The skies of Asgard were a warzone of divine proportions. Golden and emerald flashes lit up the heavens as William and Broly clashed, their blows shaking the very fabric of reality. But in the heart of the storm, one truth became clear.
William was starting to slow down.
Each breath he took was heavier than the last. His muscles screamed in protest. Though he had achieved mastery over Super Saiyan 2, his body was still adjusting to sustaining such an immense power level in prolonged combat.
Broly, on the other hand?
He was only getting stronger.
BOOM!
A savage hook to the ribs sent William crashing downward, his body carving a crater into the broken Bifrost.
He coughed, golden sparks flickering around him as he forced himself to stand. His vision was blurring. His movements weren't as sharp as before. His speed advantage was dwindling.
Heimdall clenched his jaw as he took in the sight. His all-seeing eyes had already foreseen it.
"If William can't turn this fight around soon… Broly will overwhelm him."
Thor, however, had turned his gaze elsewhere. His storm-blue eyes locked onto the looming figure that had been observing the battle with eerie amusement.
Thanos.
The Mad Titan stood at the edge of the battlefield, his golden gauntlet gleaming in the eerie glow of the shattered Bifrost. His expression was unreadable, yet his body language spoke volumes.
He was waiting.
Not interfering. Not assisting.
Simply waiting, as if everything was proceeding exactly as he had foreseen.
Thor's grip tightened around Gungnir. His lips curled into a scowl.
No more waiting.
With a crack of thunder, the King of Asgard made his decision.
"I may be king, but I'm a warrior as well. Watch over them for a few minutes, Heimdall!"
Electricity roared to life around him as he raised the kingly spear. The storm itself answered his call. Lightning engulfed him, his body vanishing in a blinding streak of divine fury.
And when he reappeared, he was upon Thanos.
The Titan barely had time to react before—
BOOOOM!
Gungnir came crashing down, a bolt of pure lightning exploding from its tip as it met the surface of Thanos's gauntlet. The force of the impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield, splitting the broken bridge even further.
For the first time, Thanos's amused smirk faltered.
Thor's eyes burned with unrelenting fury.
"You stand idle while my people suffer," the King of Asgard growled, lightning crackling in his veins. "You will answer for your crimes, Titan."
Thanos rolled his massive shoulders, his expression returning to its usual cold confidence. He glanced down at his gauntlet, which now hummed with residual energy from Thor's strike.
"Hm." The Titan chuckled darkly, flexing his fingers. "Finally… some entertainment."
And then—
He lunged.
The battle of the King of Asgard and the Mad Titan had begun.
Meanwhile, William wiped the blood from his lips, his gaze snapping toward the raging titan before him. Broly was breathing heavily, too, now, but his power hadn't waned. If anything, he was still evolving.
William exhaled sharply.
"No more half-measures."
Lightning arced through his golden aura as he adjusted his stance. His body ached, but he would push past it. He had to.
William's roar shattered the air.
"KAIO-KEN x3!"
His golden aura ignited with a crimson overlay, distorting the very air around him with its sheer intensity. The ground beneath him cracked and cratered, unable to withstand the explosive force. Every muscle in his body screamed in protest, but he gritted his teeth and pushed through the searing pain.
Broly's eyes widened slightly as William vanished.
"WHOOSH!"
Before Broly could react—
BAM!
A devastating blow connected with his gut, the impact sending out a shockwave so powerful that the very skies trembled. The berserker's body lurched forward, spittle flying from his lips as he was launched backward at speeds beyond what even he could control.
Thanos's piercing gaze followed the fight, his expression shifting ever so slightly. His fingers curled, interest flickering in his dark eyes.
"Interesting… very interesting."
But then—
A voice interrupted his thoughts.
One of his soldiers approached, cradling a glowing cube in his armored hands. The Tesseract.
The very object that had drawn him to Asgard in the first place.
Thanos's amused smirk returned, his interest in the battle fading instantly.
"I have what I came for."
He lifted a hand, his voice commanding as ever.
"Signal the Saiyans to retreat. We are done here."
The skies above Asgard were a chaotic storm of shattered energy, golden lightning, and roaring winds. The sheer force of the ongoing battle was ripping the realm apart, its very foundations quaking under the might of two warriors locked in a duel of power and will.
William's Super Saiyan 2 aura crackled, still tinged with the red intensity of Kaio-Ken x3, but even with his amplified speed, his body was paying the price. Sweat dripped from his brow, mingling with the blood seeping from the deep gash across his chest. The wound should have been fatal.
But it was closing.
Slowly. Surely.
