fiction | Part of the journey is the end

4. Shadow realm

Thor was in the shadow cage, telling the children about the recent adventure in Omnipotence City. The kids were in awe.

"Well, at least it made for a good story," said Thor.

"How are we going to save the kids now? The gods aren't going to help," said Valkyrie.

"The gods were never going to help. We can do it by ourselves," said Jane.

"Where's Gorr?" Layla wondered.

"He better not rip off another creature's head in front of them," said Scott.

"I can't believe you killed Zeus," said Axl. "Well, you know what they say, never meet your heroes," said Thor.

"That's true. You think that they'll be this super cool guy but they actually turn out to be a lame dude with back pain," said Kate.

"Wow," Clint said.

"Zeus is awful and the world is better off now that he's dead," said Thor.

"But what's important is we are on our way to you right now," said Thor.

"Gorr's going to be incredibly strong in the Shadow Realm so I wished you could've at least called the Guardians and me for backup," Carol told Thor, Jane, and Valkyrie.

"I would've had fun punching him," said Drax.

"Lots of fun!" Mantis agreed with a wide smile.

"We should've done that, honestly. The backup wouldn't hurt," said Valkyrie.

Jane, obviously, loved Thor and she was fond of Valkyrie, but she wanted to team up with other superheroes too, especially the space ones! They seemed cool.

He asked how they were, and Axl said they were alright, but a little scared.

"I guess that's the best we can expect now," said Bucky.

Thor told them that he wouldn't have been as brave as them at their age, and called them the bravest Asgardians that he'd ever met.

"Those poor kids have been through too much at their age," said Bruce. "Just in a decade, they've had to deal with Ragnarok, Thanos's attack, the Blip, and now Gorr."

"Man, Asgard's been dealt a shitty hand for the past few years," said Quill.

"You could go back even further to the time when the Dark Elves attacked Asgard," said Loki.

Jane's heart sank. "Because of me."

Thor shot Loki a dirty look for bringing up the topic while Loki winced. He forgot about that part. "It's not your fault, you had an Infinity Stone in you," Loki said, trying to be supportive. "It's Odin's fault for not listening to you and Thor."

Valkyrie felt a spark of irritation. Odin was another god who didn't listen, and her shield-sisters paid the price for it.

"I want the Reality Stone destroyed. I had that thing in me," said Jane.

"I still can't believe you had an Infinity Stone in you and you're still alive. We held the Power Stone and nearly died," said Rocket. It was a bit strange knowing that he would've removed the Reality Stone out of Jane in another timeline if the Blip had happened, but hey, at least she didn't have it in her for a few seconds until Steve put it back in her body.

Jane shrugged. "I honestly don't know how I'm still alive." But she wasn't going to be alive for much longer, was she?

"So, I need you to keep being brave, all right? And take care of each other. You're a team now. Team Kids in a Cage," said Thor.