been worth it. They prevented their world from ending. Thor exhaled a huge sigh of relief and plopped down to the ground to rest his weary legs. Kris was extremely happy himself. For him, this meant he can go back and see Mei again.
Back at home, Elsa was sitting at the kitchen table with Carl and Morten, all looking incredibly worried and wondering how the eternal night will affect things on Earth while the goats and Umbla looked worried just as much. However, one glance out the window made Elsa freeze up and made her realize something. She rose from her seat and went to the front door. Stepping outside, she looked up to see the moon was in the sky again, illuminating everything and leaving the city of Toronto visible.
While she had no idea how it was there again after disappearing hours ago, she nevertheless smiled out of relief.
"Thank the gods." She breathed.
Back at camp, everyone still had a hard time relaxing and settling down to the disappearance of the sun and the moon. Mei and the girls stayed huddled together with Tyler on a bench, all scared and frightened by what could possibly happen next. But then suddenly, the familiar glowing light casted over the land and brightened the sky to reveal that it was nighttime now, hours had flown by since the two celestial bodies vanished from sight.
"Look, it's back!" A camper shouted, pointing skyward.
Caught off guard, the girls all looked and were blown away to see the moon there in the sky like before. None of them had a single clue as to how the sun nor the moon disappeared and returned. Nobody could even come up with a feasible theory as to how or why. All that they knew was that things were back to normal finally and they were grateful.
However, Mei had a knowing smirk on her face.
At last, they did it!
They've all ended Ragnarök once and for all and saved the world from total destruction. Of course, by doing so, they managed to distract the monster long enough to use the Mind Tap on him and force Surtr to relive a memory where Sinmara was alive, reminding him of the love he felt for her while Thor took care of the rest. This reduces Surtr right back to his original appearance before Sinmara was killed and before he became Ragnarök itself and because Hel fatally stabbed him with his sword to unleash the beast, he is now dead, having turned to a cloud of dust and ash. And thanks to everyone's efforts, all the damage has been undone. Fimbulwinter, the sun and the moon, everything.
However for them, it's not quite over just yet.
Next Chapter: With her plan failed, Hel snaps and flies into a violent rage before engaging the group in a straight-up fight. While everyone gives their all, Hel is too powerful to beat in combat. But then, Kris takes a more compassionate approach.
Next Update: Nov 10, 2023