#ghosts are made of gems only found in the infinite realms

[voidlesscreator]

There's a boy in shards that just crashed through the kitchen window.

Normally Alfred would be on the defensive at an intruder, much less one that shattered the glass of the kitchen window and got glass everywhere. But he was caught off guard by how young the intruder looked and the fact that he had two crystal-like breaks where his legs and one arm used to be, with even more hairline and large cracks and breaks on the rest of him.

The boy(?) had tumbled into the polished floor and a bag of what looked to be green and black crystals fell out of his remaining arm, the boy himself looking around the kitchen almost frantically before stopping on Alfred.

"Help- please-" Was all the boy said before passing out on the floor, definitely injured but not bleeding. Alfred went over to the boy without much thought, assessing the amount of damage the boy had sustained.

It was bad given that the boy seemed to be made of the crystals and his three broken off limbs were in the bag of crystals just in multiple sections- Alfred thinks that he could see a pinkie finger and an index in the mess of shards.

After the quick assessment, Alfred got to work. He knew that Master Bruce and the children would be more concerned about where the crystal boy had come from before even attempting to piece him back together, but Alfred didn't think he would have to worry about that- so taking him to the servant quarters that were mostly unused except for his own room was the option he chose. Going into the laundry room to grab one of the clean sheets was the first thing he did, in order to gather the boy's pieces to easily transport them- Alfred could deal with putting him together once he got the boy to a better spot than the kitchen floor.

(During this time, Alfred wonders if the boy minded doing some housework or gardening- he seemed desperate to get away from something so maybe?)

[radiance1]

[Not gonna lie, that ask made me THINK about some thing]

So, hear me out.

Eastern dragon Danny is extremely protective of a giant gem (think chaos emerald size) and harms anyone who comes close to it. Even other ghosts, well, except for Vlad since he kinda had a hand in making this thing, but only just, and Ellie because, well, she's Ellie what more did he need?

The nasty burger explosion wasn't reversed, his family and friends are super mega dead, and they aren't going to become Infinite Realm ghosts because if they were, then Dark Danny probably wouldn't have happened.

So what did he do?

He yanked their souls from the reincarnation cycle, minorly offended a couple of shrouds because he physically moved them out of the way on his way back- plus, they just happened to be there leading another soul to hell, not his fault they ran into him.

Anyway.

Vlad came to him, proposing an idea that would be much better than continually violating the universal law of rebirth and having the Observants swarm around him questioning what exactly he was doing. Danny said that if Vlad so much as took a single step back in his assistance, then the Duke would find himself plucked of his feathers, one by one, and then left upon a frozen wasteland of a world for however long Danny deemed fit.

Vlad, who does not care in the least about that threat: Duly noted.

So Vlad gets to work, finding something that should be capable of containing even Tucker's ever reincarnating soul. And he does, basically a giant gem held together by science, ectoplasm, and mass amounts of magic that is far more capable of just holding souls, but Vlad doesn't really care about anything besides that.

So then Vlad gave Danny the gem, Danny stuck the souls in the gem and just, stuck around it. Even Tucker's immortal reincarnating soul can't escape from it easily, which put his mind at significant ease.

Then a few eons later he's absolutely, positively enraged when he had to be called away for a summons, came back and found his precious gem utterly empty. Safe to say, he wasn't going to stand for that.

Whoever took the souls of his family, will not be having a peaceful afterlife.

[master-sass-blast]

Strong as Stone --Part Forty

Okay, full disclosure, this isn’t edited. It’s 3AM, I’m exhausted, and my depression is killing me. Don’t @ me.

Last time: Infinity War Part Three.

This time: The conclusion.

(Look at all the fucks I don’t give. LOOK AT THEM.)

Rating: M for injuries and death.

Pairings: Okoye x M’Baku and Shuri x OC.

@the-last-hair-bender, @skysynclair19

There are going to be times when you’ll be exhausted. When your limbs will ache, and your body will be heavy, and you’ll feel like you can’t take another step.

Keep your eyes on the goal ahead, my dears, and don’t stop moving until you reach it.

“We’re not sure how long we can keep the portal open for, so you’re going to have to be fast. Retrieve essential persons only, and then get the hell back here.”

Okoye nodded grimly as she eyed the portal Loki, Wong, and Dr. Strange were working on making.

