20
Ghost of Sparta
John sat, at the paper before him. The parchment had sat empty on his writing-table for hours, but he knew the visions would return to him, as they always had, as they always will. What divine will was behind the horrors he was forced to witness? What sin had he committed to be forced to see into the darkest of futures, and write the account of the doom that waited for all of mankind?
He hadn't slept for days. The food tasted like ashes in his mouth, and no drink could wash away the nightmares. But something compelled him to keep going. He had to warn the future, warn humanity of what awaited. Something was coming, something beyond the primitive thoughts and technologies of the modern era.
He looked to the cup on the desk and reached his arm for it. He stopped, then looked at his arm as it shook with exhaustion. He sighed, and took the cup. The water was stale from sitting there for so many days, undrank, forgotten.
"Almighty, grant me the strength to witness the next revelation."
John put down the cup and closed his eyes. He felt a pulse of energy flow through his body, and he felt himself rise out of his chair.
He opened his eyes, and looked down. He was standing far above the Earth, high enough to see entire continents. Then, no faster than as he blinked his eyes, he was standing in a field of stone tablets, each marked in a language he had never seen before. He looked behind him, to the sound of speaking. There, standing in this field of stones, was a massive group of people, all dressed in black clothing of a design completely foreign to him. Before the group stood a priest of some kind. John listened to the speech.
"So many have been lost, it feels impossible to move on without them. But move on, we must, for in the darkest of times is when the brightest of us will shine…"
John looked at the crowd. He scanned the faces. There was one that stood out. John approached the face of the man. Pale skin, red tattoo, and eyes that had seen so much pain. John approached the man with curiosity.
Then, the pale man's eyes turned to look at him.
John was taken aback. As far as he knew, he was invisible in these visions. No one had ever looked directly at him. Suddenly, John was pulled away, ripped through space and time, to another vision. He found himself flying through the void of space, past stars, and planets, before finally landing feet-first on a whole other world.
He looked around. Everything was on fire. Bodies littered the scorched earth, and storms raged in the sky. Screams in the distance. Then, he saw him.
The same pale man, but now, wings of light sprang from his back, and blades of flame held in both hands. John approached the man. He could feel the rage emanating from this creature, the sadness, the desire for death.
"What are you?" John whispered to himself.
The pale man's head whipped to look at John. His eyes were glowing white, and his blades glowed violet with unnatural heat.
"I am Death."
The pale man reached for him. John let out a yell of fear, closed his eyes and fell backward. He opened his eyes and found himself on the floor of his study. He stood up, and looked down at the parchment before him, now covered in the scribbles his arm blindly wrote as he flew through his vision.
He read it back to himself.
"So I looked, and behold, a pale man. And the name of him was Death, and he left Hell in his wake. And power was given to them over all things, to kill with his sword, with his hunger for vengeance, with his hatred, and with the beast within him."
/
Kratos stood silently, looking to the ground, fists clenched as the priest spoke to the crowd of people, all dressed in black, all gathered to say goodbye to their lost loved ones. Seven days since the snap. It felt like a bad dream.
"So many have been lost," The priest spoke, "It feels impossible to move on without them. But move on, we must, for in the darkest of times is when the brightest of us will shine…"
Kratos heard a strange noise in front of him. He looked up to see the outline of a man, dressed in ancient Greek garb. The man was transparent, like a ghost, or a hallucination, and he gave Kratos a surprised look before fading into the air. Kratos looked around to spot the man, but he appeared to be gone. Kratos gave a dismissive huff. Not the first time ghosts tried to speak to him, and he truly didn't care to worry about it.
"You okay?" Natasha whispered.
"Fine." Kratos mumbled.
The eulogy continued, but Kratos felt little use for the comforting words of the priest. All he could feel was anger. Anger he hadn't felt in thousands of years. An anger he hoped he would never feel again. But here he stood. Mimir was gone. Loki...was gone. And once again, Thanos got what he wanted. Kratos turned and began to move through the crowd.
