- This update might seem a little boring to some of you as most events play out like they did in the film.
Take your time reading.
...
"Careful, it's hot."
Peter set a bowl of chicken noodle soup down on the table but Tony didn't seem to be listening. The weakened billionare was bound in a wheelchair with an IV stand beside him. Shortly after he woke up, Captain America told him about their battle against Thanos in Wakanda and now he was doing his best to process all the details in his mind.
"It's been twenty three days since Thanos came to Earth." Rhodey said.
The table Tony sat at was projecting a holographic display of all the fellow Avengers and their allies who perished from Thanos's misuse of the Infinity Stones. When the images of Wanda and Maria showed up on screen, Spidey gazed at them longingly with sad eyes. Jessica placed her hand on his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. Carol's lip quivered a little when she saw Fury's picture amongst the profiles of the deceased.
"World Governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census." Natasha informed. "...And it looks like he did exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures."
Tony looked to Steve. "...Where is he now? Where?"
"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through."
Stark let out a sigh before he pushed himself closer to the table. His eyes turned to the right and noticed Thor sitting in the next room with a forlorn expression on his face.
"What's wrong with him?" He asked, pointing at the God of Thunder.
Rocket's voice piped up. "Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed."
Tony stared at the talking raccoon in slight disbelief.
"...Which, of course, he did but there's a lot of that going around, ain't there?"
"Honestly until this exact second...I thought you were a Build-A-Bear."
Jessica snorted out of amusement and leaned in closer to Peter's ear. "That's better than what Carol and I call him."
The young Spider quietly chuckled. As for Rocket, he didn't know what a Build-A-Bear was but the raccoon decided to just roll with it.
"Maybe I am."
"...And who are you?" Tony asked, addressing the raven haired woman standing beside his intern.
"The name's Jessica Jones. I'm a private detective and an old friend of Peter's."
"Kid?"
Peter nodded. "It's okay. I've known Jessica for a long time. She's here to help us."
"Oh, that's good. But it's a little late now though, don't you think?"
"Hey...take it easy. There was no way she could've known what was happening, Mr. Stark."
Steve cleared his throat to get things back on track. "We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep space scans and satellites and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."
Tony looked at the super soldier as though he'd grown a third eye. "Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleeker Street magician gave away the store. That's what happened."
"Okay..."
"There was no fight because he's not beatable."
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Cap asked.
Tony just sputtered negatively to that. Natasha sighed at the way Stark was acting...she knew he was being difficult because of the issues that were still unresolved between him and Steve.
"I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision." Tony mumbled. "I didn't want to believe it...thought I was dreaming."
Cap stood up. "Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus."
"And I needed you. As in, past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late, buddy. Sorry."
Stark took a whiff of his soup before he abruptly pushed it aside.
"You know what I need? I need a shave..." He said, rising from his wheelchair.
Tony then pulled the catheter out of his wrist and turned to look at his intern for a moment. "You weren't here back then, kid...but I remember telling all of them that what we needed was a suit of armor around the world, remember? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not, that's what we needed."
Cap sighed. "Well, that didn't work out. Did it?"
"I said we'd lose. You said we'll do that together too and guess what, Cap? We lost and you weren't there."
Rhodey attempted to get Tony to sit back down but his best friend wasn't done talking yet. "But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers. Not the Pre-vengers, right?"
"Okay. You made your point. Just sit down, okay?" Rhodey said.
"No, no. Here's my point..." Tony trailed off as he turned his attention to Captain Marvel. "She's great by the way. We need you, you're new blood. Bunch of tired old mules."
"Alright, just sit back down."
Carol looked at Tony, uncertain about how to respond. The billionaire was starting to get delirious at this point and Peter went to help Rhodey put him back into the wheelchair. Stark moved away before they could get close and marched towards Captain America.
"I got nothing for you, Cap. I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero, zip, nada. No trust, liar."
