My apologies... this chapter took a lot longer than I thought it would.

As I said in the last update, I was having problems with work and getting the permission required to go into 12 weeks 'Shielding' to protect me from Covid-19 since I am an extremely vulnerable person due to transplant and being on immune-suppression drugs. The good news is, is that it is all sorted now. So, I am now at home for the foreseeable future, not allowed to leave the house at all, apart from to go into the garden for fresh air and exercise. It also means I have a lot of time on my hands to write. Now that work is sorted out, I should be able to write a lot in a short space of time. Weekly updates should resume from this Sunday.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Chapter Thirty-One

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Wednesday 8th August 2018

Sanctuary II

Secondary Command Chamber

Tony had been dragged, securely bound, to another Command Chamber. Thanos had walked behind him, using the device on his wrist to ensure Tony's own powers remained suppressed. Carol and Wanda had been left behind. They remained out-cold in their own glass prisons, unable to escape. Gas had been pumped into their prisons, rendering them unconscious.

This Control Chamber was located right in the very centre of the ship, opposed to the main Command Chamber they had been captured in. This specific room was cool and dark, most of the consoles were in sleep mode, but on the other side of the room, a machine stood tall, constructed against the wall. Right in the centre of the machine were four cuffs adjacent to one another.

"This machine was built specifically for you," Thanos explained. "You have taken all the Infinity Stones and absorbed them. You hold the powers of the universe, the very ones I require to balance the universe. I could kill you in the hope the Stones are released from you but it is a risk I cannot take in case they hide again from me. Their destiny is with me, not with a weak human like yourself."

Tony refused to answer. Thanos didn't deserve one. If the Stones had merged with him, he was far more worthy than the Titan ever could be. He couldn't escape from the bonds and he knew he wouldn't be able to free himself with his suit. The Arc Reactor had been removed from him, leaving him defenceless and without his suit. His powers were suppressed by Thanos' device and the Titan was staying as close to him as possible to reinforce the block on Tony's powers.

The Chitauri dragging him along the floor hauled him up high, pressing him against the wall of the device. The cuffs slid down from the centre of the machine. One wrist was freed and though he tried to struggle he was stopped, and his hand was forced into the cuff above his head. The same for his other hand and his feet until he was securely bound.

The wall slid back up and Tony was suspended in the centre of the machine.

Thanos held his wrist up, still blocking Tony's powers. "This device is designed to drain you of your powers, to lock onto the energy signature the Stones emit. You see that Gauntlet there –" He pointed towards a Gauntlet situated on the other side of the room, directly in the line of where Tony was positioned, "- the Stones should become fully formed within it, allowing me to use the Stones to my will. You will be the conductor I need to channel them. This machine should drain you of your powers, whether they remove them completely or not remains to be seen, but the principle is simple. You'll still be the one to help me save the universe."

Tony glared at his enemy as he hung in the machine.

Thanos moved to a control console. "There is just one more thing I need to do." He pulled a lever down and something dropped onto Tony's head, encasing his skull tightly. "This will continue to block your usage of your abilities. Now, shall we begin?"

"I'd rather not," noted Tony. He knew this was going to hurt. He hoped Thanos had miscalculated and the Stones powers could not be drained from him. But Thanos had been quiet for a few months now, and he'd spent time forming a plan, one that was very likely to work. "Have you ever considered you could be wrong?"

Thanos' hand hovered over the controls. "Wrong about what?"

"Your way of trying to save the universe. Murdering billions of people is wrong. Why can you not save it in a way that preserves life?" asked Tony, knowing it was futile to appeal to Thanos. The Titan had already made up his mind.

"There is no way to preserve all life in the universe. There are simply not enough resources to sustain the levels of life we have now," continued Thanos. "The only way is balance. Removing half of all life brings the universe into balance."

Tony would have shaken his head if he'd been able to. "No, it doesn't. Taking away half of all life removes half of the resources too." Earth had struggled during the five years. Half the population hadn't just vanished, half the animals, half the trees and plants… half the resources were gone in an instant. He suspected Thanos had never known what he'd done, simply believing he'd done the right thing and only removed half of the population of the universe. "I lived through it before. Don't make the same mistakes as you did before! It's not too late."

