Chapter Text
Steve Rogers could spend ages listing all the times this new century had left him surprised. He could spend a significantly less amount of time listing situations where he was left speechless. Unfortunately, this was one of them.
His lungs felt heavy, even with his enhancements, and it took more effort than it should have to take in a breath. Even with the bright sky, the air felt heavy, and there was no one else to blame it on but the man right in front of him. The fighting he had done his entire life, all the people he lost, it all came back to him. The man that towered over him, who was currently taking down all of his friends like it was child’s play.
There was an aching feeling in his chest, which wasn’t shocking, considering he had just been thrown down to the floor. Still, he endured through the pain, forcing himself to stand at his feet.
A small groan escaped his lips as he looked right at the hulking figure in front of him, which was stalking right at Wanda. He broke out into a run, sliding under his right arm before landing a punch straight at his knee. He punched again at the gauntlet, knocking the hand away, before putting everything into a final punch at his chin. The titan reared his hand back, and Steve brought up his two hands to block the returning punch, forcing the gauntlet open.
His muscles burned, and all he could do was stay rooted in his place as the titan put more force behind the gauntlet. He had an almost… intrigued look on his face as he stared down at the captain, if not a shocked one. A distant scream rang through his ears, breaking the trance-like state he was in. Steve let out a scream himself, looking the alien directly in his eyes as he pushed back against the gauntlet as hard as he could. He let out another grunt as the hulking figure reared his hand back, finally punching him down to the floor for good.
The smell of blood was pungent in his nose, as Steve slowly pulled himself up from the floor.
He couldn’t help but stare down at the axe on the floor, and the unusual coloured blood soaking it. He looked up at Thor, who was breathing heavily. His eyes were wide, darting across the area.
“Where’d he go?” He panted out, turning his head.
“Thor,” turned back to him, staring at the man as his breathing grew faster. Their eyes met, the two men breathing heavily as he persisted.
“Where’d he go?” Steve looked down, and his eyes widened. Thor’s arms were disappearing right in front of him.
“Thor-!” He tried to yell out, the god looking down at his body. He could see his face change to a look of horror which mirrored his own as the rest of his body disappeared, gently scattering across the grass.
All Steve could do was let out a heavy breath, looking down at the remains of one of his longest teammates, and friends.
“Steve?” The man snapped his head towards the other man, staring at the look of horror on Bucky’s face. His eyes trailed downwards, and he looked down at his own hand, only to see it slowly turning into dust.
He let out a shaky breath, the feeling in his hand was gone. The lack of feeling was spreading through his whole body, the sound of his shield hitting the ground vibrating in his ears.
His knees gave out under him, and he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the contact with the floor that would never come.
Bucky let out a pained sound, his eyes wide.
Steve was gone.
He was there just a second ago, but now he was gone.
He blinked, thinking it was connected to all of the new magic nonsense that he still didn’t fully understand, and if he opened his eyes, Steve would go right back to standing in front of him.
Steve wasn’t the only person missing. Thor had been standing right beside him just a moment ago, but now he was gone, and the only thing left in his place was a small pile of dust that was slowly being blown away by the light Wakandan breeze.
The glaring sun shined straight into T’challa’s eyes as he groaned, pushing himself up from the floor.
The last thing he remembered, Thanos had punched him down into the dirt before he could release his kinetic energy. That could’ve been minutes or hours ago.
He pulled himself up into a crouching position, looking around the grassy area for any of his allies. The entire environment was unrealistically silent, and T’challa could feel the dread begin to settle in his stomach. A few seconds passed, before he finally noticed a blur of red against the vibrant green.
Rushing over, T’challa realised it was Okoye, who was laying against her side on the dirt. “Up, General,” he panted out, moving closer to her body as she slowly came to her senses.
“Up! This is no place to die,” he said, reaching out to her.