Broly noticed. His emerald eyes, wild with battle lust, flickered with a moment of genuine surprise. William's healing factor wasn't normal for a Saiyan. This wasn't just Zenkai, this was something else.
But the berserker had no time to process it.
Because William wasn't done fighting.
With a guttural roar, William launched forward, his golden fists shimmering with atomic energy. He disappeared in a blur, his speed boosted beyond what Broly could easily track.
And then—
BAM!
A savage knee strike drove into Broly's wounded shoulder, the sickening crunch of bone reverberating through the battlefield. The legendary Saiyan let out a howl of pain but refused to buckle.
Instead, he countered instinctively.
WHAM!
A devastating uppercut connected with William's jaw, sending him rocketing backward through a crumbling tower of Asgard's ruins. He crashed through the golden stone, debris exploding in all directions.
Broly heaved, his breathing ragged, his massive frame hunched slightly as his wounded shoulder bled profusely. But despite the damage, his power wasn't fading. If anything, he was still growing stronger.
William wiped the blood from his lips and exhaled sharply. His heartbeat thundered in his ears. He could feel his body straining under the stacked weight of Kaio-Ken and Super Saiyan 2, but he wasn't done yet.
He couldn't be.
However, before William could continue fighting Broly, a portal appeared in front of the charging Saiyan and swallowed him whole.
The battlefield lay in utter ruin, an eerie silence hanging over the remains of Asgard. William's head snapped around, his sharp gaze searching desperately for any trace of his people. But there was nothing, no familiar power signatures, no movement in the shadows, nothing but the lingering echoes of devastation left in the wake of Thanos's attack.
Smoke curled from the shattered remains of the golden city, twisting in the cold Asgardian air like the final, dying breaths of a fallen god. The stench of scorched metal, blood, and ozone clawed at his senses, and for the first time in a long while, an unsettling emptiness settled into his chest.
His aura flared wildly, gold and blue energy whipping around him in chaotic waves, crackling with barely contained fury. The ruined sky seemed to tremble beneath the weight of his rage.
"Thanos… I'll tear you apart!" William's voice was raw, guttural, more beast than man. Power rippled off him in torrents, shaking the ground beneath his feet. His muscles coiled, every fiber of his being demanding vengeance.
Then he saw him.
Thor.
The God of Thunder approached through the haze of destruction, his crimson cape tattered, Mjolnir heavy in his grip. His face, though weathered with grief, was not without hope. William exhaled sharply, clenching his fists as he willed himself to calm down. His aura flickered and dimmed, retreating into his body as he powered down to his base form.
His eyes scanned the battlefield once more, his heart weighed down by an unsettling thought.
"Was this destruction my fault?" His voice was quieter now, filled with something more complex than rage, guilt.
But Thor's response came without hesitation.
"The Mad Titan would have attacked regardless of your presence." His voice was steady, a solemn conviction behind it. "And Asgard? It can always be rebuilt."
Thor gestured toward the survivors gathered below, wounded warriors, mothers clutching their children, people who had narrowly escaped death. But they were alive.
"Lives, however, are not so easily replaced." A small, tired smile touched Thor's lips. "And your presence saved many."
William swallowed hard, his hands flexing as he took in Thor's words. He wanted to believe them, to think that his actions had done more than just contribute to the destruction around him.
Then—
[Ding! System Message – Hero of Asgard Title Attained.]
William's breath hitched as the ethereal message flashed before his eyes. But then, something else appeared.
[One wish granted if under the domain of the gods of Asgard!]
His body stiffened. His mind raced, heart pounding in his chest.
A wish… A wish!
Possibilities flooded his thoughts, but only one name came to him, one loss that still burned deep in his soul. Without hesitation, he reached out to the system, his thoughts sharp, his voice unwavering.
Return to the living… the one known as May Reilly Parker.
The system accepted his request in a flash. The message vanished.
And on Earth, beneath the darkened sky, something stirred.
A grave.
Wrapped in green flames.
The air grew thick with power as the very fabric of Hel's domain twisted. From within the emerald inferno, the towering figure of Hela, the Goddess of Death, emerged. The flames reflected in her piercing eyes as she gazed upon the lifeless form before her.
Aunt May's still body lay undisturbed, but the moment Hela extended her hand, a swirling mass of luminous green energy coalesced in her palm. With deliberate grace, she placed it upon the corpse's chest.
The fire surged.
Flesh mended. Bones strengthened. The pallor of death faded from Aunt May's skin as the flames caressed her, restoring the life that had been stolen from her.
And then, her eyes snapped open.
