A plan was crafted, and the group separated to make preparations. When out of earshot, Gwen took Hela's hand and motioned for the group to do the same,
While this is all very nice, and I get the whole sexy touchy feeling thing, what exactly are we all doing.
Gwen hesitated, hoping they could what her,
It's about Loki, she admitted.
What did that idiot sister of mine do now? Hela asked as the group had left Peter to deal with Odin,
She seduced Pete and got pregnant, Gwen said, after letting everyone see the memory, she was not torn as to what to do.
"So? Tell him and be done with it. He does not seem like a man who would leave a child to suffer someone like Loki. Hela said as she shrugged,
But uh, if the Asgardians want her, how exactly do we get the child from them, and to us without Pete trying to kick Odin like a football. He really took a shine to you, and really doesn't like Odin. Felicia explained
Hela snorted, he is rather enamoured by me, isn't he? And you are right. Odin is a doddering old fool who will use the child to extend his will onto Earth, and to Peter. Loki will be held captive with the child's well-being, and so will Peter.
So, what do we do?
Hela smiled, You can create portals yes? she asked Wanda who nodded, good, then this is exactly what we do.
~
Loki had chosen to arrive on the captured cruiser. If it was a message that she had power over them, Peter didn't care. He got her message and had Wanda conjure a portal.
Peter had entered the cruiser, well aware it was a trap. He saw the walls shimmer and fade, only to come back a second later, "come into my parlour" Loki whispered "said the spider to the fly." and Peter took a deep breath and let it out before walking into her throne room.
"I want the stone Peter, and I will have it." Loki was sat on a throne, resplendent in bright green robes and her two-horned crown. "Just a pity you made me do this." and Loki snapped her fingers, and feeling the whisper of movement above him, Peter looked up just as Puck landed on his face.
Puck screeched as it expected to drill into Peter's skull and take the knowledge of the stone from his mind but instead found itself being sucked into him, digested by his cells as it was dissolved into a soup of mush and memories.
Puck was gone, and Peter had taken the memories of Loki's grim task, of gathering the other stones. He had felt the Cybertronians die, and watched Loki as she killed Stephen.
"Loki, what the hell did you do?" Peter asked,
Under the onslaught of memories, he felt Loki's grief, felt the rage at the Kree, and the plan to fix everything, using all the stones, but she had failed. Even without the Mind Stone, their power was too great, and the illusion failed. Loki was sat, broken and bleeding, pieces flaking off as if she was a painting and slowly dissolving into dust.
"I had to, I had to save her," Loki croaked and Peter rushed forward.
Peter grabbed at the necklace and felt his own body reject it. The power of the universe flowed through that necklace, and even with the two of them, they were just not enough to contain its power.
"By killing everyone else?"
Loki screamed, "I DONT CARE. GIVE HER BACK!" but she was too weak, too damaged to bend the force of the stones to her will.
She still had enough power that he was blown back, as the power of the six coursed through them both,
"I only," Loki whispered, "wanted to save her," and as she spasmed the stones finally overwhelmed her, and she crumbled into black dust.
A portal behind Peter opened, and the women he shared his life with, and Odin and Freya walked through. Freya cried out and rushed to what remained of Loki,
"You promised" she cried out as Peter moved back, "You said you would spare her."
Before Peter could speak Odin tutted and shook his head, "he did. No mortal, Jotun or otherwise can withstand the stones. She brought this on herself, and we were too late." and Odin knelt by her remains.
"She only has five. Do you have the last?" Odin asked and Peter nodded, "then be a good boy and hand it over. The stones are too powerful for any mortal to handle, and they bring greed and misery to any who pursue them."
"We need them to fix what she did," Peter said and he took a step back, "Just once and then I will hand them over."
Odin sighed and swept an arm over himself. His bright golden battle armour shimmered into existence and as he held out his hand there was a rumbling and Mjolnir flew into his grasp.
"Do not make this harder than it has to be Peter. You cannot fight me, and you most certainly have more to lose than some friends." Odin told him, pointing the hammer directly at him,
"Odin, what are you doing!" Freya stood and stormed over, "stop this foolishness at once." but Odin smiled,
"My dear. The Infinity Stones have been handed down amongst our legends since Asgard was founded. We are their rightful keepers, and no one else can use them without consequence. I do this for Asgard. I do this to protect the greater galaxy."
Freya tutted, "You want more power you mean. I recognise that look Odin Borson. I will not fight you, but I will not aid you, and once he has finished kicking your arse. We shall be having words."
Freya stepped back, "I hope you are strong Peter, Odin is not to be trifled with."
Peter extended an arm, and a long blade slid from its back. "I had Shuri craft me a word. One of Vibranium and Adamantium. There is always someone stronger, someone tougher, and all you need are the right tools to show them that sometimes, the little guy can win."
Odin laughed and raised the hammer, lightning arced down and coated Peter. He tensed as the sparks flew over his body, and as Odin watched Peter's armour slid out over him, coating him black, the white spider prominent on his front.
"That was the first thing I learned to defend against, try again old man." and Venom slid forwards, taking a swipe at Odin's wrist.
While Peter had decades of fighting experience, Odin had centuries. He pulled his hand back, and as Peter's sword extended, Odin brought the hammer around and smashed Peter's wrist.
Even armoured the shockwave produced by the hammer spasmed the muscles and he dropped his sword and was forced to push himself back.
Odin chuckled "you cannot win against me. I am a God." and the room echoed with laughter.
