Chapter Four
Liam

I've gotten used to a lot of weird things over the past five years, but this morning was something else.

I woke up at the break of dawn alone in bed, with a note on Stevie's pillow addressed to me. The note read:

Went to the lake with Uncle Alex, be back by the time we need to leave. Love you. — Stevie

My first thought was: why is he at the lake and why Alex is with him? I got my answer when I dragged myself out of bed, put some clothes on, and went to the lake. The first thing I saw when I arrived was Khari, who was standing near the lake's edge with a blanket wrapped around himself. He saw me and gestured for me to come closer, and I did, appreciating when he wrapped part of the blanket around my shoulders.

"What—" I cut my own question off when I saw two giant octopuses sitting in the lake, currently bathing themselves in the water. I've been around shapeshifters for five years now, I've lived with them, spent a majority of my time with them, and yet I still find myself occasionally having moments like this. Moments where I take a step back and recognize how strange all of this is.

I knew immediately which one was Stevie and which one was Alex. Alex was slightly bigger than Stevie, and somehow they both still had the same attitude, held themselves the same way. Alex was strategically covering himself in water, his huge slitted eyes looking tired and grumpy. Stevie was splashing around in the water like a kid taking their first bath, his eyes filled with glee. He nearly fell over when he saw me standing there, his tentacles sloshing around as he moved closer to me. He extended one out and gently touched my cheek, I had to keep myself from flinching from how cold, slimy, and wet he felt.

"Hey, Babe." My voice sounded groggy. Stevie didn't seem to mind, he appeared to have smiled. He and Alex splashed around for another half an hour before they shifted back into their human forms. I helped Stevie readjust his vibranium leg and get out of the uproar of waves, still splashing from the momentum they caused when they shifted back.

"Why?" Is all I asked.

Stevie shot me a grin. "Lets see how those fire demons and dragons do against water."

They didn't dry off when they got out, they just walked to the Avengers base soaking wet. Even now aboard the Guardian's ship, they're still very damp. I hope they know what they're doing. I hope we all know what we're doing.

"The Sword of Surtur rests in Surtur's chambers inside Mount Ymir," Thor informs us as we travel to Muspelheim. He was put in charge of this mission by Soroya and Sam. "It is heavily guarded and surrounded by a pool of lava."

"How is the sword still around?" Quill questions. "Didn't this Surtur guy use it to destroy Asgard."

"No. Surtur had two swords, one to destroy worlds and the other to control his army. The former he used to destroy Asgard, the latter is what we're trying to retrieve before the Kree do."

"How guarded are we talking?" Wanda inquires.

"Hundreds of creatures inside and out of the mountain; lower fire demons, fire giants, and of course dragons."

I sneak a glance at Stevie, and despite everything, he still looks excited to see a dragon. He actively tries to hide it though, biting his lip to keep from smiling.

"Wanda, Bruce, Strange and I will take care of the Muspelheim forces, the rest of you focus on the Kree. Of our forces, only a few of you can fly, which is critical for getting over the lava pool, so which one of you is going to handle getting the sword?" Thor asks.

"I will." Alex volunteers, beads of water still trickling down his forehead from his hair.

"Me too." I shut my eyes once those words leave Stevie's lips. I'm not surprised but...Shiva help me, why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut? Why did he have to volunteer for the most dangerous job in this mission?

"Once you retrieve the sword, get back to one of the ships, don't wait for the rest of us. Get back to Earth immediately." Thor orders. The Avengers numbers have grown every year since they were made an agency, so much so that to bring them all here to Muspelheim we needed four ships, and a lot of the team didn't even come. Some stayed behind for when we bring the sword back to base, we need help protecting it, because like Thor said, Alex and Steve will leave the rest of us behind. I can tell Stevie doesn't like the idea of leaving anyone behind, especially me, I can read the worry on his face.

"Promise me you'll stay by my side the whole time," Stevie whispers. "I'm not leaving here without you."

