Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 31: Only If

Surely Layla knew Thor was a bit of a loose cannon. He had done a lot of ridiculous things in her time knowing him- everything from taunting powerful enemies, to being excited to fight a friend, to declining the throne. But, as far as Layla was concerned, what he was about to do absolutely took the cake for the most stupid and irrational thing he had ever done. If Layla didn't know any better, she would've said he had gone insane. Really, she just knew he was determined to stop Thanos at all costs.

    Apparently even if that meant taking the full force of Nidavellir.

    Thor stood in the iris of Nidavellir, flexing his hands experimentally as he prepared to open it, his back to them. "Allfathers, give me strength," he prayed quietly, yet not quietly enough since at least both her and Eitri heard him.

"You understand, boy?" Eitri cautioned from next to her. "You're about to take the full force of a star." He paused for a moment. "It'll kill you."

    Thor took some deep breaths. "Only if I die."

    That confused the dwarf, and Layla too, honestly. "Yes, that's what... 'killing you' means," Eitri replied, unable to hide his confusion from his voice.

    Layla sighed, both out of worry and frustration, two feelings she hadn't felt together in some time. "You don't have to do this!" she shouted. "We'll figure something out! There are other weapons!"

    "Yes, I do," Thor breathed. "I need this weapon."

    Layla shook her head, knowing there was nothing more she could say to get Thor to change his mind about this. She knew she was stubborn herself, and dealing with Anja for years gave her more than enough practice with others to know that she'd be wasting her breath to say more. Not that it mattered.

    Thor didn't give them a chance to reply as he grasped the two levers on either side of him, using all his strength to pull them down and towards himself. The iris slowly opened, allowing the stream of stellar energy to blast past him and into the forge once more. His screaming was unbearable, and Layla hoped that it wouldn't take too long to fix the forge. She followed the beam of light and energy hit the forge, watching as the once dead forge roared back to life, firing right back up as if it had never been cooled.

    Eitri saw this too, and knew there was a chance they could succeed. "Hold it! Hold it, Thor!" he called out as he ran over to watch the ingots in the cauldron.

    The God of Thunder continued to scream as the energy burned his skin more and more with every passing second. Layla glanced between the dwarf and her boyfriend, unsure of what she should do here. Thor only needed to hold it open long enough to melt the metal and then he could stop. He could totally survive that, right? A human would've been dead already, so luckily Thor was Asgardian. But Layla wasn't sure how much Asgardians could physically take. Thor could be at a breaking point at any moment, and she would be none the wiser.

After a few agonizing moments, Eitri poured the molten metal into the mould just as Thor passed out. He began falling back to the surface, Rocket trailing close behind him in the pod. Layla rushed over to where it looked like he would land, but Thor hit the ground with a thud before she made it there. Layla felt marginally better about her pace, since Rocket wasn't even able to catch up in a ship. Even if she had been in the right spot, she wouldn't have been able to catch him without injuring herself too. Groot even looked up from his game when he heard the thump, a concerned look on his face.

    Layla moved to his side in a panic, Rocket joining her soon after. The raccoon knelt over Thor, looking him over with worried eyes. "Thor! Say something. Come on. Thor, you okay?"

    Thor looked far from okay, and if Layla didn't know any better, she would say he was possibly dying. He was charred badly, and what little breathing he had was shallow and weak at best. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. No. This couldn't be happening. Thor couldn't die. Not here, not now.

    She ran a hand over his face and through his hair. "You fool. You didn't listen," she said quietly, her voice shaking a bit as she fought back tears. She took one of his hands in hers, holding it tightly in hers. God, what she would do to have Anja or her healing powers right about now. Layla felt helpless as she glanced between everyone else, trying to think of anything that could be useful here.

     Eitri clumsily and urgently pulled the mold, despite it still glowing red-hot, onto the floor, breaking it loose from its frame. He started frantically punching the mold itself with his metal fists, trying his damnedest to free the ax.

    "I think he's dying!" Rocket shouted.

Layla resisted rolling her eyes at him. "No shit."

    "He needs the ax!" Eitri replied, starting to look around. His voice was panicked when he spoke next. "Where's the handle? Tree, help me find the handle!"

    Layla saw the two sections of the weapon laying on the ground. She wasn't sure what the weapon was going to fix at this point, but she'd worry about that later. She saw Groot look sadly at them, and then scowl with determination. This weird little tree was up to something. He stood up, and extended his fingers towards the weapon, growing them at an incredible speed. His fingers twined around the two parts, causing Groot to cry out at the pain caused by the hot metal. He slammed the two pieces together, fusing them into one weapon at last.

    Groot raised it above his head, and with a mighty yell, he chopped his extended arm off with his other hand. The weapon fell to the ground with a loud clunk. Layla saw the fingers on Thor's other hand twitch, emanating some sparks just as the weapon started to levitate with a crackle of lightning. The ax flew to him, and his free hand caught it. Layla and Rocket each took a few involuntary steps back. It was a good thing they did, as the air around Thor erupted with electricity, sparks and lightning flying everywhere. Once the blinding white light of the lightning subsided, Layla uncovered her eyes to see Thor standing there, looking perfectly fine despite being nearly dead moments before.

    The God of Thunder smirked. "Let's go kill this bastard."

*****

Hi guys! Sorry this took a minute for me to get posted! I've been trying to get some of my other stories caught up, so this one went on the back burner for a minute. I have finished one of them, so now I only have two stories for the moment. Hopefully I can get more updated soon! Hope all is well with you all!

~arty_writes