Sparking Soul: Ch.20

On the planet of Morag, the calming sound of thunderous storm clouds loomed over the vast oceans that covered its surface, the planet having been the victim of a large-scaled global warming catastrophe that melted its many icebergs.

Every 300 years, parts of the oceans dried up to show what remained of the planet's former civilization, but for the rest of the time in between those years, the entire planet was underwater as monstrous raging tidal waves swept away anything that tried to survive.

This was what greeted me as I floated above the storming waters of Morag, thankful for the fact that my thalassophobia could be suppressed by the Reality Stone as I looked at the dark waters below me before shaking my head with a sigh.

'How did I forget Quill only comes gets the Power Stone in about two years?' I thought while palming my face with both hands, a groan escaping my lips as I shook my head and looked back at the seas roaring below me.

“I guess it's a good thing I brought the Reality Stone.” With those words, a simple thought made the stone glow before the seas ceased to exist, the storms fading away and leaving nothing but eerie dark grey skies hanging above.

'The stones really are convenient…except for when you want to take on a Titan. Then, they become not that convenient for use.' I thought with a smirk as I floated down towards the ground, humming at the sight of the decaying temple from which I could feel the immeasurable raw power of the Power Stone.

I wanted to teleport in, but like every guy my age that has a passion for RPGs…

'You can't see an ancient temple and NOT want to explore it, right?' Taking my first step on the cracked surface of the planet, I watched the pieces of it slowly falling apart as I made my way into the temple.

The art and engravings on the sides drew my attention first as I stared at them in awe and I took my time in studying each and every art piece I could find before I turned the corner.

“There you are.” I muttered as I walked into the final chamber, staring at the pedestal in the middle of the room that had a metallic orb encased in a violet forcefield.

'Now, if I remember correctly, the shield around the orb burns away any organic matter and I don't want to see if an Asgardian could be melted away. Wait, maybe I could…?' Raising a hand towards the orb, a portal formed around it before it vanished and formed in my hand.

The portal snapped shut as I closed it before the forcefield could potentially come through, reappearing outside the temple with a simple spatial shift and smirking as I grabbed the orb with both hands.

'That…was very easy. Then again, I expected it to be easy, but not that easy.' I thought as I twisted the two ends of the orb and watched as it opened.

Immediately, the world around me was dyed with a dim violet glow and arcs of pure energy radiated from the small purple gem seated in the middle of the orb as I frowned.

Reality, make it so that I am immune to the negative effects of the Power Stone

The Reality Stone glowed as I reached forward, hesitant after knowing what happens to those that treat the Power Stone lightly before nodding with a determined frown.

“Here goes nothing.” With those words said, I reached forward and grabbed the stone, feeling the scorching warmth of the orb enveloping my body before I gasp escaped my lips as I felt the surge of power from it.

It felt as if I was pumped on adrenaline and I grinned as I shifted my armour with the Reality Stone, placing the stone on the left of the Space Stone and on the opposite side of the Reality Stone.

Raising my right hand to the side while snapping my fingers, I grinned as Mjolnir flew to my hands, frowning a bit as I felt it still feeling as heavy as it did after the trials before shaking my head as I lifted the hammer forward.

With a thought, I watched as the Power Stone's purple cosmic electricity travelled up my arm and into the hammer before grunting as a potent violet stream of energy shot from it.

The beam sliced through the temple along with everything in its path as it continued going until I cut off the energy, blinking in both shock and a bit of hesitance as I saw the deep canyon that went on for as far as I could see.

“…Okay, we are not aiming that at normal people ever again.”

“Son of Odin.” I blinked at the voice that spoke up, looking up and raising an eyebrow at the circular ship slowly floating down before a beam of light blue energy shot down.

'Ah, so he's finally sent someone to get the stones…Scratch that, he sent more than just someone.' I thought with a hum as I saw four figures walking out of the beam, one of them afloat in the air with his hands behind his back.

Ebony Maw raised an eyebrow as he hovered above the cracked surface of Morag, his black eyes staring at me with an eerie calm while his lips twisted into a knowing smirk.

The other members of the Black Order stood in rigid formation besides him, Cull Obsidian gripping his weapon firmly with a glare as Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive did better at hiding their hostility.

“The great son of Odin. How…fortunate it is that we find you here in possession of what our lord desires.” The Maw spoke, his voice smooth yet carrying an immense amount of arrogance as his eyes gazed at the three stones embedded in my armour.

“Surrender the stones and your end will be swift.” Unlike Maw's suave way of speaking, Glaive was blunt and to the point as he gripped his namesake weapon while his golden eyes narrowed at me.

