22
Fate
"Ok, let me summarize make sure I have all this figured out...the Greek pantheon of Earth is real, but they were all corrupted by some magic curse box, so you killed most of them because they tried to kill you three times."
"They did kill me three times."
"So what, you just...decided to come back to life?"
"Yes."
"What, just crawled your way out of the afterlife?
"Yes."
"Huh…and how many times has Athena died so far?"
"Twice."
"Do Olympians usually take a couple tries to kill?"
"Some do."
"So she may come back."
"She may."
Marvel shot a small burst of cosmic energy into the dying campfire they were sitting at. The fire sprang back to life.
"I was betrayed once, too." Marvel stated. "By my own people. I kicked their ass, and now here I am, saving the galaxy, but...It's getting harder. When the great disappearance happened, everything went to shit. I can barely keep up. Demons are being seen in larger and larger numbers, and all the warring species the Asgardians were keeping at bay are getting braver. I'm not sure how much I'm helping. Just glad you're on our side."
"I am on nobody's side." Kratos grumbled, staring into the flame.
"Okay, tough guy. Whatever you say." Marvel said, raising an eyebrow and looking up toward the sky. "Soup's ready if you want some."
Kratos looked at the pot hanging over the fire. "I will be fine."
Marvel shrugged and poured herself a bowl.
"Did you lose anybody?" She asked, taking a sip.
"What?"
"During the great disappearance."
"No." Kratos said, looking away.
"It's healthy to talk about stuff, you know." Marvel said, taking a sip from her soup. "For me, there was one planet. The people were the most welcoming species I've ever met. After I saved them from a Badoon raid, they brought me to the school to meet the kids. I've never seen so many smiling faces. I visited from time to time. It was crazy watching them grow up, since their species mature so quickly. One year, they were little twerps, the next they had beards! They thought I was some sort of immortal. Then, the Great Disappearance hit. Next time I came back, the school was a pile of rubble. I guess there weren't enough men left in the village to defend them, so the pirates came back and killed them all. I guess Thanos didn't take that into account when he did it."
Kratos looked into the eyes of the woman across from him. "Thanos is dead."
"I know." Marvel replied. "Steve told me."
"Rogers?"
"Me and the Avengers Initiative go way back. It's a long story. In any case, once I heard the stones were gone, I just kept...doing what I do, hoping it makes a difference, but I'm alone out here, and the Universe is kinda big."
"You know your task will never end." Kratos said quietly. "You will grow old, and you will still be fighting."
"I guess you would know, but what else am I gonna do? Whether I like it or not, it seems like it's my fate to save the universe until my body gives out."
Kratos paused for a moment. "What did you say?"
"I said 'what else am I gonna do'?"
"No, after that." Kratos said sternly, standing up. "What did you say?"
"I said it's my fate to save the universe forever."
"Fate…" Kratos mumbled. "Why did I not think of it years ago…"
"What? What did I say?" Marvel said, shrugging with confusion and taking another sip of soup.
"The Temple of the Fates. Perhaps the mirrors..." Kratos said, pacing quickly back and forth. "I must get to Earth."
"Earth is a long way from here." Marvel said, also standing up. "You feel anything yet?"
Kratos closed his eyes and tried to bring forth Eternity's power from deep within himself, but whatever Athena did to him, it seemed permanent. No wings, no purple flame.
"Nothing." Kratos said through gritted teeth.
"Then, if you want to get to Earth, I'll have to carry you." Marvel said with a weak grin.
"No. There is another way."
"What?" Marvel asked.
"You have to kill me." Kratos replied.
/
"You know, you weigh way more than you look." Captain Marvel said as the two hurdled towards the black hole in the distance. "How do you know this'll work?"
"I do not." Kratos said curtly over the radio.
The static over the comms grew more intense as they approached the massive darkness at the center of the galaxy. Sagittarius A, as Lexie called it. The site of a supermassive black hole. If this did not kill him, he didn't know anything that could.
