"Oh, we are so very, very screwed," Peter mumbled as the next scene started.
The movie showed the outside of Vormir before cutting to inside the planet. A breath of awe came from the Earth-based heroes at the site of it, having never seen anything like it before. Despite knowing what it would entail, they took a second to appreciate it.
A portal opened and closed, with Thanos and Gamora walking across what looked like black sand dunes. Everyone was on the edge of their seat, heartrates increasing slowly as they desperately prayed that this would be a trick on Gamora's part. But deep down, they all knew that it wasn't going to be a trick. Especially when Thanos told Gamora that "The Stone had better be up there. For your sister's sake".
The duo climbed the mountain that had featured prominently in other shots. They rounded a rocky corner very close to the top when a voice from nowhere spoke out.
"Welcome, Thanos, son of Alars," the ghostly voice said.
"Quill, Rocket, there wouldn't happen to be ghosts or something like that in space, right?" Peter asked.
The… The thing was floating and a torn, old cloak fluttered wildly in the wind.
"Not that we know of," Rocket answered.
Although slightly frightened, everyone was still very much on the edge of their seats. Nobody, not even the spies that were right next to him, noticed Steve's muscles clench as the voice pierced through his memories.
"Gamora, daughter of Thanos," it said again.
Rocket and Quill let out a small growl.
"You know us?" Thanos asked.
"It is my curse to know all who journey here."
Ignoring that, Thanos asked where the Soul Stone was.
"You should know, it extracts a terrible price."
"I am prepared."
The figure floated down, the fluttering of his cloak stopping and he stepped forward. "We all think that at first." The red face revealed though the shadows obscuring parts of it.
Peter frowned, confused. "What's Darth Maul doing here?"
But no one had time to respond as Steve suddenly jumped up from his seat, anger in every word. "What. The. Hell!? What's he doing here?!"
They all looked at the soldier confused.
"Ah, how would you know a creepy space man?" Tony asked.
"That," Steve pointed to Red Skull. ", is Red Skull."
Everyone but Rocket and Thor (who, naturally, didn't understand) turned back to the screen in shock. They'd all grown up learning about Captain America (whether good or bad) with the name "Red Skull", very rarely, coming up. The Avengers had heard the occasional mumble from Steve but never really took much notice of it.
"And I'll ask again: How is he—Oh."
"What is it, Steve?" Natasha asked after a moment of silence.
Steve sat back down in his chair, a feeling of disappointment, bitterness and anger all rolled into one, weighing him down. "On the plane that I flew into the ocean, Red Skull attempted to use the Tesseract. Something happened—I don't know what—but it caused a portal to open up and he was sucked through. Wherever he went, I didn't know, thinking he was dead but back then, I had more pressing things to do."
They all nodded, with Steve resuming the movie. Though he did his best not to show it, Steve couldn't help the emptiness inside him show. All that; Fighting Hydra, stopping the plane, losing everything and everyone he knew loved to time only to find out that it was all for nothing. All that to find out Red Skull was still alive and about to doom the entire universe by giving an equally terrible being the Soul Stone.
Since no one noticed, or rather, chose to ignore, Steve (they didn't know what to say or do), they watched on.
Two tall stone blocks were before the three. The wind seemed to pick up and more clouds slowly starting to gather.
"How is it you know this place so well?" Thanos asked.
"A lifetime ago, I too, sought the Stones. I even held one in my hand," Red Skull explained. "But it cast me out, banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess."
Still mad, Steve didn't ignore any of the dialogue. Though they would never cross paths again, though he'll never forgive him, Steve couldn't but give a little sorrow to the deformed human. Though that would be all Red Skull would ever get from him.
Through the stone blocks, the three came to the edge of the cliff.
"What you seek lies in front of you," Red Skull informs Thanos. "As does what you fear."
"What… What could Thanos possibly fear?" Quill muttered. "And there's nothing there either…"
Gamora looked over the edge and asked what it was, what he meant. Red Skull answered with it being the price.
"Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain… wisdom."
"Tell me what it needs," Thanos said, impatience being hinted in his voice.
