The Avengers: Battle for the Gauntlet
Chapter One: Heroes of Another World
Author's note: This is a work of fan fiction, the characters named, and used in this story are property of Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. The Original Characters used are my own. This story will contain SPOILERS in regards to the Infinity War film, so PLEASE, PLEASE see it before reading it to avoid being spoiled.
The fight was over; Thanos had won. Half of the population throughout the entire galaxy had been reduced to nothing but dust and ashes. Steve Rogers sat down beside a tree, the proud spirit he once held inside had been crushed, all he being able to say was a near catatonic like "Oh, God.." as James 'Bucky' Buchanan Barnes, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, Groot, and T'Challa had faded from existence, one by one. Vision had been killed not once, but twice. Once via sacrificing himself to ensure the Mad Titan did not get the mind stone, having Wanda destroy it with her magic, the second time by Thanos himself, when he ripped it out of the android's head to complete his Gauntlet.
Thor stood nearby with his Stormbreaker axe in hand, looking down at it before muttering "It's my fault...Thanos won because I didn't go for the head." "No, it isn't! You did what you thought would work. That thing you have in your hand? It was honestly our best bet against that mad man." Natasha Romanoff declared to the Asgardian, whiles James Rhodes and Bruce Banner looked over the Wakandan battlefield: Many of the Outriders had been killed in the fight, but there was still an uneasiness in the air. "What do we do now?" Rhodey asked, Banner simply shaking his head and responding "I honestly don't know. Half of humanity is gone, we're all that stand between the rest of the world and Thanos."
"I want to find this purple colored douche bag, and I want to shove my gun into his mouth!" Rocket Raccoon yelled out in anger, marching up to Steve with a look of anger in his eyes. Slowly, The Captain looked over at the space traveling mammal, speaking softly "I know you're mad-" "Mad? MAD?! I just had to watch my best friend die for a SECOND TIME!" Rocket yelled at him, only for Thor to gently pick him up and say "Now is not the time for unchecked anger, Sweet Rabbit. We have to gather our forces and find a way to fight Thanos once more." "Just one problem with that. We don't know where he is now, or how damaged the Infinity Gauntlet is." Natasha interjected, helping Steve stand up, all of them turning to a voice behind them. "T'challa is gone, Wakanda has no King." Okoye said in an angry, yet somber tone, standing in front of the Avengers and one Guardian of the Galaxy, spear held in hand. "Whatever it is you must do, do it with haste and importance. This planet cannot survive another snap of the fingers." "You have our word we'll stop Thanos, and we will find a way to bring T'challa back to his people." Rhodey said with determination, only for the group to slowly look in the direction of a rumbling.
More Outriders were rushing towards the combatants, arms raised and ready to attack the remaining warriors. "How? I thought their ships were destroyed, we had beaten them!" Thor spoke in a shocked tone, with Steve preparing his shield gauntlets and War Machine's helmet resetting and the eyes glowing, Natasha bringing out her two batons and getting ready for combat, but a loud noise caught the groups attention. A sphere of green and blue energies appeared before them, the colors swirling around rapidly before vanishing in an explosion of light. From within the light, were five figures; Three men and two women, with each looking around their surroundings before quickly noticing the small group of heroes, and their enemies. "Who are these jokers supposed to be?!" Rocket demanded while four of them spread out to meet their enemies.
"Wiz, stay with Cap! Harker, Kabuto, thin their ranks! Wiccan, you and I will provide support from range." ordered a teenage looking man who wore a pair of blue jeans, a faded, grungy looking t-shirt with a pair of black fingerless gloves and and shoes. The most peculiar thing about this young man were his hair and eye colors- a vibrant silver and purple, with his hair going down to his mid back. "You got it, Volt!" said a blonde haired woman in a wheel chair, who wore a pink sweater with blue jeans and black boots wheeled herself over to Steve, who looked at her in utter confusion as she said "Hehe, Privet, kapitan Rodzhers. My zdes', chtoby pomoch'!" (Hello, Captain Rogers, we're here to help!) "Ty govorish' po-russki?" (You speak Russian?) Natasha asked in shock, the young girl nodding. "Da, but I also speak English! You see we-" She was cut off by a loud yell, looking to see the battle ahead of them.
