Chapter 23: Vormir Protocol – The Five-Stone Gambit.
[EARTH – NEW YORK SANCTUM – SECONDS LATER]
The air inside the Sanctum became unbearably tense, crackling with impending calamity. Ebony Maw's voice, cold and silken, echoed through the shattered front window.
"Your persistence is admirable, Sorcerer. But futile. Give the Stone to the rightful owner's servant, or I shall turn your fragile anatomy into rope."
Thor, his face grim, held Mjolnir steady as a conduit, the emerald light of the Time Stone surging through the ancient metal. Strange leaned close to the hammer, his hands weaving complex, desperate gestures.
"Now, Frigga! Give me the coordinates!" Strange grunted, straining against the power and the mounting psychic pressure from Maw outside.
[ASGARD ROYAL LIBRARY – SIMULTANEOUSLY]
I gripped the communication crystal, my heart hammering against my ribs. In front of me, the two containment vaults—the amber vial of the Aether/Flame and the vault holding the Power Stone—were humming with barely contained cosmic energy.
"Odin, channel the Bifrost coordinates! Now!" I commanded.
Odin, his single eye blazing with focused power, summoned a tiny, controlled stream of the Bifrost. I closed my eyes, channeling all of Frigga's innate magic and Yuta's desperate strategic knowledge. I had to merge the Power Stone's raw energy with the Reality Stone's fluidity, and project the highly controlled burst across the Bifrost to the tiny target that was Mjolnir.
"Here we go," I whispered. Don't blow up the planet, don't blow up the hammer, don't kill the Sorcerer.
I initiated the sequence.
A sudden, breathtaking surge of red and purple light erupted from the containment units, shooting up and condensing into the Bifrost stream. It was pure, controlled power.
[NEW YORK SANCTUM – MOMENTS LATER]
A searing column of rainbow-hued energy—tinged with chaotic red and brutal purple—slammed down onto the Sanctum's roof, funneling directly into Mjolnir.
The hammer roared.
Strange staggered back, his eyes glowing green. He was momentarily channeling the power of five cosmic sources: the Time Stone, the Power Stone, the Reality Stone, the chaotic energy of the Eternal Flame, and the Bifrost itself.
His voice, though strained, took on a chilling, universal resonance. "Vormir... Coordinates... Found!"
A massive, glowing diagram of the cosmos exploded above the Sanctum hall. For a single, agonizing second, the entire universe was laid bare before them, and a single, isolated point—the location of Vormir—flashed into existence.
Strange slammed his hand onto the diagram, projecting the coordinates onto Jane's communication device. The power surge instantly cut off. Strange fell back, gasping, Mjolnir settling back to Earth, now just a very loud hammer again.
Jane grabbed the device. "Got it! Queen Frigga, we have the coordinates! Vormir is secured!"
Dealing with the Maw
The power convergence was not subtle. Ebony Maw, sensing the sudden surge of overwhelming energy, tore the front door from the Sanctum's hinges.
"Such immense power wasted on foolish parlor tricks!" Maw sneered, floating into the hall. He raised his hands, and the shelves of ancient books began to twist and buckle, aimed at Strange.
Thor roared and charged, but Strange grabbed his cape. "No! He's too fast! Get out!"
Jane, however, had an idea. She saw the dust and debris from the demolished door. "Thor! He's a telekinetic! He only uses things he can see and manipulate!"
Thor caught on immediately. "I shall manipulate the environment!"
Thor spun Mjolnir, not to fight Maw, but to create a blinding, localized dust storm inside the Sanctum.
Maw shrieked as he was instantly enveloped in thick, swirling debris, unable to see his targets or manipulate the environment effectively.
"Jane, get ready!" Thor yelled.
Strange, having recovered, pointed at a high window leading to the roof. "The Time Stone is a beacon! You must hide it! Now!"
Jane, still holding the communication device with the Vormir coordinates, turned to Thor. "We can't just leave him here!"
"He is the Sorcerer Supreme!" Thor declared, grabbing Jane and Mjolnir. "He is designed to annoy telekinetic aliens! Now, to the Bifrost!"
Thor smashed Mjolnir through the roof, signaling Heimdall. As the Maw struggled to clear the dust, a column of light descended, whisking Thor, Jane, and the valuable coordinates away from the confrontation.
Strange sealed the roof opening with an immediate spell, then turned to the choking, furious Maw.
"I apologize," Strange coughed, adjusting his cloak. "We seem to be out of the Time Stone. And your appointment slot has expired."
The Ultimate Price
[ASGARD ROYAL LIBRARY – MOMENTS LATER]
Thor and Jane landed safely back in Asgard, exhausted but successful.
"We have the coordinates, Mother!" Thor announced, proudly presenting the charred communication device.
I took the device, the glowing coordinates of Vormir a terrifying reality. I looked at the Power and Reality Stones now safely contained, and the truth sank in.
"Thank you, Thor," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "You saved us all."
I dismissed the bewildered Thor and the exhausted Jane to rest. Once the room was clear, I faced Odin and Loki, the atmosphere instantly heavy.
"Vormir is secured," I stated. "But we are now out of time for further deception. Thanos will know we're collecting the Stones, and he will send his full force."
Loki looked at the map. "We have three Stones now—Time, Power, Reality.
We need the Space Stone and the Soul Stone. The Space Stone (Tesseract) is with the Nova Corps or the Asgardian Refugees in the original timeline. We need to find it fast."
"The Space Stone is a complication, but not the priority," I said, shaking my head. "The priority is Vormir."
I looked at Odin and Loki, their faces etched with the truth they already knew.
"The price of the Soul Stone is a soul for a soul. The person who retrieves it must sacrifice the person they love most."
"And if we send a mindless drone, the Stone will not reveal itself," Loki finished, his voice unusually somber. "It requires a genuine, profound act of love and loss."
"We need the Stone, but we can't sacrifice one of our key assets—not you, not Thor, and certainly not Hela," I said, running a hand over the Vormir coordinates. "We have to find a loophole. A trade the Stone will accept, but one that doesn't cost us a future."
Odin stepped forward, placing his hand on the coordinates. "I am the oldest. My time is long past. My death is already prophesied to release Hela."
"No, Odin. You are the only one who knows the final defensive enchantments for Asgard," I argued. "You are not expendable."
I looked at Loki, who was already shaking his head. "Don't even think about it, Mother. My love is too conditional. I only truly love myself. The Stone would reject me."
I nodded, then looked down at the coordinates, a terrifying certainty forming in my mind. The plan had always been to use my knowledge, but now, it required my ultimate sacrifice.
I, Yuta Kamiya, inside the body of Frigga, loved this ridiculous, chaotic family more than anything. My life here had been a second chance. And if the price of saving the universe was trading my one truly sincere love... it was a price I was ready to pay.
"There is one person who can go to Vormir," I whispered, meeting the shocked gaze of my husband and my stepson. "Someone who loves this family completely, and whose sacrifice would protect the most valuable assets of the cosmos."
"Mother, no," Loki breathed, finally understanding.
"I am the Queen. I am the mother," I said, straightening my spine. "And I know how to cheat the system. We send me, but we don't just sacrifice me. We sacrifice a lie."
I looked at Odin, my resolve firm. "Find the Space Stone. I'll take care of the Soul Stone. We're going to use the Eternal Flame to make the trade."
To Be Continued...