The Gods Must Answer

"The Gods Must Answer" is a Season 5 oneshot written on May 4, 2015. 
== Summary ==
== Full Text ==
Thor watched as his armies marched.  A great battle was expected today on the ocean cliffside, and he was fully prepared to meet this trial.  It was not the first he had experienced during Ragnarok, and if all went well, it would not be his last.
He did not expect the ground to rumble as a great deafening roar shook the sky.
THOR!!
Huge winds blew past, shredding the leaves from their branches, uprooting entire swaths of foliage and sand.  The world-serpent dived down from the heavens, accompanied by a squadron of his most trusted lieutenants.
“Jormungandr,” Thor nodded, crossing his arms.  He didn’t see any signs that this could go well.  “What do you want?”
Midgardsormr snorted as he landed in the shallows.
You.  It was you.  Murderer of my children.  Slayer of innocents.  Why would you do such a thing?!
Thor’s eyes widened.  Then he grit his teeth.
“You had already sung the Dragonsong,” he replied.  His hand was already going for Mjolnir.  “You were just waiting for the right time, and the right reason to mobilize the dragons.  And you did.  I meant to break your seal and your hold on them.  The dragons at your shrine were the casualties.  For that, I do truly apologize.”
Midgardsormr snarled as blue flame dripped form his teeth.  His lieutenants around him were equally furious.
You had them slain.  The Dragonsong was only ever meant as a last control.  To command my children when they were in danger.  To move them quickly to safety.  Ragnarok was about to begin.  I had to prepare for eventuality.
“And so you did,” Thor shot back.  “How many innocent men have you had killed?  You, who so kept your Pact that you made with the Haddock boy, and centuries later turned the dragons on their human friends?  It was betrayal.  You betrayed mankind with your command!  You dare claim innocence on your part when your song committed more atrocity?!”
The great wyrm growled.  An odd look of sorrow passed across his eyes.  He knew his part.  The Trial he had given to the Rebels had made it more clear.
But he was still angry.
… then perhaps it is good that I atone for my mistake by challenging the true criminal!  The oathbreaker, the sinner, the one who murdered my children!  Thor, you will answer!
The god swung Mjolnir out, roaring in reply. His army surged in response.
“We have been rivals for far too long. You refer to yourself as Midgardsormr, but you are still the great monster, Jormungandr!  This ends now!”
Thor’s army charged as Midgardsormr’s lieutenants dived, as flame, arrows, teeth, and spears exchanged and destroyed those who wielded them.  Whole units screamed as fire overtook them, dragons crashed to the ground to be finished off by swords and axes.
Midgardsormr craned his head upwards and released a breath of heavy venom into the sky.  It spread like a mist, covering the battlefield and spreading through the air, the wingbeats of the dragons propelling the poison in all directions.
Yes, Thor. It ends now.
Thor coughed and covered his mouth.  The soldiers on the field screamed and gasped as the poison mist overtook them.  He could only throw his power towards them, giving them barriers and air to breathe.
He roared in fury as he raised Mjolnir up.  Lightning crashed down and through him, sheer power rising as he ran forward to meet Midgardsormr.  The dragon returned in kind, breathing the blue soul fire as Mjolnir came through to make contact with his head.
What had scoured and roasted the flesh of mortal men only lightly burned a god.  Thor stepped back briefly as the blue flame engulfed his front, but he continued forward, his other hand launching forward to grapple with the serpent before him.  Midgardsormr clawed out with his free talons, still breathing out the blue soul fire and lashing out wildly with his tail.
The shallows of the ocean they stood in boiled with the heat of the fire and lightning as the two wrestled, giant hot waves surging at their legs with each earth-shaking blow.  The poison mist swirled around them both, shifting only with each inhale, each heaving roar.  Mjolnir smashed into the dragon’s skull, Midgardsormr’s teeth sunk into Thor’s neck.  Fire and lightning engulfed both as scales and muscle overlapped with rending twists, crushing blows, shattered limbs.
Then, as Midgardsormr opened his mouth to deliver another breath of fire, Thor shoved Mjolnir into it and gave forth lightning once more.
The dragon god screamed as lightning sparked flame from within.  The explosions catapulted inside the dragon’s body, ripping away internally at everything.  A mixture of fire and poison spat from his choking throat directly into Thor’s face.
Thor could barely hold on, with blood dripping from dragon tooth marks on his throat.  Yet still he continued, the lightning decimating Midgardsormr almost entirely.
And then he released Mjolnir.
The hammer fell to the ground, with none but its master able to wield it.  It took Midgardsormr’s skull with it.  
The dragon fell into the water, head fully submerged.  The weight of the hammer trapped him.  For many long moments, the dragon writhed, the earth shaking under his struggle, great tsunamis surging from each mad attempt to free himself.  Wings, limbs, tail, all flailing in utter despairing futility.
Then slowly, the struggle ceased until nothing moved but for deep ochre that stained the water itself.
Thor took a staggering step back, his hand at his throat, which still bled.  He was weak.  The poison was within him.  
He looked up to the cliff, where his entire army had collapsed dead.  The dragons were gone from the sky, fallen.
He took another step.
And another.
Nine in total.
And then the ocean welcomed him into its embrace.
The waves rose up again and crashed, the last sound of the battle echoing across the coast.  The bodies of the two gods lay broken against the ochre-tinted surf, nevermore to command again.
Category:Season 5
Category:Events
Category:Midgardsormr
Category:Thor
Category:BOTGD