Greetings True Believers and new comers alike. The world lost a great man. Stan Lee brought joy and inspiration to people to people for decades. Even now that he is gone, he continues inspire us. So I write this tribute as a thank you to the man who created some of my favourite Heroes.
Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, any of its characters or any real life characters appearing in this story.
Excelsior!
On an unknown planet stood a hut and out of it stepped Thanos. He sat down on the porch as looked at the sunrise before looking at the Infinity Gauntlet he wore, no longer scorched from its power wiping out half of the universe, and let out a content sigh.
"I wouldn't be so relaxed if I were you." Thanos raised his head a saw a man standing in front of him, his face hidden as the sun shined behind him.
"Who are you?" Thanos asked.
The man stepped forward, revealing his white hair, mustache and the big glasses he wore. "The names Stan Lee," he walked towards him, "and I've got a bone to pick with you Thanos." The Titan remained sitting, mildly amused rather than intimidated. "You hurt a lot of people I care about."
"You should be grateful that you were among the half who survived." Thanos stood up, towering above Stan. "I suggest you leave while you still can."
Stan didn't reply, instead he jumped forward and punched Thanos in the face, knocking him backwards and straight through the hut. Thanos picked himself up and shook his head clear, he was completely shocked that a human, let alone one so old, could hurt him.
Stan drove a fist into his palm. "Its Clobbering Time!"
He charged at the Titan who got up and fired a purple energy beam, but Stan jumped over it and kicked him in the face. He swung a punch but Thanos caught his fist and kicked him backwards to he ground. He tried to stomp on him but Stan rolled to the side, jumping to his feet and tackling him. But Thanos used the space stone to open a portal behind him and they fell into it.
The portal reopened on the Sovereign home world, where the Sovereign people scattered in fear as the two fell out of it.
"Your spry for an old man." Thanos observed.
"You ain't seen nothing yet." Stan punched him in the face a couple of times. Thanos swung at him but Stan stepper around the punch and kicked the back of Thanos'es knee, forcing him to kneel before putting him in a headlock. Thanos struggled with him before activating the mind stone. Stan's vision became blurry, he released Thanos and held his head in pain. The pain began to subside and his vision cleared up, just in time to see Thanos punch him in the face and send him flying through a building. Stan picked himself up and shook his head clear. "All of a sudden I've got a sinking feeling." He looked down and gasped, he was sinking into the ground beneath him like it was quick sand.
"Careful," the Titan smirked as the reality stone glowed. "The more you struggle, the faster you sink." Thanos turned and began walking away, not bothered to watch the old mans demise. Suddenly he was hit in the back making him stumble forward. He spun around to see Stan standing there. "How did you get free?"
"I've got one word for you." Stan said. "Thwip!"
"Wha-" Thanos was cut off when webbing hit him in the face.
Stan smirked as the Web Shooters on his wrists fired a couple more shots. Running forward he vaulted over Thanos, firing a web line that hit his hand and pulled, causing the fist to hit him in the face. Upon landing he fired web lines at the Titans feet and pulled them out from under him, making him fall on his face. He then pulled and began swinging the Titan around before throwing him into a building. Stan was about to go in after him when the building suddenly glowed blue and rose off of the ground revealing Thanos, who threw his hand forward and the building flew towards Stan like a spear. Stan fired web lines at structures at each side of him and pulled before firing himself forward like a slingshot. Landing on the building he sprinted along it and it crashed into the ground he jumped off, landing safely on his feet and the building fell to pieces behind him.
"Nice try." Stan said. "But you have to get a little more creative if you wanna beat me."
Thanos narrowed his eyes. "Agreed." Thanos closed his fist, activating the reality stone. The rubble began to move together, taking the form of a giant golden nine headed hydra.
"Okay, that's not bad." Stan admitted.
One of the heads lunged at Stan forcing him to jump to the side, then duck as another attacked before jumping onto the head of another that tried to bite him. He webbed one head mouth shut but it began to tare through the webbing. As more heads tried to bite he began webbing them all together and soon they were all trapped. Suddenly Stan felt something, "my Spidey sense is tingling." He jumped right before a purple energy hit the hydra blasting it to pieces. With an angry yell Thanos jumped through the air, tackling Stan and they both fell into a portal which then disappeared.
