Watson Smith: At this point, you've stopped making sense. I have no idea what you're talking about, as nothing you said even remotely resembles anything I have said over our past few exchanges.
Guest 1: And in order for that to work, either the UN is mostly made up of Hydra agents or, much more likely, Ross created the Raft behind their backs.
Guest 2: I disagree respectfully. I've seen them and examined them and, while both movies are flawed, they are still excellent movies. The problem with Infinity War is that it was too big to fit into a two hour film. It should have bene three hours like Endgame.
Guest 3: Since when has Ross cared about what his superiors wanted? And who would be able to overrule Ross on this, since IW confirmed that Ross is the one in charge of how The Accords affect The Avengers.
Guest 4: I always saw Tony not turning the ship around as another sign of Tony's hubris but it could be his PTSD acting up again as well.
Guest 5: Steve will be the one most upset about Nat along with Clint but that's all I' going to say right now.
Gamora sat in the Sanctuary II as Thanos brought her a bowl, saying he'd thought she might be hungry. With an incredulous look, she took it from him and angrily threw it at his chair, shattering it, saying she always hated that chair. He said he'd hoped she'd sit on it one day.
"So he's not just insane, he's delusional," Rhodey said.
"He has all he power, so he never comprehended that Gamora would reject him," Natasha said softly, once again remembering the Red Room and how they'd turned her into a weapon.
Gamora said she'd hated the room, the ship, and her life with him and Thanos said she'd told him that every day for almost 20 years. Gamora said she'd been a child when Thanos had taken her. He said he had saved her but she said her people were happy before he came. Thanos said her people used to go to bed hungry and search for scraps. Her planet had been on the brink of collapse but he had stopped that and now children there knew full bellies and clear skies, calling it a paradise.
"A paradise? He killed half the population and he thinks it's a paradise?" Scott asked angrily as they stared incredulously.
"Thanos thinks of himself as a god, inflicting his will on everyone else and expecting them to be grateful for it," Barton said disgust in his voice.
Gamora said he'd murdered half the planet but Thanos said it was a small price to pay for salvation. "YOU'RE INSANE!" She screamed.
"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Sam muttered.
Thanos said life would cease if left unchecked and needed correction. Gamora screamed, "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Thanos said, "I'm the only one who knows that. At least, I'm the only one with the will to act on it."
Tony was unnerved by this. Not just by the words, but because they sounded so familiar. They reminded him of his himself when he had tried to justify Ultron to The Avengers. Tony wasn't insane by any means, he wasn't going to go on a binge where he tried to wipe out half the population of earth, but still, the parallels were not lost on him.1
Thanos stood up and said she had the same will as him for a time, calling her daughter. "I'm not your daughter," She said. "Everything I hate about myself, you taught me." Thanos towered over her, "And in doing so, made you the fiercest woman in the galaxy."
Natasha tightened her hands, which were gripping the legs of her pants in a vice like grip. The parallels between Thanos and the Red Room were getting harder and harder to ignore. Steve and Clint shot her concerned looks as she tried to calm herself. Losing it wouldn't help, she told herself.
Thanos said he had trusted her to find the Soul Stone and she apologized for disappointing him but he said he wasn't disappointed at her not finding it.
"Uh oh," Scott said as they all tensed.
Thanos said she had found it and lied as a door opened behind them. Gamora walked into it and some metal bars opened to reveal two guards and in the center suspended in midair by a blue beam was…..Nebula!
"Who's that? "Peter asked as he noticed a grim look on the faces of the future Avengers.
"Nebula, Gamora's sister. Another one of the children Thanos abducted who turned against him," Scarlet said grimly.
"He's going to use Nebula against Gamora the same way he used me against Loki," Thor realized with dread.
"It's his MO; he did it all their lives. And that was before they were close," Barton said disgusted, a feeling that was shared by everyone in the room.
"That son of a bitch," Tony sneered.
"Nebula," Gamora whispered as she touched her and begged Thanos not to do this. Thanos said Nebula had snuck aboard the ship some time ago to kill him and almost succeeded so he had brought her here to talk.
"She must be good to almost get Thanos," Rhodey said impressed.
"Good, but not good enough," Wanda noted quietly.
Thanos activated the Power and Space Stones, pulling Nebula's metal parts as she screamed.
Everyone watched the scene, horrified. Clint and Scott especially were horrified by the fact that Thanos was so easily able to torture his daughter in order to make another talk. Peter looked like he was about to throw up as Scarlet flinched, imagining someone doing that to Stevie. Barton simply stared at the screen stonily, having known this was coming but it didn't make this any easier to see.
"I'm going to kill him," Thor growled, enraged.
Gamora begged Thanos to stop, grabbing the Gauntlet and pulling it down, swearing on her life she had never found the Soul Stone. Thanos nodded at a guard and he pressed a button, revealing holographic footage from Nebula's headpiece. Memory files were accessed. Nebula's voice said Thanos was going for all the Stones but Gamora said he could never get them all as she had found the map to the Soul Stone and burnt it to ash.
