Tony didn't even have time to blink before they were thrown back by the huge explosion that was the sword collapsing the activated tunnel. They all went flying in different directions as the blast hit and Tony winced as he made harsh contact with the ground, lying there stunned for a moment. He coughed as his lungs desperately tried to pull air back into them.

Finally getting control of his breathing, although with still ringing ears from how close he had been to the blast, Tony slowly got up and painstakingly threw an alien off of where it had fallen on top of him. Every single muscle in his body was stiff, seemingly not wanting to work after all the hits it had taken in the last few hours alone.

Staggering slightly, Tony squinted through the dust milling about the air. The only person he could see was the one who was right next to the tunnel at the time of the explosion, who had crashed into a huge chunk of debris and now lay motionless with dust sprinkled through her short blonde hair. Carol.

Smacking his head gently with his palm, he tried to get the ringing in his ears to stop, but paused with his hand halfway to his head as his vision focused on something in front of him. The gauntlet was laying five feet in front of Tony, perfectly intact. Lunging to grab it despite the pain of his body, Tony realized Thanos had appeared out of nowhere and was doing the same. Knowing Thanos would get there first, he diverted his attack and instead went charging right into the giant. He slammed into Thanos and swore his bones rattled from how solid the Titan was. Easily overpowering him, Thanos spun around and sent Tony slamming into the ground where he lay dazed once again.

Woozy from the many blows he had taken in such a short amount of time, he blinked black spots out of his eyes. As they faded, he managed to make out a hazy rendering of Thor, the god taking on Thanos alone. He must have passed Valkyrie on his way as he now had Stormbreaker in his hands once again. Somehow the god managed to get him in a sort of arm lock, pinning Thanos' arms together with the help of Stormbreaker and Mjolnir as it flew in to join the battle. Knowing that he couldn't hold him like that forever, Tony was relieved when Steve appeared from behind and jumped on Thanos' back, wrapping his arms around the giant's thick neck. Even the power of a super soldier and a god couldn't withhold Thanos' raw strength alone, however, and the Titan easily disabled Thor with a simple headbutt before turning around to fling Steve to the ground. There, he got on top of Steve and gave him one swift but powerful punch to the head, leaving him unconscious.

Tony knew at that moment that they weren't going to win if they continued on this path. No one could overthrow Thanos without the stones. At this rate they would never defeat him. With a heavy heart, he made the decision that if things seemed to not be going their way, he would have no choice but to use the gauntlet himself. He knew the risks that came along with that plan, what the snap had done to Bruce, but it was their only other option. Someone needed to wield the gauntlet and Tony knew it had to be him. He was ready to put his life on the line to save his friends and his family. Every single person in this battle was fighting to survive and they all deserved to come out alive. If he could sacrifice only his life to make that happen, he was going to do it.

With his plan confirmed in his mind, he tried to get up from where he was still laying on the ground, his body not wanting to cooperate, when Thanos went to grab the now unguarded gauntlet. Before he could do anything with it, Carol came flying in out of nowhere and began battling Thanos. She wouldn't be able to hold him over forever though, so Tony willed his body up, dragging himself back to his feet with his sights set on helping her.

Looking around to survey his surroundings, he was momentarily distracted by Doctor Strange who was crouched behind a jagged piece of scaffolding. A wordless message went between them as Strange mysteriously held up one finger which reaffirmed Tony as to what he had to do now. One in fourteen million they'd win and Tony was going to make sure that it happened. He was ready. Spotting Peter and the rest of the Titan crew assemble behind Strange, he was confident that this time they would do it right this time.

Thanos finally overpowered Carol and sent her flying, placing the gauntlet on his hand as soon as it was free from her grasp. Thinking that he had finally won, he stood tall above all of them and prepared to snap. What he didn't know was that Tony had just sent out a piece of tech that he had upgraded since their first fight with Thanos. It was no bigger than a golf ball and moved so silently and swiftly that anyone not paying attention wouldn't see it. It crawled, spider-like, across the ground and up Thanos' leg where it came to rest on the gauntlet, expanding to its full size, all without Thanos realizing as he was too focused on giving his final speech.

"You all knew this day was coming. I conquered you once and I'll continue to do it until you bow down and accept your fate. I am... inevitable."

With that, he snapped his fingers, or tried to at least, as in reality nothing happened. Tony's tech had done its job in preventing Thanos from being able to move his hand. Before Thanos could even understand what had gone wrong, Tony intervened.

"And I. Don't. Care." he said pointedly as he moved into position. "Kid, now!"

In a flurry of motion, Quill, Strange, Peter, Mantis, Drax, and to Tony's surprise Nebula, all got to work on version two of their original plan to get the gauntlet away from Thanos. He was surprised that Nebula had volunteered to help, but also touched that he seemed to have made a good impression on her during their time stuck in space. He could see the surprised looks on the Guardian's faces as well, most especially Quill, who seemed confused as to why Nebula had actually volunteered to help them out in any way.

Turning away from their battle with Thanos, Tony hurriedly made his way over to where Steve was still laying on the ground. As he approached, he could see that Steve was now awake and struggling to get up.

"Hey, here let me help," he urged as he extended his hand and helped pull Steve to his feet.

"Thanks," came the weary reply. He could tell that Thanos' punch had really done a number on him, but Tony knew he had to get Steve on board with his plan, he needed him and Thor in order to execute his ultimate move against Thanos.

"Listen, Steve, I need you and Thor to cover Team Titan here for me in case something starts to go south, it's really important. It won't be long now." He spoke with certitude, he needed to know that Steve understood.

Steve gave him a hard look in return. "What are you talking about Tony? What are you going to do?" The concern was palpable in his tone. He clearly knew that Tony was up to something.

