The Bewildered Red Skull

Asgard, rivers of blood flow.

The figure sat slumped on the steps of the square, eyes lowered, the thick stench of blood lingering around his nose.

Behind her was Frigga, whose hands and feet were bound.

Before her lay the Asgard people, prostrate on the ground.

"Why..."

"Why is that..."

"Give me a reason, give me an explanation, Mother."

"No, I should call you Frigga."

Hela's eyes were as broken as dust, Frigga refused to meet her gaze.

"Tell me..."

"Tell me!!!"

"Why! Why does no one in Asgard remember me?!"

"Tell me why?!?"

Hela, who had committed heinous crimes of mass murder, roared and questioned, pointing at the Asgard people crawling below the steps, unable to accept it.

She couldn't accept it.

However, in just over a thousand years, her great contributions to Asgard have been completely forgotten.

No one in Asgard knew her;

There is no record of her in Asgard history textbooks.

Everything she did for Asgard, and all the territory she conquered for Asgard, came to nothing.

"No... Hela..."

Frigga's eyes were glistening with tears; Odin's command made it impossible for her to explain to her daughter.

Given Hela's personality, she would have no chance of winning against those ancient Kami.

Moreover, Odin was indeed wrong in this matter.

That's far too wrong.

When Odin awoke from his slumber, he was furious and erased all the merits his daughter had made for Asgard, a fact that persists to this day.

"He personally erased all information about you? Your father really went all out."

In the Centaurus Galaxy, within the Dark Order base, in a side hall.

Beckett, Thanos's successor, carefully examined the self-criticism that Hela had personally handed him. Upon hearing this, he raised an eyebrow in surprise, then looked up at Hela, who was leaning against the entrance of the side hall.

"I've said it before, he's no longer my father, Beckett."

"Don't make me remind you a third time."

After returning home, Hela washed and styled her hair, giving it a thorough makeover. Looking noticeably younger than when she first emerged from her cage, she corrected Hela's address to Odin Beckett a less than friendly tone.

"I have no interest in your family conflicts; I only care about one thing."

"Soul Stone".

"Now, tell me, where is the map of Vormir?"

After throwing the heartfelt letter of self-criticism on the table, Beckett stood up and walked step by step to Hela.

"Here." Hela tossed the tattered map she had once obtained from the Collector into Beckett's arms.

"But you can't take it unless you're willing to throw your father down in exchange for the Soul Stone."

The clue given by Hela, who had accompanied Odin on a previous journey, puzzled Beckett.

"What's the meaning?"

"Odin took me there before. You can get the Soul Stone, but the price is the life of the person you love most."

"There is no other way."

Hela spoke with absolute certainty, but Beckett remained skeptical.

"You don't believe me?"

"What do you think?" Beckett glanced down at the map, where the destination was clearly visible.

Why must you throw your loved one off a cliff?

Since it's a matter of exchanging a life for a gem, what difference does it make who gets the gem?

Why don't I just say that the one that was thrown down was my favorite?

"Why?"

Beckett glanced at Hela: "Because Father once said that the truth will never be—"

"Stop! I don't want to hear what your father has to say, that's all." Hela interrupted Beckett abruptly.

Although this feels very familiar to her now.

During the more than a thousand years of being sealed away, Beckett's words, "My father once said," had appeared in her mind countless times.

That was one of the key reasons why she didn't go mad while sealed.

Earth, USA, above New York, the S.H.I.E.L.D.. mothership.

A woman sipping coffee stood on the deck, her eyes behind dark sunglasses fixed on the ruins below that desperately needed rebuilding, her blonde hair flying in the wind.

"How's the coffee, Carol?"

Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.., walked over to Carol Danvers with his hands behind his back, and together they looked down at the scenery.

The stand-up collar of his black leather coat billowed in the wind, and his gleaming bald head shone brightly in the sunlight.

It looks exactly like a black marinated Nick Fury.

"I almost didn't recognize you, Nick Fury." Carol took off his sunglasses.

"I can recognize you at a glance."

"So you're immune to the ravages of time now, right?" Nick Fury raised an eyebrow; compared to him, Carol Danvers' appearance remained unchanged.

"I don't know, but it seems that way now." Carol, who still couldn't figure out what was going on with her energy, wasn't entirely sure either.

"The entire New York City is destroyed."

"Architecture, humanity,"

"The casualties were heavy."

After a long silence, Nick Fury spoke again, getting straight to the point.

"I know, I'm not blind, I can see." Carol Danvers' tone was also somewhat heavy.

"Beckett, Son of Titan, Lord of Chitauri Prime."

Do you know him?

"Nick Fury asked."

"The universe is vast." Carol Danvers's seemingly irrelevant answer made Nick Fury understand.

"But I know where Vormir is."

"If what Beckett said is true, then he will definitely go to Vormir to take the Soul Stone."

Carol Danvers hadn't been wasting her years in the universe; the legends about the Infinity Stones had left Nick Fury, the king of secret agents, completely bewildered.

"You mean, if we get the Infinity Stones, we'll have the ability to fight Beckett?"

Nick Fury put his mind to work.

"I don't know, but we have to try, right?"

Carol Danvers responded with a smile.

Vormir, at the cliff.

Having taken over from his predecessor and waited here for who knows how long, Red Skull is now facing the biggest challenge of his career.

Beckett, Son of Thanos;

Hela, daughter of Odin.

The successors of two of the universe's most notorious evil forces now stand before him, demanding that he hand over the Soul Stone.

The utterly unreasonable Beckett even lifted him to the edge of a cliff, giving him a fright.

"Everything I said is true."

"To exchange the life of a loved one for the supreme Soul Stone."

"These are the rules set by the Soul Stone itself."

The Red Skull forced himself to calm down and tried hard not to let his tongue tremble.

"I know."

Beckett's indifferent gaze was like a knife, piercing Red Skull to the core.

"You are the one I love most, is there a problem?"

Beckett doesn't play by the rules at all, or rather, who doesn't believe in Red Skull at all, kicked him off a cliff.

So fast, the Red Skull didn't even have time to pry the rocks off to cushion its movement.

Beckett gave him a ride home.

The Red Skull's death was extremely gruesome...

He died with his eyes wide open in disbelief...

The only consolation was that I bought two apples and ate them at home, sob sob (┯_┯)