Tony then ripped off the nanite reactor off his chest and spitefully placed into Steve's hand. "Here, take this. You find him, you put that on...you hide."
A shaky breath escaped Stark's lips before he suddenly collapsed on one knee.
"Tony!" Cap called out, kneeling down to help.
"I-I'm fine. Let me..." Tony muttered before he finally lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Peter knelt down by the unconscious Ironman's side and lifted him up carefully. Rhodey moved to call Banner down while Carol helped the webslinger move Tony to an empty bed in the other room. Steve just stood where he was, staring at the nanite arc reactor in his hand with a heavy heart.
…
Rhodey removed Tony's glasses off his sleeping face and set them aside on the table. After giving Pepper a reassuring nod, he left the room so she could watch over her husband in peace. Natasha, Steve, and Carol were waiting out in the hall.
"Bruce gave him a sedative." He informed. "He's gonna probably be out for the rest of the day."
"Well, you guys take care of him...and I'll bring him an Xorrian elixir when I come back." Carol said before she turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" Steve asked.
Her response was one that took everyone by surprise.
"...To kill Thanos."
Peter raised his eyes a little. He knew Carol was strong but even someone like her would be hard pressed to kill the mad Titan by herself. After all, Thor was roughly equal to her in power and he barely survived his first battle against Thanos. Black Widow shared a concerned look with Cap before she moved to catch up with Carol.
"Hey." She called out. Captain Marvel stopped and turned around to face her. "You know we usually work as a team here and between you and I...morale's a little fragile."
"We realize up there's more your territory but this is our fight too." Steve added.
Rhodey leaned against the doorway with his arms folded. "You even know where he is?"
"I know people who might." Carol said.
"Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is."
All eyes turned to Nebula, who was standing near the door. Neither of them realized she had been there the whole time. Captain America walked up to the blue alien woman with a serious look on his face.
"...Show us."
Nebula nodded and motioned for Rocket to come give her a hand. The raccoon typed away on the computer as she told him which system and planet her 'father' was hiding out on. The rest of the Avengers gathered around the table and watched them work. Thor was busy munching away on some food at another table nearby but he paid close attention to everything that was happening.
"Thanos spent a long time trying to 'perfect' me and when he worked, he talked about his great plan." She muttered. Memories of her nightmarish past played out in her head. "Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd asked where would we go once his plan was complete? And his answer was always the same...to the Garden."
Rhodey scoffed. "That's cute. Thanos has a retirement plan."
"So where is he then?" Steve asked.
Rocket Raccoon pulled up a holographic image of Earth. "When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions, no one's ever seen anything like it."
He then scrolled the map to another part of the galaxy and a different celestial body showed up on screen. "Until two days ago, on this planet..."
"Thanos is there." Nebula confirmed.
Black Widow took a better look at the energy readings. They were disturbingly similar to that of Earth's from a month ago. "He used the stones again."
Banner let out a nervous chuckle. "Hey, hey, hey. We'd be going in shorthanded, y'know?"
"Look, he's still got the stones so..." Rhodey muttered.
"So let's get them." Carol suggested. "Use them to bring everyone back."
"Just like that?"
Steve found himself agreeing with her. "Yeah. Just like that."
"Even if there's a small chance we can do this, I mean we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try." Natasha said, glancing at everyone.
Bruce still wasn't convinced. "If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end up any differently than before?"
"Because before you didn't have me." Captain Marvel stated boldly.
War Machine gave her an incredulous look. "Hey, new girl? Everyone here is about that superhero life...and if you don't mind my asking, where the hell have you been all this time?"
"There are a lot of other planets in the universe...and unfortunately, they didn't have you guys."
Colonel Rhodes grudgingly admitted that it was a good point on Carol's part and held back from saying anything else. Thor rose from his seat before he began to walk towards Captain Marvel with an unreadable look on his face. Like most of the others, Peter wondered what was going on through the God of Thunder's mind. He'd been unusually quiet ever since his sister sent him back here from New Asgard.
