"Hela, firstborn of Odin, Goddess of Death... A pleasure." Sean stepped into the vast throne room.
Massive pillars supported a gilded dome overhead, where living murals swirled and shifted across the ceiling.
In one flowing image, Odin and Hela stood side by side. The All-Father gripped Gungnir, while Hela held Mjolnir aloft. Behind them rose the magnificent palace of Asgard and its unstoppable legions. Beneath their feet lay a scorched wasteland of conquered kingdoms and countless kneeling slaves...
"My foolish brother has finally found himself a worthy opponent." Hela lounged with languid ease, stroking the enormous wolf that lay curled at the base of the throne.
It was Fenris, the dreaded beast of legend.
In the prophecy of Ragnarok, the Fenris Wolf would swallow the sun and moon, snuffing out the stars forever... Mountains would crumble, and forests would be torn up by the roots.
This wolf was known as the Earth Shaker, Hela's beloved pet. After its mistress was imprisoned in Hel, Odin had ordered Fenris put to death. Its body was laid in the Hall of the Slain, where it would never decay.
"Just how much did Odin favor you?" Hela's gaze fell upon Thor, whose body now crackled with fine arcs of electricity.
The same resentment flickered in her eyes that Loki so often wore.
They were all Odin's children, yet their treatment could scarcely have been more different. One had been exiled and imprisoned. Another had been cynically used.
Everything of worth had been reserved for Thor; the throne of Asgard, and now Odin's very power.
"I won't interrupt your family reunion until you need me," Sean said, tactfully withdrawing to one side.
He was genuinely curious to see whether Thor, now commanding the thunder itself, could truly match Hela.
"Wise man. Once I've dealt with this nuisance, we'll speak." Hela inclined her head with haughty grace and looked down upon those gathered before the throne. Her eyes found the other brother, "And this must be Loki. Tell me, whose side are you on?"
"The victor's side, of course." Loki offered a graceful bow, neither servile nor defiant.
Then, like Sean, he slipped off to the periphery, radiating an air of breezy detachment, simply waiting to cheer the victor.
Hela did not take offense to that. Instead, she laughed aloud, "I told you previously, he takes after Odin far more than you do. You think gaining Odin's power makes you worthy of challenging me? Oh, my foolish little brother."
"The truth is, I've never much wanted the throne of Asgard, but you are simply the worst option. Even Loki would be better than you." Thor, for once, showed a flash of acid wit, his words merciless.
Watching from the sidelines, Loki's mouth twitched. He did not appear to appreciate the compliment.
Rage surged across Hela's face. The spectral green flames coiled and billowed, shaping themselves into a flowing cape.
Her black hair wove itself into a crown of jagged thorns. A freezing, crushing presence swept through the chamber, as though the room had plunged into a lightless abyss.
The Goddess of Death descended the steps, her eyes seething with cold fury, "Thor, my poor, pitiful brother. Have you come to lose your other eye?"
Black blades materialized from thin air. Fenris rose from the throne's foot with a rumbling snarl, its ghastly green eyes fixed on Thor. Hungry saliva dripped from its bared fangs.
"I'll handle the big guy. You deal with Hela." Valkyrie stepped forward, her blade leveled at Fenris, a reckless grin on her face, "Bring it on, little puppy."
Provoked, Fenris let out a throaty roar and lunged, shaking the vast hall with its immense bulk.
Valkyrie twisted aside, her sword carving arcs of cold light through the air. The woman and the wolf crashed through the palace doors and into the open.
Thor quietly watched them go. Lightning surged from his palm, and beyond the shattered ceiling, storm clouds massed in fury.
Silver serpents writhed through the dark, then a colossal bolt tore through the apex of the dome. Thor lashed out with a whip of crackling electricity like a great serpent baring its fangs.
Hela answered with a sweep of both arms, and a deluge of black blades rained toward him like a monsoon of death.
Thor shot a glance at Sean who was still watching from the sidelines, then made a silent, furious vow, 'Asgard... will be saved by my hands!'
He would wash away every humiliation and defeat he had suffered.