"It doesn't matter."

His response didn't seem to ease Steve in the slightest, who was now looking thoroughly concerned.

"Tony- whatever you're going to do, there's got to be another way."

"Steve, please, trust me on this one. There is no other way." Tony knew it had to be done and he wasn't turning back now. Seeing Peter fighting so hard to win, along with the other Avengers, was proof enough to why he had to do this. He couldn't let them down again.

Steve still seemed concerned with the finality in Tony's words, but all he said was, "Okay, Tony. I trust you."

He had no doubt in his mind that Steve would keep his word, so he set off back to where Peter and the others were still fighting Thanos vigilantly. They almost had him locked in the same position as five years earlier and he knew his moment was coming. He was about to make the final play, the ultimate sacrifice.

"There!" he heard Peter yell and snapped his gaze back to Thanos. They had done it. Thanos was kneeling on the ground, his face and body seemingly frozen. His right arm was being secured by Doctor strange and his feet by Peter's webbing and Drax holding them down while Mantis was back sitting on top of his neck, using her powers to put him in a trance so they could remove the gauntlet from his left hand. Knowing that there was no turning back, Tony could feel the stress rising in him, but also a sense of calm knowing it would be all over soon.

That didn't stop him from giving one last jab at Quill though.

"No sudden movements, Star head!" he called as he quickly walked past the Guardian who had his gun trained on Thanos in case anything went wrong.

"Yeah, I know," came the muttered response.

Reaching for Thanos' arm, Tony spared one last look around the battlefield. To his relief, Steve had stood by his word and, alongside Thor, was keeping the army at bay while Team Titan held Thanos in place. With resolve in his heart, Tony gripped the gauntlet tightly and called out for Peter to help him.

"Pete! Come help me get this thing off before he wakes up!"

The kid leapt from where he was standing off to the side to help Tony, "Yup!"

Peter joined him in pulling the Gauntlet from Thanos, their combined effort slipping the metal glove loose bit by painstaking bit.

"No…" they heard Thanos mutter, unable to do anything else as Mantis held onto the strings of his mind.

They continued to pull harder and harder until they finally felt the gauntlet begin to give. Desperate to get it off, they gave another big tug, but felt some resistance. Thanos was waking up.

Just as Tony was about to order Peter to pull as hard as he could, a noise sounded off to their right. Squidward had appeared once again. Tony thought he was going to attack them, but instead he asked the same question as earlier, more frantically than before.

"Sire! Shall we commence phase two?!"

"Do… it…" came Thanos' hoarse reply.

Suddenly the ship above them came to life. A great whirring sound began to fill the air and they could hear the many mechanical squeals as multiple somethings were being locked into place. In the brief moment that everyone was focused on the new threat in the sky, Tony and Peter gave one more final tug and the gauntlet came free, sending Tony and Peter flying backwards.

It worked. We did it, he thought in astonishment.

Everyone suddenly seemed to understand what happened. Tony quickly got up and stood there, clutching the gauntlet in his hands. He could see the shocked faces of Steve, Thor, the Guardians and even Peter as he too got up from where he had been flung. Just as he began sliding it on, however, all hell broke loose.

They finally found out what phase two was. Thanos was raining fire down at everyone on the ground, including his own troops, in a last ditch effort to stop the Avengers.

Before the gauntlet could be properly fitted, he heard Steve yell out, "Incoming!" and something struck Tony's side, the impact sending him flying several meters away. Pain wracked his body as Tony hit the ground with a force so strong it felt like he had just been hit by a car. Something exploded not far away from where he last stood, launching dirt and bodies everywhere.

Tony could faintly hear many more blasts of energy hitting the ground, his ears only picking up their distant echoes and his vision shifting in and out of focus. Not knowing whether the fall had left him paralyzed, much like what happened to Rhodey after Vision's beam had blown him from the sky, Tony experimentally shifted his limbs. The stabs of pain that rippled through his body made him simultaneously groan from the hurt and sigh in relief, grateful he could still feel something.

Vehemently wiggling his fingers at the discovery, Tony froze as a question donned on him: Did I even have the gauntlet on? Though some sensation had remained in his body, enough to make movement possible, he couldn't tell if the metal glove had secured itself to his hand. Tony shook his head-no, it was almost on before the explosion. He had to have it on.

He had known that it would come down to this, that it had to be him to finish the job after the gauntlet had been removed from Thanos. Even five years ago on Titan, Tony anticipated the moment that he would give his life for the universe, stop the threat he had seen coming since that portal opened in 2012 and brought devastation down on New York. However, he had not been ready to feel the weight of all he was about to give up. Everything he had gained in this life was so very precious to him: his daughter and surrogate sons, his wife, all the other people whom he held most dear. If he did this, he would never get to see them again.

When his parents died, Tony had been left feeling truly and thoroughly alone. Even though his mother had been the only one to show him open and unconditional love, he'd felt both their absences like a crater through the middle of his heart, one that he thought could never be filled. Never did he think that he'd find them again, in Pepper, Rhodey, Peter... and Steve Rogers of all people.

Knowing that these people actually reciprocate his feelings and had been in this fight alongside him, right up until the end, made Tony's weary heart sigh in content. He would give anything for them to live long and happy lives, even if it meant he couldn't be a part of them. He knew what he had to do, and in that moment, he knew he had the strength to do it. The endgame had finally arrived; he could rest now.

Cradling the image of his new family in his mind's eye, their smiling faces filling his heart to the brim, Tony resolutely raised his right hand and brought his thumb and middle finger together.

Whatever it takes.

And with that final thought, Tony Stark closed his eyes, and snapped.