Ayesha, the Golden High Priestess of the Sovereign, approached the scene and looked at all the damage. "What the Fu-"
The portal opened on the molten planes of Muspelleim and the two fighters rolled across the ground. "Whoa," Stan rolled to avoid Thanos'es foot as he tried to stomp on him. He raised his hands and tried to shoot webbing, but none came out. "Out of web fluid!" Stan gasped, then had a realisation. "Boy, that is frustrating." That allowed Thanos to punch Stan through the air where he smashed through a boulder.
Before Thanos could attack again he was suddenly blasted by fire. He turned to see a giant Fire Dragon roar in his face, but he was unafraid and activated the time stone. Time went backwards as the dragon became younger and younger until it was baby the size of a dog. The little dragon looked up at Thanos before running away in fear.
"Now then," the Titan turned to face Stan who had recovered, "where were we?" They charged at each other and began trading blows. Stan punched Thanos in the gut before punching him across the face. Thanos back fisted Stan throwing him off balance before grabbing him and slamming him on the ground hard enough to crack the ground beneath him. "You can't win!"
"Oh yeah?" Stan swung upwards hitting Thanos in the face and sent him flying backwards until he crashed into some rumble. "Don't get me wrong, Thor's new axe is impressive. "But," Stan lifted Mjolnir in his hand, "you can't beat the classics."With that he swung the hammer and flew at Thanos hitting him in the chest. Stan struck him across the face, the Titan swung at him but Stan leaned back to avoid it, but then drove the hammer into the his gut. Stan swung again but Thanos grabbed his arm, stopping his attack. Thanos snarled and Stan smiled, he let go of Mjolnir, letting it fall onto the titans foot.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!" He yelled in pain as he let go of Stans arm.
"Whoops," Stan summoned the hammer back to his hand swung around, hitting Thanos and knocking him into the air. Stan raised the hammer and it crackled with lightning before firing a bolt into the sky. A much bigger lightning bolt came down striking Thanos and driving him into the ground. When the lightning passed, Thanos lifted himself up and the Mind stone glowed.
"You won't get me with that trick again." Stan said.
Thanos smirked. "Who said it was for you?"
Suddenly the ground cracked open as dozens of fire demons crawled out. They all looked at Stan as a yellow glow surrounded their heads. "Uh oh." The demons all charged at him. Stan blasted the oncoming demons with lightning, but a lot of them managed to reach him and began to swarm him. Stan burst out of the pile of demons, using Mjolnir to fly away and pass by Thanos before landing. Turning to face the Titan and the attacking demons he raised the hammer. "Heres a real old school trick!" He struck the ground causing a large chasm to open in the ground, Thanos and all the demons fell into it. Grabbing the ground at each side, Stan pulled the chasm shut to trap them. "That," he let out a breath, "was harder than it looked."
"Not bad." Thanos was behind Stan, who spun around and swung Mjolnir and knocked him back. "But," Stans eyes widened as another Thanos was beside him and punched him in the face, "not good enough." The reality stone glowed as copies of him appeared and Stan found himself surrounded.
Stan hit one with Mjolnir before kicking another, but was punched in the face. Then kicked and thrown before he was blasted to the ground. All the Thanos'es circled around Stan, but fore they could attack him he raised Mjolnir and called down a lightning bolt. It blasted them all, making all but the real Thanos disappear. Stan quickly blasted the Titan with lightning forcing him to stumble backwards. Thanos grit his teeth before activating the power stone and blasted an energy beam to push back the lightning. The two attacks raged against each but began to surge and swirl around where they met, seconds later there was an explosion that blasted both Stan and Thanos backwards across the ground.
Stan shook his head clear and spotted Mjolnir on the ground. But before he could even reach for it, Thanos grabbed him and jumped through another portal. The ground beside Mjolnir cracked as a demons hand shot out. It reached out trying to grab something so it could pull its body out of the ground and grabbed the hammers handle. Mjolnir then smashed through the ground and crushed the unworthy demon.
When the portal opened, this time they were in the abandoned arena on planet Sakaar. "This place has seen better days." Stan observed.
"This place put on quite the show once." Thanos looked around before clenching his fist, activating the reality stone and red wave washed over the arena and it was filled with cheering fans. "Time for one last performance."
