Avengers: A King's Awakening

Asgard was gone, destroyed by Surtur's flames and Hela's greed. Thor did not know how to feel about that. He had been the one to unleash Surtur, he had been the one who had not realised until the last moment that the Odinforce would have allowed him to protect Asgard and defeat Hela, but by then it had been too late. His grief was mixed with anger. He was angry at his father for not telling him about his sister, he was angry at his father for not doing more to prepare for Ragnarok. He was angry at himself for not figuring this out earlier and for having to allow half his people to die just to get home. His grief, well, he wished he had known his sister before this had all gone southwards. Or as the humans were wont to say, gone to shit. Yet there was no point in trying to think about it now, it was in the past.

"Brother, if you keep staring out into space you will scare the children." Loki said coming to stand at his side.

Thor turned and looked at his brother. Loki, the God of Mischief, the man who had defied death twice now. Loki had been the one who had paved the way for Hela, and yet when it had come down to it, Loki had stood with him against Hela. "Sorry." Thor said. He did not know what else to say. He was King now, but he did not feel like a King. He was three thousand years old, and yet he felt not a day older than twenty.

"So, where are we going?" Loki asked lightly. Seemingly not giving a damn about the magnitude of what stood before them.

"To Earth." Thor replied simply. It made the most sense. He knew more about Midgard, and he knew the land there would be enough to keep things balanced.

"Yes, but where?" Loki pressed. "Midgard is quite big, brother. And furthermore, I am wanted for crimes committed in New York."

"That should be no problem. I spoke with Amora, she agreed to wipe their memories of you for a time." Thor said. He'd spoken with Amora when he'd reached his decision on this subject, she'd agreed, but she'd asked something of him, and he'd agreed, though he doubted he'd like it when it came time to pay.

"What did she ask of you?" Loki asked. He knew Amora well having trained with her when they were children.

"It does not matter." Thor said.

"So, where on Earth are we going?" Loki asked once more.

"To the land the humans call Norway." Thor replied. "Their King said that should we ever need it; we could stay there."

"Norway?" Loki asked. "How fun. Aren't they one of the few realms that hasn't let the sand demons infect them?"

"Indeed." Thor replied simply. Sand demons, that was quite a weird name for the Djinn, but then again Loki had always hated them.

Heimdell appeared at his side then, limping slightly. "We will need to get weapons, Your Majesty." It was strange hearing his oldest friend call him by that title.

"Weapons? Why?" Loki asked. "Are we planning on conquering more land?"

"No." Thor said. "But we will need weapons to defend ourselves. You and Amora are the only sorcerers we have left. And I do not trust her." He remembered all the various games that had been played on him by her when they were children, and he knew she harboured some dark secret.

"So, where will we go to get these weapons then?" Loki asked. "Bearing in mind that no human weapon can harm us."

"Nidavellir." Thor said simply. "It is the one place where we can make the weapons we need."

"Oh, great." Loki said. "So, we're going to the place with giant dwarves, one of whom wants to kill me."

"Perhaps you should not have slept with his wife then, brother." Thor replied.

Valkyrie appeared then. "You slept with a dwarf's wife?" She asked, looking directly at Loki.

"Yes. It was a dare. I made it with Volstagg." Loki replied. "We were…you know what, it doesn't matter." A sombreness came over Loki then and Thor remembered that for all his bluster, the Warrior's Three had been his friends as well.

Valkyrie looked at him and asked. "Where are we going, Your Majesty?"

If it had felt strange hearing Heimdell call him by that honorific, it was even stranger hearing Valkyrie-the last living one!- call him by it. "We're going to Nidavellir then Earth."

"A smart plan. I'll tell the ship then." Valkyrie said.

"No need." Thor replied. "It already knows where we're going."

"I meant the people. Your subjects need to know where we're going." Valkyrie replied.