"Here we go," Marvel said. "The second I let you go, you're gone. I won't be able to get you back."
"I am aware." Kratos said. He looked at the growing black circle in the distance. The light from stars behind it bent around its infinite gravity, creating a ring of distortion around its circumference. The very space around them seemed to quake as they came nearer. The stars orbiting the hole danced at relativistic speeds, creating an obstacle course of plasma.
"Okay, this is as far as I'm taking you!" Marvel said over the static. "Any closer, we start losing hundreds of years for every second we stay here. Good luck dodging those stars."
"I do not need luck. I will die either way." Kratos replied.
"Well, at least this murder is consensual. Alright Big Grey, if this doesn't work, nice knowing you."
With that, Marvel got herself spinning, gaining velocity as she held Kratos around in her arms. With a grunt, she chucked him into the darkness in the distance.
Kratos felt the black hole's pull on his body as the blackness grew larger and larger, overtaking half of his vision. Stars zoomed past him at such relative speed, they seemed more like flat beams of energy rather than stars.
This low-pitched pulsing rang in his radio as the Black Hole loomed over him.
"I know you meant to do this, but...warning. Extreme gravitational field approaching. Recommend immediate-" Lexie said before her electronics shut down from the EMP waves emanating from the black hole's accretion disk.
Kratos felt the gravity begin to pull exponentially more on the parts of his body closest to the hole. He felt his body begin to rip apart at the molecular level, bit by bit.
The black hole's circumference folded around him until the universe was nothing more than a dot behind him, which also eventually disappeared. Kratos was surrounded by unbroken blackness and dead, infinite silence. The only thing accompanying him was the agony of his body barely fighting against the sheer gravitational might of the Solar-System sized black hole. He felt his body slowly give up. His bones broke, his skin dissolved and his eyes split apart.
Then, there was nothing. Not pain, no gravity, nothing.
"YOU WANTED TO TALK TO ME."
Kratos realized his eyes were returned to him, and he opened them. Before him was Eternity, its body made from the very stuff of the cosmos. Stars and planets danced around his infinite form, and entire galaxies reshaped themselves to join with his body.
"You...you abandoned us to failure." Kratos grunted. "Why did you not stop him?"
"MY DEAR LITTLE SPARTAN, I COULD HAVE REWRITTEN THE VERY UNIVERSE TO SUIT MY NEEDS BETTER, BUT THAT IS NOT THE WAY OF THINGS. YOU ARE ALL VICTIMS OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL, AND I CAN BUT GUIDE YOU ON YOUR PATH."
"Free will?! My son is dead!" Kratos roared.
"DO NOT MISPLACE YOUR ANGER." Eternity said, frowning at the infinitely small creature before him. "DO NOT FORGET, IT WAS YOU THAT FAILED TO KILL THANOS, NOT I."
Kratos lowered his head. "I have done all you ask. Thanos is dead. My service to you is done."
"SERVICE?" Eternity asked. "I NEVER ASKED YOUR SERVICE. I MERELY TOLD YOU OF THE STAKES INVOLVED. YOU TOOK UP THIS TASK YOURSELF."
Eternity chuckled to himself.
"IT IS NOT OFTEN ONE FINDS HIMSELF TRAPPED IN A BLACK HOLE. I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD RATHER I SAVE YOU."
"Death, it seems, was the only way to speak with you." Kratos stated. "Had you answered my call, I would not be there."
"I AM NOT AT YOUR BECK AND CALL, LITTLE GOD." Eternity said with a frown.
A massive sigh erupted from the being, and it was as if space itself bent from his breath.
"VERY WELL. WHEN YOU AWAKE, YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF WITH YOUR POWERS RETURNED, BUT ONLY UNTIL YOU REACH EARTH."
"You would leave me with nothing?!" Kratos asked.
"AS YOU SAID, YOUR SERVICE TO ME IS DONE. THANOS IS DEAD. WHAT MORE REASON THEN DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP MY POWER?"
Kratos sighed. "I have a plan."