I nod. "I won't leave you for a moment."

"Get ready," Thor looks at each of us individually, his expression grave, focused. "We'll be there any minute."

Once he gives us the dismissal, Alex sits down on the other side of Stevie, asking his nephew: "I'm thinking an eagle for when we get the sword, we can carry it between our talons."

"What kind of eagle?" Stevie asks. He and the others have done extensive research on different animals and their abilities. I swear all of them know as much about animals as a zoologist or a wildlife expert. Of course it makes sense, it's best to be prepared, especially in our line of work.

"Harpey or golden? Those two have the longest wingspan and can carry that kind of weight."

"Goldens have bigger talons. I think I'll need them since I'll only be carrying the sword with one pair of talons."

"Golden it is."

"I'm sorry you'll have to take the brunt of the weight." Stevie glances down self consciously at his vibranium leg. Alex gives him a look as if to say 'really?' and kisses his temple, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"No apologizing. We'll both handle it just fine. Alright?"

Stevie offers him a shy smile. "Alright."

Alex winks at him. "That's my boy."

"We're here!" Thor announces, maneuvering through our teammates towards the door, his axe ready in hand. As soon as the ship lands, Thor sets his shoulders, growls, then punches the button to open the door. The ship was set down just outside of Mount Ymir, so we only have to travel a few yards to reach the entrance. But a few yards seems rather large when an abundance of fire creatures block the entrance. The good news is that these creatures are pretty distracted, the bad news is that they're distracted by the Kree soldiers currently fighting them. Who knows how far into the mountain the Kree have gotten, maybe they've gotten the sword already.

Alex, Stevie, and I are the last to leave the ship. Stevie leans on my shoulder as he twists his vibranium leg off and latches it to his back, uneasiness creeping into his expression. I lean forward and kiss his cheek, giving him a firm nod.

"I'll cover you."

Stevie attempts a smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I know."

Then we run towards the mountain.

-

Steve

It was Uncle Alex's idea to change into octopuses. He had called me early this morning and suggested soaking up as much water as possible, that way we can spray it on the fire creatures using our tentacles. My uncle isn't a brilliant tactician by any means, but his idea was incredible. It was totally worth being wet for the last couple hours.

Thor, Wanda, Strange, and Bruce have cleared a path for us, with any stray creatures or Kree being taken care of by the other Avengers. Uncle Alex and I are going back and forth between eagle form and octopus. We fly up high enough to cover a small band of enemy forces, then we shift into an octopus mid air and spray water down on them, killing the fire creatures instantly and distracting the Kree long enough to be dealt with.

But unfortunately, we can only hold so much water. By the time we make it to the mountain's entrance, we're fresh out. No more water to save us. But at least it got us this far.

The creatures on this planet are absolutely terrifying...but also pretty badass. The fire demons and giants look like tiny versions of the Balrog from Lord of the Rings, without the flaming whip of course. They don't seem to be intelligent at all, they have no mind of their own. They aren't trained, they don't think, they just attack. They're just creatures of chaos. They're just monsters.

I haven't seen a dragon yet. Very disappointing.

Inside the mountain there are about double the amount of creatures, but Uncle Alex and I are out of their reach, flying high above them, making them scream in rage and frustration. Lee however isn't out of their reach, and once the creatures realize they can't hurt us, they rush towards him with newfound determination. His body begins glowing, much brighter than it does on Earth, but nowhere near as bright as it glows on Alfheim. Vines shoot from his body and wrap around the creatures bodies, flinging them around and throwing them up against the walls of the mountain. Hard enough to knock them out, not hard enough to kill them. He has his hands out in front of him, directing the vines towards the incoming creatures as he runs through the mountain, keeping pace with our flight above.

I want to go down and help him. More than anything. It takes all my effort not to.