The plan was simple, admittedly. Sneak into the realm of the Soul Stone, find their missing team members by tracking the vital signs from T’Challa’s kimoyo beads, and bring them back to Wakanda so they could take on Thanos with as full a team as possible.

The execution, however, was going to be infinitely --heh--more difficult. According to the experts at hand --Wong, Strange, and Loki--the realm was patrolled by various demons and monsters to ensure that any of the captives there didn’t escape eventual consumption.

Because the stone itself, apparently, had an active hunger for souls. Which meant, at any point, they could be devoured as well.

Not to mention the fact that Thanos was in possession of the Mind Stone --the yellow gem that had powered Vision--which meant that he was probably already aware of their plan and was devising a way to stop them.

A worthy long shot, if we can get our people back, Okoye decided as she watched the portal spark to life in the center of Shuri’s lab.

“Our communications probably won’t work once you crossover,” Shuri added as she fiddled nervously with one of her display interfaces. “And that could mean with each other, too. Make sure you stay close to one another.”

“Yes, my Queen.”

“We’re ready,” Wong announced. “We need to leave now.”

Okoye checked to make sure she had her weapons with her one last time, then walked towards the platform the portal was hovering over with Gamora, Wong, Rocket, Bucky, and a handful of the remaining Dora Milaje.

“Be careful,” Shuri added quickly, before any of them could step over.

“I’m not really sure that’s an option anymore,” Rocket muttered as he crossed over into the Soul Stone realm.

Okoye grimaced and followed the raccoon. He might be right.

The realm of the Soul Stone, admittedly, didn’t look all that much different from how Okoye had expected a magical dimension contained within a supernatural-type gemstone that actively hungered for souls to look. It was a desolate, barren place, with massive outcroppings of rock that twisted and stabbed into the air in jagged spirals. The sky was a stark shade of scarlet, and ghostly, gray beings floated through the air at random, fading in and out of view at random.

“They are the guardians of the realm,” Loki explained in a quiet whisper. “They’re attracted to soul energy. We shouldn’t be all that noticeable right now--”

“But that’ll change once we save the others,” Okoye surmised. When the demigod nodded, she sighed. “We need to keep moving. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

“We’re getting close,” Rocket hissed as he looked at their position relative to the coordinates where T’Challa’s kimoyo beads were still transmitting his vital signs.

Okoye eyed the sanguine sky warily as countless ‘guardians’ flew overhead. They won’t notice us when we’re in the midst of all the other souls here... but once we’re separated again...

“It’s just up ahead! Past that ridge!”

Okoye darted ahead, careful to stay concealed by various outcroppings of rock, and peered over the edge of the ledge.

Thousands of glowing cells lined the crater below them, each of which housed an individual person or alien.

“Shit,” Gamora hissed. “It’ll take days to find everyone.”

Okoye pursed her lips as she assessed the situation. “Then we don’t find everyone. We find our most essential fighters --the King, M’Baku, your sister, anyone we need to make the strongest team possible in the shortest amount of time.” She pointed to the screen on the tablet-like device Rocket was holding. “That’s where T’Challa is. We start there. With any luck, the others will be nearby.”

Gamora nodded, then winced when a ‘guardian’ let out eerie shrieking noise. “Let’s move.”

Winding their ways through the cells was tricky business. Aside from the ghostly ‘guardian’ creatures, there were also multi-limbed, skeletal looking creatures standing sentry amidst the prison-scape. Many of the most direct paths were completely unusable, cut off by some sort of monster or demon in their way.

“We aren’t going to be able to get enough people in enough time if we stay together,” Rocket grumbled as they dodged being seen by another sentry. He tapped at his tablet, whacked it against the ground when it didn’t do what he wanted to, and let out a satisfied huff when it pinged. “Alright, I sent the King’s coordinates to everyone’s stuff. We’ll use him to meet back up in ten minutes, and then we’re getting out, regardless of who we have or don’t.”

“Teams of two,” Okoye added. “No divisions past that.” She nodded at Bucky. “We’ll go find the King.” She crept down a row of cells, motioning for the various captees inside to stay silent as they moved towards the coordinates where T’Challa’s vital signs were.

“Get down,” Bucky whispered, gripping her shoulder to pull her into a crouch as another sentry walked past.

