"I don't see why we can't enjoy ourselves." Thor complains. "I haven't been here in ages!"
"We haven't been here in ages, because of how long it takes to get here and back." Loki tells Thor.
"What do you mean, how long it takes to get here?" Thor asks. "We took the rainbow road, it only took a few minutes."
Hela turns around and gives Thor an "Are you serious?" look. "Does he really not know how the Rainbow Road works?"
"Of course I know how the Rainbow Road works!" Thor protests. "You take your magic sword, or in this case axe," Thor looks at Stormbreaker happily, "Then you use its power to create a bridge to where you want to go."
"It's a bit more complicated than that, brother." Loki says, peering around a corner toward Zeus's castle.
Thor has a somewhat confused look on his face.
"The Rainbow Road uses light to warp time and space." Valkyrie tells Thor. "It allows you to travel multiple times faster than the speed of light, but it's not perfect."
Thor still looks confused.
"You still experience some of the effects of time dilation." Valkyrie says.
"Time dilation?" Thor asks. "That's a bad thing?"
"Time moves slower on the Rainbow Road." Nebula chimes in. "If you're traveling somewhere nearby, like Midgar or Asgard, it seems instantaneous. If you go somewhere far, like another galaxy or Olympus, a lot more time passes on your home world."
"It didn't seem that long getting here." Thor replies.
"Yes, but a lot of time has passed back home." Valkyrie responds. "Like maybe two or three weeks."
"Two or three weeks?" Thor asks. "That doesn't seem so bad."
"Yes," Loki responds, still looking around the corner, "but when a kingdom has a lot of enemies and can be brought down in a day," He turns back toward Thor, "you really don't want to leave your kingdom unsupervised for long. You should know." Loki tilts his head and shrugs, remembering his time as ruler.
"I suppose that makes sense." Thor agrees, getting the point. Loki nods and turns away. "Hela." Thor calls out. "How did you know Stormbreaker had the ability to access the bifrost?"
"Don't say my name out loud!" Hela snaps. "I'm not so welcome here." Before answering Thor's question, Hela looks around to make sure no one could hear them. "I helped the dwarves design it. It was meant to help me conquer the nine realms, but then Father built the bifrost instead. He said it was safer if it couldn't be stolen."
Thor nods in return. "In other words, if we fail, I should keep this far away from you.".
"Okay everyone," Loki interrupts, "If we sneak in at night, we should only have to get past these guards, then find our way to the treasure vault. If my memory serves me correctly, it is just beyond the throne room where Zeus likes to give his grandeur presentations. Hopefully by then there'll hardly be any obstacles along the way."
Hela nods.
"Great!" Thor answers. "I just have one question..." All four of his companions look at him curiously. "Why are we hiding?" He asks.
This time Loki and Hela look confused. "What?" Loki asks in return.
"Why're we hiding?" Thor asks once again. "They don't know we are coming. Your two don't look the same." He points at Nebula and Hela. "Loki and I are always invited, and Valkyrie." Thor points at Valkyrie. "Nobody will care if an Asgardian stops by for a visit."
Loki looks down to think about what Thor just said.
"You're not proposing that we just walk right in and take the stone?" Hela asks with a strong hint of annoyance.
"Why not?" Thor asks. "See, there's people walking in, right now." He gestures toward a small crowd of giggling gods and goddesses.
"Hang on!" Loki interrupts once again. "My brother has a point." Hela looks toward Loki with disbelief also. "Olympus likes to keep the museum open throughout the day."
"Museum?" Hela asks, legitimately surprised.
"That's right, I forgot about that!" Valkyrie adds.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'll want to keep the infinity stone out on display with all their other treasure." Thor responds. "Why wouldn't they?"
"Zeus keeps all their treasure on display?" Hela asks, in disbelief. "Out in the open? Where anybody can grab it?"
"No, not out in the open!" Thor responds, he looks down thinking about it. "Well... Yeah, kind of, but it's well guarded."
"This is insane!" Hela complains loudly. "Doesn't anyone fight anymore?"
"It has been a long peaceful era." Loki says, with sarcastic disappointment.
"I really don't believe it!" Hela states.
"Ok, new plan!" Loki responds. "We walk into the castle, find the museum..."
"Just shut up!" Hela says, pushing his way past Loki. "Let's go!"
"Wait!" Loki calls out to Hela. "We still need a plan!"
"I guess we're doing this." Valkyrie says turning to follow them. Thor and Nebula soon join.
"Halt!" One of the guards says just when Hela gets close.
"See! I knew it couldn't be that easy." Hela says glaring at the guard and talking to the others.