I just exhaled slowly while rolling my shoulders as I tapped Mjolnir against my thigh while tilting my head.

“Your lord is either growing impatient…or has he begun to see what Asgard is doing and grown desperate enough to send out his hounds before the battle could truly begin.”

“You speak as though you hold the advantage, Odinson. The stones belong to our Lord Father and him alone.” Proxima Midnight spoke as she twirled her spear, Glaive doing the same while a slow smirk spread across my lips as I chuckled.

“Then come. Take them from me.” With no warning, I raised Mjolnir before the Power Stone surged as I raised the hammer to the sky and brought it down with a roar.

The very planet itself rumbled as the temples crumbled from the shockwaves, cosmic energy surging from the impact in the form of a roaring wave of violet energy that surged outwards.

Cull Obsidian bellowed as he jumped in front of the other two, his massive frame sent ragdolling through the air and Corvus and Proxima rushed in past him while flipping over the shockwave.

Ebony Maw however just floated upwards with a stoic gaze, flicking his wrist towards me and I raised an eyebrow as the ground below me surged upwards, taking the form of a hand that kept a tight grip on me while I felt an invisible hand grabbing my throat.

“How utterly predictable.” He sighed with a voice filled with condescension as Proxima and Corvus stopped their attack, moving to the side while the Maw floated closer.

“Power without control, a hammer without thought. It matters not whether you wield all the stones or none of them. Lord Thanos is…inevitable.” I could feel the force around my throat tightening as he spoke before he frowned as I smirked.

“And yet…your Lord does not stand before me. Instead, he sends you.” My voice was steady as I spoke, the Reality Stone shimmering as the ground turned to brittle glass that I shattered with a flex of my muscles.

His eyes widened as I took control of the space around me, a grin adorning my face as I dismissed his telekinesis while swinging Mjolnir.

“Predictable, was it?” The hammer flowed with cosmic energy as I swung it at him and the psychic barely had time to react before violet arcs of lightning shot out and sent him hurtling towards the storm above.

That seemed to be the cue as both Proxima and Corvus rushed at me, the lady lunging forward and thrusting her spear at me only for me to catch it mid-strike.

Letting Mjolnir drop as I twisted her own weapon from her grasp before landing a booming backhand that sent her skidding across the ground, I quickly spun and parried Corvus' glaive to the side.

'This weapon managed to pierce through Vision's vibranium body in Infinity War so I need to be careful.' I thought with a frown as I leapt backwards and threw the staff at him while bringing Mjolnir to my hand, watching as he quickly parried the attack to the side.

Rushing back in, he twirled his glaive around his body before slashing at my side, but reality twisted to my command as his blade met air.

Watching his eyes widen as I appeared behind him while gripping his shoulder, Corvus didn't have much time to think after that as I drove my hammer into his back and sent him blasting through the ruins of a temple.

Turning as I heard a roar, Cull Obsidian charged at me while the skin on his abdomen was gone and I responded in kind as I charged at him, both Mjolnir and the Power Stone glowing before he swung down right as I swung up.

With no hesitation, Cull was lifted from his feet and upwards, an exhale leaving my lips as I watched him crash into the ground before looking upwards as Maw floated down.

However, he looked far worse than I was expecting as his cloak was tattered, burn marks layered around his body while his right leg flopped in the wind.

Corvus could barely stand as he used his glaive for support, Proxima biting down on her teeth with each step while Cull was out cold.

'Do I kill them?' I've never been one to shy away from killing someone, but this would be my first actual pair of kills and I did wonder if there was a perhaps to save them.

'No, they're not like Nebula and Gamora. These people are loyal to Thanos, willing to die for his cause and will warn him the moment I let them go.' I thought with a frown as I lifted a hand, a bubble forming around each one before I twisted my hand and the bubbles shrunk down to the size of a marble within the blink of an eye.

While a bit painful, it was a swift death and I sighed as I fused the four marbles into one before clenching my fist hard, watching as the bubble imploded with a soft pop and vanished.

Silence hung on the battlefield as I stood still, the only sound being that of my breathing and the rumbling clouds before I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Thanos will not take this willingly. He will come…

'And I'll be waiting.' I thought with a frown as the Space Stone warped, the sight of Morag's desolate landscape being replaced by the bright light of the Rainbow Bridge.

The Einherjar jumped from the sudden entrance before they saw that it was I, an amused chuckle leaving my lips as I saw them al glaring at me before shaking my head as I spoke.

“Apologies for that. Is my father in?”

“Lord Odin is in the throne room with Lady Frigga and Lady Darcy.”

“Good. I'll leave you to your duti-!” I blinked as I felt Mjolnir falling from my grasp, looking down only to frown as I saw the hammer sinking partially into the Rainbow Bridge.

