24
The Battle of the Island of Creation
The Hangar of the Avengers facility was silent. Suddenly, the time machine began to spring back to life as the remaining Avengers popped back into existence. They regained their balance and looked around.
"Did we get any of them?" Bruce asked.
The group was silent as they all looked around.
"Did we get any at all?" Bruce asked again, more desperately.
"Where's Rocket?" Nat asked.
"Tony!" Clint exclaimed, running over to help the broken man as he lay on the floor.
"He was there…" Tony struggled to say. "He...his past self grabbed me. He took the stone…"
"Where's Nebula?!" Nat asked War Machine, who stood there silently.
"He...I couldn't stop him." Rhodes replied, holding back tears. "I fucked up…"
"You left her there?!" Steve asked. "You left her suit in the past?!"
"He beat us all to it." Clint said quietly. "We all fucked up."
"My god…" Steve said. "He has them all."
"Now what do we do?" Bruce asked.
"We gather everybody left. Everybody we can muster against him." Nat said. "We go to that temple...and we jam a nuke down his throat."
/
"You might only have one or two shots at this." Lexie mentioned. "Judging from Thanos' damage patterns when he used them, the stones will be extremely hazardous once activated. You will sustain damage, and I'm not sure if your god regeneration will help."
Kratos sat and stared at the sword in his hands. The bright patterns of light that rippled up and down the blade lit up the Loom Chamber with a dance of shadows and color. The six stones sat in the blade, a low hum emanating from the power contained within them. Kratos stared at it for a long time.
"What are you waiting for, boss?" Lexie asked.
"Now that I have it," Kratos started. "I am not sure what I shall do with it."
"Undo the damage, I guess." Lexie replied.
Kratos stared at the blade for entire minutes in silence.
"I've downloaded your entire SHIELD file." Lexie stated. "I'm assuming you're thinking of undoing much more than just what Thanos did."
"This blade...I could undo everything."
"Define Everything."
"I could undo...me." Kratos whispered to himself. "I could undo my existence. Every wrong I ever did. Everyone that died because of me...because of Ares...every god..."
"That would be illogical. If you undo yourself, you would never exist to undo yourself."
"Helmet..."
"Sorry, I'll keep the time paradox speak to a minimum."
"Give me a moment in silence to think."
"I'll put myself in sleep mode."
Kratos sat there. He looked at the empty spot on his belt. Mimir's advice would have come in handy right about now. He swung the blade at the air, and the power of the reality, soul and time stones flashed across the chamber. The room went pitch black, and Kratos thought of all the people in his life that tried to steer him in the right...or wrong direction. Before his eyes, four apparitions appeared, ghostly and faded. It was hard to tell who they were, but he knew each one intensely well.
"Erasing yourself from the universe would be the smartest thing you ever did." Athena's voice came from one spirit.
"Athena was weak." His own, younger voice answered. "You have the chance to go back and kill Thanos before the snap. It worked for Zeus. It will work now."
"And millions died because of you and Zeus!" Athena snapped back.
"Brother…" Mimir's voice spoke up, "The stones are a responsibility far beyond any mortal...or immortal. They weren't meant for the likes of us, whether we are wise or not. Just undo Thanos' work. Don't go back and change the past again. People have been born and have grown up since the snap. Don't erase them."
"You are a stain on reality." Athena replied. "If you were gone, Thor would still be alive. Everyone you've murdered...would still be alive."
Kratos looked at Thor's body, still hanging limply from the threads of fate in the distance.
"You threw a mother to her death." Athena said sternly. "Leaving her daughter alone. Nothing you do with those stones will alter the actions you have taken to get them."
"You don't need to off yourself just because you made some bad choices." Mimir said. "Bring them back. You can still save half the universe. We don't know what will happen if you meddle with your past more than you already have."
"They were fools to cross you!" Kratos' young voice said aggressively. "Revenge is your only true path. It is an art that we have perfected. The Avengers would not be the first you left behind. They are nothing."
"My love…"
The fourth voice echoed in the darkness. Kratos looked up from his thoughts.
"Faye." Kratos said. "The choice is not as clear as it once was."
Faye's ghost walked up to the Spartan and placed a shadowy, transparent hand on his cheek.
"There are many paths for you to take. But you already know the choice." She said.
"Do what is best for our son." Kratos replied.
The ghost nodded. Kratos couldn't tell for sure, but the shift in the spirit's face may have been a smile. Faye's smile, the one thing that stopped his anger, the one creature that tolerated him for what he was.
"I am sorry, wife." Kratos said weakly. "I let Loki die. I gave in to anger. My oath to you is broken."
"It is not broken yet." Faye said. "Save him. Bring him back. Undo the death you have wrought. Undo what Thanos has done."
"I second that." Mimir's animated voice echoed through the darkness.
"You would listen to this Frost Giant?" Athena scorned. "You have tried to kill yourself more times than I can count, and now you won't do it, when you know it will work? Coward!"
"Don't listen to the females, they know nothing of battle!" Kratos' younger self roared. "End this before it began!"
"I have decided." Kratos said, slashing the Blade of Olympus through the air. In a burst of light, the visions were gone, and Kratos was back in the Loom Chamber.
Kratos stood up. He held the sword up, and pointed the blade to the ground.