Kabuto, a Japanese man of tall stature and physique approached the Outrider horde, clenching his fists as something strange began to form on his body. The coloring of it was a beautiful shade of red, covering him in a steel armor that included wings on the back, and a rhino horn style helmet on his head. Letting out a yell of "Hajime!" (Begin!) as he slammed an armored fist into one of the opponents, sending it flying backwards into a smaller group, only for him to charge forward and swing his arm at them like it was a baseball bat, sending them all flying into the air and back onto the ground with loud thuds and drops. "Who in the world are these guys?" asked Rhodes, about to take to the air, only for Bruce to raise the Hulk Buster's remaining arm to signal him to stop. "Whoever they are, they seem to have experience with these things." replied the scientist.
Harker, the second woman in the group took to battle next. The warrior's skin was a pale, almost ghostly. Her hair was long, curling to her shoulders, chestnut in color and jam red colored eyes that appeared to have a slight glow as she reached into a belt that housed twin daggers on either side. Her attire was rather fashionable, consisting of a Victorian Era suit that had black slacks, a silver vest with buttons on the front, a long sleeved white shirt with a black puff tie and matching tail coat, finished with a pair of black high button leather boots. Pulling the daggers from their holsters, she twirled them rapidly before getting into a stance. "Time to dance once more, Lucy and Abraham." she said while giving a smile, rushing forward and turning into a blur of speed, slicing the Outriders she came across with precision and ferocity, sliding to a stop as her targets all started to spray blood on the grounds of Wakanda, Okoye leaning over to Natasha and whispering "I approve of her!" with an almost awe sounding voice, the blonde agent looking forward with a look of shock.
Wiccan took his turn next, sporting a more traditional hero type outfit, consisting of a midnight blue colored tights, a brown leather belt with a pouch on it, a torn and tattered cloak around his neck and top half of his torso. The final pieces were metal bracers that had red gems in the center above his hands, and a headband that tucked some of the bangs of his black hair away. Grasping his hands together, he then spread them apart, crimson red energy surrounding them as he took to the air, Steve gasping at the display, saying "He's just like Wanda.." while the young man shot out bolts of magic from one hand, keeping his other hand steady to stay aloft. Once a few more Outriders were down, he landed and held his hands out towards one of the trees, grunting as he clenched his hands tighter and, with effort, uprooted the tree, the large piece of wood covered in hex magic with him hurling it at another group.
The one who gave out the orders from before stepped forward, his body starting to crackle with electricity all over. Cracking his knuckles, he shot an arm out, an arc of electricity shooting forward and hitting one Outrider, bringing them to their knees as Kabuto ran up and field goal style kicked it through the air, the two giving a thumbs up to each other as Volt focused on another, smaller group that was rushing him.
"How many times are we going to have to fight you things?" he thought to himself while shooting out electricity from both hands, chaining the element into multiple targets. Letting out a small grin, the teenager began to feel like they had a shot at winning..only for his powers to sputter and fully stop, seeing a small group running at him full force. "Oh shit, not now!" Volt yelled out. "Hang on, Voltage!" Anya called to him, the wheelchair woman holding up her hands and summoning a bright led lit, virtual keyboard, fingers flying across it as she focused on putting in various codes. Thor looked at her in stunned silence before whispering to Rocket "Rabbit, how does she do that?" the God of Thunder inquired, with the raccoon sitting upon Thor's shoulder and shaking his head. "I dunno, never seen anything like that before." Hitting the enter button on they keyboard, Wiz turned to Banner and said "Brace for impact, sir!" "For wha- AHHH!" Bruce yelled out suddenly, the Hulk Buster's helmet slamming down and the jets on its boots firing up, the suit of armor taking off and slamming into the last of the group, with the sound of pins being bowled over going off in the background.