"Damn it," Tony swore as they all tensed.
"So much for that idea," Steve said grimly.
The video paused as Gamora looked down in defeat and Thanos said she was strong and generous because of him.
"He-he thinks he taught her how to be generous?" Clint asked seeming like he wanted to take one of those Vibranium arrows T'Challa promised him and fire it at Thanos' head.
"Thanos has a twisted view on most things, like how to be generous," Lila said darkly.
Thanos said he'd never taught her to lie so she was bad at it. He asked where the Soul Stone was and on getting no response, he used the Power and Space Stones to torture Nebula again. She screamed louder than before as Gamora struggled not to cry.
"He's a monster," Natasha said, more certain of that now than ever before.
"He's a psychopath is what he is," Tony said, all of them glaring at the screen in hatred.
"He's even worse than the Red Skull and Hydra," Steve seethed.
"Vormir!" Gamora relented finally. Thanos stopped as Gamora stroked Nebula's cheek and said the Stone was on Vormir. "Show me," Thanos said.
"Damn it," Tony repeated as they all tensed. "Now he's going for the Soul Stone."
"Then we have to get it before he does," Steve said and Barton, Lil, and Scarlet all winced.
"Before you make a plan, wait until after you see how you get it," Barton said lowly with a haunted look in his eyes. "There's a reason it's the most powerful of the stones. It comes with a high price."
The past Avengers exchanged looks, the haunted look in Barton's eyes unnerving them as they wondered what price the Soul Stone demanded.
In the pod, Rocket and Groot were sitting as the former flew it while Thor was standing and looking the other way. Rocket and Groot were bickering when Thor interrupted, translating one of Groot's sentences and Rocket was shocked that he spoke Groot. Thor said they'd taught it on Asgard as an elective.
"Really?" Tony asked surprised.
"No," Thor said with a smirk but didn't elaborate.
Groot said his line again and Thor said they'd know when they were close, saying Nidavellir's forge harnessed the blazing power of a neutron star and was the birthplace of his hammer. It was truly awesome.
"It is," Thor said wistfully as Tony practically began vibrating in his seat.
"I need to see it. Point Break, you have to take me there!" Tony pleaded.
"I think not," Thor said wearily and Tony gapped at him. "I apologize Stark but after the scepter, you'll understand my reluctance to take you to the forge of the most powerful weapons in the universe."
"That's…fair," Tony said after a moment.
Rocket said it was time to be captain and walking up to Thor asked, "So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that could be annoying." Thor said, "Well, he's been dead before. But, no, this time I think it really might be true."
Thor looked like someone had punched him in the gut as everyone looked at him sympathetically. However, wisely, no one said anything.
"And you said your sister and your dad?" Rocket asked. "Both dead," Thor said. "But still got a mom, though?" Rocket then asked. "Killed by a dark elf," Thor sighed. "A best friend?" Rocket asked. "Stabbed through the heart," Thor replied.
Thor looked more and more depressed as the scene continued.
"I'm sorry," Steve said and Thor nodded in thanks.
"Thor…whatever happens, don't deal with your pain alone," Barton said as Thor looked over at him. "You did that in this timeline and it didn't go well."
Thor, although confused, nodded, wondering what had happened to him in this timeline.
"You sure you're up to this particular murder mission?" Rocket asked genuinely. "Absolutely," Thor said with fake enthusiasm. "Rage and vengeance, anger, loss, regret...they're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."
"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talkin' about...he's the toughest there is," Rocket said. "Well, he's never fought me," Thor said confidently. "Yeah, he has," Rocket pointed out. "He's never fought me twice," Thor amended. "And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."
"Better be one hell of a hammer," Scott muttered as they all eyed Thor in concern.
"It better be some hammer," Rocket said. "You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that. And every one of them would've rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is just the latest in a long line of bastards...and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so," Thor said passionately.
"You're wrong Thor," Steve said and Thor looked over at him. "Fate doesn't control our actions. We have to make our own choices. Whatever fate has in store for us, it's because our own choices led us there."
Thor looked thoughtful as the recording continued.
"Mmm-hmm," Rocket said. "And what if you're wrong?" Thor said sadly, "If I'm wrong, then...what more could I lose?" He wiped a tear from his eye and walked off.
Barton looked grim, remembering what had happened because Thor was wrong. A lot, he thought grimly.
"I could lose a lot. Me, personally, I could lose a lot," Rocket muttered.
"He wasn't scared of Thanos, he was trying to protect Groot," Steve realized as Barton nodded.
"He's rough around the edges, but he's a decent person underneath," Barton said.
Thor then walked to the front as Rocket said if fate wanted him to kill Thanos; he'd need more than one eyeball and gave him a prosthetic one, saying a jerk in Contraxia had lost it in a bet with him. Thor was shocked he'd given him his eye but Rocket said he'd given him 100 units but he'd snuck into his room and stolen the eye at night. Thor thanked him.