As he moved to plunge the sword into the stone, an incalculable flash of light erupted around him. The million-degree heat overtook his senses, and he was both blinded and deafened by the raw energy.
But it didn't come from the Blade.
Kratos felt himself get thrown halfway across the Island of Creation. The Blade left his hand as his body was hit by shock-wave after shock-wave of air and the chaos of nuclear fusion. He felt the heat burn away at his eyes until his corneas had all but melted away. The only sound in his ears was a high-pitched ring. He felt his body hit the ground. Trees, rocks and water all assaulted his body as he rolled across the landscape.
He came to a stop by ramming into an ancient statue of the fates. The statue split in two as the god's body struck the stonework. He couldn't see or hear anything, but his godly regeneration began to slowly fix what was broken. He felt his eyes slowly regenerate, and within a minute or two, he could see again. He pulled himself out of the statue and groaned as he stood upright.
In the distance was the shadow of a mushroom cloud, towering over the island. The Temple was nothing but rubble on the mountain in the distance. The trees around him were torn and windswept, brought down by the shock-wave. The echoes of the blast eventually fell silent. Kratos looked around him for the Blade, but it was nowhere to be seen.
"NO!" Kratos roared, whipping his head back and forth in search of the Blade. "Lexie, find the blade…Lexie!"
Kratos tried to activate the helmet, but the Stark-made equipment had been irreparably damaged from the blast. Kratos ripped the helmet's sparking electronics from his armor and tossed it to the ground.
The rumble of Quinjets grew in the distance. Kratos slowly pulled the Blades of Chaos from his back, his muscles and bones still regenerating from the blast.
"Hold it right there, asshole."
Tony's amplified voice rang across the nuclear wasteland. There was a massive thud behind Kratos, which he turned around to meet. Before him stood a hulking suit of armor, similar in aesthetic to Odin's Destroyer. The muscular limbs were made of overlapping sheets of metal and stood a dozen feet tall. Arks of electricity sprang from its fists as it strode slowly and heavily toward the Spartan.
"This armor was designed in case we had to take down Thor." Tony's voice came over the suit's loudspeakers. "But it'll do against you."
"We have you outnumbered, Ghost." Nat's voice came from the Quinjet overhead.
Ropes fell from the sides of the jet, and out jumped the Avengers, Wong and the last of the members of the Order of the Mystic Arts. Korg and the last of the Asgardians arrived, armed with weapons of every assortment, from plasma rifles to rocket launchers to basic swords and shields. Behind them came several dozen soldiers of every nationality, from Russian to American to Wakandan. Every one of them was armed with the most state-of-the-art technology, from the latest in armor designs to the most advanced weaponry, no doubt reverse-engineered from Hydra's old designs and from Wakanda's armory. Kratos heard the thunder of several battle tanks as they thundered across the shredded ground to meet him. The ragtag group rushed to surround Kratos.
"We can't let you destroy the last hope we have." Steve said.
"You are making a mistake." Kratos replied.
"You made a mistake when you started icing your own guys." Tony said. "Bad form, Frosty."
"I want my family back, now where's the fucking stones?!" Clint roared, drawing an arrow from his quiver.
"He doesn't have them." Tony said. "There's no signature."
"Where did you hide them?" Steve asked.
Kratos stayed silent and slowly scanned the mob of enemies that surrounded him. Hulk first, then the battle tanks. The wizards would no doubt try to hold back and assault from behind. No sign of the space woman. Yet. The fractures in his bones were beginning to heal, but not fast enough. This was going to be unpleasant.
"I've picked up it's signature!" Tony said. "It's that way!"
The group looked at each other. Kratos looked at the group. The group looked at Kratos. Tony and Kratos looked at the location of the Blade. There was a sudden mad dash as everybody began to rush toward the Blade. Kratos slashed at one of the soldiers, slicing him in half as he ran. He waited for a tank to fire at him, but none did. He assumed they knew better than to fire so closely to their own people.
Then he felt a massive hand crush down on his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going, Suntan?" Tony said as his massive hand tossed Kratos far into the distance, away from the blade.
Kratos rolled across the ground. He jabbed the Blades of Chaos into the ground to stop himself. He looked up to see the Thorbuster armor thudding towards him, each stride covering tens of meters. He rolled out of the way of the incoming punch, forcing Tony off-balance. Kratos pulled out a Cestus and rammed the gauntlet into the Thorbuster's thigh, not doing much more damage than a dent in the sheet metal.
Tony tried to throw his arm at Kratos, but his balance was too uneven, and the arm was easily dodged.
"Too slow, Stark." Kratos said as he threw another, more concentrated punch into the Thorbuster's chest. The Cestus crunched into the metal, creating a much more significant dent.
"Dodge this." Tony replied as he opened his palm ad pointed it at Kratos' face. Kratos' eyes widened as the beam charged. He tried to dodge, but Tony's armor locked onto him and calculated the Spartan's trajectory. The beam hit Kratos in the arm. Kratos' arm was blown backwards as the Asgardian Destroyer beam cut through Ares' armor and burnt into his skin. Kratos took advantage of the armor's slow movement. He rolled out of the way of the second beam and threw the Leviathan axe at Tony's head, hitting the eyepiece. Tony grunted and took a step back as the axe punctured the eyepiece and grazed his cheek. Kratos bounded up to Tony while he was distracted and shoulder-checked the axe further into Tony's armor, forcing the blade further into Tony's cheek. Tony screamed and fell backward. Kratos had no time to waste killing the mortal. In a burst of energy, Eternity's wings sprang from his back, and he took to the air to catch up with the chase for the Blade.