With the Outriders now out of commission, the group of new arrivals made their way back to the heroes, Rhodey's helmet slowly opening back up and standing beside Thor, Rocket, and Okoye as Bruce climbed out of his own armor, wincing at his head pain from the impact of the torpedo style attack, stumbling back to them. "How-" he started, only for her to hold up a finger to indicate 'one moment' before she hit a few more buttons and lowered her hands, the keyboard vanishing. Rogers and Romanoff looked at the girl in the wheelchair, backing away slowly as Kabuto, Wiccan, Harker, and Voltage stood beside her. "We've got questions." Steve said plainly. "We have answers." Wiccan responded.
The warriors made their way back to T'challa's palace, sitting, or standing around in Shuri's lab while the new arrivals huddled together, whispering in hushed tones. The man who went by the name of Kabuto raised his head to look at Steve Rogers, only for Harker to grab the back of it and pull him back down without looking up. After some debate, the five people broke their huddle and took a few chairs. "First things first: Who are you, where do you come from, and how do you know us?" Captain Rogers asked. "We're the Avengers." Wiccan stated matter of factually, the originals looking at them in both surprise and slight anger. "That's not possible. -We- are the Avengers!" Natasha said indignantly, Banner holding his hands up to stop her from yelling. "Hold on, Nat, let them say their piece. How are you the Avengers?" The silver haired teenager stepped forward, clearing his throat. "First, introductions, yes? I am Trevor Fortune, otherwise known as Voltage. This is Jin Nakamura, aka Kabuto." The Japanese man bowed formally to the group, saying "Min'na ni au no wa kōeidesu." (It is an honor to meet everyone). "Does he speak English?" Rhodes asked, Trevor nodding his head. "He does, he just prefers to use his native language when in battle, or meeting people.
"Joanne Harker, pleased to meet you." said the suit wearing woman, Shuri approaching her cautiously and saying "Could you please open your mouth?" "Why?" "Your last name is Harker, a character from Bram Stoker's Dracula. I saw how fast you moved out there in that battle, and could see you lick some blood off of your daggers after you fought." Shuri looked serious, and Joanne took a deep breath, opening her mouth to reveal two large fangs, causing the scientist to gasp and step back. "The story you read was real. My father Johnathan did fight Count Dracula all those years ago, but my mother, Mina kept her vampire powers after Van Helsing staked that monster through the heart. I am Dhampir- a mix of human and vampire." "So Stoker based his novel off of real life events?"asked Steve in surprise, the vampiress nodding her head solemnly. "Yes, it's why I fight with daggers instead of my powers; to keep myself more hidden, and because I don't like using my more...primal abilities. I have their strengths, but none of the weaknesses, the two exceptions being the thirst, and high level magic. That's why we have this guy." Joanne said, clapping Wiccan on the back, who introduced himself next.
"My name is William Kaplan, but please, call me Billy. I'm known as Wiccan, and am the current Sorcerer Supreme where we come from. You could probably already tell but, magic is my specialty." "Your magic was just like Wanda Maximoff's. How is that possible?" Thor asked, arms crossed over his chest while studying the magician. "Wanda is my...She is my Mother." Billy answered slowly, clenching his fists. "Where is she?" he demanded to the others, a look of sadness overcoming them before Steve stepped forward, reaching out to hug Wiccan. "I'm sorry, Billy, but Wanda was a victim of Thanos' finger snap. Her, and many others are gone now...We don't know if we can bring them back or not."
Billy's eyes began to tear up, looking over as members of the Jabari tribe set Vision's lifeless body onto a nearby table, the young wizard falling to his knees and starting to cry uncontrollably. M'Baku beckoned Okoye over, the two whispering while Wiz wheeled herself over to Wiccan, rubbing his back gently, looking up at the others. "Vision was his Father where we come from, now he has lost his parents in two different worlds." M'Baku spoke up, saying with a quiet dignity "We shall keep him hidden in this palace until you can repair him. You have my word as leader of the Jabari that nothing else will befall him." "Thank you, M'Baku." Shuri said, with both him and Okoye picking up Vision and carrying him off, Wiccan wiping his tears away and slowly standing up.