"Where you going?" Steve asked.
Kratos pushed through the crowd of black suits, through the cries and tears and grief that surrounded him. He walked down the street, through the empty streets of New York, into a small alleyway.
"Eternity?" He quietly asked the air.
The alley was quiet.
"I know you can hear me."
Silence.
"You give me power, you send me on a task, and now I ask for an audience, and you refuse to show your face to me?"
The alleyway sat motionless as rain began to fall on Kratos' black suit.
"Thanos succeeded, and now you hide?! Answer me!"
Kratos looked to the sky. Nothing.
"Hey, big guy."
Kratos turned. "Natasha."
Natasha slowly approached the angered demigod. "You doing okay?"
Kratos turned away from the Widow. "It is not your concern."
Natasha sighed. "I know that face. That's the face of someone who's about to make a mistake."
"You know nothing."
"I do, actually. I've looked in the mirror enough times to know what the hunger for revenge looks like."
"What I do is my own business. There is nothing to discuss."
Natasha sat down on the lid of a nearby trash can.
"I remember having a conversation with someone about the bad things we've done. How we were going to redeem our past actions together. How we wouldn't let our personnel files define us. Revenge didn't release you two-thousand years ago. It won't release you now, and it won't bring Loki back."
Kratos' breathing grew heavier with every word Natasha uttered.
"Don't go off on some wild goose chase around the universe, looking for one guy. No one knows where he is, and he still has the stones. We need a plan if we're going to-"
"It is not your decision!" Kratos snapped at her. "Do not try to change my mind. You will fail."
Natasha stared at the ground in thought. "There are people down here. People in desperate need of heroes right now. People who have lost family, friends...those people need the Avengers. Don't abandon them."
"I am not an Avenger." Kratos replied coldly.
"No?" Natasha asked. "All those times you helped us, all those people you saved, they were...what to you?"
"Mistakes."
"I see…"
Natasha stood up from the trash can and moved to exit the alley.
"I guess the man who said we would redeem ourselves together is gone?" She asked.
"That man died in Wakanda, when his son died before his eyes."
"Then I hope you find what you're looking for." Natasha said quietly before turning the corner and disappearing from Kratos' view.
Kratos watched as she disappeared from sight.
/
Steve stood in the rain as wreaths were laid down at the epitaph. He tried to keep himself composed as he laid a wreath for Buckie. He gave a quick salute, and moved back into the crowd. A hand touched his shoulder, and he turned to look into Natasha's eyes.
"How's Ghost?" Steve asked.
Natasha just frowned and shook her head. Steve's gaze lowered as he sighed with frustration.
"He's a loose cannon. We'll probably be better off without him."
"I guess we have no choice." Natasha said, looking down at the wreath for Buckie. "I'm sorry."
"He did his duty. That's all we can ask for any of us."
/
Kratos looked at himself in the mirror. He scanned his face. The wrinkles, the scars, the tattoo, the eyes. He replayed the battle over and over in his head. He should have chopped Thanos' head off. He should have chopped the alien into little pieces until he was nothing but blood in the grass. He shouldn't have assumed he was dead.
He looked down at the razor in his hand, then to his beard. He raised the razor to his face, to the hair that hid his face for so many centuries, and began to shear it away. Chunks of hair fell into the sink as he cut away at his face until nothing was left.
Nothing, but the goatee on his chin.
He rubbed his hand over his smooth face, over his square jawline. The strangest thing to see again was his scowl. The scowl he wore as he killed his father. The scowl that was the last thing so many saw before they passed to the underworld. He was older, but the Ghost of Sparta was still under there, begging to be released.
Kratos sighed and looked to his bed, where his armor and weapons were laid out. He picked up the armor and began to put it on. The Blades of Chaos, he wrapped around his forearms. The Cestus bracelets on his wrists, the Blade of Olympus in his belt. He reached to his night table out of habit, but there was no Mimir to place on his belt this time.