/
"Where are they?!" Clint roared as the group searched desperately through the forest.
The group had moved into a section of the island not as touched by the blast of the nuke. The trees remained upright, and the light of the sun had become clouded both by the overhead vegetation and by the slow-moving fallout.
"Tony said they were this way, keep looking!" Bruce replied as he ripped up trees and rocks from the dirt to make way for the column of tanks behind him.
A scream came from the edge of the group. Every head lifted from their search to look at the source. Nat turned her head in time to see one of the soldiers get pulled into the forest by something big. The echoing creams abruptly ended, and the forest was suddenly deathly quiet.
"Be on the lookout, we're not alone here." Steve whispered over the radio, scanning the treeline surrounding him.
Another scream from the other edge of the treeline. Steve spun around to watch as a Minotaur swung its axe into one of the sorcerers, slicing him in half. Another sorcerer tried to cast a spell, but another creature with blades for hands jumped up from a shadow on the ground and sliced the poor wizard's arms off.
"What the fuck is that?!" Someone screamed.
"Open fire!" Another replied.
Gunfire erupted through the forest as creatures began to emerge from the surrounding treeline. Minotaurs and undead, wraiths and cyclops began to pour out from the darkness, ravenously wading into the survivors.
"Fall back! Get into a defensive line!" Steve roared over the sounds of battle.
Gunfire and sorcerer spells lit the forest, revealing the decayed faces of the undead and the glint of the weapons they carried. The roar of the army of creatures began to overtake the sound of the defender's screams. Tanks began to pull away from the group to open fire into the bigger monsters. The Quinjets overhead layed down overhead fire, the whiz of their cannons sending a rain of thousands of bullets into the forest. It seemed no matter how many they killed, they only drew more and more towards them with the noise.
Steve heard a deep snort from behind. He felt the air pressure change, and he raised his shield over his head just in time to block a bladed staff from slicing him in half. He spun around, thrusting his shield at the creature behind him. His attack was blocked by the staff. It took Steve a moment to realize what was before him. Standing there was a Satyr Champion, its mouth drooling and the mist of its breath shooting out from its pierced nose.
"Okay, ugly. Let's dance." Steve said.
The Satyr roared as a reply, and the two engaged each other, martial artist to martial artist.
Bruce looked up at the hulking Cyclops before him. The creature looked down at him and roared, swinging its massive club down at the Avenger. Bruce grabbed the club in mid-swing and ripped it from the Cyclops' hand. The Cyclops looked at its now empty hand in confusion, giving Bruce enough time to swing the club into the Cyclops' face. The creature's head erupted in a burst of blood, and it fell lifeless to the ground.
"Nat, what do we do here?!" He asked as he grabbed a Minotaur by the neck and chucked it far into the air.
"We push through, we have to get to the stones before Kratos does!" She replied, tackling a Fates Sentry to the ground and double-tapping it in the skull before shooting another one as it attacked Wong. The undead creature stumbled as the bullets pierced its brain, then slumped to the ground.
"I had it under control, thank you!" Wong said.
"You're welcome." Nat replied.
/
Kratos flew over the trees of the Bog of the Forgotten. The sound of battle could be heard far in the distance, and he could see Quinjets hovering over the ground, sending volleys of tracer rounds into the trees below.
He continued his search, when in the bog's ponds, something caught his eye. Something was glowing in the deep of the water. Something long and pointed. He dropped altitude and dove into the water.
The faint glow of the stones could be seen piercing the pond's muddy waters. Kratos dove down for it, but felt something grab his leg. He looked behind him to see a siren, holding onto his ankle with her spindly, decayed hand. He swung a Blade of Chaos through the water, slashing through its gut. The creature leg go of Kratos' leg as its blood began to saturate the muddy water. Kratos turned around and grabbed the siren with both hands. The creature opened its gaping mouth to scream in Kratos' ears. The scream was painful, but he had heard it many times. He ignored the ringing in his ears and bent the monster's spine in half. More blood spilled into the water, darkening the depths even further. Kratos returned his attention to the blade, diving for it and pulling it from the sandy bottom.
Kratos swam himself back to the top of the bog. Not wasting any time, he raised the Blade to plunge it into the ground. The Blade of Olympus began to glow even more brightly as the power of the six stones began to charge.
"NO!" Tony roared, Sparta-kicking Kratos in the chest. The Blade fell into the shoreline of the bog.
Kratos tumbled into the rocks in the distance, sending cracks up the stone's wall. Tony activated his armor's thrusters and lifted slowly off the ground, aiming straight for Kratos. Kratos saw Tony's electrically charged fist aimed for his head, and pulled a Cestus out to block. The shock-wave in the two fists impacting one another sent Tony flying backwards across the sand. Kratos blasted for the Blade with all the speed his wings could give him.
