Chapter 14:
Right after the explosion, all the villains we thought we had killed or subdued were rejuvenated.
"Shit!" I said and started firing my repulsor sat anyone who got to close.
"Barely any of us can fight, people are gonna die!" Peter said as he whipped Mysterio back into the crevice.
"We have to try! Sacrifice is part of war!" Steve said and blocked a barrage of bullets from Crossbones.
"I'm going for Thanos." I said.
"Tony, you can't go by yourself." Steve said and grabbed my wrist.
I turned around.
"Let me do this Steve, it's my fault all of this is happening, this is my chance to right the wrongs." I said, and my mask retracted.
Tony looked me in the eyes, and backed off when he knew I was serious.
He pulled me into a hug.
"Good luck Tony." He said as we pulled away.
"You too Steve, tell Pepper I love her." I said, activated my mask and flew off.
As I flew over the city, I saw all the heroes who could fight, and even the police and military were fighting Thanos' goons.
I kept flying over towards where the explosion came from.
Eventually, the sky started to turn red, the ground below me turning all rocky and brown.
I landed just on the outskirts of the city.
It was strange, I could see where the blue sky and desert ended, and the jagged rocks and red sky began. I could see planets, moons, meteors.
I started walking forward.
"Friday, scan for life forms." I said, my arms raised as I cautiously walked forward.
I saw the blue scan go over my immediate surroundings, and continued scanning as I walked.
As I walked past a weird crystal formation, Friday activated.
"Sir, those crystals..." I walked over to them and looked inside.
There were people, suspended inside the crystal.
"What the-"
"I see you like my decorations." A voice said from behind me.
I turned around and there he was.
Thanos.
"I thought I'd liven the place up, for when I kill you and conquer it." He said.
He was at least 10 feet tall, and huge, towering over me, even though my knee Destroyer mark armour made me 7 feet tall.
"Thought you'd be bigger." I said and walked up to him.
He chuckled.
"And who do you think you are to stand against me?" He said, mid-laugh.
I smirked under my mask.
"Names Tony Stark, the biggest asshole on Earth and bonafide son of a bitch. Also, the biggest pain in the ass you'll ever meet." I said.
While he looked at me with a confused expression, I took my chance.
I punched him across the face as hard as I could, using the boosters in my arms to accelerate the punch and give it even more force.
I wasted no time as he stumbled backwards, firing my repulsors into his stomach, burning a hole in his armour.
I then flew up into the air and dropped down, landing right on his head.
As he was still reeling from the other hits, I kicked him in the stomach, knocking him over.
He got on his knees and spat out a tooth. He then smiled, and started to laugh.
"At least someone on this planet will prove to be a challenge." He said as he stood up.
He started walking over to me, throwing a punch towards the right side of my face.
I tried to block it but he was too strong.
It sent me flying a good 20 feet.
"Sir, he could destroy the suit in seconds if he keeps hitting you!" Friday said.
"You think I don't know that?" I said and grimaced.
I stood up just as he arrived in front of me.
I tried to punch him in the stomach, but he grabbed my arm and threw me behind him, another 20 feet.
I skid across the ground.
"Jesus your a tough son of a-" I started to say but he jumped and landed right in front of me, sending me sliding back a few feet.
"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you can't put up a fight." He said as he walked towards me.
I screamed and flew into the air, shot a wrist rocket and watched in satisfaction as the explosion covered him.
What I didn't realize was that it did nothing.
I looked in shock as he brushed himself off, stuck out his hand with the glowing gold gauntlet, and pulled me down to the ground, without even grabbing me.
I hit the ground so hard it left a crater.
"Argh!"
"You could at least try." He said and threw me into a rock.
"Suit integrity at 40% sir!" Friday said.
"Jeez, what am I supposed to do?" I said.
I couldn't beat him by myself. The least I could do was hold him off while everyone else regrouped.
I flew towards him as fast as I could and hit him in the face.
He stumbled backwards, holding the side of his face.
I then kicked him in the stomach, and fired my repulsors and uni-beam into him, keeping him moving backwards.
I then flew back towards him and punched him, before jumping back when he tried to hit me.
"You know you are going to die right?" He said and cracked his knuckles.
I closed my eyes, and though of everyone I was fighting for.
Steve
Peter
Clint
Bruce
Thor
Wanda
Natasha
Everyone on Earth
Pepper.
I opened my eyes and breathed in deeply.
I balled my hands into fists.
"I know I'm going to die, but I'm going to die for my friends." I said.
He scoffed.
"So be it. Your last words will be the most cliché line in history." He said and ran at me.
I blocked his first punch and fired my repulsor into his stomach. He immediately retaliated and kicked me back. I then punched him in the face, but he kicked me back again.
I ran at him and tried to punch him but he caught my fist and lifted me up.
"Well Mr. Stark, it's been fun." He said and punched me in the face 8 times as hard as he could.
I hung there limp in his arms, my body and face battered, bloody and bruised.
"Suit integrity at 15%, mask integrity at 1%." Friday informed me.
I couldn't even bring myself to say anything.
Time went slow.
I saw him winding his fist back. I held my breath.
"I win." He said with a devilish smile.
I closed my eyes, and breathed in.
I could feel his fist moving closer, with every passing second.
I exhaled.