I glance at Uncle Alex and find his eyes on me, sympathy in his gaze. He chirps once, a simple way of expressing he understands. I chirp back, refocusing my gaze on the ground, finding Lee no longer there. Panic fills me, but only for a second. Lee is using vines to swing through the mountain, wrapping them around stalactites hanging from the ceiling. He looks kinda looks like Tarzan. A hotter, more badass Tarzan. The creatures once again shout in aggravation, but they are once again distracted when the other Avengers flood in, with the Kree in tow. The Kree soldiers look just like they did when they came to Earth. They have the same anger, same focus, same precision as they cut through the creatures, as they try to cut through my teammates.

I feel anxiety rise in me, but I try my best to breathe through it. I can't afford to let anything distract me, not the Kree, not Lee, nothing. If we fail, if the Kree get the sword, then we all could die. I won't let that happen. I won't let Earth enter into another war.

The air around us gets increasingly hotter as we continue to fly, and I feel my breath catch as I see why. We've made it to the lava pool, and it's much, much bigger than I thought it would be. It's like the size of a lake, and surrounding it are three large, angry looking dragons. They lock eyes with us and growl, fire exploding from their mouths in warning.

Oh my god I'm looking at dragons. Real dragons. My first thought is how cool this is, my second is how badly I want to ride one, but reality comes back to me with my third; they're trying to kill us. That's not ideal.

"I got this! Get to the sword!" Lee shouts, using two of his vines to slingshot himself across the lava pool, right onto the back of one of the dragons.

My scream of panic comes out as a screech, and I'm already diving towards him before I have time to think. Lee glows a little brighter as his vines wrap around the dragon's snout, locking it shut. The dragon swerves it's head around, bucking and swinging around in an attempt to get Lee off. Lee grits his teeth, growling as the dragon takes flight, making it harder for him to hold on. He catches sight of me and shakes his head, shouting at me again: "Get the sword!"

I'm about to ignore him and help him anyways, but Thor flies in just in time, his axe raised, his face fuming. Wanda is right behind him, the red glow of her powers overshadowing the white glow of Lee's. As much as I hate it, I turn back towards the center of the lava pool, where the sword rests in a large rock, kind of like Excalibur. Uncle Alex is already there, shifted into human form, trying to pull the sword free. I reach the rock and shift back as well, trying my best to balance on one leg as I pull on the handle with my uncle. After a few moments it wiggles free, proving to be just as large as we had suspected. Golden eagle was a good call.

"Lie it on it's side." Uncle Alex directs. I help him do so, and once it's laid down, we both shift into golden eagles as we planned.

Uncle Alex picks up the blade and I pick up the handle, and together we are able to lift it off the rock. We fly a lot slower than we did before, trying to keep our wings flapping at a similar pace, at a similar rhythm. Any disruption, any wavering movement could make us drop it into the lava. I had actually asked Thor why we couldn't do just that: throw it into the lava and destroy it, but according to him, the sword can't be destroyed by lava since it is a weapon made of fire. Typical.

Lee is still dealing with the dragon, but he's struggling a lot less than he was before. He's wrapped twice as many vines around the dragon's snout and the dragon isn't fighting as hard, probably because Wanda's powers are helping to hold it down. Thor is fighting off two at once, with Wanda sending out blasts of her power to assist him. Lee spots us with the sword and nods his head once. I know what that nod means: leave without him. He promised me he'd stay close to me, that he would never leave my side, but he did just that. I know I can't be angry at him for that. He's doing his job, he's buying us time to escape with the sword, but I still hate the idea of stranding him here. Yes there are other ships, yes he will most likely escape and be fine just like the others...but I won't be here to ensure it.

A blast is set off that pulls me from my thoughts. Uncle Alex and I have made it past the lava pool and we're sailing above the battle commencing below: Avengers, Kree, and fire creatures, all seemingly too distracted to notice us, except for a group of Kree a few yards away, standing where the blast emanated from. I feel my breaths holt, my heart stop as I see that the group of Kree are accusers, and the blast came from a machine they brought with them. They set off the machine again, and this time the blast hits us, but it's no ordinary blast. A sonic, magnetic field is surrounding us, keeping us in place in the air, making our suits glitch. I feel my stomach sink as I realize this is the machine that killed Uncle T'Challa, the one that nearly killed Zy. The machine pulls us towards the accusers, and no matter how hard Uncle Alex and I flap our wings, we can't manage to escape the machine's field.

