Chapter 32: Tony
Tony strode across the flight deck towards the Benatar, his fingers unconsciously tapping out an 80's beat against his thigh.
The Guardians were moving hastily around their ship, doing whatever last-minute checks were required before taking the craft into battle, Tony guessed. No one knew when Thanos might show up, which was why Tony was taking the opportunity to do something he should have done earlier.
He stepped up to the ship and, seeing no sign of Quill, gave a tap on the doorframe. "Knock, knock," he called.
Quill appeared in the doorway seconds later, holstering one of his blasters. "Hey, man. What's up?"
"I wanted to check if you guys needed anything here," Tony replied.
Quill shrugged. "I think we're pretty good."
Tony nodded. "I also wanted to thank you for saving my life out there in space," he added seriously.
Quill waved aside the thanks, but couldn't quite hide his pleased smile. "It wasn't a big deal," he said.
"Well, thanks anyway." Then Tony couldn't help adding, "Just do me one favor, okay? When this is over, buy Rocket some flea treatment."
Quill grinned and Tony turned away to the sound of Rocket's, "Flea what?"
He had only gone a few steps when a sudden massive shadow fell over the flight deck, throwing the front of the Tower into shade.
Tony knew ever before he turned around that Thanos had arrived. But he hadn't expected the two ships the Mad Titan brought with him to be so huge, or to appear so soon, moving slowly over the city towards Avengers Tower.
Slowly, he reached up and activated his earpiece, opening the comm line to the rest of the team. "Hey, Cap," he began, "party's at our place after all, and the guests have just arrived."
"They're early," Steve's voice replied grimly. "Let's not keep them waiting."
Minutes later the full team joined Tony on the flight deck, suited up for battle and grim-faced. Clint and Wilson were there too, having gotten out of hospital mere minutes before thanks to the healing stones Steve had brought with him from Asgard. Together the team stepped up to the deck's edge and waited, staring out at the ships.
The nearest craft, which was also the largest, stopped several blocks away, and a set of massive bay-type doors opened in the front, like a row of teeth parting in a snarl. Out of the maw a large shape emerged – a Leviathan moving with almost whale-like movements towards the Tower.
On the alien creature's back, just behind the head, a tall figure stood, clad in golden armor. A gauntlet of gold glinted on the figure's left fist.
"Thanos," Gamora breathed.
Tony barely looked away from the sight as he asked Fury, "You warned the police?"
"I did." Fury sounded as tense as Tony felt.
The sound of sirens and car horns rose up from the streets below, as panicked civilians fled the city's second alien invasion in four years. Tony could only hope they'd get out in time.
Thanos halted his Leviathan several yards in front of the flight deck. Tony watched as the Titan drew a deep breath, as if smelling something delicious. "The Stones are here," Thanos said. "I thank you for making my job easier."
Tony performed a mocking bow. "You're welcome!"
Thanos eyed him coolly. "Laugh all you want," he said. "After all, this is your last chance. By the end of this day, all of you will be dead."
"Then why have you come to chat?" Quill demanded.
Thanos smiled. "I am here to offer you a choice. Surrender the Stones to me now and you will be the only ones to die. Oppose me and I will level this city."
Gamora turned to Steve and Tony. "He'll destroy it anyway," she hissed. "He knows no mercy."
Tony looked back out at the Titan. "Your daughter reckons you'll put this place lower than level anyway," he said bluntly.
"Perhaps," Thanos allowed. "It won't matter to you either way."
"We're not gonna give up the Stones, Thanos," Steve said firmly.
"Though we hate to disappoint you," Tony added.
Thanos regarded them for a long moment, as if assessing their determination. "Very well," he said at last. And he held up a clenched fist.
The doors of the second spaceship opened, and eight new Leviathans poured out, heading for different parts of the city.
Tony felt his heart sink at the sight.
"Time to go," Steve said beside him.
"Okay," Tony commanded JARVIS. "Deploy."
His suit flew out of the tower and wrapped itself around him, encasing his body in its protective shell, turning him into Iron Man.
"Hey, Clint," Tony said, "why don't you try shooting Thanos' eye out? That could be good."