Tony grabbed Kratos mid-flight by the leg and used the Spartans' own momentum to throw him into the ground. Tony's other hand aimed a Destroyer beam straight into the Spartan's face. Kratos felt his face begin to char as the beam blasted away at his face, and responded by stabbing a Blade of Chaos into the armor's palm. The beam stopped abruptly as Kratos ripped the blade out of the massive metal hand, utterly neutralizing it.
Kratos somersaulted backwards and got to his feet. Now that he was standing and focused, Tony could do nothing against Kratos as he danced around Stark's slow-moving armor. Tony's armor began to lose its integrity as the blades cut through the metal, over and over. Tony tried missiles, beams, lasers, plain old tackling, but he couldn't land a hit.
"Okay, Ghost, if I can't hit you, maybe I can do this."
Tony watched as a blade swung towards his armor. He waited for the right moment, then on his one last working hand, grabbed the chains attached to the Blades. Tony lifted his other arm to the sky. His suit began to act as a conductor as arcs of lightning shot from the sky into Stark, and from Stark into the chains, down their length into Kratos' body. Kratos felt the electricity hit his body, and his muscles began to contract and stiffen as the electricity engulfed his body.
But he had dealt with this before.
Tony watched as Kratos' body began to glow red with strange flame. Suddenly, the electricity lost its effectiveness as Kratos slowly raised himself off the ground. Kratos dug his feet into the ground and pulled on the chains, dragging Tony to the ground. Kratos stomped down on Tony's head, smashing it further into the bog's sandy shore. He stomped away at Tony's armored head until the Avenger had stopped moving. Tony was unconscious, or possibly dead. Without Lexie, he could only guess.
Once Tony had stopped moving, Kratos staggered his way to the Blade. He picked it up and raised it over his head.
"Special K…" Tony groaned. "...bring Peter back."
"Who?" Kratos asked.
As soon as he asked, there was a deafening horn that echoed through the air. Kratos looked up and saw something he thought he would never see again.
"Thanos…?"
A volley of missiles carpet-bombed the island, ripping up trees and creature alike. Kratos tried to dodge the attack, but the sheer volume of ordnance bombarding the island hit everything, including him. Kratos once again lost the Blade in the explosion as the island erupted in flame and dust. Trees shredded apart, water evaporated and mountains chattered. What remained of the temple was all but obliterated as the rain of fire came down onto everything.
The assault continued for some time, and after what felt like several-dozen minutes, the island fell silent once more. Kratos sat up and wiped the dust from his face. His once godly armor, the armor of the Ares, the first God of War, was cracked, dented and burnt, nothing more than dead weight. He took a bloodied, shaking hand and began to undo the useless metal that clad his chest and shoulders. The armor hit the ground with a hollow thunk, revealing his bare skin to the elements. He could breathe again.
Kratos stood up and looked around. The ground was ash, and the landscape was flat and featureless. The bog was covered in a layer of grey sediment. Even the mushroom cloud above had been swept away by the wind.
Tony slowly got to his feet behind him, the Thorbuster armor grinding and squeaking as metal rubbed on metal. Dust fell from its cracks and flaps.
A small blue beam projected from the hulking ship in the sky. The beam hit the ground in the far distance, and out stepped the Mad Titan himself, clad in full armor and wielding a dual-sided blade.
"How…?" Kratos asked.
"You mess with time, I guess time messes back." Tony replied. "We are not finished, you and I."
"For now, we are." Kratos replied. "Where is the Blade?"
The two looked around and saw nothing but ash coating the ground.
"My scanner's fried, thanks for that, by the way." Tony said. "That sword could be anywhere."
"Then we must find it."
"We? Did I just hear you say 'we', like we're partners or something?"
"For now, Stark, we have much larger concerns than you and I."
"I won't fight alongside a traitor, scumbag, murderer like you, Ghost."
"Perhaps I should let you fight Thanos alone, then?"
The two watched Thanos strut slowly across the landscape. He paused, then stuck his blade in the ground, placed his helmet on its tip, and sat down.
"What's he doing?" Tony asked.
"He is waiting for us to make the first move." Kratos replied.
"Then let's make it. Nat, Steve, anybody, do you copy?"
Silence.
"Looks like it might just be us." Tony said solemnly.
"We have defeated him before. We can do it again."
"Last time, we had Thor." Tony snapped.
The two approached the Titan as he sat, patiently waiting. Thanos watched silently as Tony and Kratos moved in.
"You could not live with your own failure." Thanos spoke calmly. "And where did that lead you? Back to me."
"I crushed your head between my hands, alien." Kratos responded. "I shall not hesitate to do it again."
"Yes, your Nebula showed me many things about you, warrior." Thanos replied. "Your heroic actions on Xandar, which ended in failure. The battle on...what was it called? Wakanda. Yes, that's right...which ended in failure. It is evident you failed again, seeing as this world still lives in the paradise I have given it, and you squabble among yourselves."
Kratos split from Tony, and the two began to flank the alien.
"I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive." Thanos continued, "but you've shown me that's impossible. As long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those who are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
"We're all kinds of stubborn." Tony replied. "Some of us more so than others."
Tony gave Kratos a look.
"The universe fell to chaos." Kratos added. "War and death were the only consequences of your 'gift'."
"My point is further proven by that fact." Thanos added. "It has become clear what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then, with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one."