Eternity raised an eyebrow. "OH?"
Kratos looked up at the face of the being.
"The temple of the fates. If it still exists, I can use the threads of fate to find the stones before they were destroyed. I will bring Loki back, and Thanos' work will be undone."
"SHOULD YOU SUCCEED IN FINDING THIS TEMPLE, THERE IS ONE THING THAT MAY HELP YOU ON YOUR JOURNEY. THE BLADE OF OLYMPUS…"
"What of it?" Kratos asked.
"WHEN YOU OPENED THE BOX, ZEUS' CORRUPTION BECAME SUCH THAT BEFORE YOU THE BLADE IT FROM HIM, HE FORCED HEPHAESTUS TO MAKE IT COMPATIBLE WITH THE INFINITY STONES. SUCH WAS HIS FEAR OF YOU."
"What?" Kratos said, looking at the handle on his belt.
"GOOD LUCK, SPARTAN."
With that, Kratos awoke in the blackness. He felt the cosmic power of Eternity pulsating through his veins. He felt his wings on his back, and with a burst of energy, he felt himself overcoming the crushing death of the black hole's pull. The universe opened up before him through the black, as a small dot at first, then as a circle. The light of the universe folded back around him, overtaking the empty dark of the black hole behind him. Light filled his eyes once again.
"- immediate withdrawal." Lexie's voice came back on as they left the EMP's influence.
Kratos approached Captain Marvel as she sat there, floating well past the influence of the black hole's gravity.
"It worked." Kratos said calmly.
"You just escaped the pull of the largest source of gravity in the galaxy, and it took you fifteen minutes." Marvel stated. "Who are you?!"
"I have connections." Kratos replied.
/
"What's your plan then, Big Grey?" Marvel asked as the two soared through the cosmos towards Earth.
"I will go back in time and retrieve the stones. I will reshape destiny."
"You?" Marvel asked. "Okay, first of all, time travel isn't real."
Kratos ignored her criticisms. He knew the truth. Whether she knew was irrelevant.
"Let's say you do go back in time, couldn't you undo everything that ever happened? Couldn't you butterfly effect the universe into oblivion if you make one mistake?"
"That has never stopped me."
"You could do anything. Literally anything. You could kill anybody before they're even born."
"I could."
The two moved silently through space. Marvel gave Kratos a long look.
"What is it?" Kratos asked.
"How can I be sure you won't abuse the stone's power if you actually find them?"
"You don't." Kratos said.
/
Kratos and Marvel landed in the middle of the quiet streets of Rhodes. The few civilians that saw them land all gasped and scattered as the two touched down. Car horns honked, but the two paid no attention.
"If you find the stones," Marvel started, "Do the right thing."
"I will do what must be done. Whether that is the right thing is none of your concern."
Marvel gave Kratos a suspicious look, then flew off into the sky. A car honked at Kratos.
"Out of the way!" Came a voice in Greek from his car.
Kratos gave the man a scowl, then walked up to the man's door. He ripped it off its hinges and tore out the man's steering wheel with one quick jerk.
"Two thousand years ago, I destroyed this city..." Kratos said with a scowl.
The man stared blankly, his mouth gaping open as Kratos threw the steering wheel kilometers into the sea, then walked off into the streets of Rhodes.
/
Kratos walked up to the giant flat stone platform that overlooked the bay of Rhodes. He read the faded plaque that accompanied the stonework.
The Battle of Rhodes.
According to myth, this platform was where Zeus fought the God of Violence and Strength, Kratos, over the fate of the city. The writings of this battle are the last that record the existence of the Colossus of Rhodes. The myth states that Kratos led an invading Spartan army against the city. Zeus gave the Colossus life to fight the invaders, but the god Kratos defeated it. Zeus, in his anger, smote the god down, then removed the invading Spartan army from the city. This place has remained undisturbed as a sacred site.