Trying to appeal to Thanos' better nature was unlikely to work but it was something he figured he could attempt. Thanos knew he was from the future.

"Who says I'm planning on killing half of all life?" Thanos mused out loud. "I meant to but you gave me knowledge, Stark. Knowledge, I have studied and used to decide what my best course of action is."

Shit…

"Your memories have shown me there will always be resistance. There will always be those who seek to defy the will of the Universe."

Tony snorted. "The will of the Universe? What you're doing is the will of the Universe is it?"

"I am saving it," stated Thanos. "The Universe will realise this."

Tony raised his eyebrows. Thanos was… deluded. He thought he knew better than the Universe? That he could teach it a new way, that he could impose his own will upon it?

"The Universe will be reborn. I will remake it in my own image. A life worth living." A twisted grin crossed the Titan's face. "Now, shall we begin?"

Seconds later, Tony was screaming.

Pym Residence

San Francisco

She'd decided not to call ahead as Natasha hadn't wanted Hank Pym to vanish when they required his help. Or rather the help of Scott Lang and Hank's daughter, Hope. But Natasha knew, considering what they wanted their help with, it was likely Hank might stand in their way, and so Natasha had not come alone to meet them.

Pepper landed beside her, the Rescue suit retracted back into its Arc Reactor, as Natasha's did the same. The fastest method of transport to get to San Francisco had been to use the Iron Man suits. They'd crossed America in record time. They could have asked Doctor Strange to portal them across but he'd briefly returned to Bleeker Street and had been unavailable.

Still, the flight over had given Pepper a bit more experience with the suit. No doubt she'd be fighting with it soon, especially once they freed Tony. None of them was naïve in thinking they would be safe from Thanos' anger. Once Tony was free and able to use his powers again, Pepper would become his target. Trying to keep her safe would be impossible. No doubt Thanos had the advanced technology to find anyone on the planet, no matter where they hid.

"This the place?" Pepper enquired, looking up at the house which looked out of place on the modern street. It was an old mansion. "They moved, didn't they?"

Natasha nodded. "The house wasn't originally on this street. Hank Pym likes to move around… Help keeps his enemies away. Not entirely sure how he gets away with moving an entire house from the neighbourhood." She tilted her head to the side. "Though, I believe, it isn't something he does on a regular basis. I believe this house has been on this street for a while now."

"Just seems very out of place," noted Pepper.

They stepped up to the gates. There was an intercom attached to the side and Natasha pressed the button located at the bottom.

A crispy voice echoed over it. "Who is it?"

"Natasha Romanoff and Pepper Potts-Stark to see Hank Pym," replied Natasha. She wasn't expecting a warm welcome. The Pym's and the Stark's had never got on well. "We need to talk to him on urgent business."

There was silence from the other end.

"Must be checking," winced Pepper. "I always intended on trying to get a deal between Pym and Stark Industries but I hadn't got around to putting an offer forward. Wish I had now."

The same crispy voice echoed back over the intercom. "You may proceed."

The gates opened and Natasha and Pepper walked through. The gates closed behind them and they walked up the driveway to the front door. On the doorstep stood a young woman, her hair tied behind her and her arms folded over her chest.

"He doesn't want to see either of you," she said quietly.

Natasha recognised her as Hope van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym. "But he will?"

"Depends on what you've come to say," shrugged Hope.

Pepper stepped forward. "We need your help."

"Father will love this," mused Hope. "Follow me. He's in his study."

Natasha followed Hope with Pepper at the back. They walked down a corridor, turned right into the lounge, passed through it, and then into another corridor, down a set of steps into the basement where Hank Pym was waiting for them. Beside him was his wife, Janet, who had been rescued from the Quantum Realm a few months ago, though her return hadn't been widely announced. Nat had been aware of this from before, assuming the same events had unfolded, though Scott wouldn't have been on the run from the law this time around.