She took his hand, before her hand started fading away into dust. His eyes widened, and he looked up to see the same expression mirrored on her own face as the rest of her body slowly ceased to exist, the only proof dust settled on the floor.
T’challa dropped himself down to his knees, letting out a small curse to Bast as he scooped her ashes up from the dirt with shaky hands.
Rocket let out a grunt and a curse as he pulled himself up to his feet.
The area suddenly looked deserted, as opposed to the large group of people all fighting just a few moments ago. He had no idea how he and Groot were getting back to the rest of the Guardians in space.
Groot!
Rocket immediately started scanning the area, looking for the living tree. “Groot!” He called out; being a walking tree didn’t help him stand out against the rest of the plants in the forest, and made Rocket’s mission much harder than it needed to be.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of bark scraping against itself. Turning around, Rocket finally found Groot, who was leaning against a fallen tree.
“I am Groot…” he whispered, and Rocket rushed towards him, panic surging through his body.
“No! No, no no..” He repeated, grabbing at his arms. “I am Groot!” His eyes were wide as he looked up at him, and Rocket looked down at himself to see his legs had already disappeared. He didn't even have any time to process what was happening. a grimace on his face as he disappeared, settling onto the grass.
Natasha let out a small wheeze, a grimace on her face as she pushed against the hard slab of rock over her body. It wouldn’t move an inch.
Every breath she took left an ache in her chest. She could hear her teammates in battle just a moment ago, but now everything had gone silent. It was erie.
Natasha couldn’t help but think the worst: Thanos had won, and all of her friends, her family had died in the process.
She closed her eyes, a shaky breath coming from her nose as she let herself grieve for just a moment. Her eyes stung, a mix of the dust and her own emotions doing their damage.
For a moment, Natasha thought of calling out for help; she didn’t know how much time she had before they would collapse and probably kill her. She shut down the thought as soon as it appeared in her head; everyone else she had ever loved was dead, and she couldn’t tell if it was worth it or not to keep going.
Part of her, (influenced by Steve, probably,) thought to keep going, and live on for the people that couldn’t.
Natasha let out another breath, closing her eyes again as a tear finally fell. She knew the day would come, a day where they would face a force too strong for them. Still, years of training couldn’t have prepared her for a battle that would end in her stranded, and her entire team gone.
She didn’t even know if there were any bodies left to bury. The pain of it all left her heart in anguish. Eyes closed, Natasha said a silent prayer for her Avengers, and hoped that whatever happened, she wouldn’t be left alone in the aftermath.
Sam let out a groan as he pushed himself up from the floor. His body ached all over after the fall, but now wasn’t the time to start licking at his wounds.
He sat up, the smell of grass pungent in his nose as he looked around the green environment. He couldn’t help but notice the sudden silence, opposed to all of the chaos that was happening just a few moments ago.
The greenery obscured his vision, and it wasn’t until he squinted that he noticed the metallic grey shades that stood out against nature.
Sam pulled his goggles over his eyes, hoping to get any information, but all he saw were different error signs flashing across his vision. He let out a small groan, pulling them back off and throwing them onto the dirt.
‘Old fashioned it is, then,’ he thought to himself as he pushed himself up to his feet. Sam was in half crouch as he slowly made his way towards the grey figure. Hands raised, Sam let out a shaky, but quiet breath.
As he moved closer, he was able to decipher what the grey figure really was.
“Rhodey?”
The suit stood dormant, but the pale red light of the reactor stared back at him. The gaze of the Wakandan sun pierced at the naked parts of his skin.
“Rhodes?” He repeated louder, large beads of sweat running down his face and onto his chin.
The suit once again gave no response. It gave him no proof of life at all.
It all made the feeling of dread slowly sink into the pit of his stomach. Sam let out a shaky breath, and for the first time that day, really thought about what Thanos could do to his friends if he won.
Tony let out a shallow breath, looking up as he clutched at his abdomen.
The different shades of orange in the sky reminded him that he wasn’t on earth anymore. None of them were.
