POV Odin
I let out a long and tired sigh as I sense that the Sorcerer Supreme has perished.
'Another sign of Ragnarok.'
The only small mercy I felt from the loss of the Sorcerer Supreme was that she at least made sure Belasco went down with her. But that still left a chaotic Limbo in their wake. But with any hope, this would be the last of the troubles our universe suffers from Limbo.
'But knowing Midgard's luck, I somehow doubt that.'
I had to admit it never ceased to amaze me how many problems arise on Midgard. It was the main reason I had long since abandoned any notion of control over Midgard. That and I made a deal with a past Sorcerer Supreme to leave Midgard alone so they could develop as they please. Even now, I am beyond happy with that agreement. But there was a chance that would now change. Kamar Taj exists in name only.
'Hmm, maybe I could send Thor to Midgard to teach him how to protect those weaker than himself?'
When I considered that, I recalled the strange organization that recently arose on Midgard.
'The Guardians of the Globe? An interesting name. Perhaps sending Thor to them could be considered as well.'
I didn't want to admit it, but I could see what Thor was developing into, and that worried me greatly. I lost one child; I didn't want to lose another.
"If you frown so much, you will develop more wrinkles," Frigga jokes as she enters the throne room.
"Ah, Frigga, my dear, what would I do without you?" I reply with a smile.
"Work yourself to death trying to stop what you know you can't," Frigga says bluntly.
"Hehe. Yes, I suppose I would, wouldn't I?" I reply.
"I bring you news that might just distract you," Frigga comments.
"Oh? And what news do you bring?" I ask with interest.
"Thanos's armies have suffered great casualties clearing out the Xenomorphs. If what Heimdall saw is true, then even members of his famed Black Order have fallen. The Shi'ar even seem intent on striking Thanos while he is weak. The Kree seem intent on using this chance to expand again. If they do, then the Nova will likely join in the fray. If all goes as expected, then the Milky Way will be safe for the next several years, maybe even a decade or two," Frigga explains.
"Oh? That is good news. Though I still find Thanos's moves suspicious. Has there been any word as to his motivations?" I ask.
"Nothing for sure. Some think he is moving to take over the Milky Way. Others think that Thanos is cleansing them. Then there is the one that I worry about the most," Frigga says with clear worry.
"What is that?" I ask while holding her hand.
"What if the Mind Stone was stolen by the Xenomorphs?" Frigga suggests.
My hand freezes, and I start to imagine what horrors that could bring. I shake my head to dispel such fears.
"If that were the case, I feel we would know by now. And if there is no way to know until it is too late, then may the universe have mercy on us all," I say grimly.
If Frigga's theory was right, then there was truly almost nothing that could save the universe.
'No, there is a way.'
Whoever had those Infinity Stones could possibly stop such a threat. That's assuming they didn't have the Mind Stone and all this fear was meaningless.
'I suppose time will tell.'
POV Shift King Atlan IX
"We cannot hold on much longer, My King," my brother Orm says.
"And what do you expect me to do? I didn't start this war; Namor did!" I say with frustration clear in my tone.
"Release the Kraken! With it, we can win the war in one go!" Orm says with conviction.
"We cannot control that creature. Only Poseidon could. Not to mention the sacrifices that were made to seal it away after Lord Poseidon's death," I refute.
"Drastic situations call for drastic measures. If we don't use the Kraken, how do you expect us to win?" Orm asks angrily.
"Even if we are lucky and the Kraken doesn't come for revenge for sealing it away, that creature would become the undisputed ruler of the waves, not to mention the instability it would create in the natural order," I refuse firmly.
"Brother, please! If we don't act now, Atlantis will have nothing left to rule when the war is over," Orm pleads.
"No, I am the King, and I have made my decision!" I shout while slamming the Trident of Poseidon upon the throne room floor.
"As you command, My King," Orm says reluctantly.
I dismiss Orm, but he doesn't leave. I go to yell at him.
"Gasp!" I inhale as I feel a sharp pain in my chest.
