The animals of the oasis sensed death before it arrived.
The little monkeys were the first to panic. Screeching wildly, they fled toward the edge of the oasis, weapons clutched in their tiny hands.
But the moment they reached the boundary between green water and endless desert, they slammed into an invisible wall.
A massive magic circle sealed the oasis.
Desperate, the monkeys struck the barrier again and again, trying to carve out a path to escape.
Their weapons barely made contact before they were swallowed whole by the destructive force roaring within the formation… erased without even a scream.
As the energy continued to rise, the oasis began to collapse.
Water evaporated into light. The land that had existed for thousands of years was steadily consumed and reduced to absolute nothingness.
Hovering above it all, Garfield scratched at his itchy backside and watched with mild satisfaction.
"Yeah," He muttered, "It is pretty cool when Faye uses her big moves."
The one-eared Anubis avatar stirred.
He awoke from unconsciousness just in time to witness the final moments of the oasis he had inhabited for millennia.
The destruction reflected in his eyes as he weakly assessed his condition.
Death had already arrived.
The avatar turned his head, first toward the orange cat nearby… then past him, to Odin, seated calmly atop his eight-legged warhorse in the distance.
A strange smile appeared in Anubis's eyes.
Slowly, he looked back at Garfield and opened his mouth.
"Orange cat." He said hoarsely, "before I die… I have a gift for you."
"Huh?" Garfield blinked.
Before he could react, Anubis suddenly spat out a small sphere of pale light. It shot forward and slammed directly into Garfield's body.
"This is part of my avatar's divine power." Anubis said quietly. "The power of death."
"It is far more dangerous than you imagine." With those final words, his body stiffened.
Stone crept across his form.
Then the stone cracked, crumbled, and scattered into dust, disappearing completely.
Garfield looked down at himself, patting his belly. "…I don't feel anything."
What the hell was that?
Deep within Garfield's body, far away in the dimension connected to Karma Taj, Pandora suddenly opened her eyes.
She had been sleeping peacefully.
In her hand was a faint projection of Anubis's remaining divine essence. Pandora smirked.
Without hesitation, she began transferring the divine power directly into Garfield's core… efficiently without his awareness.
Then she opened her mouth and swallowed the remaining essence in a single bite.
Burp.
Rolling over, Pandora went right back to sleep, as if nothing had happened.
After confirming that the one-eared avatar was truly dead, Garfield expanded the magic formation one final time, compressing everything that remained into a small golden sphere.
He opened his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Once inside his body, Garfield sent the sphere into the only universe directly connected to him, where it would be slowly broken down, decomposed, and completely absorbed.
Incineration was crude.
Digestion was superior.
"The sun can only burn things." Garfield muttered smugly. "I can eat them."
The Great Devourer, enhanced with orange-cat skin, truly was the most edible life-form in the universe.
With the battle concluded, the Asgardian army returned home under the call of the Bifrost.
One by one, they vanished in pillars of rainbow light until only Odin, Thor, and Loki remained.
Garfield turned to leave.
Unfortunately, Odin stopped him.
With a sigh, Garfield floated back over to the royal trio and gave an unenthusiastic wave.
"Old man Odin. Thor. Loki. Goodbye."
Thor grinned. "Meow."
"Meow." Loki smirked.
Odin's eye twitched.
"Half a month from now," Odin said coldly, "Thor will come to collect you. You will reside in Asgard."
Garfield stiffened."…Can I not go?"
Odin gave him a look. The kind that ended conversations.
Without another word, Odin raised the Spear of Eternity. The Bifrost descended, engulfing Odin, Thor, and Loki in light, and then they were gone.
Garfield hovered alone in the desert.
"…Damn it."
Odin, just you wait. When Ragnarok is over, I'll make you watch me dance disco on the ruins.
And that deceitful lunatic Hela, she admitted dragging me into this mess. What are you planning, huh?
Forcing me to follow Thor through Ragnarok?
Tch.
With a flick of his tail, Garfield opened a portal.
Back to Karma Taj.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream