27 Kree Thor Part V

There was something coming.

Odin could sense it, a storm was on the horizon and heading towards Asgard. Every night he came here, looking up to the stars, watching and waiting. The cosmos was changing, empires new and old, rising and falling. It was always a truly dangerous yet magnificent place to behold, one that represented opportunity and destruction in equal measure.

Reach too high and you risked destroying yourself.

Move to cautiously and you left yourself exposed.

Time your rise just right and endless opportunity awaited you upon your journey. Odin was a man who had reached too high too soon, incurring the wrath of the Celestials with his interference upon Midgard. Now he worked to the whims of the masters above, trying to ensure that Asgard did not meet its end yet forever bound to see Ragnarök come to fruition, constantly besmirched.

To torture him further, his masters allowed him to see everything, to remember all he had done in his past lives. A reminder that no matter what he did, Asgard would always be stuck in this cycle.

Yet there was hope, Thor Odinson was both a pivotal pawn to his masters, but also his greatest weapon. If moulded just right, prepared properly, Thor could save Asgard from its destructive cycle, yet had not succeeded in any of the past incarnations. But he would keep trying, shifting and changing how Thor was raised and treated, influencing the actions of the people around him.

Always creating big or small changes to see which would work.

Odin knew that he would find a way, nothing and no one was unbeatable. Victory would be his and then he would be content to let Asgard go about its proper course. 'Perhaps when I succeed, I shall go into hiding like my grandfather, Buri. Allow Asgard and its King to choose its own path from then on.'

He was old now, not in body but in mind.

Defeat after defeat was making him weary, but he could not give up just yet. Not when there was so much at stake.

"You have spent many a night looking to the stars, dear husband." His wife, Freyja murmured, coming to a stop by his side. "Is there something that draws your attention towards them. Perhaps a stirring of the old warrior King, the conqueror."

"Those days are long behind me," Odin replied. "The thoughts of a foolish and ambitious young man, desperate to prove himself worthy of ruling Asgard in Bor's place. I am no longer that man, I live only for the betterment of Asgard and the stars are not the answer. Vast empires are rising, ancient races slumbering. If we were to move, all we would do is earn temporary success."

Freyja nodded her head. "Then what troubles you?"

"A storm is coming. A powerful one." Odin clenched his fists. "Yet strangely, it holds no threat to Asgard, yet we are its destination."

Destroy it!

Destroy it!

Destroy it!

Jerking away, Odin clutched his head in pain, Freyja quickly rushing to his side. "Husband, what has happened?" She asked urgently, Odin gritting his teeth as he felt the anger of his masters rush through him.

Destroy it!

Destroy it!

Destroy it!

Then a horn blared in the night. Not just any horn, but the Gjallarhorn. Whatever was coming, was so great that his masters took control of Heimdall, forcing the Guardian of the Bifrost to call the horn that signified the end of the days, the beginning of Ragnarök. Then to confirm his worst fears, the sky went dark as the moon was swallowed.

Gjallarhorn had been rung and his masters had brought about the end of days sooner than ever.

Ragarnök had begun.

-X- Line Break -X-

"That horn?" Stront-Thor murmured in shock. "It can't be?"

"It is," Mak-Thor said, voice dripping with eagerness.

Thor at the front of them all nodded his head. "Ragnarök has begun."

This was not part of the plan, not what they had expected. How was it that their arrival was perfectly in time with the Ragnaröks beginning? It didn't make any sense.

"It changes nothing!" Thor called out, creating a hammer with the energy from the Nega-Band and God-Jewel. The powers of the two mixed together creating a glowing weapon in the shape of Mjolnir, one that was soon coated in sparks of lightning. "We came to save Asgard, now is our chance to change its fate! We not only save it from those who hide above but now from its destruction!"

They had already traversed to various locations across the cosmos, searching for an entryway into Asgard. But now they were finally here, their time had begun and they would stop at nothing.