Thanos stood up and took his helmet from on top of his blade and placed it on his head.
"It will be teeming with life," He continued, pulling his blade from the earth, "That knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given."
"You know, ten seconds ago, this guy was the madman." Tony said, pointing to Kratos.
"In a mad world, only the mad are sane." Thanos replied. "I will create a new, grateful universe from the ashes of this one. A sane universe. Without madness. Without...you."
"You think yourself a god. I. Slay. Gods." Kratos replied, the Blades of Chaos engulfing themselves in flame.
"So do I." Thanos replied.
Kratos charged the Titan, slashing his blades through his body, but Thanos only flickered as the blades swiped through him ineffectually.
"Crap." Tony exclaimed.
"I have seen your work, Spartan." Thanos' hologram said calmly. "To fight you would be the more honorable choice, but I have limited time, and there are larger things at stake here."
Massive pillars began to drop from the ship. The pillars rammed into the ground, and opened up, dispensing tens of thousands of Chitauri onto the charred island.
"I have acquired the stone's power signature." Thanos continued. "Unfortunately, you will be too busy to stop me. Die in the understanding that your bravery will die with you. No voices will sing your song. No books will tell your story. This universe will be forgotten, along with you and your friends."
Thanos' hologram shut down with a flicker, leaving only Kratos, Tony and Thanos' army. The ground shook with the approach of the horde. Sakaarans, Chitauri, Outriders, Gorillas, Leviathan. Tanks and space fighters. Every assortment of craft poured from the ship's hangars, and every soldier Thanos could muster was brought to bear.
Kratos felt the wounds taking their toll on him. The full brunt of a nuclear blast had left his bones partially fractured and his muscles slow. His body was charred from his fight with Tony. His armor was gone. His skin was burnt. He could feel his half-human body, after a decade of never ending battle, finally coming to terms with its own age. Perfect timing...
"Well," Tony said, shaking the dust out of his armor. "I'd like to say it was nice knowing you, but…"
"Save your strength." Kratos said. "I will take the left flank. You will take the right."
"Well...I am on the right." Tony replied snarkily. "Yup, just take out a million bad guys with the Shirtless Wonder and a businessman in squeaky armor. No problem."
"Hey Tony...sor...we're late" Came a broken voice over the radio.
Tony looked behind him. What remained of the Avengers was trudging up to the battle line. Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, War Machine, Captain America, Okoye, M'baku, Wong and Korg. A couple Wakandans and one or two sorcerer's remained.
"You wouldn't happen to be hiding the actual reinforcements in your portal things, would you?" Tony asked.
"This is it…" Nat replied, frowning and out of breath.
"Hey flame sword guy." Korg said, placing himself next to Kratos. "Heard about your murder spree. I guess we're ignoring that and fighting together again? It'll be just like the good old days! Well, it was just one day...not even really, now that I'm thinking about it. Maybe more like a grand total of a few hours, six years ago-"
"Rock…" Kratos grunted. "Do not start."
"Fair enough." Korg replied, cocking his plasma rifle with a ka-chunk.
"Glad you could make it, for a second there I thought we were outnumbered…" Tony said sarcastically.
"There's a dozen or so of us, and how many of them?" Wong asked.
"Numbers, shmumbers. Haven't you heard of the Battle of Thermopylae?" War Machine asked.
"Had to bring up Spartans, didn't you?" Steve asked. "When this is done, Ghost, you and I need to have a talk. A long talk."
"I am not interested." Kratos replied.
"Last one to the sword is a rotten egg. And also, please find the sword everybody." Tony said.
"Sword?" Bruce asked.
"Big blue sword. Glowy, big blue sword. It's got the power stones on it. Can't miss it."
"Everybody, break off when you can...if and search for that sword. Thanos may already know where it is." Steve ordered.
"Shut up and let's do this!" Okoye hollered, sprinting towards the incoming horde.
There was an underwhelming battle cry as the dozen remaining Avengers charged towards the enemy.
As the Avengers charged, the sun disappeared behind a black cloud. The world went dark unnaturally fast. A dense, black fog began to pour into the valley of the battlefield from all directions, clouding the entire battlefield from view. From behind the Avengers, a strange wind began to sweep over the ash-fallen ground.
"What's happening?" Bruce asked. "I can't see a damn thing!"
"You will see." Kratos replied.
The group looked behind them as the wind grew stronger. Through the blackness, a strange form, as long as the battlefield itself, began to appear. The form grew in size as it drew nearer, and through the blackness, an army of ghostly shadows swept towards the Avengers.
"Brace!" Steve roared.
The group took defensive stances as the silent horde of ghosts approached, then blew past them towards the Chitauri army. The shades, not much more than smoke, armor and skeletal faces, glided over the ground as they hovered past the group, the only sounds they made were from the wisps of the wind. Through the darkness of the fog, the sounds of Chitauri screams and gunfire began to ring out through the field. The Avengers remained nervously still as more and more shades brushed silently past them.
"What the hell are these things...?" Clint asked nervously.
"You wouldn't happen to know what this is about?" Steve asked the Spartan.
"Morpheus." Kratos replied.
"What, from The Matrix?" Wong asked.
Kratos gave Wong a scowl.
"Never mind, I'll just...roll with it." Wong replied, turning and charging into the battle.