"I wondered how soon you would come to me for help," said Hank, leaning back in his chair.

Natasha spied Scott leaning against the opposite wall. "The world stands on the tip of an iceberg. We can either drown with it or rise with it. You know what is happening above New York. You know there is an alien force above us, who has the power to destroy us. But we can still win this, but to do so, we need your help. Specifically, Scott and Hope."

"Why us?" asked Hope.

"Because you're small enough to sneak onboard the spaceship and free our friends," explained Pepper. "I know the Pym's and the Stark's have never gotten on but Tony will owe you if you can help him."

"You want us to help rescue a Stark?" Hank pulled a face. His expression was a clear indication of how he felt about that.

"We need him," replied Natasha, gritting her teeth. "The Universe depends on him."

"I'm sure the Universe can survive without a Stark in it," replied Hank.

Pepper was about to retort but Janet got there first.

"Hank! I know you and Howard had your issues but is there any reason why you have to transfer your hatred onto his son? What has Tony Stark ever done to you?" Janet fiercely demanded to know.

Hank shrunk a bit in his chair. "Nothing directly."

"We're going to help them, Hank," retorted Janet. She glanced up, her grey hair falling about her face. "What do you need?"

Natasha smiled gratefully. "We need Ant-Man and the Wasp."

Avengers Compound

Despite Hank's protests both Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne agreed to help. They knew what was at stake though they were unaware of Tony's true potential. Neither Natasha or Pepper felt comfortable with sharing the knowledge of Tony's powers to the Pym's, only that it was vital Tony was rescued, alongside Wanda and Carol.

Both Scott and Hope hitched a ride back to the Compound with Natasha and Pepper in their suits. Thanos' ship still remained in orbit. The US army was, quite reluctantly, holding off on attacking the ship, mainly because they'd already attempted to launch an attack and had been foiled by Thanos' own forces.

The World Security Council had issued a plea to the rest of the countries to avoid attacking. Natasha had spoken to the World Security Council and explained the threat would be neutralised by the Avengers but first, they had to free Tony and they had a plan to do so. It might be tricky but it was one which should work.

They all stood in the Conference Room of the Compound, discussing their next steps.

"So, let me get this straight," began Scott, "you want us to go up to Thanos' ship, infiltrate it and free Stark, right?"

"And Wanda and Carol too," replied Steve.

"Isn't it going to be guarded?" enquired Hope.

"We hope you wouldn't be detected because you are so small," pointed out Natasha. "Thanos needs Tony to get the Infinity Stones from him. He's in a machine that will allow Thanos to achieve this. The only reason he isn't attacking the Earth is that he has yet to get the Stones from Tony." Natasha bit her lower lip. "It won't be long before he gets them."

"But will freeing Tony release any of the Stones from Thanos that he may have already taken?" Steve said.

"We don't know. We've got to hope freeing Tony will enable him to take back all his powers."

"Hard to believe a Stark has been given powers…" mused Hope.

"It's… complicated…" replied Natasha. "There is a lot going on you've only been partial too. But we do not have the time to reveal everything. Without Tony, we will lose. And you two are our only hope right now. As soon as you've got him free, you can leave. We do not expect you two to do anything more."

Scott and Hope exchanged a quick glance and then smiled at one another. "We'll stay until the end."

"Are we not forgetting something?" Rhodey pointed out. "The device on his wrist. He'll just block their powers again."

"Already thought of a solution," smiled Natasha. "If our Ant-Man and a Wasp are planning on staying with us…"

"Isn't it too risky to ask this of them?" Steve frowned, concerned by the implication of what Natasha was considering.

"What else can we do?" Natasha queried. "We need to get rid of the wrist device somehow."

"Couldn't another team be sent, small-size?" Clint suggested.

"They might not have enough Pym Particles," noted Natasha.

Hope stepped forward and placed her hands on the desk. "If I understand what you are asking us to do… You want us to free Stark from this machine and I assume sabotage it, right?" Natasha nodded. "And you also would like us to help you sabotage a wrist device that is on this Thanos which is blocking powers?"

