Avengers: Damnation

Papa Bear

Thori came to a halt in the center of the hallway, then pressed his snout to the floor and hustled off to the right and toward the wall. He began to scratch at the wall and barked enthusiastically over his shoulder. Thor approached and buried Stormbreaker into the wall, cracking the stones, reducing them to dust. The wall exploded before the heroes and when the dense fog of dust settled, a cave-like tunnel bathed in dim orange light revealed itself to them.

"It's like...walking into the mouth of hell," Hawkeye murmured. He took in the surroundings, noting the twisting stalactites and stalagmites that shot out like jagged fangs around them.

Thori let out an excited howl, then took off at top speed, his big body crashing through anything in his path. In order to not lose him, the heroes picked up the pace.

"We're close to them," Lumen cried as the familiar sensations of Modi and Magni breathed across his heart. "I can feel them!"

Thor's heartbeat pounded furiously in his chest and he surged ahead, his entire body flooding with lightning. Like a bolt, he shot out of the tunnel and dropped down onto a marble floor. It cracked under his impact, forming a small crater. Rising up from a kneeling position, he took in the sight of the throne room. Large and circular in shape, a giant pair of doors stood closed behind him. And across the room, seated on a throne that stood upon a pedestal, was the shadowy figure of Nelvannu. And standing a few feet away was Loki. Modi and Magni were lying on an altar nearby, their bodies naked and covered in dark red designs.

"You are too late, thunder god," Nelvannu whispered. "The ceremony is almost ready."

Thor ignored the fallen god and began to walk toward them, the ax crackling loudly as bolts popped off of it. "Both of you will die," Thor promised.

Behind him, Lumen floated down and hovered, his light acting as a sort of encouragement for him. Cap, Aegis, Power Princess, Nightstar, Valkyrie and Hyperion came next, followed by Thori, who had allowed Hawkeye to ride on his back. Snowbird, still in anaconda form, slithered down and rose up. She opened her mouth and spat The Hag's broken body across the throne room where she landed in a heap at Nelvannu's feet.

"Amora and anyone else you have thrown at us is dead."

Loki took the news of Amora's death without a sign of emotion. Instead, he held the boys and watched Thor.

"And you," Thor said, pointing directly at Loki. "Are next. And then you," he added as he shifted his gaze back to Nelvannu.

"Amora didn't suffer nearly as much as she deserved," Lumen said in a level voice. "But you will."

Nelvannu stood to his full height and threw his head back, his mocking laughter bouncing off of every surface. "You are all beneath my notice. Shadow Guard- deal with him."

All at once, tendrils of black smoke spun up from the floor, twisting in hundreds of tiny vortexes as humanoid shapes began to take form within them. Each of them held a variety of sharp weaponry and wore matching, her black armor.

Thor assessed this new obstacle and smiled. Marching forward, he felt his companions at his back but all he truly noticed now was the need to cause as much mayhem as was possible. His body tensed up with power and the arm became charged. Overhead, dense clouds began to spin rapidly, flooding the throne room in a blanket of darkness. Blazing lightning shot from cloud to cloud and Thor picked up the pace. The Shadow Guard matched his determination and ran forward. A smile graced Thor's lips and he jumped through the air, then slammed back down to the ground and struck the first wave with Stormbreaker. It completely bisected the first warrior and cracked into the ground between its feet. The floor shook wildly with the force, staggering more of the Shadow Guard. One of them aimed its sword at Thor and he ducked and spun around. He kicked him in the chest so hard that he went flying across the room and directly at Nelvannu, who swatted him aside in annoyance.