She adjusted her grip on her spear, glaring at the back of the monster until it loped out of sight. “We’re close,” she hissed as they started stalking forward again. “Only a few meters now.” She started counting down the cells, looking for any sign of her King--

T’Challa looked up when they reached his cell, moving from leaning against the back wall of the cell to standing by the door. “General.”

She bowed her head, then lifted her spear and drove it through the chains holding the door on his cell shut, snapping them into pieces. “Let’s get you out of here, your Majesty.”

There were a few other snapping sounds, and then Bucky was helping Steve and Thor out of their cells. “I don’t see anyone else that was with us--”

“Okoye!”

She darted past them and found Aneka, pressing her face against one of the cell doors further down. She broke the chains on the door, then pulled her friend into a crushing hug. “It’s good to see you.”

“You too. Where’s Ayo? Is she--”

“She’s in Wakanda, waiting for us to get back.”

Aneka let out a sigh of relief as she stepped back. “Okay. Okay. What’s the plan? How do we get out of here?”

Okoye turned around as she heard several footsteps against the ground and saw the others running into view with most --almost all, actually--of their missing team.

And M’Baku.

Okoye felt her heart stop for a moment --felt everything freeze inside her--and then she was sprinting towards him.

He caught her in his arms, crushing her against his chest as he hugged her. “It’s good to see you, ‘koye.”

“We need to go,” Gamora said. “We had to kill one of the sentries, but they managed to send off a flare before we took them down.”

As if to punctuate the severity of the situation, another skeletal being dropped out of the sky mere inches from Aneka’s arm with a metallic sounding screech.

Wanda stepped forward and lifted her hands, tearing the creature to shreds before it could do anything else. “Come on!”

As Okoye had predicted, the journey back to the portal from the cells was far more difficult than their journey in. They managed to escape the prison area without too much trouble, but the guardian creatures noticed the presence of too many souls outside the prison area before they’d even made it twenty feet away from the ridge.

“Keep moving!” Rocket shouted from where he’d opted to hitch a ride on Steve’s shoulder. “Come on!”

“If you haven’t noticed,” Okoye snapped, stopping long enough to ram her spear through the chest of one of the guardians, making it dissolve into a cloud of ash, “we’re a little busy!”

“Well, I offered to help, but someone didn’t want to give me a gun!”

“I am Groot!” Groot added as he caught an errant sentry with a vine-like extension from his arm and whipped it about like a rag doll.

“Exactly!”

“I can see the portal!” Gamora shouted from the front of the group. “We’re almost there! Come on!”

Okoye clenched her teeth together as she sprinted forward, doing the best she could to ignore the shrieks of the monsters chasing them. Bast, please just let us make it...

They practically slammed into the lab, almost tumbling over each other and different pieces of equipment in an effort to get away from the things chasing them.

“Close the portal!” Okoye shouted once everyone was through. “Hurry!”

Shuri did so, bisecting one of the ghost-creatures as she did.

Okoye drove her spear through its head as it collapsed to the lab floor, just to be on the safe side.

For a moment, everything was silent.

And then everyone was smashing into each other again, exchanging hugs and crying. Sobbing.

Shuri practically tackled T’Challa to the floor, clinging to him like he was her only tether to the world.

T’Challa, though, was hugging her back just as hard. “Bast, I’m so glad you’re alright!”

Ayo found Aneka just as fast, pulling her girlfriend into her arms and not letting go.

Tony and Peter Park. The Guardians and Nebula. Steve and Bucky. Friends, companions, and partners alike, all being reunited with each other.

After all the loss and grief, it was good to see.

Okoye leaned against M’Baku’s side as he put one of his arms around her shoulders --then chuckled when Dewani strutted towards them, looking endlessly pleased with herself as she tossed the Chief’s staff from hand to hand. “Oh, this ought to be good.”

The teen smirked as she stopped a few feet away, leaning against the staff as she eyed her elder brother. “You look good for a dead person.”

M’Baku laughed along with the rest of the room and bowed his head. “My Chief.”

“Hanuman, no.” Dewani handed the staff back to him. “You can deal with the elders and all the politics. That shit is exactly not my speed.”

He took the staff, then stepped away from Okoye to wrap his younger sister in a hug.

Okoye smiled as she watched the two siblings hold onto each other.

“Is there even a point in this?”