This is bad. Really, really bad. If we can't escape then we'll be killed. Our vibranium suits can't protect us anymore, the machine is disrupting them, we're completely vulnerable. We'll be killed just like Uncle T'Challa was. We'll be killed, the Kree will get the sword, and then everyone else will die soon after us.

The Kree accuser's faces contort in anger as they set eyes upon Bruce, who jumps up and crashes into the machine, disrupting the field, letting us free. Uncle Alex and I drop to the ground, the sword falling from our grasps. Most of the accusers are distracted by Bruce, but there are several that advance towards us, blocking us from the sword lying on the ground feet away. Our suits are still malfunctioning, but that doesn't matter now. Nothing else matters. Uncle Alex shifts into a tiger and roars, rushing towards the accusers. I don't. I do nothing. I sit there, unable to breathe, unable to think, unable to do anything other than stare at the two accusers stalking towards me, their hammers in hand.

Images flash in my mind, images that have replayed in my head thousands of times: my body hitting the steps of the capital building, me lying there unable to get up, the Kree accuser standing above me, a smile spread across his lips, the swing of his hammer, the cracking sound of every bone breaking in my leg, the sound of my scream...

"Nowhere to run, little boy." One of them snickers, aiming his hammer high, ready to strike.

No. No. Move. I have to move, I have to get away. I have to get the sword away. I shift into a golden eagle again and fly above their heads, grabbing onto the hilt of the sword, attempting to pick it up, but I can't lift it with only one set of talons, it's too heavy. I shift back and shout to Uncle Alex, but the accusers have him surrounded. I move to run towards him, but I fall on my face, remembering that I don't have my vibranium leg on. I feel a large hand wrap around my neck, hoisting me up off my foot, cutting off my airway. I stare into the eyes of one of the accusers, his amethyst eyes glowing from the exhilaration of battle.

"Pathetic." He spits out, tightening his grip on my neck. I try to shift, I try to move, to do something, but I can't. I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't. I'm helpless, just like I was when I fought an accuser the last time. He's going to kill me, this is how I'm going to die. The last thing I'm ever going to see are those amethyst eyes.

All of the sudden the accuser lets go of me and air is allowed to renter my lungs. I drop down to the ground and try desperately to breathe, searching around for the reason why the accuser let me go. I let out a shaky laugh as I see the accuser wrapped up in vines, my boyfriend standing a few feet from him, his face fuming with rage. The other accusers are wrapped up in vines as well, letting Uncle Alex go. We now have a window: the machine is gone, the accusers are taken care of, now we have to get the sword out of here.

But where is it? It isn't where we left it, it's nowhere to be seen. The two of us scan around, and my uncle is the one to point a few yards away, to an accuser who escaped. We shift into cheetahs and run after him, as fast as we can, with some of our other teammates in tow. The accuser runs outside the mountain, throwing a small object over his shoulder. A bomb. Uncle Alex and I both shift into eagles just in time to fly out of the blast radius, but the others get blown backwards, and our path gets blocked by rocks. We both set ourselves down on the ground and shift into rhinos, pushing the rocks out of the way, Bruce and Lee fending off any creatures and Kree as we do so. By the time we get outside, we find that he is nowhere to be seen. We glance up at the sky and find a ship pulling out of the atmosphere, a Kree ship. A few seconds pass and it reaches a jump point, disappearing from this world, from our grasp.

"We need to contact Soroya and Sam," Uncle Alex growls, now back in human form. "Tell them we failed."

I stare at the spot in the sky where the ship was moments ago, saying in a broken whisper: "And that war is coming."

Again.