"If you can…" said Natasha.

"I think it would be better if there were two teams. If we destroy this machine, we might not get a chance to get to Thanos. Surely the two attacks should be simultaneous?" theorised Hope. She reached into her suit which she still wore and pulled out a sachet of Pym Particles. "We have enough for other people to use."

Steve looked around the room, casting his gaze across every face. "The question is, who does what?"

In the end, it was decided for Scott and Hope to focus upon freeing Tony with Natasha tagging along with them. Doctor Strange had offered to portal them directly to the ship. He knew exactly where the ship was located and he could easily get them on board unnoticed.

Steve, Clint, Bucky, and Thor would attempt to free Carol and Wanda, but not before sabotaging Thanos' wrist device. Being small would allow them to reach it and their plan consisted of Steve and Thor focusing on the wrist device and then distracting Thanos, whilst Bucky and Clint attempted to free Carol and Wanda. Once they were all free, Doctor Strange would conjure a portal and get them back to Earth.

It was a dangerous mission but the key assignments were ensuring Tony was freed and Thanos' device was broken. They anticipated Thanos would pursue them and begin an attack on Earth. Whilst the others were carrying out the mission, Pepper and T'Challa would be marshalling the world to fight against Thanos, whilst Rhodey liaised with the Accords Committee and the US Army.

By the time Thanos made his move, the world would be ready.

Sanctuary II

Secondary Command Chamber

Tony was still weakly screaming. A constant glow of six colours seemed to be emitting from his body, heading towards the Gauntlet mounted in front of him. The six Infinity Stones were slowly forming within it, his powers slowly being drained.

He couldn't do anything to stop this from happening. Thanos kept returning to check on his progress, getting frustrated at the slow nature of how the Stones were forming, taking longer than the Titan wanted. Thankfully, now Tony was on his own.

Tony was sure Natasha was planning something. He knew they wouldn't leave him. They'd be coming back… But would it be too late?

It was odd looking at the world from an ant-size but Natasha could see the advantages of being so small. Arriving in the chamber Tony was being held in, the first thing that had rocked their ears, was Tony's continued weak screams.

Tony was held high up in the machine and directly across from him was the Gauntlet where the Infinity Stones were slowly manifesting.

"Is that…" whispered Hope.

Natasha nodded. "It is. If we dislodge the Gauntlet…"

"It will stop the machine," finished Hope. "We'll start trying to free him if you can try to dislodge the Gauntlet." Hope took Scott by the arms and flew up towards where Tony hang in the machine.

Natasha activated her boot thrusters, taking her up towards where the Gauntlet was stationed. She remained small, hovering beside it. Inspecting the Gauntlet, it was placed on a holder so that the back of it faced Tony. She could see the Stones appearing, shimmering in front of her. They still had not fully materialised. At least three-quarters of each Stone had now fully embedded themselves into the Gauntlet, suggesting the process was nearly complete. But how to dislodge the Gauntlet?

"I suppose becoming normal size wouldn't be a problem…" Yet she didn't know if Thanos was watching this room… but the others should be in the midst of their own attack by now. "It's a risk I'll have to take." She activated her comm-unit. "Scott, Hope? I'm heading back to normal size. I'll need to if I want to move this Gauntlet."

They acknowledged before Natasha pressed the button on her wrist and she found herself returning to normal size, still hovering in the air beside the Gauntlet's resting place.

"Argh – Nat? – argh…" Tony whimpered, surprised to see her. "Argh… how?" He winced.

Ignoring him, Natasha gripped the Gauntlet with both hands. It was heavy but she managed to roll it off its post and watched it tumble to the ground. The light emanating from Tony's chest to the Gauntlet disappeared and she saw the outline of the Stones that had been appearing in the Gauntlet, had now disappeared and the colour stream was sinking back into Tony.

She flew up to him. "You okay?"

"Bit better now…" he managed. "Thanks. How did you -?"

"Scott and Hope," she answered. "They are in the machine. Trying to disable it so it cannot be used again."

Tony glanced up. "If you get this helmet off me, I'll be able to use my powers and get myself out."