"Uh, you need to..." Loki starts to say.
"I need to see your tickets." The guard interrupts.
"Tickets?" Hela asks. "Tickets!" He turns toward Loki angrily.
"Yeah I was trying to say, you need to buy a ticket." Loki informs Hela, feeling a little intimidated by him.
"Ticket counter is over there." The guard points to a window with several short lines, not far away.
Hela's raging glare shoots between Thor and Loki for a few moments. His face is completely red, and Thor has to resist laughing.
"It's not our fault, brother." Thor responds, suppressing a smile. "It's almost as if someone made them sick of war."
"Shut up!" Hela snaps, "Don't talk to me!" He storms off toward the ticket booths.
Thor and Valkyrie seem entertained as they turn to follow. "Is he always this angry?" Nebula asks.
"He just, really loves to fight." Loki responds. They all move toward the ticket windows.
Thor does not get far before stopping. He points his nose in the air and looks to the side of the ticket booths. "Oh! Divine goat meat!" Thor says,distracted by a nearby food booth. "Let's get some! They have everything to make cheese burgers."
"What's a cheeseburger?" Valkyrie asks.
"It's from Earth." Loki responds. "They pulverize meat and place it in a sliced roll. With cheese and vegetables."
"Yes, you wouldn't believe it. It's so good." Thor adds. "Especially with fries."
"Fries?" Hela asks from standing in line a few meters away. Loki looks toward him then turns to the others to answer.
"Tubers. They're sliced lengthwise and fried in animal fat."
"I'm not gonna lie," Valkyrie chimes in, "that sounds really good."
"Right!" Thor says happily. "You want one?"
Valkyrie shrugs his shoulders and nods. Thor looks toward Nebula who seems surprised at the offer.
"I could eat." Nebula says.
"Nice!" Thor says. "What about you, Hela?" They all turn toward Hela who is glaring angrily at the now very distracted group. He doesn't answer. Thor turns toward Loki and they seem to understand each other's thoughts. "He seems hangry. We'll get him one." Loki nods in response.
"What's hangry?" Nebula asks.
*** A short while later ***
"Oh my god! I feel so much better." Valkyrie says loudly.
"You are not kidding." Thor says, patting his stomach. His chin is covered in grease. "I don't think I've eaten that good since Wakanda."
"That was definitely well earned." Loki says, catching up to Thor and Valkyrie.
"Greasy food always tastes so much better after a night of drinking." Valkyrie says. He turns to Thor and looks at his face. "Thor, you've got a..." He gestures toward his face.
Loki looks toward his brother as Thor starts wiping his very messy chin. "Here, Brother." Loki makes a handkerchief materialize and hands it to Thor. "Despite your immediate company, don't forget we're in the presence of greatness."
"Thank you, Brother." Thor says, taking the serviette and wiping his face. "You doing alright there Nebula?" Thor calls out.
"That was satisfying." Nebula responds. He can't believe how much he enjoyed the food.
"How about you, Hela?" Thor asks his only true biological brother. "Feeling better?"
"I'll feel better when we get out of this stinking, hell hole." Hela pushes past Thor and Loki.
"Hang on..." Loki calls out. "Don't you literally rule over Hel?" Hela turns back around. "I looked it up after your spectacle on Midgar."
Hela looks around the Throne room at the gossiping tourists, the vibrant flowers, flashing displays, and the fat happy gods and goddesses chuckling about their sediment lives. "Yeah!" He answers Loki, "and this is so much worse. Now where is this damn museum?" He turns away.
"Are you sure he's not your brother?" Valkyrie chuckles as he bumps Loki's shoulder.
"I've no idea what you mean." Loki denies.
"It's like looking into a mirror." Thor jokes, as they continue to follow Hela. "It's this way, Brother." Thor points to another vibrant hallway. Nebula can't help but chuckle at their banter as he trails a couple of yards behind.
As they make their way to the back end of the Throne room Thor leads them to a large archway covered in gold leaves. There are no visible markers, but it's clearly open to the public. Nebula feels a strange uncertainty about the entrance and hangs back a moment as Thor and the others walk through. The moment Hela passes by, the foliage begins to lightly flash pink.
"Wait!" Nebula calls out. They don't hear him. He turns and sees several guards watching them and talking to each other with concerned looks. Another two come rushing. "Shit!" Nebula says, before running after them. The arches start to flash significantly brighter as he rushes through. "They're onto us!" Nebula shouts toward the others.
"What?" Hela asks, rolling his eyes as he turns around to look. He spots a small group of armed guards rushing toward the entrance. "Now this is more like it!" He dawns his battle armor and pulls out two blades, excited for a fight.
