Battle of Wakanda

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Marcus was drifting towards the dead star. He could hear Thor and Rocket arguing in the background on the specifics of restarting the forge. He paid no mind to it. He was more concerned about the thick layers of ice on the star that have built up over the years, as well as the rings surrounding the core of Nidavellir. The gears were completely frozen. They would need a good push and a fair amount of heat to get them back up and running smoothly. The closer Marc got to the dead star, the more he sensed the power underneath all the metal and ice.

"Marcus? Hello?" Thor yelled out, trying to get his attention.

Marcus sighed and approached Thor with his hands in his hoodie pockets. "A little louder, Thor. I don't think all of space has heard you yet."

Thor squinted at the glowing man. "We're ready when you are."

Marcus nodded and switched his arms so they guided him in his path towards the gears. Rocket in the meantime shook his head as he sat in the pilot seat inside the pod. "I don't think you're getting the scientifics here. These rings are gigantic. You wanna get them moving, you're going to need something a lot bigger to yank 'em loose." He said.

Thor jumped off the pod and landed on one of the rings, holding a cable that was attached to the pod. "Leave it to me." Thor replied.

"Leave it to you? Buddy, you're in space. All you got is a rope and a—" Rocket was cut off when Thor started to swing the pod around in circles using his godly might, gripping the cable tight enough so it wouldn't slip out of his hands.

Marc raced for the gears and aimed his flaring fists at them, firing his plasma energy to melt off the ice. The intense heat from the plasma was effective in mollifying the gears, allowing them to turn. Thor had let go of the cable and that caused Rocket to fly towards the centre of the forge with great speed. Thor was trailing after the pod as Rocket fired the engines. Marcus proceeded to bolt around the rings of the forge, flying in circles while continuing to unleash a small proportion of his power to unfreeze the rings.

"More power, rabbit!" Thor roared as he dug his heels into the rings and held the cable in his hands while Rocket forced the pod to get the rings to move. Marcus appeared next to Thor, eyes ablaze. He pointed at him and before he could offer any help, Thor shook his head. "No, I can do this!"

Marcus pursed his lips together to keep from grinning when the ice that had formed around the frozen ring's mechanisms began to crack. It looked as if the ice formed into tiny bits of crystals as they disconnected from the metal, raining down over them before finally, the dead star was brought back to life with a brilliant, bright light. The rings rumbled deeply as they aligned perfectly, allowing the iris of the star to open.

"Well done, boys." Eitri praised, gazing at the shining star with hope in his eyes once again.

Thor jumped onto the pod and pressed himself against the windshield, excitedly pointing at the star that was waking up for Rocket to see. "That's Nidavellir!"

A beam of light shot from the heart of the star through the aligned rings, hitting the core of the forge, powering it up. Eitri gazed around when the machinery blinked to life, whirring with steam and controlled flames. Though, just as quick as it arrived, the beam of light died out. The mechanisms that allowed the star's energy to stream into the forge were too weak to stay open and it closed, breaking off completely. Marcus followed the ray retreating back into the star, as if to reach out and grab onto it.

"Damn it." Eitri bit out.

"Damn it? What's damn it?" Rocket asked.

"The mechanism is crippled." Eitri explained. "With the iris closed, I can't heat the metal."

Marcus joined Thor. "We're running out of time." He muttered.

"How long will it take to heat it?" Thor asked.

"A few minutes, maybe more. Why?" Eitri replied.

"I'm going to hold it open." Thor said, sure of himself.

"That's suicide." Eitri scoffed.

"So is facing Thanos without that axe." Thor fired back, preparing to leap into the centre of the star. Marcus suddenly moved in front of him with his glowing arms crossed over his chest.

"Not alone, you're not."

Proxima Midnight stared at the Warrior intently as they stood barely a foot apart. The only thing keeping the women warriors from attacking each other was the barrier that was in-between them. They had a history, filled with violence and hostility towards each other. On this day, only one was going to walk away with their life still intact. Ana had a good idea on who it was going to be as she let the edges of her lips quirk up into a small smile, head tilting upwards slightly. Proxima's response was a chesty huff, lips curling up as she released a low growl. Her deep red eyes narrowed at Ana's flickering blue ones. The grip she had on her spear strengthened as Cull Obsidian joined her on the outside of the barrier. Proxima glided her blade against the shield, leaving a trail of glitching light along the surface.

Ana could hear three pairs of footsteps approach her, and turned her head to see Natasha, Steve and T'Challa. She nodded at the King of Wakanda, and stepped aside, allowing him to get a better look at part of the Black Order. Natasha, having noticed they were one member short, sent Proxima a smirk. "Where's your other friend?" She taunted.

