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Chapter 2- Attack from all fronts

Tony and Pepper were walking together in Central Park, talking about having a baby.

That was when an orange glowing portal opened and out walked Doctor Strange, startling the both of them.

"Tony Stark." Strange said, "I need you to come with me."

He then said to them both. "Congratulations on the wedding by the way."

"Strange?" Tony asked, gathering his wits. "What're you doing here?"

"We need your help." He said, "It's not overselling to say that the fate of the Universe is at stake."

"Who's "we"?" Tony asked.

And then Bruce Banner walked out of the portal, startling Tony and Pepper.

"Hey, Tony." He said.

"Bruce." Tony greeted

"Pepper." He greeted her.

"Hi." She said, shocked by how he looked as he staggered towards the three.

"You okay?" Tony asked as Bruce hugged him while Pepper watched in concern.

Tony sat in the New York Sanctum as Wong explained, "At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then... Boom."

His magic showed the Big Bang happening and the projections of Infinity Stones appeared as he said, "The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals... hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence.

"Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind."

Each projection glowed as Strange said their names.

"And Time." Strange said as the Time Stone glowed in the Eye of Agamotto.

"Tell me his name again." Tony said.

"Thanos." Bruce told him, the fear in his voice clear, "He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York, that's him."

"This is it." Tony whispered to himself before asking, "What's our timeline?"

"No telling. He already has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe. If he gets his hands on all six Stones, Tony…" Bruce said.

"He could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of." Dr. Strange finished.

"Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?" Tony asked, leaning on a cauldron.

"Are you seriously leaning on the cauldron of the Cosmos?" Strange asked as the Cloak of Levitation whacked Tony's hand, making him pull it away.

Tony looked at Strange incredulously and said. "I am going to allow that."

He was quiet for a moment, then gestured to the Eye of Agamotto.

"If Thanos needs all six, why don't we stick this one down the garbage disposal?" He asked.

"No can do", Strange shook his head.

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives." Wong said firmly.

"And I swore off dairy. But then, Ben and Jerry's named a flavor after me." Tony said sarcastically.

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts. A bit chalky." Strange said. Tony looked at him like he was a bit offended.

"A Hunk of Hulk of Burning Fudge is our favorite." Wong added.

"That's a thing?" Bruce asked in confusion.

"The point is, things change." Tony said.

"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. And this Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos." Strange said.

"Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us." Tony shot back.

"Well, if we don't do our jobs." Strange replied.

"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?" Tony asked.

Strange smirked before saying, "Protecting your reality, douchebag."

Tony glared at being roasted by Strange again as Bruce said. "Alright, guys. Can we table this discussion right now? The fact is that we have this Stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone. And we have to find him now."

"Yeah, that's the thing." Tony muttered, drawing a "Huh?" from Bruce. Tony looked at Bruce and said, "A few days ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline."

"What? Tony, you've lost another super bot?" Bruce asked in exasperation.

"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving." Tony protested.

"Who could find Vision, then?" Strange asked.

Tony looked off into the distance.

"Shit." He cursed before saying, "Probably Steve Rogers."

"Well, call him." Bruce said, "Thor's gone, Tony!"

Tony took a few steps away, turned away from the others, and pulled out the flip phone that Steve had sent him. He had never used it once. Rhodes had but he hadn't.

He flipped it open, grumbling about it being a flip phone, then searched for Steve's contact. He found it, then was about to hit the call button, when suddenly, he heard something. He turned around and saw the others looking confused. Tony looked right at Strange, and saw some of his hair blowing a bit as if in a slight breeze.

"Say, doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair now, would you?" Tony asked.

"Not at the moment, no." Strange said.

Suddenly, the sound of wind grew louder. Looking up at the hole in the roof that Bruce's arrival caused, they saw some rubble being blown around. The four turned towards the door, and could see and hear people running past the door in fear. After a moment, Tony started walking towards the door to find out what was going on.

He opened the door and looked around to see people were running around in terror as dust and debris flew around. One woman fell right near him and he helped her up as a car crashed into a pole near him. Bruce and Wong helped the people in the car as Tony put on his glasses.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., what am I looking at?" He asked his A.I.