Kratos took his eye from the plaque. He could see the exact spot where Zeus stabbed him through the chest with the Blade of Olympus. The cracks in the stone where the Colossus' hand crashed down on him. From here, he could vaguely remember the direction to the Island of Creation. Or, at least, the halfway mark.
He could still feel some of Eternity's cosmic power inside him. Whatever Kratos said to the being, it was apparently convincing enough for him to keep some of that power. The energy wings sprouted from his back, and he took flight in the direction of the Island.
/
Natasha took a bite of her PB&J sandwich as the holograms of Rocket and Carol bantered back and forth.
"Yeah, we boarded that 'highly suspect' warship Danvers Pinged." Rocket stated.
"It was an infectious garbage scowl…" Nebula's hologram added with disgust.
"So, thanks for the hot tip." Rocket said, smirking at Captain Marvel's Hologram.
"Well, you were closer." Carol stated coldly.
"Yeah, and now we smell like garbage." Rocket replied.
"You get a reading on those tremors?" Natasha interrupted, now speaking to the hologram of Okoye.
"It was a mild subduction under the African plate." Okoye explained calmly.
"Do we have a visual?" Natasha asked. "How are we handling it?"
"Nat," Okoye replied. "It's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it."
Natasha sighed and turned to Carol. "What about Ghost? You said you saw him out there."
"I saw him, alright." Carol said. "Apparently, he was The Angel we were looking for."
"Well, cutting a swathe across the universe sounds like him." Nat replied with a sigh.
"Natasha…" Carol said. "I think he's going after the stones."
"That's impossible. I was there, the stones were gone." Rocket confirmed.
"He's going to try to time travel…" Carol said quietly. "Apparently, he's done it before."
"That's simply impossible." Okoye stated. "Not even Wakanda has that technology."
Natasha thought for a moment. "He's a god, maybe he can do it somehow."
"This could be very bad." Rocket said.
"I agree." Carol stated. "For once, the raccoon might be right. He's not someone I want to see with the stones."
"You should have seen what he did to Thanos. He didn't just kill him, he crushed his head in. He blew up a dozen cops, and left them to burn..." Rocket added, trying not to look disgusted.
"That was five years ago. Maybe things have changed." Nat said optimistically.
"The last thing he said to me was 'I will do what must be done. Whether that is the right thing is none of your concern." Carol mentioned.
"I see…" Nat said quietly. "Then we need to find a way to stop him. If he's unstable, he's the last person we need with the stones."
"We're not gods, Nat." Carol mentioned. "We can't just travel back in time when we feel like it."
"No, but we have smart people on our team. If he's still wearing Stark tech, then we can track him. We'll stop him, even if it has to get dirty." Nat stated solemnly.
The room was silent for a moment.
"Alright. Uh, well…" Nat continued. "This channel is always active. So, if anything goes sideways... anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't, it comes through me."
The group all agreed, and the blue glow of the holograms shut down, one by one. Except for Rhodey. It took a moment for Nat to realize he was still there, standing, waiting for her to notice his hologram.
"Where are you?" Nat asked.
"Mexico. The Federales found a room full of bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off." War Machine said.
"Probably a rival gang." Nat replied, looking down at her sandwich.
"Except it isn't…" Rhodey said.
Nat looked up, hoping his next words weren't…
It's definitely Barton." War Machine continued. "What he's done here, what he's been doing for the last few years... I mean, the scene that he left…"
Nat felt a lump in her throat begin to form.
"I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him." Rhodey added.
"Will you find out where he's going next?" Nat asked, taking another bite from her sandwich.
"Nat…" Rhodey said quietly.
"Please?" Nat asked, a tear forming in her eye.
"Okay…" Rhodey said reluctantly before signing off. The room went dark, and Nat put her head in her hands. Kratos, Barton, so many of the team going dark side. The Avengers was sying, and nothing could be done to stop it.
/
Kratos looked down at the ocean as he flew overhead. The oceans were as empty as the Ancient times. Very few boats below, nor planes overhead passed by. It appeared Earth had not adjusted well to the snap, even after half a decade to recover.