Thunder raged, and blades flashed. The shock of their battle reduced the throne room to rubble...
....
Half an hour later...
Sean's expression had settled into profound disappointment. He had been looking forward to a rousing, drawn-out brawl between the siblings.
Who could have guessed that Thor, who looked so commanding and fierce wreathed in all that lightning, would prove so spectacularly fragile? Barely thirty minutes had passed, and Hela already had him face-down on the floor, grinding him into the stone.
'What happened to saving Asgard? To restoring your honor?' Sean watched Hela drive a blade through Thor's gut and slam him to the ground with a single punch.
'A pity... His bold declarations had come far too early.' Sean lampooned inwardly.
On Asgardian soil, even Odin resurrected might not defeat Hela, let alone Thor, no matter how much thunder he now commanded.
"Odin truly did lose the wrong eye. To think he considered you the best choice. An arrogant and brainless brute has no business being King of Asgard." Hela planted her boot on Thor's head and ground down, her voice thick with contempt. She had not a shred of affection for this brother.
"Better a hotheaded fool than a madwoman who dreams of nothing but war!" Thor strained against her hold, his single eye blazing red.
His teeth clenched. Then, with great reluctance, he turned a pleading gaze toward Sean who was still spectating like a man at a dinner theater.
Thor had not wanted this, to place Asgard's fate in anyone else's hands, but he was out of options...
Seeing the Prince of Asgard finally set aside his pride and lower his head, Sean allowed himself a small smile and stepped forward, "Pardon the interruption. As the representative of Earth, I will formally intervene in this Asgardian succession dispute effective immediately. Does anyone have any objections?"
"Earth? That backward wasteland on the edge of nowhere?" Hela let out a derisive laugh, full of disdain.
Sean blinked. The Goddess of Death had clearly not updated her worldview since escaping Hel. She still thought of Midgard as a barren, primitive backwater living under Asgard's shadow.
"I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. Earth has long since surpassed Asgard. I am here at Odin's personal invitation and at Thor's request to mediate this internal royal conflict as a third party. The Prince of Asgard you've got pinned under your boot has already placed this kingdom in my hands. So... kindly remove your foot, release Thor, and let us all sit down and talk this through like reasonable people."
Hela stared at Sean in disbelief: 'That insignificant, backward speck of a realm has undergone such a staggering transformation?'
Seeing her stunned expression, Sean continued in a gentle tone, "This is widely acknowledged fact. Earth and Asgard are military allies. I have every right to intervene in matters of succession. While you were still basking in faded glories, we were breaking free of our planetary cradle and pushing into the boundless sea of stars; founding colonies, and harvesting resources. Even the Nova Corps and the Three Empires have recognized Earth's strength. We now hold a seat on the Galactic Council. Asgard, the ruler of the Nine Realms? That is a chapter of history."
Hela's face twisted with fury. She kicked Thor aside with brutal force and rose, trembling with rage, "This is all Odin's doing! He let Asgard rot! He snuffed out its future and its glory with his own hands! But there is still hope. I have returned. I will raise an even mightier kingdom and conquer the Nine Realms anew!"
"Perhaps Thor was right. It really is impossible to reason with a war fanatic." Sean shook his head in weary resignation.
He slipped the Infinity Gauntlet onto his hand, and a cosmic tide of energy erupted from him like an oceanic surge.
Hela stared at Sean, standing amid the ruins, and felt the ground itself seem to quake. Ripples spread through the air, wave upon wave surging toward her like a cataclysm.
"You are powerful. Far more than that waste of flesh, Thor." Hela offered the compliment with rare sincerity. Respecting strength was one of her few enduring principles, "But as long as I stand upon Asgard, no one can defeat me."
"Oh? Is that so?" Sean's face was perfectly calm. A blazing corona of light rose behind him, "Then I'll simply take you away from Asgard."
A pulse of cerulean light flickered. Space twisted and warped, tearing open a vast rift that swallowed Hela whole.
Sean stepped through after her.
In the span of a heartbeat, the ruined throne room stood empty save for the bloodied Thor and the expressionless Loki...