He looked at the Leviathan Axe as it rested on his bed. He picked it up and held it in his hands for a moment.
"Faye...I'm sorry." Kratos whispered to the room. "I failed my oath to you, but I will not fail again. I will avenge our son."
He strapped the axe to his back and picked up his helmet. The HUD booted up as he placed it over his face.
"Good morning, Kratos." Lexie stated. "What is our mission today?"
"Find Thanos. Anyone that gets in our way dies."
"Very good."
The helmet collapsed into his armor with a metallic clunk. He turned from his bed to his room's door, but paused in place when he noticed the small furry creature standing in his doorway, arms crossed and resting his shoulder against the doorframe.
"Where do you think you're goin'?" Rocket asked.
"Out of my way." Kratos snarled, approaching the Raccoon. His armor thudded against the floor with each heavy step.
"You selfish, cold old man." Rocket said, snarling back at the Spartan. "You're just going to up and leave everybody here...without me?"
Kratos paused with confusion.
"You are not coming with me."
"Like hell, I'm not! You think you're the only one who wants revenge?"
"You will slow me down."
"I beg to differ." Rocket said, giving a snide grin. "You have no idea where he is, do you?"
Kratos stepped over Rocket and moved his way into the hall.
"That's what I thought." Rocket continued, following behind the demigod. "You take me with you, you let me help take this guy down, and I'll tell you where to start."
Kratos continued his way through the hall, past the training room. Scarlet Witch, Vision, Falcon, all gone now. Kratos looked away from the room as he went by.
"Come on, man. We all lost friends..." Rocket continued, his voice growing more quiet and desperate with every word. "Don't leave me here, wondering the rest of my life what I could've done to change things."
Kratos stopped walking and sighed heavily. "Where do you suggest I start?"
"Tell you once we're out of the system. Final offer."
Kratos rolled his eyes. "You fall behind, I leave you behind."
"I was about to tell you the exact same thing."
"We are not going by ship. You will need a suit."
"Say what, now?"
/
Kratos stepped outside, with Rocket strapped to his back in a tiny, freshly 3D-printed Stark suit.
"Whoever this Stark guy is, he's got nice taste." Rocket said as his HUD displayed the arsenal of weaponry hidden inside the small suit.
Kratos looked to the field decorating the front of the facility. Thor was sitting on the bench in the grass beside the driveway. Kratos approached the Asgardian, whose eyes were fixated on the fish in the pond nearby. He was dressed in mortal pajamas, and his hair was unkempt and greasy. Kratos sat down beside him.
"I think there were eight fish in there…" Thor whispered. "Now there's three."
"Don't blame yourself, big guy." Rocket said. "We all screwed the pooch on this one."
"I should have chopped his damn head off." Thor said, "I should have chopped everything off…"
Kratos stayed quiet as the two sat on the bench in silence.
"Every time I am alone with my thoughts," Thor whispered, holding back tears. "Every time I look at the stars, every time I close my eyes at night, I will live with the knowledge that I failed him. Him, and half the universe. I can never forgive myself for that."
"Forgiveness is something I have learned to go without," Kratos said quietly. "From others, or myself. All that remains is to avenge them."
"And how will you do that?" Thor asked.
"By finishing this."
Thor's eyes left the path of the fish to look into Kratos' eyes.
"You're leaving, then?"
"I am."
"When you find him, make him suffer."
"I will."
Thor gave a huff, then slowly moved his eyes back to the fish. Kratos stood up.
"I'm not sure I have the will to open the Bifrost for you." Thor said.
"No need."
"No need?" Rocket asked, confused.
In a flash of light, Kratos's ethereal wings sprang from his back. His eyes shone white with the power of the cosmos, and the grass at his feet began to smolder.
"Are you literally going to fly through space?!" Rocket grinned. "Hell, yeah!"
"I thought you could only do that if you were angry." Thor said, a look of confusion on his face.
"I am anger." Kratos said, his voice echoing through the air before blasting into the sky.
"Let's go, go go!" Rocket said, raising his arms over his head with excitement as they left the ground.