"We're approaching Mount Etna now." Lexie mentioned. "Get your camera's out."
The silhouette of the mountain grew in the distance; the first landmark on the way to the temple. Kratos squinted his eyes, but he could see no opening to Typhon's old lair. If the Titan was still there, he must have been buried over thousands of years of the mountain's slow shifting. He landed on the side of the mountain and held his ear to the solid rock.
Nothing, for a brief moment. Then, a faint voice shook the mountainside deep from within the rocks, so faintly that mortals would mistake it only as volcanic tremors.
"I would know that smell anywhere, Kratos! You return to finish the job?! Good! I tire of my imprisonment!"
Kratos removed his ear from the mountain, not saying a word.
"No! Wait! Come back and kill me, you fucking bastard! Please!"
Kratos stood up and abandoned Typhon to his pleas. Now, all that stood between him and the Island of Creation is his own memory. Kratos looked around him and recognized nothing.
"Where to now, boss?" Lexie asked.
"I...do not know." Kratos said. "Last time, Gaia guided me to the island. I was also fighting Griffons on a flying horse…and it was night."
"Are there any others who might know where it is?"
"None that I am aware of."
"Then, maybe we just wait until night, then we try again?"
"Very well."
Suddenly, as if the universe itself heard their discussion, the sun's dance across the sky accelerated unnaturally fast. Within seconds, the sun was below the horizon, and the world was shrouded in night.
Kratos raised an eyebrow.
"I'm reading a sudden shift in the Earth's orbit. By all accounts, the acceleration should have flown us off the surface of the planet, but I'm reading no inertial shift. I'm assuming this is an Olympian thing?" Lexie asked.
"There is only one creature I know of who can bring the night so easily, and he is not Olympian..." Kratos mumbled.
"Who?" Lexie asked.
"I must rest." Kratos replied.
"Now?"
"Now."
/
Kratos found himself in the burnt village. The air was calm and cool, and the ashes from the burnt village had long since lost their fiery vigor.
"The world goes dark, and the first thing you decide to do is visit me? That's either flattery or foolishness." Came a whisper from the darkness beyond the dream's borders.
"What do you want, Morpheus?" Kratos asked, looking to the sky.
From the darkness beyond the village, a black smoke slithered towards him. The tendrils of smoke crawled through the air and amalgamated in front of Kratos, until the smoke had formed into the shape of a man, tall and slender. Wisps of smoke danced on top of the form's head like a wild mane of hair, and the only solid thing on this creature's body was its eyes, which glowed through the darkness like little white stars.
"I want you to succeed." The being said, though no mouth could be seen on the black figure's face. Its voice existed in a place of androgyny between male and female, without any clear evidence for either.
"The last time we met, you sent your beasts against me." Kratos mentioned.
"And now you understand why. You were helping Olympus, despite their corruption. They were lost to evil, but now they are gone, thanks to you."
Morpheus walked around Kratos, sweeping its hand over his shoulders. Kratos' eyes followed the creature as it orbited him.
"And I do mean, thanks to you." The being continued. "Now, the universe is free to dream as they like, free from the Olympian's...oversight."
"Why aid me now?" Kratos asked, trying to ignore the creature's touch as its hand brushed past his neck.
"A guy gets used to the nicer things in life." The creature said. "All those souls pouring more and more power into my domain. So many dreams...so much imagination. But now…"
The creature came full circle and turned to face Kratos. "But now, only half the souls, half the dreams, half of all that power comes to me."
Morpheus placed both hands on Kratos' arms. "Call me spoiled, but I don't like living on a budget. I've tasted the good stuff, and I want that taste back."
Morpheus' eyes scanned the Spartan up and down.
"You know…" The creature continued. "Legend tells of the greatest lover in all the lands, so much so that Aphrodite herself invited him to her bed. Perhaps there are other ways to thank you, now that I have seen you up close…"
"I do not have time for this!" Kratos said, turning away from the being. "Show me the path to the Temple or leave."