"Not sure." FRIDAY said, "I'm working on it."

"Hey!" Tony said as he turned around to face Strange, "You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"

"Might wanna use it." Strange said as he summoned Eldritch Magic.

Tony avoided some flying debris from the other street and walked on it with Strange as dust flew around heavily, his glasses protecting his eyes. A huge, circular spaceship was floating over Bleecker Street.

"FRIDAY, evac anyone south of 43rd Street. Notify first responders." Tony commanded.

"Will do." FRIDAY responded.

Strange used a spell known as the Winds of Watoomb, firing Eldritch energy at the entire Bleecker Street, clearing it of dust and debris.

Strange winked at Tony as he smirked in amusement.

Then a beam shot down from the ship and Ebony Maw appeared, along with the 12 foot tall child of Thanos. He was called Cull Obsidian.

As Tony, Strange, Bruce and Wong stopped in front of the two, Ebony Maw announced, "Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful... that your meaningless lives are now contributing..."

"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today." Tony cut him off, "You better pack it up and get outta here."

"Stonekeeper." Ebony Maw turned to Strange, ignoring Tony in an attempt to infuriate him, "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"

"Certainly not." Strange said as he and Wong summoned Tao Mandalas, "I speak for myself."

"And I'm guessing you're Thanos' chattering animal." Tony smirked, infuriating him.

"You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Strange told them both.

"He means get lost, Squidward." Tony said as he smirked.

"He exhausts me." Maw told Cull, "Bring me the stone."

Cull started marching towards the five with his hammer as Tony asked Bruce, "Banner, you want a piece?"

"Mmm, no, not really." Bruce said before muttering, "But when do I ever get what I want?"

"That's right." Tony agreed.

"Okay. Push!" Bruce said his neck turned green.

"It's been a while." Tony said, "It's gonna be good to have you, buddy."

"Okay. Shh." Bruce said, "Let me just... I need to concentrate here for a second. Come on, come on, man."

His neck was a faint green now but it wasn't progressing, "God!"

"Where's your guy?" Tony asked him.

"I don't know. We've sorta been having a thing." Bruce said to their shock. Cull had shattered a car and was marching closer to them now.

"It's no time for a thing." Tony said Bruce as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I know." Bruce said.

Tony pointed at the marching Cull, "That's the thing right there. Let's go."

Bruce screamed loudly, trying to transform again as his face and neck turned green but he failed as the other four shot him looks.

"Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the Wizards." Tony said as he sighed sadly.

"Tony, I'm sorry." Bruce apologized, "Either I can't or he won't."

"It's okay." Tony said gently, "Hey, stand down."

He looked to Wong, "Keep an eye on him." Wong nodded. "Thank you."

"I have him." Wong said.

"Damn it." Bruce muttered as Wong stepped in front of him protectively.

As Cull charged, Tony pulled two strings attached to him and tapped his chestpiece twice as he walked forwards. The suit started forming around him slowly, the armor encasing him. Tony took off his glasses which assimilated into the suit and soon, he stood there in Iron Man Armor: Mark L.

Tony formed a shield and blocked Cull's hammer before uppercutting him back and then formed Cluster Cannons, blasting Cull back as Maw telekinetically threw him to a side to save himself.

"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asked in total awe.

"It's nanotech." Tony said, "You like it? A little something I..."

He was cut off when Maw produced a spike from Earth which threw him up.

Maw attacked the rest with uprooted trees as Wong summoned the Shield of the Seraphim for defense.

"Doctor Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." Strange opened a portal and Bruce fell into it for his own safety as half of a cab fell over him.

Strange was about to do something when Tony flew back in and pushed a car Maw had thrown back at him which he split into two by raising his hand.

"Gotta get that Stone outta here, now." Tony said as he turned to Strange.

"It stays with me." Strange said firmly.

"Exactly. Bye." Tony said as he flew. Maw threw obstacles at him but Tony flew around to avoid. But then Cull threw his chain hammer and it crashed Tony through a building into the park where Bruce was.