Natasha hovered a little higher and gripped the helmet on Tony's head. "Um… I don't think I can get it off."

"Why not?"

"Can you not feel the needles?" She could see the helmet had an array of needles penetrating Tony's skull.

"I didn't…" He hadn't realised. "Hurts a lot. And now uncomfortable."

"We'll get you out of here."

"No, you will not," a smooth, silky voice said from behind her.

Natasha turned and saw one of Thanos' children, Ebony Maw, hovering in the air. She recognised him. He was the one who had Sorcerer-like powers. In his hands he held the Gauntlet which he then placed back on the slab, directly in front of Tony.

"Stark stays with us. He has what we need." He adjusted the positioning of the Gauntlet and suddenly Tony was screaming again as the constant glow began to seep out of his body again, manifesting the Stones back into the Gauntlet.

"No!" Natasha growled, clenching her fists, and flying towards Ebony Maw, twisting in mid-air before lashing out and trying to land a kick to his face.

Maw ducked down but reached up at the same time to grab Natasha by the leg. He swung her across the room and she went tumbling through the air before she brought herself to a stop.

"You cannot free him. You cannot stop our machine," he hissed.

Natasha grinned. He didn't know about Scott or Hope and that gave her the advantage. All she had to do was keep him distracted long enough for the machine to be disabled and Tony freed.

She ducked again as Maw circled around her, conjuring up pieces of equipment and throwing them towards her. She used her thrusters to duck and dive to avoid each throw, trying to get closer to him with each pass.

Spying a piece of rope, Natasha dived down, grabbed it with both hands, engaged bother her thrusters and flew at speed towards Maw. She circled him, attempting to tie him up, already knowing it would be futile but it was an attempt to keep him distracted from Tony. Floating around him, she kicked and punched out at Maw, grazing his body as he moved fast to avoid her hits.

"Do not believe we did not foresee your attempt at rescue," taunted Maw. "The others will fail."

"What others?" she feigned surprise. She assumed he was aware of Steve and the others.

"Whatever way you got here; you will not escape. You are better to surrender now rather than earn the wrath of Thanos," advised Maw.

Natasha smirked. "I think the Avengers earned it a long time ago when we kicked his army out of New York."

"Thanos is only interested in Stark. None of you are important." Maw's eyes turned to slits.

Natasha grinned, clenched her right fist. "Oh, you are really going to regret underestimating me." Thrusters kicked to life and she shot around the back of Maw, grabbing him by the shoulders and swinging him around and flew straight towards the Gauntlet.

The resounding crash caused the Gauntlet to tumble back to the floor again.

Maw glared at Natasha. "You'll regret that."

She smirked and straightened. "Maybe. But I think you'll be the one regretting it."

The humming from the machine suddenly stopped as if it had lost all power. Tony's cuffs opened up and he slid down to the ground, carefully removing the helmet from his head.

Maw's face was a picture. "How is this possible?"

"With a little help from the inside," Natasha replied as Scott and Hope returned to a normal size having sabotaged the machine.

Tony was stepping forward, his body glowing with the full power of the Infinity Stones. "I'm going to give you a chance to leave and fight another time or I kill you now."

Maw growled in his throat. "Retreat is never an option."

Tony shrugged. "Fine with me. Bye!"

Maw leapt forward but Tony was too quick. He dodged and made a portal which his attacker was unable to avoid, flying through it, right out into the middle of space, his body swelling in milliseconds, before the remaining air was burned out of his lungs. Maw was gone, dead and no longer a threat. Tony closed the portal.

"Why can you just not do that to Thanos?" Scott said stepping forward. "This would be over in seconds."

"Because Thanos can breathe in space," Tony said instantly, his body glowing with six colours as he spoke. He shook his head. "What? That wasn't me…"

"Your body glowed," noted Natasha. "The Stones… like on Knowhere." She smiled slyly. "Guess they wanted us to have that information…"

"It's a bit disconcerting that the Stones can take control of me…" Tony winced. "Like all, I am to them is an experiment… a plaything of theirs." He glanced down at his hands. "I hope these powers are not permanent."