"Do not pretend it hasn't been such a long time for you, Spartan." Morpheus said, placing both hands of Kratos' chest. "All those years alone in that suit of armor, fighting evil. It can be very lonely. I can be anything you like, man, woman, something in between. I could be the best dream you ever had. I know what you Spartans liked to do with each other before a battle-"
"Enough!" Kratos grunted, ripping Morpheus' arms away from him. "You waste time."
The demeanor of the being shifted.
"You would deny the Lord of Dreams? The only reason you sleep as well as you do is because I allow it! I can make your dreams so much worse, Spartan!"
"Allow me to complete my task, Dream God." Kratos grumbled. "Your desires are not my concern."
"Fine." It said with a hurt harshness. "You want to find the Temple? Follow the light."
The dreamscape around Kratos faded away, along with Morpheus' smoky form.
"Bring back those souls, Kratos. To have the Lord of Dreams against you is a dangerous thing indeed..."
Kratos awoke on the mountainside. He sat up and rolled his neck to either side.
"Good news?" Lexie asked.
"Nothing about this is good." Kratos grumbled.
He stood up and scanned the horizon for any strange sources of light. Thankfully, Morpheus was courteous enough to make it obvious.
"The sun does not rise in the North." Kratos stated.
"It sure doesn't." Lexie said. "And yet, there it is."
"That is our path." Kratos said.
/
Kratos landed on the temple's balcony. The phoenix statue towered over him in the distance, and the flora kilometers below him were hidden by layers of thick fog. The sky around him was clouded, but the strange glow of the winds of creation still shone through the darkness, creating a strange dance of light and dark.
This place brought him so many memories. He looked down, at the bloodstained spot where the Spartan died in his arms. The pillars where the Kraken held itself up as it fought with him. The Great brazier that the Phoenix rested before he took it into the temple.
The massive pillars and statues that decorated the walls of the titanic temple still stood, but thousands of years of decay had taken their toll. Even the phoenix statue in the distance had lost a wing to the slow clutch of time.
He breathed in the air. It was a relief for once, to see no enemies, no banshees, no minotaurs, no undead blocking his path.
"Hey, big guy…"
Kratos knew that voice.
"How did you find this place?" He asked, turning around.
"That helmet, it's Stark Tech." Natasha said, tapping her temple. "Finding you was easy. Finding an interdimensional island was way tougher, but the Bifrost came in handy."
"Brother…" Another voice said.
Thor appeared from behind a pillar. It was him, but his hair was long and knotted, and his body had lost its much of its muscle mass.
"How many more did you bring?" Kratos asked, scowling at Nat.
"This isn't a fight, Ghost." Steve said calmly, also emerging from behind another pillar. "We just want to talk."
"The time for talk is over." Kratos responded, pulling his blades from his back. "Do not interfere."
"I get it, your angry. We all are." Nat said, reaching her hand toward Kratos. "But we need to find the stones together. You can't do this alone."
"This task is mine. If you try to stop me, you will fail."
"Brother, do not force our hand." Thor said, Stormbreaker in hand. "You are not yourself."
"From one soldier to another, don't do this." Steve said. "We fought against this together. Let's finish this together."
"I will warn you one last time. Leave." Kratos replied.
Steve walked up to Kratos, arms outstretched.
"You're not a monster, Ghost. You...the real you...is an Avenger." Steve whispered. "Avengers are family. Don't do this."
"I warned you."
Kratos backhanded Steve, hitting him square in the jaw. Steve was thrown through the air and hit the pillar in the distance. Kratos erupted in a flash of energy. His wings sprang from his back, and in a blast of light, he was airborne.
"He's going for the statue. Thor." Steve said, rubbing his jaw.
"I'm on it." Thor said, blasting off himself.
Kratos looked behind him, at the Asgardian trying to catch up.
"KRATOS!" Thor roared after him. "STOP!"