"Right." Thor said. He scratched at the spot just above his eyepatch and then turned around. He looked at the people. There were young men, old men, women and children, all looking at him expectantly. "People of Asgard. I know that you are tired and scared, I shall take you somewhere safe. We shall be going to Midgard, but first we must go to Nidavellir."

"Are we conquering Midgard, Sire?" someone asked. A boy with black hair and green eyes.

"No." Thor replied. "We are going there, because I have a favour I need to call in. But Nidavellir is necessary." There were murmured agreements and then silence. Thor turned around and continued to stare out into the vast depths of space.

The ship moved quicker then, travelling without fear. As he thought through things, Thor found his thoughts coming to something else. "What happened to the Tessaract?" He directed this question at his brother.

"I don't know. It was destroyed I think." Loki replied.

"Are you lying to me, brother?" Thor asked.

"Why would I lie to you?" Loki asked in response.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "I am your King now, remember that."

Loki sighed. "Fine." He waved his hands and produced a glowing blue cube. Thor raised an eyebrow. "What? I couldn't just let it be destroyed, now could I? It's going to be important for us."

Thor looked at his brother and felt anger boil then. "That bloody stone is why so much damage happened on Earth long before. You know this brother. We fought a war against the Frost Giants for it, and another war against the very same Sand Demons you hate, and now you would bring it with you to Earth."

"Better with us than with him." Loki replied.

"With who?" Thor demanded.

"The Mad Titan." Heimdell said.

"Who?" Thor asked.

"Thanos, the last of the Titans. He is a being obsessed with death. Indeed, I think he was in love with our sister." Loki replied.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Why am I only just hearing about him now?"

"Because you only just asked about him now, that's why." Loki replied.

"So, Hela is dead, his love is gone," Thor said, for a brief moment he thought of Sif and then pushed that thought down. "Why does he want the Space Stone?"

"Because he has some mad theory about the universe." Loki replied.

"What theory is this?" Thor demanded.

"That it is over populated and that it must be halved." Loki replied.

"I've heard about him." Valkyrie said then. Thor looked at her and she continued. "He invades planets and uses his army to kill half the population. I'd heard a rumour a long time ago that he'd gotten a stone, I'm not sure which one, but it enabled him to make people turn against one another."

Heimdell spoke before Thor could reply. "We must get to Nidavellir soon then, before he senses the stone."

Thor sighed, he looked at his brother and said. "You never know when to stop, do you brother?" Before Loki could respond, the ship beeped.

"WE ARE APPROACHING NIDAVELLIR." The ship said in a voice that sounded a lot like Volstagg, it made his heart ache at the thought of his friend.

"Something is wrong." Thor said immediately. "The star has been burned out." The ship stopped near the traditional loading bay, and the doors opened. "Valkyrie you and Heimdell remain here to guard the ship and the people."

"Sire, I'm sworn to your protection." The woman replied.

"I know, and I am instructing you to guard the people of Asgard, they are me as well." Thor said.

"Yes Your Majesty." Valkyrie replied.

Thor walked off the ship with Loki and they landed on the ground. "Something terrible has happened here." Loki said as they looked around. Thor had been a regular to Nidavellir many years ago, it had been a bright and bustling planet, with a star for warmth. The place which forged the weapons of the Asgardians for a thousand years.

"What could have done this though?" Thor mused. "Father gave them the strength of the Bear of Immortality." With that they walked on, noticing a charred and broken landscape around them, with no bodies in sight. It seemed as though the planet might be dead.

"Brother…" Loki said. He pointed to a golden gauntlet that stood there before them, mockingly.

"What is that?" Thor asked.

"He had one just like it." Loki said.

"Who?" Thor asked.

"The Mad Titan." Loki replied something like genuine fear in his voice.

"Get back to the ship." Thor commanded, he turned to do just that when a blur came and hit him, sending him flying. He felt the lightning bristle under the surface but pushed it down. Loki was grabbed and was yelling.

"YOU!" the being yelled. "YOU!"

"Eitri!" Thor yelled then, recognising the voice. "Eitri, enough!"