Hella smiled, "You are right. He can't. But I have waited four centuries for this." As she swept her hands over her hair and her necrodermis armour sprang forth, "and I am so very looking forwards to it."
She threw a sword at Odin, who deflected it, and Wanda and Jean both summoned a shield for everyone to hide behind.
Freya joined them and Gwen cast an eye over her, "uh, don't take this the wrong way, but aren't you the bad guy now?"
Freya laughed and raised a hand to cover her mouth, "No dear. Odin deserves that, and plus, she won't beat him. He trained her and while he is old, she is too inexperienced. They'll smack each other around for a bit and then give up."
Gwen frowned, "So, uh, then why?"
"Odin needs to learn that not everything is his, and what do you call it. Grounding someone for being who you trained them to be is stupid, and well, a bit childish."
"So, we just wait until one of them gives up?" Felicia asked as they watched Odin throw Mjolnir, Hela deflect it back and throw a sword of her own, all while being uncaring of the damage to the control room.
"Hey, Watch the ship!" Peter shouted "It's new" and Gwen batted him on the shoulder.
"Not the time Pete." but he just smirked and shrugged.
Odin was relentless in his assault, he would swing Mjolnir, throw a bolt of lightning, throw the hammer and recall it, before swinging it again. Hela was outmatched, and it wasn't until Odin threw Mjolnir that Hela caught it, that he paused.
"Goddess of Death, idiot." and she squeezed. Mjolnir whined, as not just pressure but Hela's God-Force poured into it. The edges of the hammer darkened, aged and started to crack and crumble. As she smirked it exploded and everyone could see the pale energy that flowed from the hammer and into Hela.
"And now," and she leapt, kicked Odin in the chest, knocking him down and a blade sprang forth, hovering over his throat, "you die."
As she lifted the sword, ready to lounge it, Peter gently took her arm, shaking his head
"He doesn't need to die. Be better." and huffing she cast away the sword.
"Death god remember, it's my nature." and she crossed her arms pouting,
"Yeah, I get that. But, death of pride." and Peter pointed to the angry-looking Odin, who was struggling to get up. Freya walked over and offered him his arm, which he huffily refused.
"Oh give it up you old sod," She said and grumpily he took her arm and she helped him to his feet.
"Fine, you bested me. You are still making a mistake. The Stones will bring nothing but disaster." he said, as the armour vanished and he was back wearing the horrible Hawaiian shirt. "Well, go on then. I wasn't joking, and I'll just take them from whatever is left."
With that comment, Freya batted him on the arm.
Peter sighed, and with the harness wrapping itself around his limbs, and the bladed claws of his harness extended, he lifted the necklace from the ground.
Peter was frozen. Power flooded through him and even the arcstar reactor on his back whined and then exploded in a shower of sparks.
"Please, everyone," he whispered and as they were about to reach out for him, Jean held them back with her powers.
"You can't touch him," she shouted, "The necklace will kill you"
"Let me go, He needs us" Gwen shouted
"She is right you know, the six stones together contain the power of the cosmos, and even I'm not stupid enough to hold them together," Hela added.
MJ stepped towards her, "And that's not your choice. He needs us," and nodding, Jean let the forcefield go.
Gwen was the first, and she cried out as she laid a hand on his shoulder.
Peter was already pale and the skin around the necklace was flaking off, and Gwen's began to do the same almost immediately. She gritted her teeth and blood pooled around her lips and the pain overwhelmed her.
"GWEN!" MJ shouted and reached for her, feeling the same burning pain, not just through her body, but in her mind and deep within her. The stone's power did not just overwhelm the body but even her soul felt as if it was on fire.
"So, might as well go out together," Felicia said as she laid a hand on Peter's other shoulder and she smiled, the pain was bad, but it was worth it if she could take even a moment of it for him.
"Think it'll work?" Natasha asked Jean who shrugged,
"It doesn't matter now does it dear? I made my peace with things, and if I die. I would rather do it with him, well, I gave up on that silly notion years ago, but he saved me. I think I deserve to do the same, don't you?" Liv said and she smiled sadly as she placed her hand on his shoulder as well, before her eyes glowed and veins of light flowed over her skin, causing it to burn and flake away.
"We dont even know what this is," Jean answered but Natasha had already added her hand to the group. Placing it on his back,
"Because we love you" was all she managed to say
"But we do. It's the stones, all working together, the power of the cosmos is running through him, and it needs all of us to contain it. We used the stones before, we have the power of the stones within us, this will work, it has to work." Carol added her hand to the groups, and her binary form flared yellow and then into bright white before she was enveloped by the light, and stood glowing as if she burned like a star.
"Damn pussies" Laura shouted and grabbed a hold of Peter at his front, hugging him close, "love you all," she said before she too started to burn.
"You are all idiots," Hela said, "but we should be enough," and Wanda stepped forwards, covering everyone in the red energy she screamed as she blasted bolts of power away from them, taking a hand and laying it on Laura's shoulder.
"The power of Bast is nothing compared to this, but in this hour, may she guide us." and Shuri added a hand to Peter's shoulder.
"Life yeah? Think I can save them?" Jean asked and Hela shrugged
"We might embody life and death but that does not mean we can't die," Jean shrugged and lay her hand on Peter's shoulder as well.
"What one more idiot in this bunch of idiots eh?" With a small smile, Hela placed her hand on Peter's chest, "it's only death after all."
Peter felt the pain slowly fade from him, and he stared at the eleven around him, all touching him,
"Now you idiot. Stop staring like a moron and do it now," Hela shouted,
With a small grin, Peter lifted his fingers and clicked.