Raising his right arm, there was a soft rumbling noise as Stormbreaker flew past her from behind and into his hand. Carol didn't so much as flinch and she only gave a small challenging smirk.
Thor set his hammer down handle first and nodded approvingly at her lack of fear. "I like this one."
While Natasha and Peter just looked amused at what just happened, Captain America never took his eyes off the holographic image of the planet that Thanos was supposedly hiding on. He knew this was the only chance they'd have to bring everybody back.
"...Let's go get this son of a bitch." He said.
…
The Benatar could only hold a certain amount of people so not everyone came along on this desperate mission. For obvious reasons, Ironman wasn't able to go. Jessica decided to stay behind as well so she could help Darcy watch over Pepper and Tony. Spider-Man made the suggestion of bringing Hela along too. Aside from Thor and Carol, she was one of the most powerful individuals on their side. The God of Thunder declined the idea though, saying that she was busy with the important task of building a new home for the Asgardian refugees.
He insisted that it was his responsibility to make things right and swore to kill Thanos himself once they reclaimed the Infinity Stones.
Most of the Avengers sat in the cockpit while Peter and Bucky made themselves comfortable in the back. The White Wolf was busy inspecting all the parts of his rifle to ensure the weapon was in working condition. When they heard Nebula say the ship was about to jump, the two of them tightened their seatbelts and braced themselves. Everyone could feel the ship rocking a bit as it traveled through a wormhole towards their destination.
Spidey could almost hear his heart pounding away in his chest. He was feeling both a little nervous and anxious at the same time. It wasn't the idea of fighting Thanos again that scared the young Spider...after all, he had already gone toe to toe with him in Wakanda. No, what unnerved him was the scary possibility of being unable to save everyone even after they took the Infinity Gauntlet.
Taking a deep breath, Peter forced himself to calm down...losing his cool definitely wasn't going to help at all.
The Benatar finally exited the wormhole and re-entered normal space. Just a short distance away in front was the planet that Thanos was hiding on. Carol opened the hatch doors and exited the ship.
"I'll head down for recon." She said, looking back at the others.
Peter activated his comms. "Watch yourself down there."
"I will. Be back in a bit."
The others went to gather their gear and prepared themselves for a tough battle. Banner went down to the lower deck to prepare the Hulk-Buster suit he had brought along. Even after a month, the Hulk was refusing to come out at all. Rhodey ran a simple diagnostics check on his armor while Natasha used the ship's scanners to see what the topography of the planet was like. Pulling an antique watch from his pocket, Steve stared longingly at the small picture of Peggy Carter inside.
"...This is going to work, Steve." The Black Widow said.
"I know it is." Captain America muttered before he put away the watch and turned to look at her. "...Because I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't."
Peter slapped his web-shooters back onto his wrists and loaded them with fresh web cartridges. Thor was sitting beside him, mumbling a quiet Asgardian prayer. The God of Thunder wanted nothing more than to just fly down to the planet and put an end to Thanos already. They needed to force the mad Titan to reveal where the Infinity Gauntlet was first though. The golden comet that was Captain Marvel flew back to their position twenty minutes later.
Steve spoke into his communicator. "Danvers, how does it look down there?"
"No satellites. No ships. No armies. No ground defences of any kind." She revealed, looking very confused. "...It's just him."
That caught most of them off guard...with the exception of Thor, who didn't seem to care.
"Are you sure?" Natasha asked.
Carol nodded. "I double-checked the area just to be certain. There's nothing around his hut except for a garden."
Nebula didn't see what the problem was. If there was nothing getting in their way to Thanos, they should just take it. She didn't know it but Thor and War Machine shared the same sentiment.
"Then that's enough." Nebula said.
All that was left now was to come up with a plan of attack.