Barton smiled without humor. "It'd be my honor." He drew an arrow and fired at Thanos with lightning speed.
The Titan raised his Gauntlet-clad fist and blasted the arrow out of the sky with a beam of blinding energy.
Inside his suit, Tony blinked. "Well, the mitten works. JARVIS, send out the Iron Legion."
"Yes, sir," JARVIS replied. "What is the mission, if I may ask?"
"Get the civilians out and stop any Chitauri from reaching the ground."
"Yes, sir."
A door opened in the side of the Tower and sixty Iron Legionnaires flew out. Seven flew towards each of the eight Leviathans. The remaining four landed on the flight deck.
Tony turned to the others. "Marvel, Miss Foster, Hill, Pepper, and Fury, you go with them," he ordered, gesturing to the Legionnaires. "Help with the evac. Everyone else team up and keep the Stones separate."
Fury and the others left, catching rides from the Legionnaires while Marvel flew. As Tony turned away from watching them leave, a warning light flashed to life on his HUD. He spun in time to see Thanos aiming the Gauntlet at the remainders of the team.
Before anyone could react, Nebula leapt off the edge of the flight deck onto Thanos' Leviathan, stabbing with her two energy-swords as she landed on the creature. The blades bit deep into a gap in the Leviathan's armor.
The Leviathan jerked violently at the sudden attack and Thanos was thrown off his feet.
"Nebula!" Gamora dashed to the edge of the deck, but the Leviathan was already moving away out of reach. Quill grabbed Gamora's arm to stop her trying to jump after her sister, pulling her back from the edge.
"Let's go, people!" Clint yelled. "Come on! Nat, push Banner off before he gets hurt."
Banner spun to face the archer so fast Tony was sure it must have cracked something in his neck. "What?"
Natasha strode forward. "See you down there, Big Guy," she told Banner, then unceremoniously shoved him off the deck.
He dropped like a stone, his shocked scream turning into a deafening roar as the Hulk made his appearance. Tony smiled as the green giant landed on his feet with enough force to crack the street, ready to fight.
Beside Tony, Natasha let out a nervous breath, activating her earpiece. "Okay, Banner," she said. "Ready to play catch?" Then she stepped off the edge and fell.
Tony almost didn't want to watch, but he did, and was relieved to see Hulk catch Natasha and set her down gently.
Hawkeye turned to Loki, smirking. "Your turn."
Loki backed up a step, away from the edge. "You cannot expect me to trust my life with that cre–"
That was as far as he got before Barton pushed him over the edge with a simple, "Actually, I do."
Below, Hulk caught Loki perfectly, then seemed to realize who he'd saved, and promptly dumped the Asgardian onto the ground with a snort, leaving a miffed Loki to pick himself up.
Hawkeye chuckled, yelled, "Heads up!" to Hulk, and jumped.
Steve turned to the others. "Bucky, Sam, you're with me. Tony–"
"I've found a day job," Tony finished for him.
Cap nodded. "Right. Thor, you and the twins. Go!"
Pietro grabbed Wanda, and the pair shot inside as Thor and Falcon took to the sky – the latter giving Barnes a lift. Then it was just Steve and Tony standing side by side on the flight deck, looking out over the city.
Steve took a breath. "You know," he said simply, "this could be goodbye."
Tony nodded. "I know."
And though it was the truth, neither of them said the words. Instead, Steve turned to reenter the Tower, and Tony took to the air, heading towards Thanos' Leviathan.
Thanos had got to his feet, and as Tony approached the Titan faced Nebula, balancing on the moving alien's back. "I always said you were too eager," Thanos told Nebula, raising the Gauntlet to aim at her. "Now you'll die alone."
Not on my watch, Tony thought, and he fired a repulsor blast at the metal glove, knocking Thanos' aim down. "She's not alone," he told Thanos firmly as he swooped down. Then he blasted the Titan in the chest.
Thanos staggered backwards under the unexpected attack, and Nebula darted forward, slashing at him with her swords.
Thanos dodged the first blow and blocked the second with the Gauntlet. Then he knocked Nebula back with his fist and made a hand signal.