Kratos ignored the god behind him and dove into the mouth of the Phoenix Statue. He felt the cold water of the flooded temple hit his body. Steam rose up as the water vaporized on contact with his wings. He jumped out of the water in time to avoid a lightning bolt from Thor that electrified the whole pool. Thor landed across the temple on a round platform.
"Brother, please." Thor said. "I know Loki's loss was hard for you. It was hard for me as well! Let's find the stones together, not apart."
Thor's eyes went wide as the Leviathan axe flew straight for his head. He dodged and felt the axe sing past his ear. The axe embedded itself in the wall behind him. Thor turned around, and Kratos was gone. He looked to the hole, broken through the statue of a face, the only place for him to have gone.
"Thor, what's your status?" Steve asked over the comms.
"I'm moving farther into the temple." Thor replied.
"Bad idea, you don't know what's in there. Regroup, we'll-"
Thor switched off his radio and pursued Kratos further into the temple. The halls seemed to go on forever. He grabbed hold of the massive door in his way and pulled it open. The door creaked and rumbled, debris crumbling down onto the Asgardian as he held the door open enough to pass through.
The door fell behind him with a crash, and Thor found himself in a strange circular room, which seemed much better maintained than the rest of the temple. He jumped down to the polished floor and scanned the area. The door in the middle of the room was surrounded by shattered shards of a mirror. He passed through the door and continued through.
The next room was dark, and everything inside was lit with a strange blue mist. The height of the room was disorienting, and Thor decided not to look up for too long. Beyond the mist was a set of platforms, with spiral stairs leading up to somewhere. He approached the platforms, and noticed, to his horror, a massive skeleton with ribs that stretched hundreds of meters upwards through the column. Arms seemed to be attached at random all along its spine, but it only seemed to possess two legs at its base.
Thor flew up to the top platform only to see the skull of the creature, surprisingly small for the rest of its size. A giant pendulum was stabbed through its brain, still stuck there from when it died millennia ago. Around the creature, millions of strands of thread hung from every surface of the wall.
A hand broke through the stone floor that Thor was standing on. Thor felt himself get pulled through the stone floor, slamming face-first into the floor of the level below. Thor tried to get up, but he felt another hand on his leg, and he felt himself get thrown across the room.
Kratos watched as Thor rammed into the wall, sending cracks all the way up the stonework. The temple shook. Through the dust, Kratos saw a charge of electricity. He braced as Thor shot a lightning bolt against him. The bolt hit his blades and bounced away, hitting Clotho's skeleton and the platforms above. Clotho's bones lost their integrity and came crashing down. Hundreds of tons of bone hit the ground below, shaking the temple even further. Rocks were coming down from the ceiling as Thor landed across from Kratos.
"Brother, what ails you?" Thor asked. "Not five years ago we were brothers!"
Kratos just scowled and swung the blades at the confused Asgardian. Thor blocked the attacks, but he had grown slow without the practice of battle, and Kratos was fresh from half a decade of death and war. Thor felt himself slowly losing ground to the raging creature before him. The flames of his blades swung about, creating an ominous glow in the darkened chamber.
Thor released a burst of electricity, giving him a moment's pause as Kratos rolled out of the way of the lightning bolt.
"Very well, brother. I will do what I must." Thor said, his eyes glowing white with the power of the storm.
"So shall I." Kratos grumbled.
Thor lobbed Stormbreaker towards Kratos, which he dodged by punching a hole down to the lower level. As he fell, he stabbed the blades into the platform above him and swung upward, kicking his way back up through the floor. His feet hit Thor in the chest, sending him flying towards the wall. Thor stopped himself before he hit the wall and hovered there, recalling Stormbreaker as he did so. Kratos heard the whoosh of the axe. He turned around and grabbed a hold of the handle as it passed him, shooting him straight for Thor. Using the momentum, he let go of the axe and drove both blades straight for Thor's chest. Thor's eyes went wide and he blocked the blades with his arm. The blades went through his arm, cauterizing the wounds instantly. Thor let out a roar of pain and kicked the Spartan off him.