"You will pay for his life with yours." Proxima vowed. She faced Steve and T'Challa, "Thanos will have that Stone."

"That's not gonna happen." Steve said simply.

"You are in Wakanda now." The Black Panther declared, voice proud and strong. Behind him, his soldiers were forming up into defence and attack positions. They had trained for this moment a million times. "Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."

Proxima Midnight's smile only grew colder. "We have blood to spare." Turning to face Ana again, she added, "You remember them, don't you?"

Ana crossed her arms over her chest. She felt the way the Vibranium armour over her dark navy suit moulded with her every move. Her silver armguards caught the light of the sun, making them gleam. Ana was ready for what was coming next. She was suited up and armed well. Part of her was itching to get started. "I'll see you soon, Proxy." She mumbled, loud enough for only Proxima to hear.

Proxima's lips widened and she bowed her head. "I look forward to it."

Returning back to the Wakandan forces, Steve, Ana and Natasha set themselves on the front lines. Bucky was standing with T'Challa, and his eyes followed Ana as she stood next to him on his left, shoulder to shoulder. She had her eyes focused straight ahead, and Bucky lowered his gaze. Before he could say anything, apologise or ask her if she was okay, he felt her hand slide into his Vibranium one, clutching it gently. Now wasn't the time to talk. Which was why Ana chose to let go of the things they said to each other. She looked forward to spending time with him after the war was over. Bucky and Ana found each other's eyes, and they shared a smile. They were alright. For now.

Bucky returned his hand to hold the other end of his semi-automatic rifle while Ana picked up the compact bo-staff attached to her belt. They were similar to Natasha's, as they were able to be separated into two smaller clubs. The Black Widow had shoved numerous handguns and daggers along Ana's belt when she had returned to the laboratory earlier, mumbling on about being prepared. Seeing as Ana had chosen to use her super strength in fights more recently, she hadn't spared a thought on bringing any weapons. Natasha, along with Steve, were oblivious to Ana's sudden increase in strength. Ana thought now was the perfect time to show off, maybe even try to put the blasting hands to good use.

"They surrender?" Bucky asked Steve.

Steve sighed. "Not exactly."

At the command of Proxima Midnight, the large vessels that carried the Outriders started to open. They had dropped along the grasslands outside the barriers, and the bottoms were concealed by the large trees. Ana shifted on her feet when she felt the ground quake, the motion making her stomach churn uneasily. The trees started shaking, with most of them falling over from the sudden force of a thousand Outriders ramming through them. She heard them first before she saw them. Their screeching growls and deep howls as they moved closer to the barrier. Everyone watched in horror as hordes of them poured out from the trees, raging towards the dome.

T'Challa led the Wakandan troops in a chant, yelling out, "Yibambe!"

"Yibambe!" The soldiers yelled back, hitting their weapons against the ground.

"What the hell?" Bucky breathed out at the sight of the Outriders getting closer. He had never seen anything like them before in his life.

"Looks like we pissed her off." Natasha muttered.

The Outriders continued to emerge from the vessels, throwing themselves against the shield. Ana watched intently as they forced themselves through, their hollowed cries echoing throughout the land. They climbed on top of the bodies of the dead, clawing their limbs into the barrier. Most of them collapsed with their arms and legs being burned off due to the energy pulsing inside the shield.

"They're killing themselves." Okoye said, eyes wide.

Ana placed the staff back on her belt and curled her hands into fists when she saw how some of them managed to make it through the shield. She was expected to wait, seeing as T'Challa was commanding his army from the front lines. She couldn't do anything to disrespect him on his own soil. So, Ana waited. T'Challa sent Ana a side glance, with a look that told her, all in good time.

"Vala!" T'Challa ordered.

"Vala!" The soldiers echoed, sweeping their Vibranium capes in front of them to project energy shields. The soldiers behind the shields readied their spears, heeding their next commands.

"Kubo!" T'Challa yelled.

"Kubo!" The soldiers yelled back as they shot at the Outriders that advanced with blue beams. Upon hearing the command, Bucky lifted up his own weapon and started firing. He understood some of the language since he had lived in Wakanda for a few months. Ana's attention was drawn to the way Bucky seemed to hit every target with accuracy. But the targets only multiplied, and Bucky huffed at the sight of more Outriders, continuing to shoot at them. War Machine and Falcon flew over their heads for the cluster of aliens breaking through.

"All right, back up, Sam. You're gonna get your wings singed." Rhodey warned, deploying a series of grenades from his armour. One by one, they exploded on the Outriders, creating a large cloud of orange sparks and black smoke, ultimately blocking their view of the Outriders beginning to break off and circle the perimeter.