Thor followed the demigod with his eyes as he flew through the cloud line. Once Kratos was gone from his sight, he slumped over and returned his eyes to the fish, swimming in slow circles in the pond.
/
"What is your plan when we get there?" Rocket asked as they whizzed by stars and planets.
"He will not expect us. We surprise him before he has time to react." Kratos replied.
"While I'm thinking about it, we couldn't stop him when there were ten of us! What are two of us gonna do?"
"He only won by pretending to be dead. He cannot pretend if he is dead."
"Great words of wisdom, right there. I'll remember to put that on my fridge." Rocket said sarcastically.
"Where is our first stop, creature?"
"Our first stop is Xandar. They have a database of all the criminals in the galaxy, including the members of the Black Order."
"The Black Order is dead."
"Not all of them…"
"Explain."
"There's still one out there."
/
Kratos landed on the scorched surface of Xandar. Rocket jumped off his back and looked around. The cityscape was decayed and burnt, and many of the planet's once-great towers had all but crumbled to the ground. Kratos scanned the city. The once molten surface had long ago resolidified. Both Chitauri and Xandarian bones littered the city streets as they walked through the carnage. Mummified remains of mothers holding their children in their arms. Armoured Nova Corpsmen standing in battle formations, their charred bodies burned into position where they stood.
"I knew Thanos came through here, but I didn't think it was this bad…" Rocket said, looking around the battered city.
"Lexie, find me the Nova Corps headquarters." Kratos said.
"No need, I know where we're going." Rocket said quietly.
The two walked through the streets. Past the massive decayed bodies of Leviathans and the crashed Nova Corps Star Blasters. Past the ashes that flew into the air as their steps disturbed the ground.
"There it is. At least, there it was." Rocket said, pointing to the leaning tower in the distance.
The two approached the tower, the giant Nova Corps symbol on the side of the building was blackened and broken. Kratos walked up to the entrance, his feet cracking the broken glass that littered the ground.
"Where now?" Kratos asked.
"Just find me a computer, I'll do the rest." Rocket said.
Kratos wandered the empty lobby of the Headquarters. It didn't take long to find a console.
"Over here." Kratos said.
Rocket ran up and pressed a few buttons on the console. A dim holographic screen flickered open, and Rocket quickly began to look through the database. The faces of criminals scrolled past on the screen.
"Cull...Proxima...Gamora...Thanos...no, no...There. Got her."
The screen flickered as a female's face appeared before them. Blue skin, pointed cheekbones, black marks across her forehead and under her black eyes.
"Supergiant?" Kratos asked, reading the name.
"Yeah, I never understood the name either. Says that she left the Black Order for unknown reasons. We find her, and get her to tell us where Thanos is hiding."
"It says she is immune to damage." Kratos noticed.
"I dunno, I heard an explosion once did her in." Rocket replied. "Besides, I have something cooked up for her."
Kratos looked at the chains on his forearms. "Where must we go?"
"Her last recorded location was on Krylor. Let's start there."
"Good."
/
Supergiant sat, a drink in her hand, ignoring the bustle of the night club as Krylorians danced their woes away behind her. After the snap, the planet had grown chaotic, and every night became a night of parties, violence, and lust. There wasn't much the enforcement could do about it, but they still tried, bless their souls.
"Can't believe the old man did it." She said to herself as the A.I. bartender poured another drink into her empty glass. "Did I ever tell you about Thanos, the bastard?"
The robot shook its head.
Supergiant sighed. "I knew it was forbidden, but one day, just for a split second, I peered into his mind. I saw his plan, how expendable we were, how even we weren't safe from the snap. I had to leave. The way he treated Nebula. I knew it was a matter of time before he abandoned us all. He was no father of mine…"
She scowled and took the glass in one gulp, and tapped the empty against the table. The robot poured another drink into the glass.
"All I could do was feel relieved when the snap happened and I didn't fade away."
She downed the drink in one gulp.