Natasha winced, the reaction going unnoticed. She knew the truth. She just hoped Tony would be given the truth soon.

Tony glanced back at the machine that had been keeping him captive. "He can't use it again, can he?"

Scott placed his hands on his hips, straightened and grinned. "Nope! We took out quite a few connections inside it. For him to even find out what's wrong with it, he'll have to take the whole machine apart."

Hope held up a small disc-shaped device. "We did think of detonating it."

Tony nodded. "Set it up, deep inside the machine. Give it fifteen minutes. It'll allow us enough time to get the others out and escape."

Hope shrunk and flew off to the machine, returning a minute later. "Set and ready to go."

"Thanks for coming after me," he said, activating his powers and opening another portal. "Let's go and help the others."

Central Command Chamber

Sanctuary II

They arrived in the midst of a furious battle on both sides. Chitauri swarmed the Central Command Chamber and Thanos was swinging a double-bladed sword, wearing his full armour, as he attacked the others. Steve, Clint, Bucky and Thor were all at normal size, and Carol was flitting around the chamber at full power, with Wanda unleashing her own powers against the Chitauri. With their powers freed, Thanos' wrist device had been successfully sabotaged.

When Tony leapt through into the Central Command Chamber with Natasha, Scott and Hope by his side, his focus went straight to the Titan who yelled angrily at seeing him free.

"How dare you seek to defy the will of the Universe, Stark!" Thanos raged, running towards Tony, swinging his double-bladed sword, but Tony merely conjured a portal and Thanos was deposited on the other side of the Control Room.

Thanos attempted an attack again but Tony kept on repeating his trick, almost looking bored.

"I could do this all day," said Tony, shrugging. He didn't have his armour but he didn't really need it. He figured if Thanos could breathe in space, he was probably impervious to other such injuries which would normally kill a human being.

"Hey, that's my line!" retorted Steve, having been near enough to hear Tony's words to the Titan, using his shield to attack two Chitauri leaping his way.

"It seemed adequate at the time," replied Tony. He kept one eye on Thanos who was now watching him carefully. He raised his voice. He had an exit strategy. It was time to use it. "Everyone, get back together! We're getting out of here!"

They formed a circle in the centre of the Command Chamber. Both Wanda and Carol landed beside them as Steve, Bucky and Thor all pressed their backs together with Tony, Natasha Scott and Hope.

"I'm making a portal beneath our feet. We'll be back on Earth by the Compound."

"And Thanos?" glared Carol, her fists shining brightly.

"He won't get through but he'll follow. We cannot win this fight here. We need it on our terms. Not his," answered Tony.

"He's right," added Natasha. She hadn't been there at the final battle and she hated the thought of bringing the fight to Earth but it was their only option. But they'd have the world on their side this time. "Do it, Tony."

"Stark!" Thanos began, racing forward, aware of what was about to happen, throwing his double-bladed sword directly at Tony.

The portal opened up beneath their feet and everyone fell through, falling sideways onto the grass of the Avengers Compound.

Tony was the last to fall through, just as the double-bladed sword flew over his head, missing him by millimetres as he waved goodbye to Thanos.

Tumbling out onto the grass and getting to his feet straight away, Tony glanced up at the sky. "Right. Now we've done it." He turned back to the others. "He's coming. We haven't got long to prepare before this place becomes a battleground."

The Battle for Earth was coming.

To be continued...

Please let me know what you think!

In the comics, Thanos can breathe in space... It's not addressed in the MCU if he can or not but I decided to lift that from the comics, so Tony sending Thanos out into space wouldn't kill him so there is no point in him attempting to do that.

Essentially Ant-Man and the Wasp were able to disable the machine used to extract the Stones from Tony and rig it to explode, thereby ruining Thanos' plan. He won't be happy. And he is coming to Earth.

The next chapter is entitled: "The Battle of the Compound". This chapter will be posted on Sunday 12th April.

Until then, please stay safe everyone!

the-wrtier1988