"Seems like they're on our side, so I see yes, rolling with it works." Steve replied. "Alright, the tide has changed. Let's take advantage of it. Avengers!"
"Do not say it..." Kratos scowled.
"Assemble!" Steve roared.
"Ugh…"
The Avengers charged in and joined battle with Thanos' army. Kratos sprang from the ground, out of the darkness of the fog and flew toward the enemy's air support. He plowed through the Leviathans, entering one through its mouth, slashing through its insides, and bursting from its back. The next one, he landed on its face, and punched it into a collision course with another Leviathan. The two Leviathans crashed into each other and fell to the ground, crushing hundreds of Chitauri beneath.
Bruce looked up from beating a Gorilla into pulp. All he could see was Kratos' energy wings as they glowed through the blackness of the fog, followed by the explosions of the Leviathans overhead.
"Tell me again how we were going to beat that guy?" He asked.
Kratos slammed into the ground, ramming the Cestus into the earth. The ground shattered, creating cracks in the earth for the Chitauri to fall into. Hundreds of Thanos' soldiers fell into the molten depths below, screaming as they fell.
"I need an assist!" Came a voice from nearby. Kratos turned to see Steve getting piled on by a horde of Outriders. He knew Thanos was out there, somewhere, looking for the Blade. It was a matter of seconds whether he found it or not. He weighed his options.
I...never asked you to come with me.
"Somebody help me out, here!" Steve yelled over the radio.
The weight of the Outriders began to lift off of him. There was a grunt as Kratos threw each Outrider far away, into the path of oncoming Sakaarans. Each Outrider struck a Sakaaran, killing them both with the momentum of the throw.
Kratos picked Steve up by the hand.
"Why?" Steve asked.
"I'm a monster." Kratos replied. "But I made a promise to somebody not to be. Perhaps there is hope for me yet."
Steve looked to the ground and sighed.
"Go. Find the son of a bitch. You're the only one who can find him fast enough." Steve said.
"You trust me?" Kratos asked.
"Not at all." Steve replied. "I can't stop you, but maybe you cam stop Thanos. Go. Undo this. Make it right. Please do the right thing."
Kratos nodded, then flew for Thanos.
"And bring back Thor, you son of a bitch!" Steve yelled after him.
/
"Faster." Thanos said. "It should be right here."
"We are trying, Sire." Ebony said, lifting entire tons of rock with a flick of his hand.
Thanos felt the presence of the Spartan behind him. He turned to face his enemy.
"This darkness is your doing?" He asked.
Kratos ignored him and approached slowly. No mistakes this time.
"You have grown to be a thorn in my side, and we haven't even met yet." Thanos grumbled.
Kratos scowled and charged the Titan. The two clashed blades. Kratos dodged and slashed, Thanos blocked and counterattacked. The two danced around each other. Just as it was on Xandar, Kratos was the better swordsman, and Thanos was slowly losing.
But Thanos smiled, even as Kratos nicked away at his armor and wore him down. Then, Thanos began to laugh.
Kratos' confusion lasted only seconds, until he felt a knife stab him into his rib. He staggered and swung a blade behind him. He turned to face a Nebula he had never met.
"I know you…" She said. "You killed my mother."
"What?" Kratos asked. The memory came to him. The Soul Stone. The child.
"Stay safe, little Nebula." The woman whispered to the girl, wiping the tears from her daughter's confused eyes before turning away. The child realized what was happening and began to scream, reaching out for her mother. The mother took one last look back, one last smile for her child to remember, before stepping off the ledge.
"I-"
Kratos was interrupted by an attack by Corvus. He dodged the alien's spear and counterattacked with a slash across his chest. Corvus backed away, clutching his chest, only for Proxima and Cull to replace him. Kratos rolled out of the way of Cull's massive hammer and slashed at the giant's legs. Cull went down. Proxima leapt over Kratos, allowing him to slash at her as she jumped overhead. She blocked with her spear and landed behind him. Kratos swirled the blades over his head, forcing everyone back as the blades spun around him in a tornado of metal and fire.
Gamora slid under the blades and slashed at Kratos' legs. He grunted with pain, grabbed the green-skinned alien by the neck and instantly snapped it. Kratos saw a shadow over him. He held a blade over his head, Blocking Thanos' downward slash. Kratos dropped Gamora's lifeless body and spun around, slashing Thanos' knees. Thanos roared and knee'd Kratos in the chin. Kratos flew backward and hit the ground.
/
Natasha pulled a taser out of of a Sakaaran warrior. As she stood up, the wave of shades blew past her, plowing through Thanos' forces. The black smoke made it hard to see anything past her arms reach, but the screams of the Chitauri told her where to go. A figure suddenly formed through the darkness, running straight towards her, and she aimed her pistol for its head.
"Woah, woah, hold fire, trooper." Steve said as he came through the fog.
Nat lowered her aim and got back-to-back with Steve.
"Where's Ghost?" Nat asked.
"I sent him to find Raisinhead." Steve replied.
"What?!" Nat exclaimed.
"Did you want me to try to stop him?" Steve asked sarcastically.
Nat gave Steve an angry look and ran off into the darkness.
"Wait, Nat- oh jeez…" Steve said, chasing after her.