"Now's not the time, you idiot!" Nebula shouts as he begins to run past them. A loud alarm begins to blair. "Get the stone first."
"Right!" Thor answers, before turning toward the treasure displays.
Hela looks toward Valkyrie and Loki. Valkyrie is watching visitors flee the room as more guards seem to be rushing toward the entrance.
"Good luck with that!" Valkyrie says with a mischievous smile before running after the others.
Loki is left standing alone in front of Hela. He looks at him, the rest of the group running, then toward the armed guards, before looking back toward Hela who is still waiting for his response. "Oh, please don't hold back on my account." Loki says running toward the fleeing spectators. He releases his spell, turning back into a girl.
"Coward!" Hela shouts at her.
Loki smirks as she blends in with the spectators. They make their way to the arches just as the guards come rushing in. There is an odd shimmer of energy that stops all the guests from exiting, but it lets the guards in.
"No one is leaving!" one of the guards shouts over the crowd.
"Well, this is great." Loki complains as Hela violently rushes the approaching threat.
*** In the Treasure display room ***
"I'm not seeing it anywhere." Nebula grumbles as he pushes over a display case with a jewel adjourned treasure chest. The glass shatters causing another alarm to go off.
"They use electricity here also?" Valkyrie asks, looking for the source of the alarm.
"Of course." Thor responds. "When half your enemies have robotic enhancements, magic isn't quite as effective." He is trying to look around the room while Nebula continues to smash things. Nebula knocks over something that starts to fly around shooting flames in every direction. "Nebula! My brother!" Thor calls. "It's clearly not in this room. This is the non-magical wing."
They can hear loud shouting and grunting coming from the entrance. "It sounds like your brothers are having fun." Valkyrie says.
"They'll provide a perfect distraction." Thor responds.
"Where is it?" Nebula grumbles as he approaches Thor.
"Calm down, Brother." Thor says. "We'll find it. It's probably in the restricted magical section towards the back. Now we have to be careful. Security there is much higher... Nebula."
Nebula storms off toward the back area. There is another gate they must walk through, and a louder alarm begins to go off when Nebula passes through. "What is going on?" Valkyrie asks.
"There must be sensors in place for when people deemed a threat enter the museum." Thor responds.
"We're a threat?" Valkyrie asks.
"No, but Hela is..." Thor looks at Valkyrie who nods, "and I suppose any child of Thanos would be a threat." Thor gestures toward Nebula, "and maybe my brother Loki. I don't know. The jury is still out on that one."
Valkyrie frowns at the idea that he is traveling with more trouble than he expected. "We'd better hurry."
"Right-o." Thor says playfully.
They have to pass through two rooms before they reach the restricted magical items area. This area is clearly more heavily secured. Almost every artifact is surrounded by some form of protection, and most are displayed to give off a form of menacing aura. Thor has to pause and take in everything he's seeing.
"Is that a Necro-Sword?" Thor asks, somewhat taken aback. "Those things are dangerous."
"I'm pretty sure that's the Ultimate Nullifier." Valkyrie says, pointing at a strange item sitting in a case near what can only be described as a small swirling black vortex.
"Is that?" Thor asks, turning toward the display. His eyes suddenly become distracted. "Is that Dragonfang?!" Thor rushes to look at a fancy looking sword encased in a tall display. "Father has been looking everywhere for it."
"Can you idiots focus!" Nebula calls out as he walks from display case to display case.
"Alright!" Thor says. "We've got to focus."
"Is that it?" Valkyrie asks, pointing toward a case with a large red crystal gem.
Nebula walks up to the display and tries to touch it. His hand recoils with a loud snap. He looks at his palm to see that it is burned pretty badly. He looks back at the display, glaring angrily. "It says Crimson Gem of Cyttorak." Nebula punches the base of the display and pulls out a bunch of wires. "This would have been easier when my arms were artificial." The display shield goes off and Nebula gets a closer look. He frowns and kicks the display over. "Fake!"
"Careful Nebula, you'll hurt yourself." Thor says feeling protective.
"I imagine most of the stuff here is fake." Valkyrie says. They notice the fighting seems to have calmed down. "We should probably move, just in case."
"Let's check over there." Thor says. "That looks like a new display area." They see a large space, sectioned off by curtains. Nebula rushes forward.
"Why's he so impatient all of a sudden?" Valkyrie asks.
All three pass through the curtains and it is very obvious they are in the right place. There are several various displays, all concentrated on the theme of the Infinity Stones.
"Moment of truth." Thor sighs. "It's either here or not."