As the smoke cleared, everyone watched on as the Outriders sped around the dome. Ana simply mumbled out a series of curse words, stepping forward. Bruce was stationed at the back of their line in Tony's Hulkbuster armour, and he also took note of the enemy's change of strategy. "Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision." Bruce said.

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us." Steve responded.

"How do we do that?" Okoye asked.

"We open the barrier." T'Challa stated. He placed his finger to his ear piece and contacted his sister, Shuri, in the laboratory. "On my signal, open northwest section seventeen."

"This will be the end of Wakanda." M'Baku voiced.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history." Okoye countered, straightening up with an iron grip on her weapon.

Ana looked back at them. "Yeah, definitely one for the books."

"Vula!" T'Challa commanded. His troops in response had dropped their shields and stood tall. Ana picked up two daggers and flipped them over in her palms. She glanced at Bucky, who nodded in her direction. T'Challa stood in front of his armies and allies, clad in his Black Panther suit. With an awe-inspiring yell, the King of Wakanda shouted out, "Wakanda Forever!" T'Challa crossed his arms in a X formation and his mask grew over his head.

And then, with their weapons raised to the sky, they followed their leader into battle declaring at the top of their lungs,

"All-Fathers, give us strength."

Marcus and Thor each took one side of the star's iris to hold open. With both hands, gripping the thousands of years old metal, they prepared to pull with all their combined might to let the star shine throughout the forge again. They needed to buy Eitri time to heat the uru metal to create a weapon for Thor to wield for when he would face Thanos next. This was their last chance to beat the Titan. They couldn't allow him to leave unscathed. Trillions of lives were on the line.

Marcus looked to Thor. "You ready, son?"

Thor nodded, determination written all over his face. "For Asgard." He whispered.

Then, the gods pulled. They forced the star to reopen and shine through them with every bit of it's unmitigated and boundless power. The intensity of the star's energy cut into their raging bodies, travelling towards the forge to power it up. Eitri's yells of encouragement to hold it open while he proceeded to sort the mould for Thor's axe fell on deaf ears. Their screams filled the air, merging into a single, thunderous yell that echoed throughout the universe.

Marc's eyes snapped open when he heard the star's mechanisms rotate upwards, pulling its beam of light away from the forge. It was too much pressure for the star, let alone the structure that was holding it in it's place. Marc ripped one of his hands off of his side of the iris and latched onto Thor's wrist.

"Hold it open, Thor!" Marcus yelled.

"What about you?" Thor called out.

Marcus didn't reply. Thor took over for Marcus while the latter flew underneath the beam of the star's radiant energy. Once he was halfway between the star and the forge, Marcus placed himself in the middle of the beam, absorbing it's power and redirecting it for the forge with his arms stretching out in front of him. When the metal was heated, Eitri poured the molten liquid into the mould, shouting for Marcus to seperate himself from the star and for Thor to let go. Thor's arms dropped to his sides when he couldn't hold the iris of the star open any longer, and he lulled forward, unconscious. His body surged towards Marcus, and the Sentinel caught him before he could crash into the forge.

Eitri was pounding against the mould with his hands, growing restless when it wouldn't break apart. Rocket and Groot were close behind Marcus as he set Thor down in front of Eitri. The mould had finally caved, and the two parts of Stormbreaker were laying around, waiting to be brought together by a handle that Eitri couldn't find.

Rocket shook Thor when he wouldn't wake. "Thor! Say something. Come on. Thor, you okay?" He glanced up at Marcus, who was swaying on his feet. "I think he's dying."

Eitri ran around the place, hurrying to find the missing piece to his Thanos killing weapon. "He needs the axe! Where's the handle? Tree, help me find the handle!" He shouted, voice in a loud panic.

Marcus kneeled beside Thor, clutching his burning chest. His vision was bright and unfocused, making it hard for him to concentrate on anything. He couldn't remember the last time he had absorbed that much energy. Thor, on the other hand, wasn't built like Marcus. He shouldn't have to be put through that much strain. Reaching out with one hand, Marcus took a fistful of Thor's vest in his grip.

Groot got up and walked over to Stormbreaker, having put down his video game for the first time since this whole thing started. The axe was still glowing red from the heat. He let his arm grow and thread around both halves of the axe, putting them together. Groot lifted the ultimate weapon into the air and with his other hand, cut off his arm to form Stormbreaker's handle.

At the sight of the axe, Marcus looked down at Thor. The Odinson's hands were sparking blue as the weapon dropped to the floor.

"Get up, Thunderer. We have a Titan to take down."

Thor didn't respond right away. He opened his eyes, lightning crackling within them. There he was. Marcus turned to see Stormbreaker had now found it's King, and a smile spread across his face at the sight of his friend being reborn. With a small voice, still tarnished from unconsciousness, Thor replied,

"Light the way, Sentinel."