I look down and see a blade protruding from my chest. I look to my right and see someone I thought I could trust completely. I get up and away from the assassin and stumble down the steps before my throne.
"Orm! Brother, help me!" I plead.
Orm looks at me before pulling out a dagger and stabbing me in the heart. My eyes widen in shock.
"Long live the King!" Orm says coldly.
I fall back, and the trident falls from my grasp as my strength fails me. My last words were towards the one man that I treated as my closest friend.
"E Tu Titus?" I say weakly.
My vision goes dark as the last bit of life leaves my body.
POV Shift Orm
"A shame it had to come to this, brother. But you left me no choice. I won't let Atlantis fall due to your cowardice," I say with slight emotion as I pick up the Trident.
"I've done what you asked, now my reward!" Titus demands.
"Yes, your reward," I say while letting the Trident give me the power for what came next.
Slash
I cleave Titus's traitorous head from his body, spilling blood everywhere.
"HELP! Someone has attacked my Brother!" I scream in panic as I pretend to try to save my brother's life despite the fact that he is long dead by now.
The guards burst through the throne room doors and see the bloody mess.
I play the horrified and traumatized sibling who has to quickly bury his feelings to protect Atlantis from enemy invasion. It was possible that some might suspect me, but they wouldn't have any proof. And there are no other possible heirs to the throne, so it is only right that I be crowned king. That and due to the war, many won't dare cause any chaos for fear of weakening morale. And if they do so anyway, I can have them arrested for being agents of Talo Kan and trying to undermine the war effort.
POV Shift King T'Chaka
I look out upon the small settlement we had established near the crater that used to be Wakanda and have to stop myself from sighing. We had 43 people in the entire settlement, and there is no one to blame for that but me. I had been warned about the Xenomorph threat long before it was too late, but I stubbornly chose to stay and resist. Now we have lost almost everything. All we had were 8 aircraft and a slowly growing farm.
"What troubles you, Love?" my lovely wife Ramonda asks.
"Nothing great. I'm just worried about the future of our children," I say glumly.
"Shuri is doing fine tinkering with the jets. And T'Challa is hunting down whatever is hunting the War Dogs. While this isn't the life we expected for them, it is the life we can give them. And don't start with the blame game. Nobody could have predicted how dangerous the Xenomorphs really were," Ramonda insists.
"Except our children. They warned me, Shuri especially. I should have listened to her, but I was blinded by my arrogance," I say with a heavy sigh.
"We were all blind. Every single one of us thought ourselves infallible. That anything outside Wakanda was a savage and weak world that would never be able to reach our heights. And we paid the price for our arrogance. But this is the chance for us to rebuild from the ground up. To take a different path," Ramonda says softly.
"Sigh. Yes, as always, you are correct," I say quietly.
I embrace my beautiful wife, but I have to break the embrace when I hear something in the far distance. While I wasn't the Black Panther anymore, I was still left with some minor enhancements from the long time I was the Black Panther; as such, I swore I heard something in the far distance. I look into the distance.
"What is it?" Ramonda asks.
"I thought I heard... I'm not sure, maybe a quiet boom. But I can't be sure," I say with uncertainty and narrowed eyes.
Moments later, all hell broke loose as many others, and I started to hear a distinct whistling sound. I had barely a second to respond before the first mortar shell impacted and destroyed a watchtower alongside the guards standing in it. The second shell impacted not far from me and disoriented Ramonda and me. But after snapping out of it, I recovered enough to check Ramonda; thankfully, she was fine if a bit dazed.
"We need to get to the jet!" I scream and pull her hand as we run towards where the jets are kept.
Most of those present in the settlement had similar ideas, or they were guards who were attempting to defend us as best as they could. But we didn't get much farther before the gunfire began. A dozen Wakandans went down immediately as the bullets found their mark. The guards tried their best, but none managed to last long enough to get us to the jets. And to make matters worse, the jets were already surrounded by enemy soldiers. I didn't recognize the enemy; they didn't even seem all that cohesive in terms of equipment or armor.