Nebula is looking at all the displays and knocking them over angrily. "They're all fake." He pushes over a convincing looking tesseract."
"Calm down, Nebula." Valkyrie calls out. "We'll find it."
"We've come too far to fail now." Nebula grumbles. "I won't give up on my sister."
"Your sister?" Valkyrie asks.
Nebula spots a large display case with a fake infinity gauntlet bearing six stones. He is about to smash it when he spots another much smaller case with a royal blue cloth covering it. He is hesitant at first, but slowly approaches it. Using his uninjured left hand he grips the top of the cloth and pulls it away to reveal a vibrant blue stone.
"Is that it?" Valkyrie asks.
"I think so." Thor answers.
"How do we get it out?" Valkyrie asks.
Before anyone can answer, Nebula once again punches the base of the display case and pulls out the mechanics. More alarms begin to blare. The shielding turns off, but there is still glass surrounding it. He rips the case free, lifts it over his head and smashes it on the ground.
"That works." Valkyrie says as Hela and Loki come rushing in.
"I was just trying to use the element of surprise!" Loki complains as Hela drags her into the room by her ear. She throws Loki forward who lands on her arm and knees.
"I should have told them you died in battle!" Hela snaps, "but you're not good enough for that honor!"
Loki hits the ground hard, and she takes a deep breath trying to regain her composure.
"The guards are dispatched." Hela declares, "Now where is the stone?"
Thor points to the mess on the floor, and they all turn toward it. Nebula steps forward and grabs what remains of the case, flipping it over. Hela and Loki both lock eyes on the stone, gathering in all the details.
Loki stops feigning injury and suddenly sits up. "Wait... That's"
Before she can say another word the room starts to flash brightly and the sound of loud thunder fills the air. They all cover their ears. Wind swirls around the room and everyone starts looking around for the source. Unexpectedly, lightning strikes a couple of meters between Loki and Thor. They shield their faces from the blast. There is a heavy set older man in golden armor standing between them. He is surrounded by two vibrantly armored guards wielding spears that spark with electricity.
Thor locks eyes with the new arrival. "Zeus!"
"Seize them!" Zeus responds pointing toward Thor, Valkyrie, and Nebula. The royal guards point their weapons.
"We don't have time for this!" Nebula declares before stepping forward reaching down and grabbing the infinity stone.
"Wait! Don't touch it, you fool!" Loki shouts.
It's too late. Almost immediately energy begins to shoot out from the stone and fires a beam overhead. The nine realms are suddenly on full display. Nebula's face fills with confusion as he is engulfed in the same energy which appears to rapidly deteriorate his body. "No..." Nebula does not have time to finish protesting before he is seemingly torn to shreds and shot up into the air as a beam of energy. Just as quickly as it started, the stone stops releasing power, closes the opening overhead, and drops to the ground smoking.
"Nebula!" Thor shouts. "No!" He starts to tear up. "You killed my brother!"
Valkyrie is still looking on in shocked confusion. "What just happened?" He asks.
"That's not the reality stone." Loki responds. "You're an idiot, brother." She mutters under her breath.
"Not the reality stone?" Valkyrie is confused. "Then which stone is that?"
*** Across the Universe ***
"No!" Nebula's voice echos as it seems to carry over and reach the planet before he does.
Blue light comes raining down from the sky and hits solid rock. For a brief moment the lonely desolate mountain sees more light than it is normally accustomed to. As the light rains down like a waterfall, Nebula's body begins to materialize, leaving him standing alone in the dark.
Nebula looks around in confusion, wondering where everyone went. It takes him a long moment to realize he is no longer on Olympus. After regaining his composure he opens his hand to reveal no infinity stone either. He huffs with disappointment.
"What the heck was that?" A familiar small female voice calls out. Nebula turns toward the sound.
"Do you think it was the stone?" Another familiar but this time male voice answers.
"What else could it be?" A second woman's voice chimes in.
Nebula can hear the sound of several people quickly approaching, he does not have time to hide.
"Maybe it was an Abilisk." A very familiar deep female voice says.
"Now, why would there be an Abilisk on this planet?" The woman from earlier asks.
A small figure comes flying from the cliff, into view. "Nebula!" Rocket says, just as she flies forward.
"Nebulaa!" Mantis shouts happily just as he comes into view also. He does not stop, but continues to fly forward crashing into and hugging Nebula. They do not fall due to Nebula's strength.
"I am Groot." Groot comes climbing up.
Nebula looks up at the others as they arrive. He locks eyes with Drax who is starting to smile. "How did I get here?" He asks.