Three Chitauri chariots flew out of the Mothership and sped towards Tony, cutting him off from the Leviathan fight, circling him like hornets.
"Great," Tony muttered between clenched teeth. He dodged the aliens' attacks, catching glimpses of the rest of the battle as he ducked and swerved and fired back. The Benatar had taken off from the Tower flight deck and was firing upon a Leviathan a couple of blocks away. Thor was taking on another one near the Chrysler Building – or at least Tony assumed that was what was happening there. It was either that or a highly-localized lightning storm had struck Manhattan.
The Legionnaires were doing an admirable job. As Chitauri tried to rappel down from their host Leviathans, the suits took them out, aided by Hawkeye's arrows and Falcon's guns. Steve and Barnes had joined the twins and Fury in handling any aliens that made it to the streets.
Something hard glanced off of Tony's armor and he grunted, thrown slightly off course. Focus! he chided himself. He had his own battle to fight here instead of watching his friends'. Nebula needed serious help.
With a tight turn, Tony narrowly avoided two of the chariots and felt a swell of satisfaction as they collided. He spun in midair and trained his mini-missiles at the remaining craft, blasting it out of the sky. Then he shot after Thanos' Leviathan as fast as he could fly.
The battle on the creature's back was hardly even. Nebula's blades didn't stand much of a chance against the Titan's armor, but Tony had to admire the speed with which the cyborg delivered her blows and recovered from her adoptive father's hits.
As Tony watched, Thanos grabbed one of Nebula's blades in his gloved hand and tore it from her grip mid-swing. But even as he tossed the weapon aside, Nebula sank her other sword deep into the Titan's thigh. Thanos roared in pain and anger.
For a moment, Tony felt a surge of hope.
But then Thanos smashed Nebula backwards with his fist and she crumpled to the Leviathans back. "I turned you into a perfect killer and this is how you repay me?" Thanos demanded. He moved towards Nebula as she struggled to rise.
"You took everything from me!" she yelled at him.
Thanos stopped in front of Nebula and picked her up by the throat, holding her out over the side of the Leviathan as she struggled futilely to free herself. "No," he said simply. "Now I've taken everything from you."
And he dropped her.
Tony felt his stomach lurch sickeningly. "No!" he yelled, but it was too late. He was too far away to save Nebula as she plummeted towards the concrete ground so terribly far below. He shut his eyes seconds before she hit the ground.
Tony surged towards Thanos and delivered two repulsor blasts to the Titan's chest just as he turned towards Tony.
The hits threw Thanos off balance and he staggered back, throwing out his arms to try and steady himself.
Tony soared in and grabbed the outstretched Gauntlet in both his hands, then reversed thrust, pushing away the Titan as he fell backward off the Leviathan. The Gauntlet came off and Thanos fell, catching hold of a Chitauri chariot as it swooped by several feet below the creature.
Tony felt a cold anger as he landed beside Nebula's broken body on the sidewalk, raising his visor to stare grimly at the mess of twisted metal and broken flesh. He knew she was gone, but a small, hopeful part of him wondered if maybe – just maybe – he couldn't put her back together again.
He shook the fantasy aside with a whispered, "I'm sorry," and slid the Gauntlet overtop of his armored left hand. His suit locked onto the foreign piece of tech, holding it snugly in place.
They had the Gauntlet.
But what a price.
"Hey, Cap, I got the Gauntlet," Tony said into his radio. His voice lacked any enthusiasm at the news. He couldn't mention Nebula. Not right now.
"Great!" Steve's voice replied into his ear, tense from whatever was going on at his end of the comm.
"Yeah," Tony whispered. "J, how'd you reckon this thing is used?" He turned the Gauntlet around, clenching his fist and willing something to happen. The Gauntlet's two Stones – orange and green – lit up. A sudden blast of energy ripped the head off the Leviathan above him.
"Like that, Sir," JARVIS said.
"Yeah, got that." Tony's gaze moved from the falling beast to the new swarms of Chitauri joining the battle from the Mothership. With a last glance at Nebula, he took to the sky once more.