"Tony, you okay?" Bruce asked as he ran up to the downed Tony, "How we doing? Good? Bad?"

"Really, really good. Really good." Tony said sarcastically as he got up, "Do you plan on helping out?"

"I'm trying. He won't come out." Bruce said.

Cull then burst through a building and threw his claw hammer again as Tony flew Bruce out of harm's way, "Hammer."

Tony then fired repulsors at Cull who transformed his hammer into a shield to block it.

The deflected beam cut off a tree which would have fallen on Bruce had he not barely avoided.

"Come on, Hulk!" He started slapping himself, "What are you doing to me? Come out! Come out! Come out!"

His face suddenly transformed into Hulk and roared, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

He then transformed back into normal and collapsed to the ground in shock at what had just happened, "What do you mean, "no"?"

Tony fired beams and missiles at Cull who blocked and smashed him to the ground with his hammer, sending him down.

Cull was going to bring it down again but Tony rolled away in time and fired some beams at Cull, flying around, and Cull hurled a car at him which he avoided before turning his hands into battering rams and brought them down on Cull, throwing him down again.

During this time, another intense duel was taking place.

Maw lifted up several bricks telekinetically and turning them into sharp points, fired at Strange and Wong.

Strange and Wong opened portals to defend themselves, and then boomeranged the points back at Maw who defended himself with a car but his face was still hit by one, forming a cut.

But Maw wasn't one to give up so easily. Using his telekinetic powers, he used a broken fire hydrant's stream to throw both Wong back, knocking him out temporarily.

Strange wrapped Maw in an Eldritch whip and pulled him towards himself but Maw grabbed him and pinned him to a building, trapping him with bricks.

"Your powers are quaint. You must be popular with children." Maw mocked as he tried to take the Eye of Agamotto but instead his hand got burnt, making him gasp in pain.

"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable." Strange told him.

"Then I'll take it off your corpse." Maw said as he threw Strange down. Strange to up and was about to use the Time Stone when utility cables restrained him tightly.

"You'll find removing a dead man's spell troublesome." Strange said, the tight cables making it hard to speak.

"You'll only wish you were dead." Maw said as Strange was thrown down and the tight cables managed to knock him out.

Maw then raised the pavement to take Strange away but the Cloak of Levitation flew him off.

"No!" Maw yelled angrily.

Tony was blocking all of Cull's blows with his shield when Strange flew past them.

"Well crap", Tony muttered as he flew back to avoid another strike from Cull and flying up, fired multiple times at him, but was trapped in the claw hammer and thrown down.

Cull then produced a blade and leapt at Tony when a portal opened in the way and he was thrown into Antarctica through it.

He tried to jump back up but Wong closed the portal, cutting off his hand in the process.

"Whoa!" Bruce said, startled and kicked the hand away, "Ugh."

"Wong, you're invited to my wedding." He said to Wong.

He then flew up towards the ship, "Give me a little juice, FRIDAY."

The foot thrusters transformed into a larger jet and he flew up at full speed.

He then eventually reached the ship and used his laser to open a hole as he flew inside when FRIDAY said. "Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts."

Tony picked up as a panicking Pepper said from the other end, "Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Tony told her, "I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res."

"Why?" Pepper asked.

"Just 'cause I'll probably not make it back for a while." Tony told her.

"Tell me you're not on that ship." Pepper said desperately.

"Yeah." Tony muttered.

"God, no, please tell me you're not on the ship." Pepper said again.

"Honey, I'm sorry." Tony said apologetically as he opened his visor to look at the ship's mechanism, "I'm sorry, I don't know what to say."

"Come back here, Tony." Pepper begged, "I swear to God."

"Pep-"

"Come back here right now. Come back."

"Boss, we're losing her."

"I'm going too." Pepper said as the call was cut.

Bruce picked up Tony's fallen flip phone and turned to see Wong in a portal.

"Where you going?" Bruce asked.

"The Time Stone's been taken." Wong said, "The Sanctum remains unguarded. We Mystics must spread the word to our other allies. What will you do?"