"Gather your weapons! And your courage! Victory shall be ours this day!" Thor roared, the mouth of the Acanti opening as he plummeted to the ground below. Already, it was a mess, hundreds of the thousands of Giants led by Hyrm, Loki and Surtr marched towards Asgard. The golden armies marching towards them.

Yet here they came, an unknown party of warriors.

Falling from the sky, Thor released a roar as he fell upon the flaming giant. He swung his hammer around, smashing it into the side of his face lightning burst out, travelling through his body as Surtr fell back. His flaming sword tore through the ranks of his army as he crushed many more under his knee as he caught himself.

Thor continued round, joined by Stront-Thor who unleashed two beams of burning energy that cut through swaths of warriors. He himself coming down, storm clouds above erupting with power as lightning rained down upon the army below.

Yet as Thor came down, he suddenly found himself gone from his place. Where he had initially intended to deal a crushing blow upon the ever-growing Fenrir, he suddenly found himself descending upon the Asgardian army. Quickly he slowed his descent only to then see Odin looking up at him, Gungnir aimed directly at him.

'Fuck!' He cursed, summoning a shield just in time to protect himself from the blast of energy that fired out from the tip, engulfing him entirely. It knocked him back, but the shield held firm and with a shout, Thor released a wave of energy from the Nega-Bands dispersing that beam around him.

Looking down though, he saw Odin was gone from sight, the Asgardian army charging across the fields to meet the forces of Ragnarök. However, he was unable to pay that much in the way of attention as he was suddenly struck from behind, a deep cut opening up on his back as he cried out, plummeting to the ground that erupted outwards from the force of his impact.

Odin didn't give him a moment's rest, descending down, Gungnir pointed down his intent to finish him off easy to predict. Rolling just out of the way, Thor was still caught in the explosion that resulted from Odin impacting the ground.

Still, he righted himself easily, floating in the air as he looked down to Odin below. "I'm not your enemy," Thor told him, yet he quickly had to summon another more powerful shield as he was surrounded by hundreds of magical glowing balls. All of which converged upon him in the blink of an eye, smashing into his shield which held firm. 'Damnit, Odin was never this quick to attack in the past. If his opponents were willing to talk he was willing to entertain them. And we just aided him, so why is he attacking us?'

Despite those questions, Thor knew he wouldn't be receiving an answer and so, he reached out. He could feel it in the distance, the comfortable feeling of his trusty weapon held within the bowels of the golden city.

Yet just as Mjolnir responded to his pull, Odin appeared behind him, spear thrusting towards his back. A shield sprouted between the strike, Thor spinning round and parrying the golden spear that continued through towards him. Then he responded with a blow, Odin parrying it with the butt of the spear just in time, yet he was still knocked back.

Rushing forwards, Thor came at him more, unleashed dozens of powerful strikes that Odin masterfully parried and blocked. Both forced to break apart moments later when Mjolnir came flying through the pair of them directly into the hands of Stront-Thor.

"We are not your enemies King Odin!" He cried out. "We want the same as you, to save Asgard!"

Thor nodded his head. "He lifts the hammer, he is worthy of the enchantments you have placed upon them." The previous stonefaced look of Odin broke momentarily at that moment, surprise prevalent. "We wish to save Asgard from the cycle of destruction it finds itself in. Trust us and we can not only avoid Ragnarök, but also save our people from those above."

For a moment, Odin looked vulnerable, like he wanted nothing more than to believe them. To trust that their words were true. However, then he jerked away, clutching his head in pain and reflexively, both Thor and Stront-Thor moved towards him, intending to give aid.

Yet both were flung away by the explosion of power that erupted from within Odin.

He was engulfed in a golden light, one hand clutching the spear of Gungnir and then in the other, the Sword of Ragnarök. Both Thor's shared a glance and affirming themselves, turned towards Odin, prepared to fight their strongest foe.