Okoye looked over at Jhanvi as she assessed their newly refreshed team of people against the intel they’d gathered on Thanos and his fighting style from Gamora and Nebula. “What do you mean?”

The technopath shrugged. “I mean, if these stones are really supposed to give him all the power in the world, is there a point in trying to fight him? We’re stepping up to get our asses dusted.”

She’s not wrong, Okoye admitted to herself. She shrugged back. “Would you rather go down swinging or sitting?”

“Swinging. Any day.”

“Well, there you go. Do you have anything else to contribute to the actual strategy?”

“Yeah. We should just cut the arm with the gauntlet on it off.”

Okoye blinked, then smirked as she added the idea to their working list. “Yes, yes we should.”

The plan --if it could be called that, really--was simple.

Jump Thanos, cut off his arm, kill him, and reverse the effects of what he’d done in the first fight.

Okay, it wasn’t that simple, but it sure as fuck felt like it in comparison to the millions of missions she’d planned and run before now, where she had piles of tactical data and more than a few hours to make a strategy.

But time was of the essence; the longer they waited, the more the Soul Stone would consume the souls it’d captured, and they were all in agreement that they needed to save as many lives --reunite as many families, friends, and partners--as possible.

Jhanvi, Tony, Bruce, and Shuri were tracking the energy signature from the Mind Stone so they could find Thanos. Once they did, the team would break down into two groups; Loki and Wong would take those who had initially survived the first fight with Thanos to Thanos’s location to distract him and fight him head on, while Thor and Dr. Strange would take those they’d rescued to sneak in behind the Titan and --hopefully--get the jump on him. In the midst of the fight, Thor would use his axe to slice Thanos’s arm off, and then someone would execute the tyrant.

Okoye wasn’t sure how they’d reverse his erasure of the half the universe, though --and judging from the grim looks the science experts had exchanged in Shuri’s lab, no one else was, either.

She let out a shaky breath and braced herself against the top of her desk. Now that she was alone, her doubts were starting to get the better of her. Fuck--

“Hey.”

Her head jerked up and relief coursed through her body when she saw M’Baku walk in. We manged to save our friends. We can save everyone else, too.

“Are you alright?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she practically leaped over her desk and grabbed him by the collar of his chest plate, pulling him down for a bruising, consuming kiss.

He responded with a groan that seemed to travel through his whole body before he practically crushed her against him, just as eager to devour her as she was him.

She wound her arms around his neck, almost deliriously happy as he lifted her and pressed her back against one of the walls--

Her kimoyo beads pinged twice, shattering the moment.

Okoye sighed, then broke the kiss so she could read the message. “They’re ready for us.”

M’Baku sighed, but nodded. “Alright. There’ll be time for this... later.”

“You better survive until later,” Okoye said, pointing a finger at him warningly. “If you don’t, I might just kill you.”

He chuckled and pressed his forehead against hers. “Well, Hanuman knows I would never challenge the orders of the indomitable General Okoye.”

“Damn right you wouldn’t.” She tilted her head up to brush her lips against his, just a little. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Now, come on. We’ve got a world to save.”

“Damn right we do.”

Okoye felt like laughing and vomiting all at once when she stepped through Wong’s portal and saw where Thanos had taken up hiding. A farm. He’s on a damn farm. He destroys half the universe, and then he just walks away from it like it means nothing to him.

She was going to put her spear through his stupid, over-sized purple head.

“I’ll give him credit,” Dewani said. “He’s got his irrigation system rigged up really well.”

“Seriously?” Shuri hissed as they walked towards a cabin that stood in the center of countless fields of alien plants; it was the only building for miles, and since Thanos wasn’t out in the open, it stood to reason that he’d be there.

“What? I’m just saying!”

“Can you just focus on what we’re actually here to do?”

“I am --wait, is he not using fertilizer? No bone meal? Hanuman, what a fucking chump--”

“Dewani,” Okoye said as she fought the urge to grin.

“Right.” Dewani smacked the staff she was holding against the porch of the cabin. “Thanos! Get your ugly purple ass out here!”

There were a set of heavy footsteps from inside the cabin, and then the door opened to reveal the monster himself.

Thanos wasn’t wearing any of his armor, save for the gauntlet on his hand. “You should know that coming here was futile. What’s been done is done. Let it be.”

“Well, then you should know that humans are both tenacious and remarkably petty,” Dewani fired back. “Hand over the gauntlet and we’ll kill you quickly.”