"Well then," Stan smirked. "If your gonna fix the place up. Least I can do is dress up for the occasion." With that metal began forming around his body and within a few seconds, he was wearing Iron Mans armor.
Thanos chuckled. "One of Starks toys?"
"Tony may have an ego the size of, well Ego." Stan admitted. "But he puts his heart into ever armor he builds."
"Heart can only take you so far." Thanos said.
"That's what the thrusters are for." With that he blasted towards Thanos, firing his replusers into the titans face. Thanos recovered and fired an energy blast from the power stone, but Stan flew around it and fired missiles from his shoulders which Thanos used the space stone to make them phase through him an explode against the wall behind him. Stan kept on the offensive, flying in and punching Thanos in the face before firing both replusers into his gut. Thanos swung his arm low, knocking Stans legs out from under him and he fell to the ground as Thanos stomped on his gut. He sung his fist down at Stans head, but Stan raised both hands and stopped the punch. "When I said he put his heart into the armor, I meant it!" He fired the unibeam into Thanos'es face, pushing him back and stunning him. He flew upwards and fired a single missile, but Thanos used the space stone to catch it inches away from his face, where it exploded in an large fireball.
As the smoke cleared, Thanos stood there, using the space stone to telekinetically move all of the weapons behind him. "Sorry Thanos," Stan tapped his armored chest. "But those aren't even gonna scratch the paintjob."
Thanos smirked. "Oh they'll do more than that." He activated the power stone and ever weapon became alight with purple fire.
"Uh oh." Stan flew away as the weapons flew after him, he managed to blast a couple with his replusers, but was several blades slashed his armor before he was hit from behind by a mace that knocked him to the ground. Stan got up to see the weapons had surrounded him ready to strike. Stan activated the palladium powered lasers in his gauntlets firing red beams. He spun around hit every weapon around him and the moment the lasers stopped, the weapons exploded in purple fireballs.
"A useful trick." Thanos said.
"Just wait until you see this!" Stan activated every missile launcher his armor had and fired, only for bubbles to shoot out. "What?" he looked to see a smirking Thanos using the reality stone, before switching to the power stone. "Oh boy." Stan was then blasted across the arena, skidding to a stop along the ground.
"That armor isn't going to save you." Thanos mocked.
"Maybe," Stan got to his feet, "I should try a bigger size." Suddenly large pieces of metal flew down into the arena before attaching themselves to Stan. Within moments he was now in the Hulkbuster armor. "Yeah, this should do the trick."
He flew at Thanos who raised the Infinity Gauntlet, but Stan fired a repluser blast hitting his hand before he could use it, then punched Thanos across the face. Using the thrusters for more force, he kneed the titan in the gut making him double over before blasting him in the face with his unibeam which sent Thanos flying into the arena wall. Thanos shook his head clear and saw Stan rushing towards him. He raised his fist and fired an energy beam, but Stans thrusters moved sideways, just avoiding the beam. He then blasted forward, grabbing Thanos'es arm with one hand and used his other to slam the titans head into the arena wall. He then blasted forward flying around the arena, dragging Thanos around as his head tore through the wall.
With an angry yell thanos used the power stone to blast Stan away from him, Coming to a stop, he spun around and used the space stone to gather all the pieces of metal that had come off the wall and put them into a ball. He used the reality stone and the metal ball glowed red and lit on fire, before he sent it flying at Stan who fired his replusers. This caused the a large flaming explosion that shook the arena. Before Thanos could attack act again, Stan flew threw the flames and tackled Thanos to the ground before using the Mirco-Punching Repeater to deliver multiple punches to Thanos'es face. He grabbed the titan and threw him into the air before firing his missiles, which exploded in massive fireball that blasted thanos to the ground.
"STAN! STAN! STAN!" The crowd began cheering for him "STAN! STAN! ST-" They were cut off when angry Thanos made them disappear.
"Ready for the next round?" Stan asked raising his armoured fists. "Cause this suit can go all day."
"Actually," Thanos activated the Time stone, "its getting old." The armor began to rust as it aged decades with each passing second before finally crumbling into pieces, leaving Stan with just the original armors helmet, which then fell apart.
"That's not gonna buff out." He sighed, right before Thanos tackled him into another portal.
Moments later, a panel in the floor opened up and the Grandmaster poked his head out, "hello?"