"Not another step or your girl gets it!" a man wearing a traditional Dragon Mask says while aiming a gun at Shuri's head.
"Wait! Please don't kill her!" I plead and stop moving.
"Hmm, well, I guess I should at least let you know why I am doing this... Uncle," the man says and takes off his mask, revealing someone whom I thought dead.
"I-Impossible..." I say with growing horror.
"Now you took everything from me, so I'm gonna do the same!" N'Jadaka says while aiming his gun at Shuri again.
Before I can even scream in panic, he fires.
Bang
Shuri drops to the ground as a puppet with its strings cut. First, I feel overwhelming sadness, but then I feel a surge of immense rage and hatred for N'Jadaka.
"RAAAAAAARGH!!" I scream at him as I run at him.
N'Jadaka smiles at me and points his gun and shoots. I dodge the attack easily and see his sick smile as I realize my mistake. A wet squelch can be heard behind me, followed by a soft thud. I slowly turn around and feel my rage leave me as I witness my wife's dead body lying on the ground.
'No...'
I slowly walk over to her before falling to the ground before her and cradling her body. Her beautiful face is now marred by a bloody hole through her eye and skull.
"My father sends his regards," N'Jadaka says coldly before I hear a loud bang.
POV Shift N'Jadaka (AKA Killmonger)
"Set up the trap for little T'Challa to find, and burn the bodies," I order the mercenaries I hired for this mission.
In the meantime, I start making a nice present for my cousin. The jets would be torn apart for their vibranium, and the rest would be sold to the highest bidder. If Wakanda is dead and gone, I would be damn sure I would get my rightful inheritance, one way or the other.
"Boss, we found something," one of my men calls out.
I walk over, and I have to bite my lip to avoid showing too much excitement. It was a small purple herb that I never thought I would have the chance to see for myself.
'Oh, yeah, it's all coming together.'
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Author's Note:
Okay, so it seems I need to clarify some things, as maybe it wasn't that obvious or didn't come across. I sort of explained this in a comment but figured putting an Author's Note here would help.
Wakanda was mostly wiped out by the Xenomorph Invasion. You need to understand their viewpoint. They have never faced a peer-level threat, or anyone that could truly threaten them. So they wouldn't consider evacuation at all. Their first thought would be that the Xenomorphs are a non-Wakandan problem, or that the Xenomorphs won't find us. When they did find them, they still didn't believe they were a threat, as why would they? They had never been seriously challenged in their entire history, and they were killing the Xenomorphs effectively. If Xenomorphs were mindless beasts, then they would be right. But they aren't stupid; they lulled Wakanda into a sense of ease and then swarmed them all at once, giving them no time to evacuate everyone. We're talking millions of Xenomorphs pouring into the city; nobody can win that situation.
Beyond that, you have to understand their culture and way of doing things. Shuri warned them of the threat, but would you trust the words of a little girl, genius or not, telling you to evacuate your ancestral home, one that contained your place of worship, the herb that gives you superpowers, and the source of your nation's power, Vibranium? No. You won't, especially not when you see that your weapons are effective and your nation has a very high pride, arguably arrogance, and disdain for any outsiders. The best example I can think of is when Grand Moff Tarkin is warned of a threat to the Death Star and advised to evacuate; his response is, and I quote, "Evacuate, in our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances." Again, they had never faced an enemy that could truly threaten them before; they were always the top of the food chain. And you don't see everyone outside your country as savages without a very inflated sense of self, which Pride becomes before the fall or destruction in this case.
Now, as for N'Jadaka and his actions, I feel it is a very accurate response for a man who had his father murdered and his inheritance stolen and has a very high kill count and likely anger issues. Not to mention, Wakanda was destroyed before he could claim it, and I would argue that would make him even more vengeful, as he would see that as T'Chaka squandering his inheritance and thus destroying what was "rightfully" N'Jadaka's. So yeah, he's gonna make the man who killed his father suffer as much as possible before ending his entire line. So he ain't takin' prisoners; he's out for blood.