A deep, glowing green burned within them, the embers of Hel still smoldering in her gaze.
Hela watched with an impassive expression before placing a single finger against Aunt May's forehead.
With a pulse of dark energy, she vanished.
And reappeared.
Above her grave.
In the pouring rain.
Aunt May staggered forward, her breath hitching in confusion as raindrops mixed with the remnants of Hel's lingering power on her skin. Her body trembled, the weight of existence pressing down on her all at once.
"Wh... Wha?!" Her voice came out hoarse, broken, as though she had been screaming in the void for eternity.
She clutched her chest, taking in gulps of air, her mind a whirlwind of disjointed memories.
Her lips quivered, and after a long, shuddering breath, she finally managed to whisper.
"What happened to me…?"
Aunt May drifted forward, her bare feet sinking slightly into the damp earth of the graveyard. A strange, cold wind kissed her skin, yet she felt no chill. Her frail hands, once wrinkled with age, were now unnaturally smooth but deathly pale. She didn't know how long she had been walking, only that something had pulled her from darkness into this unfamiliar world.
Her ragged breath rasped as she moved past gravestones, their inscriptions blurred by time. Then, voices. She turned her head toward a cluster of people in the distance, their murmurs soft against the night air. Relief swelled in her chest, perhaps they could explain what was happening to her.
But as she stepped toward them, the people's faces twisted into terror.
"A ghost!" someone shrieked.
"No... it's a Revenant!" another gasped before turning and bolting away.
The others followed, their panicked footsteps crunching over the dead leaves. Aunt May froze, confusion washing over her like a tide. Why were they running? What had she done?
Before she could call out, sirens wailed in the distance, growing louder with every second. Red and blue lights flickered beyond the iron gate, and soon, a squad of police vehicles skidded onto the scene. Doors swung open, and armed officers rushed out, weapons drawn but not yet aimed.
Aunt May turned toward them, hoping for answers. But then, she saw their faces.
Fear.
A primal kind of fear that made their fingers twitch over their holsters, their stance shift to aggression.
And then she felt it.
Something deep within her stirred, a presence that wasn't quite hers. It was ancient, powerful, and aware. The air thickened with unnatural weight as her body responded instinctively to their hostility.
The shadows at her feet twisted, writhing unnaturally, as if alive. They slithered up her legs like serpents, coiling around her torso, solidifying into a suit of armor forged from pure darkness. Jagged plates of necrosteel locked into place over her body, their surfaces etched with eerie, pulsating runes. A cloak of green flames ignited at the seam between her helmet and chest plate, flickering like spectral fire.
One officer cursed under his breath. "Jesus Christ… it's an unregistered powered person."
"Call A.E.G.I.S. NOW!" another barked, nearly tripping over himself as he slammed his palm onto a glowing red button inside the police cruiser.
Aunt May could feel the air shift, tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Something inside her urged caution.
Then, metal scraped against leather.
Her eyes snapped toward the officer who had drawn his gun. Time seemed to slow as he lifted his weapon, his muscles stiff with terror.
Aunt May didn't think, she simply reacted.
With a flick of her wrist, the officer's own shadow leapt up like a living entity, lashing around his arm. He gasped, his hand locking into place as if an invisible vice had clamped onto it.
Then, the gunfire erupted.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A series of deafening gunshots rang out, but every bullet struck empty ground. The officer's aim was thrown off as his shadow yanked his arm downward, sending his shots harmlessly into the dirt. His breath hitched in raw panic, his fingers still locked around the trigger, but unable to pull it again.
Aunt May clenched her fist, and the shadow tightened in response. A choked gasp escaped the officer's lips as pain flickered across his face.
She could end this right now.
She could squeeze, just a little more…
The thought was not her own.
Her hands trembled as she realized it. The thing inside her, the presence, wanted to kill. Wanted blood.
No.
A sudden chorus of sirens roared in the distance, this time, different. Sharper. Louder. Heavier.
Aunt May's head snapped up, her green-flamed eyes locking onto the horizon. Military-grade vehicles were approaching, their silhouettes cutting through the darkness. Spotlights flared to life, flooding the graveyard with blinding white beams.
A.E.G.I.S. had arrived.
Her instincts screamed at her to run. She didn't know why, but she knew, if she stayed, there would be no reasoning, no discussion. They would come at her with everything they had.
And so she moved.
The moment her foot pushed off the ground, the world blurred. Trees and tombstones streaked past in an instant. The very air howled around her as she ran, her speed defying all logic. Every step was impossibly light, her body gliding as though gravity itself had loosened its grip on her.
She was no longer an old woman. No longer frail.