"I'm gonna make a call." Bruce said.

Wong nodded and closed the portal.

A war had just begun now.

Night time, Edinburgh, Scotland

Wanda Maximoff and Vision held hands and walked the streets of Edinburgh. The android had learnt to muster a human form whenever out in public to avoid any stares from passers-by. The two had started doing this a few months ago due to their feelings for each other.

Some time ago, the Mind Stone in Vision's forehead had flared and he had said it had been going on for quite some time.

"So there's a 10:00 a.m. to Glasgow...which would give us more time together before you went back." Wanda told him.

"What if I miss that train?" He asked her.

"There's an 11:00." She supplied, not getting what he was trying to say.

"What if I missed all the trains?" He asked as she turned to him, "What if this time I didn't go back?"

"But you gave Stark your word." She reminded him.

"I'd rather give it to you." He told her.

While she liked him, she still felt he didn't understand all aspects of human behavior.

"Well, there are people who are expecting me too, you know." She reminded him. Clint, Steve, Natasha, Sam and now Bucky and Logan were all family, "We both made promises."

"Not to each other." He said as he put his hands on her shoulders, "Wanda. For two years, we've stolen these moments...trying to see if this could work and...I don't know."

He shook his head and said, "You know what, I'm just gonna speak for myself. I think...It works."

"It works." She assured with a nod, "It works."

"Stay." He requested, "Stay with me."

Wanda was conflicted at this point and Vision stepped back, realizing his mistake, "Or not. If I'm overstepping..."

Then Wanda's gaze was drawn to the TV behind Vision and he turned to look at it too. They watched the news which showed footage of Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian along with a photo of Tony Stark which said 'missing.'

"What are they?" Wanda asked in shock as Vision started stepping back.

"What the Stone was warning me about." He said, "I have to go."

"No, Vision." Wanda urged as he looked at her, "Vision, if that's true, then maybe going isn't the best idea."

Vision started, "Wanda, I..."

He was suddenly cut off as a blade protruded from his stomach and he was lifted into the air, returning to his real form.

"VISION!" Wanda screamed as she put her hands on her mouth.

It was Corvus Glaive. He flung Vision away and he painfully landed on the ground. Wanda was about to attack him when a blast hit her from behind and she was flung off, knocked across the street into a window.

She got up to see Midnight had pinned Vision under her boot as Glaive was extracting the Mind Stone from his forehead while the android yelled in agony. She charged two hex blasts and fired, knocking them both back.

She then grabbed Vision with telekinesis and propelled them both into the air, soaring over a building to another street. She landed on the ground as Vision tumbled and she swiftly brought him to her.

She helped him behind a pillar and they hid as he said, "The blade, it stopped me from phasing."

"Is that even possible?" She asked.

"It isn't supposed to be. My systems are failing." He said as she used her powers of molecular manipulation to seal the wound at least, "I'm beginning to think we should have stayed in bed."

The two chuckled as Glaive appeared and knocked Wanda aside, "Vis!"

Vision angrily grabbed Glaive and flew them both up, slamming into several walls. Midnight landed down on the ground and tried to attack Wanda who took cover behind a pillar before using her powers to defend herself. While she was far more powerful, she had been caught off-guard and Midnight was far superior in hand-to-hand.

Glaive pinned Vision against a wall and said, "Give up the Stone, and she lives."

Then suddenly a blast of magic hit Glaive hard, sending him crashing down into Midnight as both rolled away.

Growling, they looked up to see Rupert Giles standing there in a trench coat, looking at them seriously as Wanda watched in shock, and Vision flew down next to her, still in pain.

"I'd like to test that theory."

Who doesn't love Giles' "I'd like to test that theory"? I don't think there's anyone who doesn't.

I did the New York fight since I wanted to do it without Peter here, and while I liked him in IW, him not being in Space wouldn't really change the plot, I'm sure Tony, Strange and the Guardians can manage without him.

Again, I really dislike the Wanda/Vision pairing with a passion but had to do it here *sighs* But it won't be any different from what was in the film.

Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!