I knew what was happening, and I smiled.
His fist inched towards my face, getting slower and slower, his smile turning into a face of shock.
His fist stopped an inch from my face, and I hit his arm off of me.
I dropped to the ground, barely being able to stand.
I looked behind me, and saw who I thought I'd see.
Doctor Stephen Strange, with Steve Rogers, Peter Quill and Peter Parker.
Steve walked over to me and picked me up.
"I can only keep this up for so long." Strange said in a strained voice.
"You guys have to let me finish him off, I almost had him." I said.
"Beginning internalized repairs, suit integrity at 16%" Friday said.
"You clearly did Tony." Steve said.
I looked at them.
"Seriously, this is my fight, you guys have to help in the city." I said.
"Tony, you'll die." Peter said.
"I know, but I have to do this." I said and looked at the ground.
"Tony-" Peter started to say but Steve cut him off.
"Let him go Parker."
Peter looked down at the ground.
"Go! Help out in the city." I said and waved them off.
As they ran back I prepared myself for what was about to come.
I'm not making it outta this.
Slowly Thanos started moving again, I quickly got a few hits and blasts in, hopefully weakening him.
He smiled, but he was starting to show signs of being hurt.
"Still by yourself? You'll die a fool." He said.
I smirked under my mask.
Maybe I would die a fool, but I'd take him with me.
I flew up into air as he started running at me, and I prepared for the hardest, and last fight, of my life.
Steve POV:
I ran back into the city and saw most of the villains had been cleaned up.
"We have to get everyone away from here, if Tony does what I think he's going to do." I said.
"Right lets go then." Quill said.
"Lets split up, Parker with me, Quill with Strange, find any heroes tell them the plan. Get civilians outta here!" I said and we all moved out.
God I hope we do this in time.
Suddenly my phone rang. I stopped and looked at it.
"Who is it?" Peter asked.
"Sharon." I said and answered.
"STEVE WHAT THE F* ARE YOU DOING?!?" An enraged and worried Sharon said over the phone.
"Look hun', I can't talk, I'm trying to evacuate a city while Tony kills a galactic over Lord." I said.
"Steve, if you don't die there I'm going to kill you when you come home!" She said.
"Love you Sharon."
"Love you Steve, be careful."
"Will do, I'll see you soon."
I hung up.
Peter just looked at me.
"Wish Michelle would call and see how I was." He muttered and swung off ahead of me.
I smiled and ran off after him.
He was a good kid, if he died on my watch I'd never forgive myself, which may be one of the reasons Tony wanted us to go.
I just hope Tony knows what he's doing.
Tony POV:
I flew back from a punch, sliding on my back and leaving a crater.
"Shit, that's gonna leave a mark..."
"Give up now, you can't win." Thanos said.
"That's where you're wrong big guy, I can win, you haven't seen my secret weapon yet." I said and stood up.
"Veronica, lend me a hand, or a whole suit. Bring in the Hulkbuster mark 2." I said.
It was made out of the same material as my Destroyer armour, but reinforced with vibrabium and 30x as tanky.
Suddenly I felt the large suit of armour form around me, increasing my height to a staggering 13 feet.
"Welcome sir." The voice of the suits AI, Veronica said.
The secondary HUD activated and I smiled.
"My turn to bring the pain." I said and unleashed a flurry of attacks on Thanos, knocking him to the ground and beating him into a crater in the ground.
He was bleeding, and his nose was broken.
"You have put up quite a fight, more than anyone else, but a new suit won't do anything." He said and got up.
I blocked his next flurry of attack, before slapping him and knocking him to the ground.
I pointed a large repulsor at him.
"Stand down, final warning." I said.
He stood up and smiled.
"Not a chance!" He said and ran at me.
I blocked his first punch but his second connected, shattering the Hulkbuster helmet.
He then grabbed the centre of the suit, and with a newfound strength, tore it in half and kicked me to the ground.
He then punched me in the face so hard, he shattered my mask and sent me flying.
He walked over to me, wiping the blood from his nose, and picked me up.
"It's official, you've impressed me, but I still have to kill you, as much as it would please me to see you live." He said.
He then dropped me an I fell on my knees.
"Your planet, it can be better than it is. New, strong, my new domain."
"I don't even have to kill everyone. Just anyone who opposes me."
I slowly started to get up.
"And of course, you and your super friends would have to die too."
I then tapped his shoulder.
"Surprise!"
I punched him in the face, mustering every last ounce of strength inside me and using up the last of the fuel in the arm thruster.
He fell backwards and I picked him up.
I started flying up as fast as I could.
"There's no coming back from this, this time you'll die." I thought to myself as I flew up.
Thanos didn't even fight it.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" I didn't respond, I just kept flying up.
"You're lucky to have such a beautiful planet."
As we reached the edge of the atmosphere, I was struggling to breathe.
I ignored the pain and kept flying.
"You'll die too you know?" Thanos said.
Once we reached space, and I couldn't breathe anymore, threw him as hard as I could into his own ship.
He hit the ship just as I launched very missile, repulsor blast and bullet I had at it.
The ship exploded and started raining debris, and I knew he was dead.
I tried to fly down but my repulsors were broken.
I didn't panic.
I looked down on the Earth, and smiled.
"He's right, it is beautiful." I thought, just before everything went black.