“Huh?” I muttered as I called the hammer to my grasp, frowning as it shook before I blinked as it shot upwards and right towards the Royal Palace.

“…What?”

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“I'm…I'm not worthy?” I asked as I stared at Mjolnir, who floated besides Father as the man sighed and nodded while both Mother and Darcy looked confused.

“That can't be right. I can still feel their energies bonding with each other.” Mother spoke as she stepped forward, Darcy crossing her arms as she nodded.

“Yeah. Besides, the hammer and Thor has been together for centuries according to you guys so why would it just decide he's no longer worthy?”

“Because of the stones.” I muttered and both Mother and Darcy looked at me as Father gave a weary sigh and nodded.

“That is my thought as well, son. The stones are starting to alter you and your body is overflowing with cosmic energy to the point that Mjolnir itself cannot see you as the Thor it fought alongside with. You may try to alter it with the Reality Stone, but I fear that what you may have afterwards may not be Mjolnir after all.”

“…” I didn't say anything as I reached up to the clips of my armour gripping it firmly before taking off the Infinity Stones and handing them to Father.

“If I may test something?” I asked and he nodded as Gungnir glowed, the stones being sealed off into an orb littered with Asgardian runes as Mjolnir sunk into the ground in front of me.

Kneeling down, I wrapped my fingers around Mjolnir's hand before slowly pulling only to frown as the hammer didn't move an inch.

Tightening my grip and increasing the strength with which I kept pulling, I gritted my teeth as nothing changed, the hammer staying steadfast in the ground despite the fact that I was pulling hard enough to crater the ground.

Keeping my breathing calm and slow, I didn't say anything as Father dismissed his containment field, watching as the armour with the stones in floated towards me before wrapping around my body once more.

“Thor.” A voice spoke softly and I turned as a hand rested on my shoulder, my mother's presence comforting and warm as her soft gaze met mine.

“Perhaps you should think of this as a punishment, but as a test.”

“A test? What test?” I asked, my voice far softer than I was expecting as Father's voice came from the front.

“Mjolnir does not simply abandon those it has worked with. I would know as I had used it before my time as All-Father. It judges, it weighs and it decides. If it cannot recognize you as its wielder no more, then you must ask yourself a simple question. Who are you now?”

' 'Who are you?' ' I sighed as I remembered the question from that giant omnipotent being, shaking my head before standing up and nodding.

“Hah, I guess if the stones are messing with your energy and the hammer won't budge, we could j-!” Darcy stopped speaking while Mother, Father and I stared in surprise as she picked up Mjolnir with little effort.

“Uh…what…is happening?” Darcy asked as she held Mjolnir with two fingers, with me looking just as surprised before my eyes widened as I shook my head with a chuckle.

“Ah, of course. Protect those that cannot protect themselves.” Father spoke with a smile and Darcy blinked as Mother smiled.

“What?”

“Mjolnir is the weapon of a god, a god known by your people as a protector of humankind and a god of fertility. It appears that Mjolnir has inherited some of Thor's nature as it wants to protect the former human he is fond of, but it doesn't want to abandon its wielder just because so it made it so that it can only be wielded by those that can lift it.” Mother explained and Darcy's eyes widened as she looked to me, to which I nodded.

'It…actually overrode the Reality Stone's command to make sure that Darcy can lift it?' That was the part I was most surprised at as the Reality Stone is supposed to be the thing that lets me manipulate the world around me as I pleased.

However, it seems the effect of the stones can still be overwritten if the enchantments are strong enough and since Father himself said that he had also wielded Mjolnir, it appears the weapon itself is far stronger than I was expecting.

“B-But what of you?”

“Mjolnir is a weapon fit for a warrior and a protector. I must find my own weapon along with finding out who I truly am.”

“And how will you do that?” She asked and I turned to Father, who stared back and gave a nod.

“It seems you are now to embark on a journey to forge your own path forward, one that is not defined by Mjolnir nor by the stones.” He spoke and I let out a soft exhale before nodding with a smile.

“It appears so, Father. It is time for a trip.”

“To where?” Darcy asked with a raised eyebrow and I chuckled as I looked to the Bifrost.

“To Nidavellir, home to the dwarves that forged Mjolnir.”

A/N: And the show ends in a cliffhanger~!! The Black Order is gone and Thor has gotten the Power Stone, but with his body having been changed by the Reality Stone as well as the constant cosmic energy around him, Mjolnir no longer finds him worthy.

Like always, you guys want me to extend the fights or add extra info, just let me know and we'll do it.

Next chapter: Back to where it all began.

As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one…

Ba-Bye~!!