"Alright. Last one up, I guess. My name is Anya Patellov, or Wiz. That thing with the keyboard from earlier is my invention. I'm the tech expert of our group, and that's how I help out in the field, among other things. You wanted to know how we came here?" "Yes." Rhodes said, now wearing a grey t-shirt and pants with Stark Tech bracers on his legs. Nodding, Anya brought out her keyboard once more, typing in a few commands as a holographic image appeared in front of everyone. "As you know, there are six Infinity Stones. One for each element within the galaxy; Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time, and Mind. Collected together, they made Thanos unstoppable, but in our world, he was eventually taken down at a great cost." Anya explained to them, Jin speaking up after her.
"The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, and Defenders had to pry them out of the Infinity Gauntlet, no small feat. There were casualties just from that act alone. Once they were removed, the Stones were used by those who shouldn't have been able to wield them, all to stop the Mad Titan- In the end, we five were the only ones left. But Anya noticed something strange in her readings of the Time and Space Stones."
"I found that there were other worlds; not just planets like the ones in our solar system, but different dimensions, and in each one the ending was always the same. Thanos wins, no matter what. However, there was an exception of one world, your world. Vision in this time line had sacrificed himself to ensure Thanos didn't get his hands on the Mind Stone. That's when I began to recreate the Time and Space Stones from their shattered hunks, no easy task."
"Our original plan was to use the Time Stone to travel back to the point Thanos invaded Xandar for the Power Stone, in an attempt to stop him before he could even begin his quest. However, there was a slight problem." Joanne interjected while looking over at Trevor, who looked like he was reliving a war in his head, speaking in Hungarian with a harsh tone "Trev, kipattanjon belőle" (Trev, snap out of it). Voltage snapped back to reality and shook his head, rubbing his neck "Sorry, sorry. She's right though. The Time Stone was imperfect when recreated, it was still cracked and missing small pieces, so it couldn't go as far back as we wanted; we found the right space, but the wrong time. We were too late to save Vision or anyone else. Worst part? They were useful as a one way trip." "Now that you're here though, what can you do to help us? We don't even know where Iron-Man or the other Guardians are." Thor inquired, Shuri and Anya looking at each other as a plan formed in their heads.
On the planet of Titan, Tony Stark was sitting on a rock with his face buried in his hands, mind racing from the events that took place; He, Peter Parker, Stephen Strange, Mantis, Drax, and Peter Quill had nearly gotten the Infinity Gauntlet off of Thanos' hand, only for Quill to attack him in a rage at the news of Gammora's death. That's when things had gotten from bad to worse. Strange had to give up the Time Stone in order to ensure Tony lived, and then...The Snap. Quill, Drax, Mantis, Strange, had turned to dust instantly, but Peter's was drawn out, his Spider Sense having alerted him and not being able to do anything to stop the inevitable. Tony sat there, seeing the young hero on the ground and begging "Mr. Stark, I don't want to go. I don't want to go.." before turning to dust like the rest.
"We need to get off of this planet, and find anyone else who survived." Nebula said to the inventor, he refusing to look up. "Why? So he can wipe out the other half? Who are you, anyways?" Stark said with a look of anger in his eyes before slowly looking at the blue woman. "I mean are you, what? A California Raisin? You look past your expiration date." Nebula responded by sending her fist into Stark's face, causing the man to tumble off the rock he was sitting on. "We don't have time for a pity party! Thanos is out there and he still has all of the Infinity Stones! You can either sit there and feel sorry, or you can get up and -do- something about it, like avenge your friends!" "You think I don't want too?" he responded in a soft, yet angry tone, standing up and getting into the assassin's face. "Right now I want a suit of armor that is so powerful, he would BEG for mercy. Would I give him any? Hell no. I want to go back to Earth and see if everyone else is OK, but we can't get off this rock!"