…
Thanos set the pot of soup over the fire before he sat down. The left side of his face was horribly scarred, as was his left arm. Bringing balance to the universe had come at a terrible cost but he felt it was worth it. Now life would be able to thrive without having to worry about the lack of basic resources. As Thanos stared at the small fire, there was something creaking near the doorway. The mad Titan looked up for a moment before a golden blast of energy shot through the walls of his hut.
He raised the mangled Infinity Gauntlet to block the blast but Captain Marvel suddenly flew in and booted Thanos in the face. He was a little dazed but quickly put up his guard again. Unbeknownst to the Titan, Spider-Man had been holding onto Carol when she flew in and let go just before she attacked. Blinding Thanos in the eyes with a shot of webbing, Peter drove a hard dropkick into the mad Titan's groin while he was blinded.
"That was for Wanda and Maria, you son of a bitch."
Thanos collapsed down to one knee as intense stings of pain assaulted the nerves in his lower extremities. He ripped the webbing off his eyes with his good hand but Carol quickly wrapped her arms around Thanos's neck and held him down with a strong chokehold. She kicked down the arm wearing the gauntlet with her right leg. The foundations of the hut shook before Banner suddenly burst up from the ground, wearing the Hulk-Buster suit. He grabbed the Titan's left arm while War Machine landed and held down his other arm.
Thanos struggled to break himself free but then the God of Thunder crashed through the roof and with one powerful swing, used Stormbreaker to chop off his left arm.
"Aauuggh!"
The Infinity Gauntlet fell to the floor with a loud thud. Captain America, Bucky and Black Widow entered the hut a second later with Rocket and Nebula right behind them. The White Wolf aimed his rifle at Thanos's head while Rocket went to the gauntlet and flipped it over...only to discover the stones were no longer there.
"Oh no..." He muttered out of horror.
Steve looked over at the empty gauntlet before he turned his attention back to Thanos. "Where are they?"
He didn't answer at first and glared at the super soldier in defiance. Captain Marvel tightened her grip around Thanos's neck, nearly making him suffocate.
"Answer the question." She said threateningly.
"Ngh...the universe required correction." He uttered. "After that, the stones served no purpose beyond temptation."
In a fit of rage, Bruce pushed him down to the floor. "You murdered trillions!"
"You should be grateful-ugh!" Thanos said before a large metal fist decked his face.
Natasha quickly figured out the fate of the Infinity Stones but she didn't want to believe it. "Where are the stones?"
His response was one that gave them all a feeling of despair. "Gone. Reduced to atoms."
"You used them two days ago!"
"I used the stones to destroy the stones." Thanos weakly revealed. "It nearly killed me...but the work is done, it always will be. I am inevitable."
War Machine was doing his best not to panic as he looked around the room. "We have to tear this place apart. H-he has to be lying."
Spider-Man believed that as well but then Nebula said something that unintentionally shut their hopes down.
"My father is many things. A liar is not one of them."
Thanos looked up at her with a hint of appreciation. "Oh...thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly."
The second he finished saying that, Thor swiftly decapitated the mad Titan. His head fell to the floor and rolled around before it stopped in front of Nebula. A bit of his blood splashed onto her face.
Rocket turned to Thor in disbelief. "What did you do?"
"...I went for the head." The God of Thunder muttered before he wandered out of the hut.
Nebula knelt down to her father's detached head and closed his dead eyes. Captain America and Banner just stared at the ground in defeat. Unable to accept that they've lost for good, Bucky and Rhodey began to tear the hut apart in a vain effort to find the stones. Captain Marvel and the Black Widow stood still, paralyzed with grief as they struggled to keep themselves from breaking down into a sobbing mess.
With tears running down his face behind the mask, Peter pulled Natasha in for a gentle embrace. Her arms held onto him with a firm grip as she finally allowed herself to mourn for the loved ones that were never coming back.
...
- As tough as Thanos is, I'm pretty sure getting struck in the groin would still hurt him.
- It'll take some time before the next chapter is released. The holidays are over and I've gone back to work again. Rest assured I'll be working on this as often as possible. See you all next time.