/
Kratos blocked Thanos' blade as it came down on him. The force dug Kratos into the ground, and ash sprang up with the impact.
"You seem slow, warrior." Thanos grunted as their blades ground against each other. "Are those wounds catching up on you?"
Kratos groaned and pushed Thanos off of him. Thanos rolled backward and hit the ground onto his back. Kratos got to his feet and blocked an attack from Proxima. He grabbed Proxima's spear and ripped it from her hands. Proxima stared at the Spartan with surprise as his blades stabbed through her gut. The smell of melting flesh filled the air as the Blades of Chaos burned through her organs. Proxima's body fell to the ground as Kratos pulled his blades from her.
"Sire!" Ebony said, "I've found it."
Kratos spun his head. Ebony held the Blade in the air, hovering just above his hand. Kratos tried to charge Ebony, but Nebula slashed his hamstrings from behind. Kratos felt the blade slice his skin, but not enough to disable him. Kratos spun to grab Nebula by the neck. As he did so, he saw the face of that child on Vormir. The face of the child whose mother sacrificed herself to save her.
But now was no time for mercy.
He squeezed her neck until her circuits began to spark. Her eyes bugged out as her neck was irreversibly crushed. He let go and let Nebula squirm on the ground, gasping for air through a windpipe that would never allow it again.
Kratos turned back towards Ebony. Thanos was reaching for the Blade. Kratos sprinted at him, reaching him just in time to tackle the Titan to the ground. There was a struggle as the two wrestled for the blade. Ebony flicked his wrist, and Kratos was lifted off of Thanos and flung into the distance. Thanos got to his feet and grabbed the Blade with both hands.
"Of all the creatures I've slaughtered…" Thanos said exasperatedly, "You were the most troublesome."
Kratos stood up slowly, fighting against the force of Ebony's power holding him down.
"But, like all of the rest," Thanos said as he picked up the Blade. "You failed to stop me."
Thanos plunged the Blade into the ground. The Blade glowed white with the power of the infinity stones. Thanos grinned from ear to ear as the ground cracked and shattered from the power of the Blade.
But Thanos' smile turned into a frown of confusion as Kratos remained. The Universe remained. The battle waged on in the distance. Nothing seemed to change.
"What is wrong with this thing?!" Thanos roared.
He looked down at the stones.
One was missing.
"No..." Thanos murmured as Kratos stood stiffly in the distance, clutching the power stone in his hand.
Kratos felt the Power stone slowly eat away at his body, his veins glowing purple as the stone's instability infected his hand. Kratos opened his mouth, and dropped the stone down his throat.
"NO!" Thanos screamed as Kratos' body began to glow.
Kratos' eyes began to shine with a purple glow as the Power Stone took hold of his body. He grimaced as his organs began to burn from the inside. But it didn't matter. He only needed his body to hold out long enough to finish this.
Kratos strode towards Thanos as Ebony desperately tried to hold him back.
"I can't hold him, father!" Ebony shrieked, flinging entire mountains of rock and vegetation at the maelstrom pacing slowly towards his master.
Kratos ignored Ebony's attacks as if they were a light breeze. With each step he took, the ground below him split apart. The ground shook as his feet landed against the dirt. Rocks surrounding him began to levitate off the ground as the sheer power of the demigod began to warp the gravity of the island.
"Rain fire…" Thanos mumbled. "Rain fire! I want every gun on that man right now!"
Kratos heard the command. He turned his head to watch as thousands of ship-killing plasma bolts came screaming down from the ship towards him. He ignored them. The plasma hit his body as if they were rain drops. The ground around him vaporized as the ship's entire arsenal unloaded on him, but he shrugged it all off. Thanos died today. No more mistakes. He ignored the agony of the Power Stone ripping through his flesh and kept his burning eyes on Thanos.
The ship's weapons suddenly halted their bombardment, and turned their attention to something coming from the atmosphere. A small, orange streak of energy came flying through the fallout clouds, ramming through Thanos' cruiser. The ship broke in half as the attacker flew in and out of the ship's hull. After a few seconds, the ship lost stability and broke apart entirely, crashing down onto the island surface.
Ebony pulled his hand inward, and Kratos felt the Power Stone begin to push outwards on his stomach. He turned his attention to Ebony, and a beam of purple energy burst from his eyes, burning a massive hole in the alien's gut. Ebony looked down at the gaping hole where his chest used to be, and fell to the ground.
Thanos tried to swing the Blade at Kratos, shooting every form of the Stone' magic at him. Kratos stomped into the ground, and the ground destabilized entirely, Knocking Thanos off balance for but a millisecond, just enough to knock his aim towards the sky. The beam from the Blade shot into the air, hitting the atmosphere, splitting the clouds apart and creating a multicolored aurora to form in the night sky. Kratos closed the gap between him and Thanos. He aimed a Power Stone-fueled fist for the alien's head, but his fist only met with the air as Thanos teleported behind him. A flash of green hit Kratos, slowing him down in mid-punch. Thanos aimed to plunge the Blade through Kratos' back.
"Strength isn't everything, warrior." Thanos mumbled, allowing himself a smirk as his enemy fell to the ground in slow motion.
A good warrior uses his wits.