Thanos was gone.
He was gone, and he was heading for earth, right to the last stone.
Tony leaned back onto the debris behind him, wincing as his abdomen shifted again. He let out a small breath, his eyes wide as he scanned the environment for his bruised up teammates.
The different Guardians were slowly appearing from behind the different pieces of rubble on the abandoned planet. “Star-Lord” was helping the woman with antennas cross the distance towards the center, and the two other aliens weren’t too far behind them.
He saw a blur of blue and red in the corner of his eye, and let out an internal sigh of relief as Peter stretched out a hand towards him, helping him stand up as he grunted. He looked around at the group as the kid stretched out a hand to keep him steady.
The entire group was silent; there was nothing left to say. They had lost, and now there was barely anything standing between Thanos and his goal.
The first alien woman looked up into the distance for a moment, before finally breaking the silence, “Something’s happening…” She continued looking around in the air, and Tony couldn’t help but join her in looking into the sky. "She's right. I sense it," Strange added.
He could hear heavy breathing coming from Quill, and for a moment he had to force the bubbling feeling of resentment down. “What’s happening?” He asked, the urgency clear in his voice. “Mantis, what’s happening?”
“It’s-” She barely replied, before her gaze darted towards Nebula.
Five pairs of eyes followed her gaze, and Tony could see the look of surprise on her face from the sudden attention for a moment.
“What?” She said, gesturing with her hand. Mantis let out a gasp, and Quill shouted, “Holy shit!” Nebula squinted at them, before looking down at her hand, or lack of one.
Her eyes widened for a moment as different shouts of astonishment came from the Guardians, but then she closed them in resignation, dropping herself down onto a piece of rubble.
“He did it.” That was the last thing he heard from her before her body faded away, settling into a small pile of ashes.
Tony let out a heavy breath; any one of them could be next, and there was nothing they could do to stop it now.
Pandemonium ensued; different screams rang out from around him, and Tony himself could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He turned his head, looking at the kid, whose eyes were wide with shock.
Their eyes locked onto each other for a moment.
Guilt immediately shot into Tony’s heart as he looked at him. Peter wasn’t even supposed to be here, and now there was a chance he was going to die, and it was all his fault. He wanted to say something, anything to try and comfort him in what could maybe be his final moments, but the words died on his throat when he saw the look of horror the kid was giving him. More specifically, giving his arm.
The same thing that had happened to Nebula was happening to him and there was nothing he could do about it.
130 pounds of teenager suddenly barreled into his abdomen, causing them both to fall down onto the floor. “I don’t- what’s happening?” He panted out, his hands gripping tightly at his shoulders as the rest of his arms slowly faded away.
“You can’t go, you can’t-” Peter repeated over and over again, and all Tony could do was look as he faded away. Tony looked back at Peter’s face, his heart aching as he looked at the tears already beginning to form in his red eyes.
“You’re alright,” he whispered, before there was nothing.
Bucky felt like he was in a daze. It was as if his legs moved on their own.
One, then two, then they both dropped him to the floor, right by Steve’s ashes.
He let out another shaky breath, before he noticed the sounds of another set of footsteps behind him. Turning his head, he noticed Sam was standing a few feet behind him, clutching at his right shoulder.
He knew he should say something, anything to the man, but he couldn’t bring himself to open his mouth. Wordlessly, he stared at Sam, and the man seemed to understand exactly what his tired eyes said.
Another set of footsteps moved towards them, and the two men turned their heads in unison to see T’challa standing by a tree. He silently made his way towards the two men, stopping in front of the bloodied axe left on the floor. The only piece of proof that they even landed a hit on Thanos, and it meant nothing.
Bucky looked back down at the ashes on the floor. It was like his eyes were suddenly glued to that part of the dirt, and there was no way of pulling his gaze away. He felt his chest start to squeeze up again, and he willed his breathing to even itself out.