Kratos went falling towards the bottom of the chamber. He activated his wings and flew straight back up for Thor, who was hovering far above. He pulled out the Blade of Olympus and shot a beam of godly energy straight for his foe, but Thor dodged and returned fire with a wide spread of lightning. Kratos dodged the blast with the massive blade, but he could still feel the sting of electricity on his legs and arms. He flew above the Asgardian, let out a roar of anger and brought the blade down on Thor. Thor tried to block with Stormbreaker, but his one working arm proved useless against the blow. The Blade of Olympus cut through Stormbreaker's handle and into Thor's shoulder. Thor screamed as the blade drove into his collarbone and severed his pectorals in half.
Kratos grabbed Thor by the long unkempt hair and tossed him back into the top platform. Thor rolled a ways before stopping. Blood poured out of his gaping shoulder wound. Both arms were useless. Kratos landed on the platform and trudged towards the defeated god. He dropped the Blade of Olympus and grabbed Thor by the collar of his armor. Kratos pulled his hand back and threw a hook into Thor's jaw. Then another into his cheek.
"Brother…" Thor said desperately through swollen lips.
Kratos ignored Thor's words and threw blow after blow into Thor's face. Flashbacks of New York appeared in his thoughts, but he kept punching away, until Thor's face was an unrecognizable mess.
"It's true then…" Thor mumbled as Kratos got up off the defeated Asgardian.
Kratos ignored him and grabbed the Blade of Olympus from the ground.
"You are the Godslayer after all." Thor whispered after coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Kratos paused for a second. The Godslayer...the thing he ran for so long to escape. He hated the name. He always had. He turned to Thor. The warrior that fought with him at so many battles. But Kratos wanted no more hiccups. When this is all over, Thor would never know this happened.
Kratos grabbed Thor by the neck with his free hand and dragged him to one of the threads. He wrapped the thread around Thor's neck and pulled. Thor gasped desperately for air as the thread slowly dug into his Asgardian skin. Eventually, after what felt like hours, and it very well may have been, Thor stopped struggling, and Kratos released his grasp of the thread. The thread remained embedded in Thor's neck, holding up the lifeless body from falling to the floor. Thor's body hung limply, his legs resting on the ground as his body hung there, dripping blood to the levels below.
"You could have walked away." Kratos said, turning his back on Thor's body and making his way to the mirror.
"What's the plan, boss?" Lexie asked in her usual tone.
"We find the thread for each stone, and rip them from history." Kratos replied.
"There are millions of threads in this place, and we aren't even sure they kept records of the stones." Lexie replied.
"They would have. If Zeus made a blade for the stones, then we can be sure he kept track of them. It may be several years before we find the right ones-"
"I think I found them." Lexie interrupted.
"How?" Kratos asked.
"Look at the blade."
Kratos looked down at the Blade of Olympus. Something was indeed pulling at the blade as it sat in his hand. He loosened his grip on the blade. The point of the blade moved involuntarily towards one of the spools hanging on the edge of the platform. He approached the spool, each step exciting the blade even further until it was vibrating in his hand. He put the blade away and began to search through the threads on the spool until suddenly, a strange blue thread poked out from the rest.
"We have our first stone." Kratos said.
/
"Thor? Thor?!" Steve said, pressing his finger to his earpiece.
"Anything?" Nat asked.
Steve turned to face her and shook his head.
"Oh, God…" Nat exclaimed. "What do we do?"
"We hope Bruce and Scott have that prototype ready. We have to act fast."
/
Kratos spun the spool and kept his eye on the mirror as the story of the Space Stone unfolded on its surface. The snap...when Thanos placed it on his gauntlet...when Loki stole it from the vault...the end of the Battle of New York…
But Kratos saw something he didn't expect.
"Stark…"
The mirror showed Tony, dressed in S.W.A.T. Gear, carrying the suitcase towards some stairs. Kratos locked the thread in place and launched himself through the mirror.