"Another."
"You have exceeded the maximum quantity for one evening." The bartender said in a dry, robotic voice.
She scowled at the robot, then looked at the bar manager in the distance. The Krylorian twitched as she broke into his mind. He walked behind the bar, grabbed the bottle from the robot's hand and placed it beside her.
"Thanks." Supergiant said cheekily as the manager blankly walked back to where he was standing.
"Anyway, as I was saying-"
Suddenly, Supergiant felt a presence behind her. She turned around to come face-to-face with a scowling, pale-skinned human. Before she could react, Kratos grabbed her by the neck and threw her through the wall of the club. The citizens suddenly began to panic as the music abruptly stopped. The Krylorians all began to run for the exit.
Supergiant slammed through the wall and landed in the street outside. Debris and rocks fell around her as the wall collapsed. Kratos followed her out through the hole in the wall, scowling and breathing heavily through his nose.
"Where is he?!" Kratos roared.
"Your mother ever tell you not to hit a lady?" She replied with a sneer.
Supergiant wasted no time. She closed her eyes and tried to invade Kratos' mind, but something was blocking her. Pure, unadulterated rage. And something else... cosmic power from something more powerful than anything she's ever felt. There was a whoosh of a chain flying through the air, then a sizzling sound as a Blade of Chaos sliced through her arm.
She opened her eyes and looked to her arm, which was now nothing more than a steaming stump. She tried to scream, but Kratos' foot stomped into her chest, knocking the wind from her lungs. She tried to phase through him, to get away, but something was stunting her powers.
"Where is he?!" Kratos yelled again.
"I have no idea what you're-" Supergiant was cut short as the blade sliced her other arm clean off. This time, she could scream, and scream she did.
"Thanos." Kratos said. "You know where he is."
"No use trying to get away." Rocket said, walking up to the scene, holding a large, cylindrical device. "Psionic dampener. It's not my design, but the guy I stole it from was a smart cookie. You ain't going nowhere."
Supergiant tried to get a breath in, but the foot crushing her ribs pushed harder and harder.
"You...fools!" Supergiant said through labored breaths. "He has...completed his work! He would...have destroyed...the stones by now!"
Supergiant gave a laugh. Another sizzle sound and Supergiant's leg fell limply to the ground. No sound came from her mouth, just gasping noises and gurgling.
"Wrong answer!" Kratos roared. "Where is he?!"
"Hey, big guy," Rocket said uncomfortably, "Maybe you should slow down on the chopping."
"I have no time for this!" Kratos said, lifting his foot from Supergiant's chest and picking her off the ground by the neck. He grabbed his blade with the other hand and held it to her eye, the heat of the blade forming sweat on her forehead.
"He's…" Supergiant gurgled. "On a planet called the Garden."
"Coordinates," Kratos grunted. "Now."
"I don't know anything else!"
"I don't believe you."
Rocket looked away as Kratos dug the flaming blade into Supergiant's eye. The shrieks of agony echoed through the walls of the buildings.
"Ghost, we gotta go, we're about to have company." Rocket said hesitantly as sirens began to wail in the distance.
"It's official name is Planet 0259-S! I don't know anything else! I left that life behind me! Please!" Supergiant's desperate cries fell on deaf ears as Kratos scowled into her last working eye.
"Ghost!" Rocket yelled as the sirens grew louder.
Kratos huffed and threw the broken alien to the ground. With her one leg, she tried desperately to drag her armless body away from her attackers. As Kratos turned away from Supergiant, a squadron of enforcer ships turned the corner and hovered over them. Spotlights lit up the street.
"Halt!" Came an amplified voice from the ships. "You are under arrest for destruction of property, assault and attempted murder!"
"Ghost, what do we do here?" Rocket asked as he armed his suit's numerous weapons systems.
Rocket watched as Kratos activated his helmet and unleashed a volley of rockets from his armor. The rockets hit their targets, and each ship exploded in a brilliant flash. The ships fell in a molten heap of metal and flame to the ground. Krylorian police came pouring out of the burning vehicles, screaming as flames engulfed their bodies.
