Chapter 41: Steve
It took several seconds for Steve's vision to recover after the explosion slammed him into the side of a truck. When he could see clearly, Thanos had jumped down from his chariot and was striding purposefully towards Tony, who was beginning to get up from the ground.
The Titan grabbed the smaller man and picked him up as if he weighed nothing, then threw Tony against the side of a building with enough force to crack the concrete. Iron Man's Arc Reactor flickered, and he crumpled to the sidewalk without a sound.
Anger and fear for his friend gave Steve the strength he needed to stand. In one swift movement he threw his shield at Thanos' head, but the Titan deflected it off his armguard.
Steve caught the shield and slid it onto his arm, charging forward with a yell. He leapt up and swung the vibranium edge at Thanos' throat.
The muscles in his shoulder screamed as Thanos grabbed the edge of the shield and used Steve's own momentum to throw him to the side. He twisted in mid-air and hit the ground on his back, the shield still held firmly in Thanos' grasp.
Then the Titan brought his booted foot down hard on Steve's shield arm. The bone in his forearm gave way with a sickening crack, and Steve yelled at the pain, blinded by it for a moment.
Thanos leaned down over him, his heel grinding against the broken arm so that Steve gasped at the agony. "Did you think you could win?" he asked. "You are the greatest heroes in the galaxy … but you are no match for me, for the power I possess."
He leaned in closer, his voice a low growl that Steve barely heard above his own shaky breathing. "You will lose everything. And the universe will be mine."
"Well," said a cocky voice, "we can't have that."
Thanos straightened immediately, but before he could do anything, Tony – barely sitting up straight at the base of the building he'd been thrown against – raised the Gauntlet and clenched his fist.
A beam of pure energy shot upwards and hit the Mothership. There was a second of silence, and then the ship exploded, the roar of it drowning out Thanos' shout of rage. Debris rained down over the city as chariots and Leviathans fell out of the sky – dead before they hit the ground.
Tony shot a tired smile Steve's way as he lowered his hand. "Killer jewelry, Thanos."
Thanos growled softly, enraged.
Steve watched, barely breathing, as Tony went to aim the Gauntlet at the Titan. But Thanos moved first. He snatched up a large chunk of concrete and hurled it at Tony. The projectile clipped the side of his head and he sagged backwards, his eyes rolling up in his head.
Thanos chuckled, a sound that felt horribly at odds with Steve's desire to throw up. He strode over to the unconscious – Steve desperately hoped unconscious – Tony and tore the Gauntlet off his arm. Then he slid it onto his own hand slowly, savoring the moment.
"Finally," the Titan breathed.
So this is how it ends, Steve realized. And a split second later he knew he couldn't die lying helplessly at Thanos' feet. He wouldn't.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Steve staggered to his feet and faced the Titan. His broken arm hung at his side, still strapped to his shield.
An amused smile slid onto Thanos' face. "Still trying to fight?" he asked. Then his tone darkened. "You know you're going to die."
Steve nodded, forcing himself to speak past the pain. "Yeah. But I'll make it count."
"Huh." Thanos raised the Gauntlet and fired all six Stones in one concentrated blast of energy.
At the same moment, Steve raised his shield to block the blast, bracing his broken arm with the good one. The impact almost threw him off his feet, but for a brief moment the vibranium shield held, and the beam of light shot back the way it had come.
Thanos' eyes widened as the blast hit the Gauntlet.
And then the Stones exploded.
Steve shut his eyes against the blinding white light as his shield shattered. And then he was falling, and everything was fading into nothing, and he knew only one thing.
We did it.
AN: If you're wondering why Thanos didn't use the Gauntlet to do a Snap, the answer is that in this reality that either isn't one of the things it can do, or Thanos doesn't know how to do it. XD