Hela's dead?
Ronan didn't step forward to check—instead, he stayed put, on high alert.
He didn't buy that Hela went down that easy.
Sure, all he had to go on was his gut.
But he trusted that sixth sense like it was gospel—no reasons needed!
Buzz!
Right as Ronan was on edge, a seven-colored beam shot down from the sky.
The Bifrost!
Before long, Thor's figure popped into Ronan's line of sight.
Trailing behind him were a few of Asgard's tougher warriors.
"Ronan, we're here to back you up."
Thor stepped up, planting himself next to Ronan.
Ronan nodded, eyes still locked on the supposedly dead Hela over there.
Up to now, no sign of her pulling a zombie act—she really looked gone.
"Hela?"
"She's dead?"
"You took her out?"
Following Ronan's gaze, Thor clocked the familiar figure right away.
The woman who'd crushed Mjolnir with one hand like it was nothing was dead here!
Thor couldn't wrap his head around it.
The warriors who'd tagged along from Asgard peeked at Thor's big sis with the same curiosity.
They'd only heard about Hela from Thor's own mouth.
For years, her name had been buried deep in Asgard's dusty history by Odin.
Aside from a handful of folks, pretty much every Asgardian who knew of Hela was long gone.
Not everyone could pull an Odin—hibernate and keep on ticking.
The rest? Just regular Asgardians.
"No clue if she's dead for sure."
"But if you're here to help, you're a little late to the party."
Ronan cracked a grin, answering Thor's triple-threat questions in one go.
Thor opened his mouth, at a loss for words.
He shot Ronan a grateful look, then turned and boldly marched toward Hela's body.
Ronan's eyelid twitched—he wanted to stop him but didn't know what to say.
Was Thor just fearless, or had he never been jumped by a sneaky trickster?
What if Hela's corpse was laced with poison, or blew up in your face when you got close?
Thor'd be joining her in the grave.
But Thor clearly wasn't thinking that deep.
He walked up to Hela, eyeing the sword through her skull, and rested his right hand on the hilt.
The second his hand touched it, though, a force knocked him back hard.
"That's my spell—nobody but me can mess with it."
Ronan tossed him a heads-up.
Thor nodded, letting out a soft breath. "Pull the sword out."
Hearing that, Ronan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"You serious?"
Ronan double-checked.
"Yeah."
No clue what Thor was thinking, but since he said it, Ronan wasn't about to say no.
So, Ronan waved his hands, dispelling the Sacred Sword of Vishanti.
With the sword gone, the anchor keeping Hela "head up, chest out" vanished too.
Thud.
Hela's body hit the ground with a dull smack.
That sound seemed to put a period on her life.
"Looks like she's really dead."
Thor's face was a mess of emotions as he stared at Hela, lost for words.
His feelings about this sister were a total tangle.
From the stories Odin told him, Hela was hands-down one of Asgard's biggest MVPs back in the day.
She'd been the tip of the spear, clearing out every obstacle for Odin and Asgard.
But her brutality forced Odin to seal her away on Earth.
Now she'd died right in front of Thor.
So, yeah, his headspace being a mess made sense.
With that vibe, Thor crouched down, reaching for Hela's body.
"Careful."
Ronan finally couldn't hold back and threw out a warning.
Thor paused for a sec but still scooped Hela's body up.
"It's fine—I get what you're saying."
"But no matter what, Hela's Asgardian."
"So, her body can't stay here on Earth."
Thor stood, cradling Hela's corpse.
Ronan's eyelid twitched again.
"You're not planning to haul her body back to Asgard, are you?"
He asked, but deep down, Ronan already knew the answer.
With Thor's personality, he'd totally do it.
Sure enough, Thor nodded.
Seeing Thor so dead-set, Ronan wasn't sure if he should push back.
But after a second, he figured his words wouldn't sway Thor anyway.
"Alright, your call."
"But I'll tell you this: even now, I can't say for sure if she's dead."
"Like you said, Asgard's the source of Hela's power."
"There, she'd be back at her peak."
"So, just… watch yourself."
In the end, Ronan dropped a subtle heads-up.
Thor grinned, glancing at Sif, who'd come along with him.
"I didn't show up empty-handed."
"Sif."
He called out to her.
Sif got the hint, pulling out a spherical gadget and tossing it to Thor.
The orb floated up to Thor's head, stopping smartly on its own.
Then, a beam shot out, wrapping Hela's body in a glow.
"This seal locks down Hela's corpse for good."
"It'll go with her into the ground—nobody's reviving her after this, ever."
Thor let go, and Hela's body hovered in midair, guided by the orb.
He seemed real confident in that seal.
Since he put it like that, Ronan just chuckled.
"Alright, take her back then."
"Just hoping next time we meet, you're not showing up all bruised and begging me to bail you out."
Ronan cracked a joke, hands forming seals again.
The battle scars around them started patching up bit by bit.
Thor flipped him a middle finger with a grin, then looked skyward.
"Heimdall, bring us home."
As the Bifrost dropped again, Thor and his crew blinked out of Ronan's sight.
But the smile on Ronan's face faded slow.
"Thor, oh Thor, the real test's just starting for you."
"I've already beat Hela down this bad—if you still can't take her, I'm mocking you for life."