The leviathan axe sliced through the fog, and unfortunately for Thanos, he was between the axe and Kratos' hand. The axe hit Thanos' hamstring, momentarily breaking the Time Stone's hold on Kratos. Kratos hit the ground, spun around and grabbed Thanos by the head with both hands. Thanos screamed as the Power Stone slowly burned its way through his skull.
"The cycle ends here." Kratos grunted as purple flame sprang from his disintegrating mouth.
Thanos let out a weak roar, and Kratos felt the sting of a thousand needles as the Blade of Olympus pierced his stomach. He looked down as Thanos pushed the blade further and further through the Spartan's gut.
"You're coming with me then." Thanos shrieked as Kratos' hands crushed down on the Mad Titan's skull.
"Fine."
With a little push, Kratos crushed Thanos' head utterly in between his hands. Nothing much remained of the Mad Titan's skull after the Power Stone was done with it. Thanos' head popped like a dust-filled balloon.
Kratos dropped to one knee and looked down at the Blade sticking out of his stomach. He didn't have much time before the Power Stone reduced his body to ashes. With one hand, he ripped the Blade from his gut. Instead of blood, burning Purple fluid came pouring from the wound and hit the ground, melting the earth where it dropped. His other hand he plunged into the stomach wound, pulled out the Power Stone and jammed it into the Blade. He grasped the Blade with both of his burnt, scarred hands and quickly aimed the tip of the Blade for the ground.
He pushed the Olympian sword for the earth, but was halted suddenly. He looked down at the small woman between his blade and the ground.
"I...can't let you!" Captain Marvel roared.
Her hands shone through the fog with cosmic power as they held the Blade in place. Kratos closed his eyes and focused on Loki. On the last five years. On everything he did wrong.
There was a flash of purple, and the Blade of Olympus sliced through Marvel's hands, plunging through her collarbone, through her lungs and out through her spine, finally making its way into the ground.
There was a bright flash, and the Island of Creation was engulfed in light.
/
Kratos stood in a strange place. He was standing on an infinitely flat, reflective surface. Everything was lit with a dim orange glow, and in every direction he looked, a calm cloud formation rested across the horizon. Everything was still and calm here. No battle, no death.
Not too far from where he stood lay a small cottage. The cottage from his life on the North. He walked up to it, and opened the door. Inside was just as he remembered it, before Odin. Kratos closed his eyes and took in the familiar smells. A hand rested lightly on his shoulder, but he dare not open his eyes.
"My love."
"Faye."
"Did you do what was best for our son?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you did the right thing?"
"I do not know."
/
Captain Marvel awoke on the surface of the Island. The trees were green again. No fallout, no ash, no shades swarming the battlefield, no Chitauri littering the ground. No Thanos
She lifted herself off the ground and gasped. She shot her hand to her neck and felt her collarbone. No stab wound. Not even a scar.
She looked around. Beside her lay Kratos, his skin burnt, the Blade of Olympus smoldering on the ground beside him. She jumped up, snatched the blade from the ground and pointed the tip at Kratos' neck. Kratos moved his eyes to meet hers.
"What did you do?!" She roared.
"Wait!" Came a voice from the trees.
Marvel hesitated and looked toward the source of the voice.
Just in front of the treeline opened up an orange portal, and out stepped Strange, along with Drax, Mantis, Quill, and some boy Kratos had never met.
Strange walked up to Marvel and held out his hand. Marvel handed him the blade, which he took. He returned the Time Stone to his amulet, and in a puff of magic, the Blade was gone.
"Safe keeping until we can get those stones back where they belong." Strange explained.
Natalia and Steve burst through the treeline at full speed.
"What happened?" Steve asked. "What did he change?"
"We have to wait and see, but I think he did it." Strange stated.
"So...everyone's back?" Nat asked.
"I'm not sure." Strange replied. "I guess we'll have to ask him. If he gets back up."
Kratos lay on the grassy earth. His arms weren't moving, and his skin was charred by the Power Stone. His hands were burnt away by the Blade's energy. All he could move were his eyes. He could hear the muffled conversations as they stood over him. He guessed they were trying to rouse him, but he couldn't care less what they wanted. He was tired, and he had one more thing to do. He hoped Eternity was feeling generous, and closed his eyes.
/
"GOOD WORK, SPARTAN. YOUR COMRADES DON'T KNOW IT YET, BUT IT IS DONE. THE BALANCE HAS RETURNED TO THE UNIVERSE. YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TASK."
Kratos looked up at the infinite might of the entity above him.
"My favor to you is done. Now I have a favor to ask of you." Kratos said, looking into the Eternity's eyes.
Eternity looked back into Kratos' eyes.
"I KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU ASK. SHOULD YOU ASK THIS OF ME, YOUR PATH WILL BE FOREVER CHANGED."
"Can they defeat Thanos without me?" Kratos asked.
Eternity sighed.
"THEY CAN, BUT IT IS A FOURTEEN-MILLION-TO-ONE CHANCE THEY WILL SUCCEED. IT WILL ALSO BE ANOTHER TIMELINE, NOT YOUR OWN."
Kratos sighed. "I must do what is best for my son."
"VERY WELL, SPARTAN. I WILL GRANT YOU THIS ONE FAVOR."
"Two favors."
"TWO?"
"Two."