As soon as Tony finished his sentence, a rainbow colored column of light shot down onto Titan, and from within a metal empty door looking object appeared, Stark and Nebula glancing at each other in confusion for a moment, until the door started to spark to life with electricity and energy, a voice could be heard from beyond the portal shouting "Tony! Tony step through the door!" "Steve..?" Tony asked in a shocked voice, grabbing the cyborg's hand and nodding his head at the device. "I think we can trust it, there's good people beyond that gate."
-Two hours Earlier-
"You are sure this will work?" Thor asked as Shuri and Anya completed the schematics for their idea; a door of Vibranium that could connect one world to another with coordinates put into Wiz's keyboard. "We are not one hundred percent certain, but a small chance is still a chance, Mr. God of Thunder." Shuri answered, hitting a few more buttons on a screen she sat by, looking over at Anya. "How soon can you get this thing made?" "Starting right now, Miss Shuri!" Anya replied, fingers dancing across the holographic screen as a 3D printer came to life, sending the Vibranium through a laser that, once it was finished, formed two different door frames. "What do we need to do now?" Bruce asked, grabbing one of the doors and helping Steve set it upright in front of them. "First, we need Thor to send this frame to Mr. Stark's location, Wiccan, any progress?" Anya asked the wizard, who had been floating in the air, sitting in a meditative position with magical runes surrounding his body.
"I see them, deep in space. A planet that was once full of life and prosperity, now empty with only ruins...A battle was fought there, with many casualties. A man is mourning, and a woman is angry..I think I found them." "That angry lady has to be Nebula, if she's with this Stark guy then that means they've got to be on the same planet." Rocket said while hopping off of Thor's shoulder, walking over to Wiccan, studying him a bit before turning around and said "Thor, open up the Bifrost, send the door to them." "Alright. Here's hoping." Holding up the Storm Breaker, the Bifrost surrounded the door and sent it hurtling through space, once it reached it's destination, Anya looked over to Trevor. "Volt, electrify the Vibranium, once it's energized, Wiccan will use his magic to amplify the wormhole and accelerate the travel speed. In theory, they should arrive her in an instant."
"In theory?" Rhodes asked in disbelief, shaking his head. "So there's still a possibility of not even finding them?" "Oh we found them, the issue is getting them back safely. These portals wont last long." Anya retorted, tapping onto her hologram keyboard a few more times before giving a nod to her leader. Stepping forward, Trevor flexed his fingers before they started to crackle with blue sparks; cupping his hands together, he threw them forward in an electric Hadouken style attack with the electricity arcing off of one side of the door frame and bouncing it along the walls, Billy standing beside him and bringing his hands up as well, chaos magic encircling them. "I hope this works.." the sorcerer said quietly, firing off a wall of magic into the door frame.
The Vibranium door came to life in an instant, both teenagers trying their best to focus their powers as Steve walked to the door and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting "Tony! Tony, if you can hear me, step through the door!" "Keep it up you two, the other door is stabilizing!" Anya said triumphantly, only for Volt's powers to once more start to sputter out, he looking down at his hands and saying "No! No come on! COME ON!", shutting his eyes to focus more energy, but soon he realized he was no longer using his own ability; Thor had placed a hand onto his shoulder and, tapping into his own godly powers, used the young boy as a conduit, both sending out electrical arcs as Natasha reached a hand into the portal, calling over to Jin and Harker. "I got someone! Help me pull them out!" "Got it!" Jin responded, rushing over to Natasha and grabbing her other arm, giving Harker his free one as Bruce and James grabbed theirs, Shuri reading over a screen with a look of awe. "There's two life forces nearing Wakanda at a rapid speed! Don't let them go!" With great effort, the chain pulled out two people from the other side of the gate; Tony Stark and Nebula, both collapsing onto the floor as Thor, Trevor, and Billy slowly allowed it to shut, with Steve helping Tony off of the floor, Rocket helping Nebula up.