"We find the Garden." Kratos said sternly as he walked past Rocket, away from the screams of the Krylorians.
/
"That was cold." Rocket said as the two blasted through the void.
"I did what had to be done." Kratos said curtly.
"I've done some bad things, but that was...something else. The cops were innocent. Aren't we supposed to be the good guys?"
"Nothing will get in my way to Thanos. Nothing else matters. If you do not like it, you can find a ship and fly back to Earth."
Rocket stayed silent.
"We're approaching the coordinates for 0259-S." Rocket said after a long silence.
"Good. Be ready."
The green planet grew larger as they approached the system. The planet's ring glowed in the sunlight, but Kratos didn't notice the beauty of the world. All he cared for, all his focus was bent on seeing Thanos' head on a stick.
They landed on the lush surface. Rocket jumped off Kratos' back.
"Lexie. Scan for sentient life." Kratos said.
"There is one. Thirty-five kilometers bearing one, three, five degrees."
"Let's get this guy." Rocket said solemnly.
The two walked through the bushes. The sunset spread a red glow through the sky as alien birds chirped in the trees.
"Do you think Supergiant was lying?" Rocket asked, "When she said he destroyed the stones?"
"If he did," Kratos replied. "Then we have already failed."
"What do you think you'll do after?"
Kratos thought for a moment.
"If we are successful, then my work will be done. Perhaps, when we are done, I will live the rest of my life in peace. A small cottage in the mountains. Simple, quiet."
"And if we fail?"
Kratos thought of all the times his quest was completed. When he threw himself off the slopes of Olympus. When he stabbed himself through the chest with the blade of Olympus.
"I do not know what I will do."
"Well, when you go knit, or whatever it is retired gods do, how much for the flame blades?"
Kratos looked at the raccoon by his side.
"What? They're cool, and I want them! How much?"
"Not for sale."
"Okay, what about the metal boxing gloves?"
"No."
"The giant blue sword?"
"No."
"Come on, haggle with me, here!"
"No."
"We are approaching the lifesign." Lexie announced.
The two pushed their way through the tall grass, behind which sat a hut made of wood and weaves of fabric. Thanos' armor hung from a stick in the yard, and the garden was full of alien fruit.
"You…"
Thanos stood at the door of his hut, gauntlet in hand. The three locked eyes with each other. Rocket immediately opened fire on the titan with a volley of energy beams. Thanos blocked the beam with the gauntlet and staggered backward.
Kratos pulled the Blade of Olympus from his belt, and in a flash of light, his energy wings carried him near-instantly across the yard, bridging the distance between him and the Titan. Thanos lazily lifted the gauntlet to block the attack, but Kratos grabbed the gauntlet with one hand and stabbed Thanos through the gut with the other.
Thanos groaned with pain as blood poured from the gaping wound caused by the massive blade.
"You're too late." Thanos grunted.
"You lie." Kratos said, thrusting the blade farther into Thanos' belly. He looked at the gauntlet in his hand. The sockets were black and empty.
"Where did you hide them?!" Kratos roared.
"I didn't hide them." Thanos moaned. "The universe required correction. Beyond that, the stones served no purpose...beyond temptation."
"Where are they?!" Kratos screamed.
"Gone. Dust in the wind." Thanos groaned.
Kratos roared with rage, pulled the blade from Thanos, and grabbed Thanos' head with both hands. Thanos began to scream as he ineffectually tried to pull Kratos' hands from his head. He looked into Kratos' eyes. Kratos saw no plea for mercy in his enemy's eyes, and Thanos knew that he would receive none from the cold, glowing Spartan standing over him. The slow cracking of Thanos' skull caused Rocket to flinch and look away as Thanos' brains began to spill from his crumbling head. Kratos squeezed and squeezed until finally, Thanos' head collapsed fully, exploding in a burst of red mist. The screams of agony stopped abruptly, and the planet fell silent.