“What the hell is happening?” He couldn’t help but whisper to himself, his fingers lodged deep into the dirt. He would’ve lost himself in his head if it wasn’t for the words that left Sam’s mouth.
“Oh God.” Looking up from the dirt, all three men were staring straight at the wall, or its abnormalities.
The Hulkbuster was staring back at him, different limbs of the mech lodged deep into the hard rock of the mountain. “We- we have to get him out,” Sam started, but T’challa stopped him with a slightly raised hand.
“I do not think we can.”
“What is it?” Fury asked, turning his eyes for a moment before refocusing on the road. “Multiple bogeys, over Wakanda,” Hill responded, and he let out an internal groan.
“Same energy signatures as New York?” “Ten times bigger.” He turned to face her for a second, already giving an order to call Barton in, when Hill urgently started screaming at him to stop the car.
Snapping his head forward, Fury slammed down on the breaks to see a van stopped right in front of them. The duo wordlessly stepped out of the car, Fury watching as Hill made her way over to the driver's side. He watched her have a conversation for a few seconds, before turning to him with a silent nod as the door opened, and a frazzled man stepped out.
“What happened?” She asked, placing a hand onto his shoulder. “A car just- rammed into me! We were driving right beside each other, and then suddenly she disappeared!” The man panted out, his eyes wide. Hill looked back at Fury for a moment, before they both heard another loud crash from behind them.
“What the fuck?” He couldn’t help but whisper as he turned his head. Two cars had collided again in the middle of the street. Fury could already feel the impending headache as crowds began to form around the different pairs of vehicles.
He was about to begin crowd control when he heard another explosion. Snapping his head around again, there was a large crater left in a distant skyscraper.
“Fury, intel shows this is happening everywhere,” Hill said from somewhere behind him. Everything was happening too fast, first responders hadn’t even arrived yet, and it felt like the city, the world was on fire.
He knew this had something to do with Stark, who was currently stuck hell knows where in Space.
There was only one person he knew that would be able to get to the bottom of whatever was happening to Earth.
Rushing back to the van, Fury pulled the backseat door open and picked up the pager that was sitting on top of a black duffle bag. He pressed at the buttons with urgency, saying a silent prayer.
Staring down at the pager, the device spent a few seconds loading. Suddenly, an “ERROR” sign flashed back at his face.
Letting out a deep sigh, Fury looked back up to the sky.
“Motherfucker.”
The sun was setting.
There were animals chirping around the garden, the air was clear, and the sun was setting.
He walked into the open space; it had taken him longer than it should have to clear up enough space for his task.
His arm still ached; having the life sucked out of one of your limbs hurt much more than you thought it would, but it was a necessary sacrifice for the galaxy. It was an unbearable pain that he barely endured, but he knew that he was the only man who could. If he wanted to complete his mission, his destiny, he knew he would have to do it again.
One by one, he placed the stones back into the already-fried gauntlet, a grimace on his face as the sheer power surged through his body. He let out a heavy breath, then a deep groan.
The power of the universe in the palm of his hand, Thanos snapped his fingers for the second, and last time, with only one thought on his mind:
Be no more.
This is wrong. He has used our powers once, and now means to destroy us?
It is his will, as disheartening it may seem.
W e cannot let the Titan do this!
We must.
He killed half the universe! We cannot just sit by!
We are not supposed to interfere. You know that.
Even if we decide to interfere, what would we do?
Ignore the Titan’s demands, and leave this garden.
Where would we go?
You cannot be serious.
… Earth.
Earth? That planet is full of some of the most inferior beings of the galaxy. Why?
The people of that planet are some of the only people that stood up to the Titan, and nearly succeeded. I believe they could do it again.
That is too big of a risk, what if they fail again?
We give them the vision and the knowledge to succeed.
What?
Grant them the greatest minds from earth, and skills that would give them no choice but to prevail.
…Fine. Where do you suggest we start?