"Where's Quill? Where are the others?" Rocket asked the blue woman, who could only give a quiet look to the Raccoon before saying "Gammora was murdered by Thanos, in order to get the Soul Stone, the others..They're gone..Turned to dust. Not just them." "What?!" Rocket yelled, climbing up into her face with teeth bared. "You mean to tell me we're the only ones left?!" "I'm sorry, Rocket." she said, fighting back an urge to start throwing things around them, instead sitting in a nearby chair with her fists clenched. "The Guardians of the Galaxy, gone." Rocket said quietly, sliding off of Nebula and sitting on the floor. "Tony, what happened out there? What did Thanos do?" "He won, that's what happened. We almost had that damned gauntlet off of his hand, but Quill lost his cool and-" Bringing his a hand up to his face, he looked at Steve before whispering "He's gone, Steve, the kid, Peter, he's..He didn't make it." Rogers brought Stark in for a hug, despite the two's previous animosity towards one another a few years before. "I'm sorry, Tony. I'm so sorry..It shouldn't have turned out this way." "Mr. Stark?" Anya asked, wheeling herself over towards him with a hand outstretched. "It is an honor to meet you."
Tony looked over at her, then looked up to the others, seeing Banner, Rhodes, Romanoff, Thor, and a Raccoon, then he saw the teenaged warriors, taking a deep breath. "Who are these kids? Why are they here?" "We're here to help, Stark-san." Jin said to him with a formal bow, but the inventor backed away from Anya, shaking his head. "No, no no no. I'm not letting anymore kids fight, not happening. You all should go home to your parents, they're probably worried about you." Harker rushed him in a blur, pinning him against a wall with Lucy held to his throat, glaring at the man. "Te rohadék! Nincsenek szüleink! Mindannyiunkat elvesztettük, akiket Thanos miatt szerettünk!" (You bastard! We don't have parents! We lost everyone we loved because of Thanos!) "JOANNE!" Trevor yelled at her, pulling the taller woman away by the shoulder, she refusing to budge until he sent a shock through her arm, shaking his head. "We can't afford to make anymore enemies. Right now all we have is each other, for better or worse. Got it?"
The two held each others gaze for a moment, but Harker soon relented, holstering her knife and walking away in a huff. "Forgive her, she's been on edge for a long time, being immortal sometimes messes with her emotions." Billy said quietly, Stark slowly lowering himself off of the wall and giving a small sigh. "Tony, they need us, just as much as we need them. Like it or not, we're all each group has." Bruce said calmly, with Iron-Man nodding his head and rubbing his temples with his palms for a moment. "Okay, start from the beginning. Who are you all exactly?" Soon Anya and Billy used both their tech and magic to explain their situation, how Thanos had wiped out everyone in their world, and how they arrived right after the events of the Battle of Wakanda. "We've lost nearly the entire Avengers team." Natasha spoke up, looking at the story display before speaking to Shuri. "I'm sorry to ask this, but is there any way we can stay here for just a bit? We're in need of rest." "Of course. My brother would have welcomed you here for your bravery, and so I shall do the same. We have many rooms for you to stay in, just know that we may need you all at a moments notice." "No problem, ma'am. We'll be more than happy to help you or anyone in need." said Jin who looked over at Trevor. "You may need to go find Harker and show her to her room." "He won't need too." a voice said from above them; looking up they spotted Joanne crouching perfectly on an overheard light, Rhodes looking at her in utter surprise as Steve said "How did you-" "Being silent in and out of battle is one thing I'm good at." she answered with a cut off, hopping down and landing beside the electricity wielding teenager.
"Come on guys, it's been..a hell of a day. Let's go get some sleep." Rocket told the group, all of them making their way to a room a piece, slowly finding rest or sleep in their own way.
-To Be Continued.-