"Jesus, Ghost…" Rocket said, looking with shock at the bloody god that stood over Thanos' dead body.
"He is lying. They are here!" Kratos said as he began to search the hut. "Lexie, scan for energy signatures!"
"Kratos…" Lexie said. "I'm getting nothing."
"NO!" Kratos roared, ripping the walls of the hut apart, tearing up the floor and overturning every piece of furniture he could find.
"Ghost...I think he was telling the truth. Why would he let us kill him this easily if he kept them around?" Rocket said as he watched Kratos rip the hutt apart.
After hours of searching, digging through the yard and razing the hut to the ground, Kratos stopped searching. He looked at the gauntlet, still hanging from Thanos' cold body.
"We've done everything we could, buddy." Rocket said quietly. "Let's go home and find a pub, call it a day, huh?"
Kratos looked at his bloodied, dirt-covered hands. Thanos was dead. His revenge was ended, and he felt the same empty nothingness creep up inside him. The emptiness of killing Ares. The emptiness of killing Zeus. Only rage remained.
"I cannot go back. I must keep searching..."
"Ghost, we lost! We're done! There's nothing left to do!"
Kratos looked at the tears in Rocket's eyes and sighed.
"If you're not going to Earth, then at least get me to a planet with a ship. I'll fly my way back." Rocket said quietly.
"Fine."
/
Steve sat at his desk, the light from his computer screen illuminating the otherwise dark office. Reports of the chaos caused by the snap came in faster than he could read them. Buckie, now Fury was gone. The Avengers had no direction, no path to follow. What could they do against this? Fury was gone, along with half of his team. Thor was a broken man, barely able to get himself out of bed. Tony was still missing. Kratos was gone. It felt like he was the only one left in this whole damn building. Having seen enough, he turned his computer screen off and placed his head in his hands. The Avengers had never failed, not like this. What could he do?
"Hey." Came a voice from his door.
He looked up.
"Rocket."
"Thanos is dead." Rocket said sternly.
Steve sat up in his chair.
"What?"
"Yup, nothing more than brains on the floor now. Ghost saw to that."
"The stones?"
Rocket shook his head slowly. "Destroyed. 'Dust in the wind', apparently."
Steve clenched his teeth and slammed his fist onto his desk, leaving a dent in the polished surface.
"I don't know what to do." He said in a half-whisper.
"Well, I'm going to wallow in self-pity in my room with a bottle of what the people of Earth call 'rum'. You're welcome to come with me."
"I don't drink." Steve replied.
"You're loss." Rocket said. "Hey, sorry about your friend."
"And yours." Steve replied.
Rocket nodded and quietly left the room, leaving Steve in the darkness alone. He got up and moved his way to the bathroom. It was time to shave the beard off.
/
Kratos stood in the flaming village, the scene for all his dreams of late, but the village was quiet now. The homes are ash, and the trees are dead and cold. The villagers are nothing but charred bones on the ground. Kratos stood in the deathly silence, alone.
Kratos…
Kratos sighed. "What now?"
As he asked, a dim glow appeared before him. There stood Athena, ethereal and transparent, floating just above the layer of ash that caked the ground.
"Why do you show your face to me now, spirit?" Kratos asked.
It is time we talked.
"All you have done is talk." Kratos grunted.
And it has done nothing to change things for the better…
"Then leave."
Thanos may have found victory, but there is still much to do.
"You sound like Eternity."
The spirit chuckled.
I have spoken with Eternity. He has tasked me to be your guide in these dark times. As much as I would rather see you dead.
"A poor choice for a guide…"
I would agree, but there are bigger things than petty hatreds to worry about now.
"Be quick with it then."
Thanos may have won, but there is still much that can be done. The universe is in chaos now, and you have the power to fix many wrongs.
"We have lost, Athena. There is nothing left to be done."
You are wrong, Spartan. Many worlds live under the tyranny of false gods and cruel kings who take advantage of the power vacuum caused by Thanos. You have the ability to end their cruelty, just as you ended the cruelty of Zeus.