The portal reopened and Thanos threw Stan to the ground. He picked himself up and looked around at the ruins around him. "Titan."
"Where it all started." Thanos said. "This world could have been saved. But they wouldn't listen and look what happened. My home is all the proof needed that I did what needed to be done."
"I'll admit," Stan began. "The universe has its problems. But any solution that involves universal genocide, is not a solution at all. Nuff said."
"You sound like the last fools who tried to stop me." Thanos smirked. "They're attempts were pitiful."
"They nearly had you!" Stan snapped. "Whether you admit it or not, they almost stopped you."
"Almost," the Titan smirked, "but not good enough."
Stan leapt at the titan and kicked him in the face, but instead of landing he was glowing blue and floating. Thanos smirked as he used the space stone to telekinetically slam Stan into the ground a couple of times before sending him flying through the air. Thanos jumped after him but when the landed, Stan was nowhere in sight.
"Where are you?" Thanos used the soul stone and it sensed Stan behind a boulder. He used the reality stone to turn it into smoke, but something flew out of the smoke and him in the face and stunned him. It bounced off several rocks before returning to Stan's hand. "Game over Thanos," he held up Captain Americas shield.
Thanos greet his teeth before using the power stone and slammed his fist into the ground, sending a trail of energy towards his opponent. Stan slammed the shield into the ground and braced himself behind it as the energy struck with a powerful blast.
When it passed Stan pulled the shield out of the ground. "Sorry Thanos, but this mighty shield won't yield." The light shined off its unscratched metal. "But maybe you should?"
"Never!" Thanos charged at him.
Stan held his ground and when Thanos was close enough he threw the shield to the side where it bounced off a rock and hit the titan in the face. Stan jumped, catching the shield and slammed it down on Thanos'es head. The titan swung at Stan but his used his shield to block and his smaller size to dodge the attacks. Stan hit the titans knee causing him to kneel, then struck him across the face with his shield. Thanos retaliated by punching him in the chest and making him skid back several feet. He used the space stone to gather rocks and changed them into crystal shards which flew at Stan who held up his shield, causing them to shattering on impact. Thanos closed the distance between them activated the soul stone and punched Stn, knocking his soul out of his body and into the air. "Whoa." Stan looked at his as astral form. "This different." He spots Thanos approaching his body which was laying on the ground. "Uh oh," he flew downwards and back into his body. His eyes opened and he rolled to the side just in time to avoid Thanos'es fist as he punched the ground. Stan kicked Thanos in the face before jumping to his feet and struck Thanos across the face, leaving a large cut. Thanos grit his teeth before blocking Stans next attack and head butting him making him stumble backwards. Stan shook his head clear and threw the shield but Thanos raised his hand and caught it.
"Enough!" He then threw it off into the distance and out of sight before glaring at the now unarmed Stan. Thanos blasted him with the power stone and sent him flying threw the air, knocking his glasses off. He used the stone again cause a blast across the planets moon before using the space stone to teleport them into the atmosphere as the fell. Stan didn't have time to react as the meteors crashed down on top of him creating a huge explosion that could be seen from space.
Thanos took a few deep breaths before walking into the settling in dust where he saw Stan laying in a giant crater. Thanos use the space stone to lift Stan out of the crater and phase him into a stone wall leaving only his head in sight, then used the reality stone to change the stone into metal. Thanos placed his fingers against the cut on his cheek and looked at the blood. "Hmm," he gave an amused smile. "You did better than Stark. Infact you came closer to stopping me than all those fools combined." The space stone glowed and Stans glasses floated into Thanos'es hand. "But in the end, the result is the same. You failed."
"Don't make me angry Thanos." Stan warned. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Thanos smirked before crushing the glasses in his hands and letting the pieces fall on the ground.
Stan narrowed his eyes and with a grunt, broke free of the metal and before Thanos could react, he punched the titan right in the gut making him double over. Stan clasped his hands together before bringing them down across Thanos'es face knocking him to the ground. As the titan tried to get up, Stan delivered a swift kick in the ass that sent Thanos flying through the ruins before hitting the ground and bouncing along it. He picked himself u and turned to face Stan, but was surprised to see him wearing his glasses.