The being turned around, his eyes glowing bright red. "THOR?!" The dwarf called out.

"Yes. It's me, what happened here?" Thor asked.

"Asgard was supposed to protect us. Your father swore he would always protect us!" Eitri said, his eyes getting redder and redder with each passing moment. Loki was turning blue now as well.

"Odin is dead, Asgard is gone. Ragnarok happened." Thor said. The words made his heart ache.

"What?!" Eitri exclaimed, he dropped Loki, and Thor saw his brother slither away. "How?!"

"Hela, she emerged from wherever Father had banished her." Thor said. "What happened here?"

"He came here." Eitri said.

"Who did?" Thor asked.

"The Mad Titan. He came here wanting a gauntlet made. He said he'd spare everyone if I made it." Eitri said. He looked so sad, Thor felt his heart break for the dwarf who he had once called friend.

"What happened?" Thor asked.

"I made the gauntlet as he asked, and then he killed everyone. He said I was spared because I'd done as he asked. He destroyed the star then." Eitri asked.

"How?" Thor asked. "The star was made by the All Father, it shouldn't have been destroyed."

"He had a stone, it did it." Eitri replied.

Thor looked at Loki then, who sighed. "We're going to need more than one weapon then."

"How?" Eitri demanded. "The star is dead, there's no chance of making anything."

Loki spoke then. "You have the King of Asgard standing before you, and you have a sorcerer trained by Frigga herself, nothing is impossible."

Thor looked at his brother and asked. "What do you have in mind?"

"You're going to need to create a storm big enough to open the dimensions in the holders of the star, and then you're going to need to fly right into the midst of the storm. I'm going to direct the energy toward the forge." Loki replied.

"The amount of energy you're going to need is going to kill you." Eitri said.

Thor looked at the dwarf and said. "I am the King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms, this is my duty."

"Can you make the weapons we need?" Loki asked.

"How many do you need?" Eitri asked.

"Five." Loki said.

"I can try." Eitri said.

Thor looked at his brother and said. "Right let's get this started then shall we."

Loki nodded. Thor watched as Eitri moved to the forge, he jumped into the air, and channelling all the anger and rage he felt and the grief, he blinked once, twice and then on the third time, unleashed a jet of lightning so powerful the entire sky turned blue. He felt the lightning and thunder move through his body, he directed it with a movement toward the bolt of the star's container. Loki used his magic to open the container, and when the lightning hit it, it roared to life. Loki then directed the energy to the forge.

"A little more!" Eitri yelled over the roar of the forge.

Thor felt everything within him turn. He channelled all his emotions in one go, rage, grief, anger, fear, sadness all of it came out and he unleashed it onto the world. Loki was sweating, Thor could literally feel the strain his brother was under. Suddenly Sif's image appeared in his mind and he wondered where she was, and his longing for her which he couldn't quite explain popped up. The energy stopped, and he fell to the ground. Exhausted. He felt sleep overcoming him. "Is it done?" He asked.

"Yes." Loki said coming to his aide then. "Rest brother. I'll take it from here."

Thor closed his eyes. As he slept, the world turned and twisted around him, the snake was before him.

You failed. Your father, your mother, Sif, all dead and gone. Asgard gone. All because of you.

"You are wrong!" Thor roared at the snake.

"And now Thanos will come to destroy you all."

"No!" Thor roared. "I will not let him."

How? How will you do that Thor Odinson? When you do not even have a weapon to defend yourself with?

The snake lunged at him, and before he knew what he was doing, Thor was in the air, his hands outstretched.

"I am Thor, God of Thunder, Odinson, and you will bow before me!" He roared. The snake continued to lunge, so Thor roared again. "I am the King of the Nine Realms." An axe appeared in his hands then.

Thor awoke, he felt the lightning channel his body as he rose into the air. He raised a hand and an axe flew right into his hand. "It is time." He said as he raised the axe into the air opening the Bifrost taking himself, Loki and his people to Earth.