"What has brought about this change of heart?"
Eternity has helped me see things now that I did not before. We must help this universe thrive again. You have the power to destroy many evils! You could be a hero in this universe if you would only trust me.
Kratos thought back to Abaddon's words. Ares. Athena. Gaia. Every creature that spurred him on, that fueled his passion, only to betray him in the end.
"I will never be a pawn again, Athena." Kratos said. "If Eternity wants to fix the universe, he can do it himself."
What will you do with yourself, then, now that you have lost? Retire? Do finger paintings? Write poetry? Drink coffee in a small apartment? We both know you are lost without bloodshed. Together, we can forget our pasts. We can change this universe for the better.
Kratos turned his back to the spirit.
Perhaps this will change your mind.
The spirit raised its arm, and with a wave of her hand, a vision of a planet appeared in the air before them.
Alfheim is yet again under threat from invasion. With Asgard gone, there is no one to protect them. Go, see for yourself. I will be waiting here when you realize your true potential.
/
The Elves screamed and ran for cover as the Dark Elf Arks flew overhead, raining fire into the city below. Citizens cleared the streets as harrows shot over the city, slicing through buildings and ripping apart defenses. Battalions of Dark Elf troopers poured into the streets, shooting at anything that moved.
Alfheim soldiers tried to fight back, but the speed of the Dark Elves' attack proved too powerful to defend against for long. Wave after wave of masked faces poured from the dropships, seemingly endlessly.
"Defend the light!" Screamed Freyr as he led the Light Elf defenders. He dove for cover behind a fallen pillar and opened fire at the incoming Dark Elf squads.
"There's too many of them!" One elf screamed before getting shot in the head.
Freyr felt the splatter of blood hit his face. He watched as his soldiers died, one by one. He looked to the sky as an Ark positioned itself overhead. The giant red light on its bow grew brighter as the ship's weapons charged up.
Suddenly, a small, bright light flew from the clouds into the Ark's hull, and the ship began to erupt in flame. Freyr watched as the Ark exploded in a blinding flash of fire. The small light flew from the explosion towards the rest of the Dark Elf fleet. One by one, the ships exploded, until nothing remained of the Dark Elf Armada.
The Dark Elves on the ground looked to their crumbling fleet with confusion and terror. Then, the small light flew straight for the Dark Elf battalions, slamming into the ground in the middle of their formations. Hundreds of Dark Elves flew into the air as the shockwave ripped them apart.
Freyr squinted his eyes to see what the light was. All he could see were two purple flames flying in and out of the Dark Elves' bodies, slicing them apart, one by one. The Dark Elves scampered away from the bright light, blindly firing at it, but the light, whatever it was, kept fighting, until the Dark Elves were scattered entirely.
Freyr got out from cover and approached the light. As he came nearer, the figure grew more detailed. Pale skin, glowing eyes, blades of purple flame.
"Who are you?" Freyr asked.
The figure placed his foot on a crawling Dark Elf's head and crushed its skull instantly. Kratos looked up and saw the Vanir.
"Call me what you will." Kratos replied.
"Thank you. If it were not for you, the light would have fallen into the Dark Elves' hands."
"Your people are safe?" Kratos asked.
"I...yes, I believe now, they are."
Kratos said nothing. With a burst of air, he flew off, back into the clouds.
"Uh…" Freyr said, furrowing his brow. "Goodbye then, pale man."
"Who was that?" A nearby Light Elf asked.
"As far as I can tell, it was a ghost." Freyr replied.
/
It felt good, didn't it? Helping those in need. And this could be just the start. Soon, the whole universe will chant your name. Savior, hero. Redemption is in your grasp. This is the best revenge against Thanos you could ever hope for. Faye would be proud. Loki would be proud to see his father, the Godslayer, saving entire worlds.
"I do not trust you, Athena." Kratos said. "Prove me wrong. Where is the next world?"