"What?" Stan asked. "You think I don't carry a spare?" With that Stan jumped at him and punched him in the face a couple of times. Thanos swung at him, but Stan caught his arm and kicked him in the gut before flipping him onto his back. Before he could recover Stan grabbed the titans leg and proceeded to slam him into the ground several times before tossing him across the ground.
"You think," Thanos slowly got to his feet, "defeating me makes you a hero?"
"Let me explain something to you Thanos." Stan said. "That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed, without a doubt, a real superhero."
Stan pulled his hand back. In his palm there was a image of Captain America raising his shield, Iron Man firing he replusers, Thor summoning lightning to his hammer, Hulk roaring, Spider-Man web swinging, Hawkeye aiming his bow. More heroes appeared, then villains began to a appear. Soon ever single character Stan ever created appeared in the palm of his hand and their power joined together. Stan clenched his fist and it glowed brightly as he dashed forward and before Thanos could react, Stan was right in front of him and pulled his fist back. "Excelsior!" Time seemed to slowdown as he swung the punch, Thanos'es eyes were wide in shock and awe and Stans fist stuck his face. The moment the punch hit, a massive explosion of power blasted forth tearing through the planet. In space the light could be seen getting brighter and larger until Titan exploded into nothing but rocks and debris.
On one large piece of debris, Stan lay there. "Oh boy." He groaned as he sat up, wearing Star-Lord's helmet. "Might have overdone it there," he got to his feet and dusted himself off before looking around. "Now where is that thing?" The spotted the Infinity Gauntlet floating there. "Aha!" He jumped off the rock floating closer until it was with in reach and grabbed it. "Gotcha!" He put it on, "time to get to work." With that he snapped his fingers and there was a bright flash of light.
The alarm sounded within the new Avengers Facility. "Everybody come on down." Iron Man spoke into the coms. Soon he was joined by Captain America, Bruce, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Falcon, Spider-Man, Black Widow, Thor War Machine, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
"Whats the situation?" Natasha asked.
"It's a big one. Seems the-" he was cut off when Vision phased up through the floor beside him. "Vision. I thought we talked about using the door?"
"Yes," Vision nodded, "but the alarm signals urgency."
Tony sighed. "Just stand over there with everyone else please." The android complied. "As I was saying, we just got word from Paris and apparently," he brought up footage of some giant, green with wings and a tail roaring, "its under attack from a Dragon."
"Dragon?" Bruce blinked. "Did he say dragon?"
"Yeah," Tony looked at the screen. "We were due for one of those don't cha think?"
"Excellent." Thor gripped Stormbreaker in excitement. "I haven't fought a Dragon in ages."
"It looks like someone beat you to it?" Flacon pointed at several individuals who seemed to be wearing jetpacks, who were trying to fight the Dragon.
"Wait," Tony looked closer, "is that?" Suddenly Star-Lords face appeared on the holoscreen. "Quill?"
"Stark?" Peter blinked. "Why are you contacting us."
"Well it looks like you guys could use some help." Stark observed.
"Help!?" Rocket flew on screen. "Listen up. Fin Fang Foom here is our bounty and we don't need nobodies help!"
"I AM GROOOOOOOT!" Groot screamed before crashing into Rocket.
"Yeah," Quill looked at them fall. "Gotta go." With that the transmission ended.
"Everyone to Quinjet." Steve said and they all moved out.
"Come on," Natasha guided Bruce. "This is definitely gonna be a code green."
"Shouldn't we call Dr Strange?" Spider-Man asked.
Tony activated his armor, "and why would we do that?"
"We're going up against a dragon." He pointed out. "Wouldn't having a wizard with us be a smart move?"
"Kids got a point." Rhodey admitted.
"I already called him." Steve said.
"Wait what?" Tony asked in surprise.
Back in New York city, in a small restaurant called Shawarma Palace, Stan sat at a table enjoying some shawarma. He watched a TV on the wall that showed the Quinjet land in Paris and all the Avengers rush out to battle the threat. It brought a smile to his face. "Avengers Assemble."
The line was never fully said in the movies, I though the man who started it all should do the honors. I hope you all enjoyed this tribute to a great man. Stan Lee was one of kind, his work was inspired people for decades and it will continue to inspire us all. As Stan himself once said "If you are interested in what you do, that keeps you going!" Until next time, Excelsior!