A thought suddenly occurred in Fury's mind. He masked the realization with continuing an impassive face. As Red Skull told Thanos what it needed, Natasha and Clint heard a soft curse come from Fury and they looked at him, before working out what he was thinking.
"To ensure that whoever possesses it understands its power, the Stone demands a sacrifice."
"Of what?"
"Gamora," the three spies whispered in unison at the same time as the movie.
"In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love." Thanos turned to Red Skull. "A soul… for a soul."
Thanos turned back to the cliff. Meanwhile, everyone's hearts stopped. They knew what would happen. Nothing could deny the horror that spiked within each one as every indication—dialogue, set-up and sudden lack of music—gave it away. And remorse filled the Earth-based heroes as Gamora started laughing and shaking her head.
"All my life, I dreamed of a day, a moment," it briefly cut to Thanos's empty face. ", when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed." Back to Gamora walking around. "But now, you kill and torture and you call it mercy. The universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize and it told you no. You failed."
No one bothered to say anything. The silence amongst the viewers was deafening and if you walked in, you wouldn't be immediately aware that there were people in the theatre.
"And do you wanna know why?" Gamora's voice called out. "Because you love nothing. No one."
"No…" Thanos turned around after a couple of seconds.
"Really? Tears?"
And then Red Skull confirmed the dreaded feeling everyone had like he was dragging them across mud. "They're not for him."
Gamora turned to the former leader of Hydra, her slight joyous face turning into one of horror. After a moment, Thanos walked forward while Gamora backtracked, keeping an even distance from the killer.
"No. This isn't love."
At least she knows. Everyone thought, not daring to say it out loud.
"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again," Thanos said. "Even for you."
Quickly, with only a moments hesitation, Gamora grabbed the double-bladed knife from Thanos's side, opened it and went to stab herself. But the sound of it dissolving reached the viewers before they could feel relieved. Bubbles rose from Gamora's shaky open hands like some sort of sick joke. She looked up, crying, knowing that these were her last moments.
"I'm sorry little one," Thanos said, anguish displayed across his face.
Music drowned out the sounds but Gamora's screams pierced through. Peter and Shuri looked away, facing their respective family. They had witnessed the deaths of loved ones (though Shuri was lucky in that T'Challa hadn't actually died), while everyone turned away from the screen. Even though all but two had only "meet" Gamora within the movie, they still felt as though they knew her, that she would be a… friend.
Rocket and Quill, try as they might, could not look away. They watched as she struggled, helplessly fighting off the titan until finally, Thanos threw her off the cliff's edge. As she fell, they turned away, praying that even if she were to die, that Gamora was right and that her sacrifice would not be enough for the Soul Stone to be granted to Thanos.
No one noticed her reaching out, nor the drowned out scream of "dad". A couple did look back to the screen and noticed the clouds shimmering with light as they pooled together before creating a black, silent screen.
Feeling that it was over, they all looked back just as it showed Thanos getting out of water. A little confused at first before horror and dread came from everyone as Thanos looked across from the Gauntlet to his empty hand, where an orange glow emitted. Thanos held it up and the Soul Stone shined bright.
It's being used. Stephen unconsciously noticed as he was used to the Time Stone always glowing when being used and the same happening to the other Stones.
A moment went by with the viewers being almost shocked out as the scene changed.
A/N: I love this chapter. I've been looking forward to it for ages and I hope I delivered! In all honesty, I'd watched Infinity War many times before writing this story and I kind of became desensitised from this scene but now I feel really... I don't know, upset(?) at this scene, so I tried to put that as the reactions to Gamora's death.
Also, in case you're wondering why Peter wondered Red Skull was Darth Maul, that was pretty much my first thought when he appeared when I first watched the movie.
Guest review responses:
(1) Guest: So have I! Again, I really hope this chapter gave the reactions we've all been waiting for.
(2) Guest: Understandable as it is a great moment for Thanos' character (though I personally think his moment explaining what happened on Titan and stuff is his).
Shiranai Atsune: To be honest, I'm not really good at the fight scenes with reactions but yeah, I can't wait to write the ending.
SpideyGal: Thank you and here you go!
And finally, again, thank you to all those who've followed, favourited and/or reviewed.