The corner of Thanos’s mouth curled up in a smirk. “Your hubris amuses me. Perhaps I will spare you so you can entertain me.”

“You are, like, exactly not my type, dude.”

Shuri activated her hand cannons and aimed them at Thanos. “You’ve committed unspeakable atrocities against the universe, Thanos. Surrender now, and your death will be swift.”

“You couldn’t defeat me before with an army at your side. What makes you think you can do so now?”

Okoye angled her spear at him. “Because this time, you don’t have any backup to help you.”

There was a loud scream from overhead, and then Thor slammed down onto the roof of Thanos’s cabin, bringing down a massive bolt of lightning with him.

Okoye ducked as the shack exploded into thousands of pieces --most of which bounced harmlessly off shield erected by Wong and Loki--then charged after Thanos. “Come on!”

The oversized alien rolled to his feet with a growl. “I will not tolerate this insolence!” He curled his gauntlet-clad hand into a fist, Infinity Stones glowing in their settings. “You will all die here!”

“Think again,” Tony said as he started firing mini-missiles at Thanos. “Maximoff, now!”

Tendrils of red energy crept across the gauntlet, curling around the stones and effectively halting whatever attack Thanos had planned.

“Hit him with everything you’ve got!” Steve shouted as he darted towards the Titan. “And get him in position for Thor!”

It was over before it started. With Wanda rendering the Infinity Stones useless and with no army to support him, Thanos was no match for the sheer number of fighters bearing down on him.

Okoye jammed her spear through one of his knees, knocking the giant to the ground --

and Thor was there right after, driving his axe through Thanos’s forearm as the Mad Titan let out an anguished scream.

“Oh, that’s nasty,” Peter groaned as Thanos’s hand fell limply out of the gauntlet.

“You know, blood’s actually really good for plants,” Dewani said.

“Are you serious--”

“If I focus on what actually just happened, I’m gonna pass out, Shuri.”

“It’s over,” Tony said, helmet retracting so he could stare Thanos down. He gestured aimlessly with the gauntlet. “Now, tell us how to reverse what you did.”

“I did the universe a favor. I brought balance--”

“You know what? Nevermind. We’ll figure it out without you. Someone kill this guy.”

“Nebula,” Gamora said softly. She jerked her chin at Thanos when her blue-skinned sister shot her a confused look. “He’s yours.”

Okoye looked at Nebula, then at Thanos, then held her spear out to the woman. “Aim for the head.”

Nebula grinned ferally as she took the spear and stalked over to Thanos. She braced her foot on his throat and angled the tip of the spear towards his forehead. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

Thanos glared up at her, defiant. “It would’ve been a waste of parts.”

Nebula screamed and drove the spear through his head with a sickening crack.

Everything was silent for a moment as Thanos’s body went completely limp.

Dewani gagged. “Oh, Hanuman. I’m really gonna throw up now.”

“Is this gonna work?”

“We’ve been asking that question ever since Thanos arrived in Wakanda to inform us of his plans. I’m not sure there’s even a point in asking it anymore.”

Okoye kept her gaze trained on one of the many monitors in Shuri’s lab as Wanda, Dr. Strange, Wong, and Loki gathered around the gauntlet. “Let me know when they start.”

“Alright, in three... two... one...”

She could almost feel the energy in the room change, but kept her gaze focused on the screen.

At first, nothing happened.

And then, a little counter began pinging rapidly.

“It’s working! It’s working!”

They’d done it. They’d reversed Thanos’s slaughter and restored the universe. News stations were running story after story on the “reverse rapture,” speculating about just what had happened and showcasing different heartwarming stories about families, friends, and couples that had been reunited.

Okoye leaned against the trunk of the tree she was sitting under, exhausted and numb in the wake of everything that had happened, everything they’d done. I feel like I could sleep for a year.

It was done. They’d defeated Thanos and saved the world.

She opened her eyes as she heard a set of footsteps approach.

M’Baku smiled down at her. “Come here often?”

“Not often enough, it seems.” She shifted over on the bench so he could sit next to her, then slumped against his side. “I’m so tired.”

M’Baku pressed his lips against the top of her head as he put his arm around her. “It’s over now, Okoye. You can rest.”

She nuzzled his shoulder. “Believe me. I plan on it.”