Thor looked out the front windshield of the pod as it flew through the massive machinery, cold and inert, of Nidavellir. This was unusual. Thor had never seen this place so still and silent. Normally it was a bustling center of activity. The dwarves that inhabited the neutron star were usually moving about, creating various weapons and armor with their legendary blacksmithing skills. Instead, it was dark and silent. Why was Nidavellir like this? Thor was determined to find out.

    The pod set down on the surface. Rocket and Layla grabbed some weapons, and then the small group disembarked, finally setting foot on Nidavellir. The group began walking slowly through the seemingly abandoned, cluttered space. Thor kept looking around, for anything honestly. Anything that would tell him what happened here. His friends followed close behind him; Layla and Rocket both had their weapons ready, while Groot still played his game from earlier. The beeps coming from the game were the only sound as they continued to walk about the star.

    "I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning," Rocket broke the eerie silence. "Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space."

    Thor shook his head, continuing to inspect the area for clues as to what may have happened here. "This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries..."

    No one said anything to Thor for a few moments, until after a pause, Rocket spoke up. "You said Thanos had something to harness the stones' powers, right?"

    "Yes. Why?" Thor asked, turning to look over at the raccoon.

    "Look anything like that?" Rocket asked back, pointing at something.

    Thor followed the length of Rocket's arm, looking into the darkness. Sitting on a high table was a mould of a large gauntlet, one with six indents along the fingers and the back of the hand where one could place gems. Or more likely, Infinity Stones.

    "I would imagine it looks exactly like that," Layla replied for him.

    This wasn't good. If this was indeed the mould for the gauntlet Thanos was using to control the stones, that meant he could be here. They could be walking straight into an ambush. They could all be killed in seconds.

    "I am Groot," Groot muttered, uneasily.

    Thor made a decision right then and there. He was going to make sure his friends were safe, at the very least. "Go back to the pod," he urged.

    He turned on his heel to go to direct Layla back towards the ship, and before he could realize what was happening, he and Layla were both flung against a wall with a massive arm. Thor ignored the pain and opened his eyes, looking for Rocket and Groot. The two of them had been kicked against the wall on the other side of the room by the same massive figure that had flung him and Layla. The same massive figure that was now charging towards him once again.

    Thor decided to try to reason with them. He knew exactly who the figure was, and he was hoping that was enough to save their lives. "Eitri, wait! Stop!"

    Sure enough, the figure stopped and leaned on a nearby counter as he looked at him in disbelief. "Thor?"

    "What happened here?" Thor asked the King of the Dwarves.

    "You were supposed to protect us," Eitri grumbled, obviously pissed off. "Asgard was supposed to protect us!"

    "Asgard is destroyed," Thor answered as he scrambled to his feet before offering a hand to Layla to pull her up too. That comment seemed to resonate with Eitri. He likely thought Thor was the lone survivor too, but Thor didn't have time to dwell on any of that. He pointed to the gauntlet. "Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"

    Eitri sighed. The dwarf walked brokenly across the room, leaning against an ore skip. Thor watched him carefully as he noticed Rocket and Groot getting to their feet, the sapling checking on his game in the process. Thor shook his head and put his attention back on Eitri.

    "Three hundred dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. Your life is yours, he said. But your hands are mine alone."

    The dwarf held up his hands, revealing that they had been encased in hardened, molten metal. Thanos had made it so he could never use his hands again, especially not for blacksmithing. That wasn't good, but Thor wasn't without hope yet.

    "Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed... every ax, hammer, sword... it's all inside your head. Now I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know," he assured. "But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos."

    There was a glimmer of hope in Eitri's eyes. The dwarf said nothing, but Thor could only hope he wasn't lying to him. They both had lost so much already, and they could all use a win.

    Thor smiled. "I've got a plan."

*****

    Thor landed with a thud onto the ring surface, a cable in his hand that was attached to the pod. Rocket was in the pilot's seat awaiting orders, while Layla and Groot sat with Eitri nearby. Admittedly, this idea was nuts. Thor had nothing to protect himself from the elements, but this had to be done in order for them to get that weapon made. There was no other way.

    "I don't think you get the scientifics here. These rings are gigantic," Rocket called out to him. "You wanna get them moving, you're gonna need something a lot bigger to yank 'em loose."

    Thor was still confident. "Leave that to me."

    "Leave that to you? Buddy, you're in space. All you got is a rope and a-"

    Thor didn't hear the rest of his sentence, as he started to swing the pod around him in a circle. He was sure he could just make out Rocket screaming as he started to build up speed, making three loops before he loosened his grip enough to send the pod shooting straight away from Nidavellir, trailing him behind it like a kite tail.

    "Fire the engines!" Thor commanded.

    Rocket did as he was told, and the pod began to pick up speed. Just as the pod skimmed over the surface of the next ring, Thor reached down to dig one of his hands into the surface, quickly followed by both feet. He dug himself in, gaining some traction against the accelerating force of the pod. Thor could hear the ice-like accumulation around the rings beginning to crack. It shouldn't take much more to set them free.

    "More... power... rabbit!" Thor called out, muscles straining as Rocket put the pedal to the metal. After a few more seconds, the rings spun free, flying back into their usual configuration as the star roared back to life. The force pulled Thor towards the pod, causing him to hit it with a thud as Rocket turned the pod around.

    "Well done, boy!" Eitri said.

    Thor moved around the pod, allowing him to clutch the forward facing window as he pointed at the star. "That's Nivadellir!"

    Thor gazed at the blazing core of the star. An iris on the cladding around the star opens, firing pure stellar heat through the ring portals and into the forge. At least until the damaged mechanism failed, causing it to crumble loose and slam shut. The iris slams shut and the beam of light trails off.

    "Damn it," Eitri muttered.

    This confused Rocket. "Damn it? What's damn it?"

    "The mechanism is crippled," Eitri explained solemnly.

    This could be problematic. "What?" Thor asked in response.

    "With the iris closed, I can't heat the metal," Eitri elaborated.

    That was definitely not good. Thor needed a weapon forged. Not being able to heat metal would be a huge issue. Can't really make a weapon without it.

    "How long will it take to heat?" he wondered.

    "A few minutes, maybe more. Why?"

    Thor stood up on the pod's hull. It seemed he only had one choice if he wanted this weapon forged. "I'm gonna hold it open."

    "That's suicide," Eitri warned.

    "So is facing Thanos without that ax," Thor declared. Without another second's thought or word of caution from his friends, the god jumped from the pod, and straight into the star's iris.

******

Hello everyone. I wasn't planning on updating quite yet, but I figured I have nothing else to do, so why not?

We're all but officially quarantined here. Our state is currently up to 65 cases of the coronavirus. The husband is working from home now indefinitely. My job is still opened, but only because we have minimal human contact as is. Schools are canceled for at least a few weeks. Restaurants and big gathering places (movie theaters, gyms, etc) are closed too. The stores are predominantly empty. These are super strange and admittedly scary times we are living in. We are safe. We have supplies and food. We're basically not leaving the house for the next week and a half (and even then, it's just me working- if nothing else happens between now and then).

That being said, the convention I was supposed to be attending this weekend was canceled too. As heartbreaking as it is, I understand why. Keeping my fingers crossed that this blows over sooner rather than later and perhaps there will be another one. I'm going to spend the weekend at home, eating my feelings and probably watching stuff on Netflix.

Enough rambling, I sincerely hope all of you are keeping safe out there! I'll probably update again soon. Got to do something while sitting at home, after all.

~arty_writes