My Little Avengers: Harmony War

by Lucasnike123

Chapter 14) Planet Vormir / The Trial of the Soul Stone

On the dead planet known as Vormir, a cold wind whipped across the landscape as a cosmic blue portal opened, depositing Grogar and Hitch on the ground.

"The Stone better be up there..." Grogar complained "For your brother's sake."

Recognizing the threat, Hitch had no choice but to press on, heading for the only rocky mountain for miles around.

This is where the map that Hitch knew indicated the exact location of the Soul Stone.

Hitch had never been there, but he knew enough to know that the place wouldn't be unprotected, so he walked carefully… with Grogar close behind.

---

They were halfway up the mountain when 'something shadowy' appeared before them.

A humanoid silhouette dressed in a black cape and hood was floating in the air as if it were a ghost.

And then he spoke… with a cold voice that echoed in the wind.

"Welcome... Grogar, son of Chaos..." he saluted "And Hitch Trailbrazer, son of Grogar..."

"Do you know us?" Grogar asked.

He wasn't attacking… whoever he was.

“My curse… is meeting everyone who travels here…” the shadowly silhouette replied.

"Where is the Soul Stone?" Grogar declared.

"You should know... that having her exacts a terrible price..."

“I'm prepared” Grogar snorted gracefully.

Anything that creature needed… coin, blood, wealth, power… Grogar would pay for the Stone.

"We all thought that at first..." the shadowly silhouette intoned, before starting to approach.

When exposed to light, the creature revealed that its face... human so white and emaciated that it resembled a skull.

His name was Johann Svengallop, the Captain Equestria's former nemesis, known as the White Skull.

"And we were all wrong..."

---

White Skull led his guests to the top of the mountain, where Grogar and Hitch saw a huge ancient structure.

"How come you know this place so well?" Grogar asked doubtfully.

“A lifetime ago… I looked for the Stones too…” White Skull explained “I even had one in my hand. But it condemned me... it banished me here... to lead others to a treasure that I cannot possess..."

Finally, the three of them reached the edge of the mountaintop and stop at what appears to be the edge of a precipice.

“What you seek is before you…” White Skull explained “Just like what you fear…”

"What is this?" Hitch asked, looking over the precipice.

"The price. The Soul Stone occupies a special place among the Infinity Stones…” White Skull replied “It could be said to have a certain… wisdom…”

“Tell me what this needs” Grogar ordered.

"To ensure that whoever possesses it... understands its power..." White Skull said "The Stone... demands a sacrifice".

"Of what?"

"To get the Stone... you must lose what you love..." White Skull replied "A soul... for a soul".

At that moment, Hitch begins to laugh at the irony of the situation.

“All my life, I've dreamed of the day... The moment when you get what you deserve...” Hitch explained “And I've always been disappointed. But now… you kill and torture… and you call it compassion…”

Then, Hitch looked at Grogar, who kept looking at the edge of the precipice.

“The universe has judged you. You have asked him for a prize… and he has answered no” he said “You have failed. And do you want to know why? Because you don't love anything... or anyone".

And in that moment, as Grogar turned around, Hitch saw something no one would ever see.

Grogar was... crying.

"No" Grogar said sadly.

"Seriously? Tears?" Hitch asked sarcastically.

"They aren't for him..." White Skull said, as he left the place, leaving his guests alone.

Hitch watches as White Skull walks away... and then realizes what is about to happen.

"No..." Hitch said fearfully "This isn't love..."

“I already ignored my fate once. I can't do it again…" Grogar mused, as he slowly approached his son "Not even… for you".

Hitch turned to get away as fast as he could, but he was effortlessly grabbed by the Space Stone's blue cosmic energy, rendering him unable to move or defend himself.

"I'm sorry, little one..."

Helpless and unable to escape, Grogar led him to the edge of the abyss... and threw him.

“NOO!” Hitch yelled as he fell.

As he fell, Hitch only looked on in horror as he realized that, despite all his efforts, he had helped Grogar on his quest after all.

And then, just as he was about to hit the ground, Hitch closed his eyes, wishing his last thoughts were focused on the last thing he wanted to remember: Sunny Starscout, the only woman in the Universe he'd ever loved.

At that moment, just as Hitch's body hit the ground, a mysterious cosmic energy surrounded a sad Grogar… until he couldn't even see.

There was a sense of movement, and instinctively he closed his eyes as the energy washed over him.

---

When Grogar opened his eyes, he found himself lying on the surface of the planet, just at the base of the mountain.

For a moment, he thought he had never climbed the mountain... until he noticed something resting in the palm of his right hand: a small glowing orange stone.

The Soul Stone.

If he'd bothered to look closer, he would have seen Hitch's face in the Stone's reflection before he disappeared.

But Grogar didn't see any of it, and he wouldn't have cared if he had.

He had gotten what he wanted, and soon, the mightiest power will be his... and nothing in the Universe will be able to stop him.

Author's Note:

On the Planet Vormir, Grogar sacrifices Hitch's life to obtain the Soul Stone...

Is there nothing in the Universe that can stop that monster?