"He stole an eye?" Peter asked bewildered.
"Rocket has a strange fascination with prosthetics," Lila said simply.
Thor put it on as Rocket said he'd have washed it, saying he had to sneak it off before being cut off by the computer beeping.
"Wait, he snuck it off in-" Scott trailed off as the future Avengers nodded.
"His ass, yeah," Parker said in disgust as Thor looked like he was about to throw up.
"I wouldn't want to be you right now Point Break," Tony said disgusted.
Thor managed to get the eye to work as they reached Nidavellir but Thor said the eye didn't seem to work as all was dark. Rocket said it wasn't the eye. Thor stood up as he realized Nidavellir had gone dark. Thor said something was wrong as the star had gone out and the rings were frozen.
"Thanos, he's already been there," Thor realized in horror as the future Avengers exchanged glances, knowing Thor wasn't going to take this well.
The three entered the Realm, Groot still playing his game as Rocket said he hoped they were better at forging than cleaning and had probably realized they lived in a junk pile in the middle of space. Thor said the forge hadn't gone dark in centuries. Rocket noticed something and asked Thor if Thanos had a gauntlet. He pointed at a model of an Infinity Gauntlet, unnerving all three.
"No," Thor said in horror. "Eitri did it, he made the gauntlet."
"Thanos didn't give him much choice," Scarlet told him gently.
Thor told them to get back to the pod but was knocked away by a huge figure along with Rocket and Groot. Thor stopped the figure before it could attack again. It was Eitri.
"That's a dwarf?" Scott asked as the past Avengers all stared and Thor nodded. "I expected-"
"Something small?" Thor asked and Scott nodded. "When we told Midgard about the dwarfs thousands of years ago, there was a translation problem. We hadn't yet developed the All-Speak abilities. We said they were larger than humans, but they thought we said humans were larger than Dwarfs."
Eitri recognized Thor as he asked what had happened here and Eitri roared that Asgard was supposed to protect them. Thor said Asgard was destroyed and Eitri relented in that moment, looking shocked. Thor asked what he had done and Eitri collapsed, revealing the metal casings on his hands, "300 Dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. "Your life is yours," he said. "But your hands? Your hands are mine alone."" And then he revealed the metal casings.
"I failed him," Thor said lowly. "I failed all of them."
"Thanos had already attacked them while you were dealing with Hela. It wasn't your fault Thor. It was Hela's fault, it was Loki's fault, it was Odin's fault. You aren't to blame," Parker told him.
"It was my responsibility. I failed," Thor said roughly in a voice that left no room for argument.
Thor gently said, "Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've ever designed, every axe, hammer, sword... it's all inside your head. Now, I know it feels like all hope is lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos." Eitri looked at him.
"You can't change the past…but you can make a better future than this," Scarlet told Thor gently as he stared stonily at the screen.
At Sanctuary II, a guard was putting Nebula's pieces back together when she woke up and her headpiece loosened. He fixed it but then she snapped his neck.
"Wow, she's ruthless," Scott said taken back.
"In war, you don't take prisoners," Natasha said simply.
Nebula dragged her body to a console and contacting the Guardians, asked them to meet her on Titan.
"So that's how we meet the Guardians," Tony realized and the future Avengers nodded.
"We were lucky they showed up when they did, otherwise Thanos probably would have killed us," Parker said and Tony had the decency to look sheepish.
In the Benatar, New York Groove was playing until it was shut off and Quill asked Drax to turn it back on but he refused. Quill got out of his seat and told Drax to turn it back on but Drax said it was the same song again and again. Quill said he needed to get back into New York Groove and asked Drax to give the Zune back which he refused.
"So, the fate of the universe is literally hanging in the balance…and they're fighting over a song," Clint said as they all stared at the screen incredulously.
"We're doomed," Tony said bluntly.
Quill made to charge at Drax across the table as he ran.
"Seriously, my daughter acts more mature than this. And she's six!" Scott exclaimed.
Drax said this wasn't helping as they hadn't even left Knowhere and Quill blamed him for mission's failure. Drax said Quill hadn't let him seize the moment and had tried to kill Gamora. Quill said it'd have saved the Universe as Mantis said she'd kill them both if they didn't stop the blinking yellow light. They turned to see the coded message channel on and asked how long it had been that way.
"Are you kidding me?" Steve deadpanned.
"I really wish we were Cap," Barton said with a sigh.
Quill was about to scold Mantis before they remembered it was Drax' job and scolded him. Drax tried to argue but Quill read the messages from Nebula which said Gamora was alive and Thanos was taking her to Titan, followed by several 'Why aren't you responding?' messages and then the coordinates. Quill quickly put them on.
Tony, Strange and Peter were near Titan as Tony realized the ship didn't have a self-park function and asked Peter to put his hand in a steering wheel while he put his in the other and his suit appeared too. They needed to move it at the same time. They did, trying to prevent it from crashing but it hit a building and started breaking as Strange used a huge barrier to protect them all. The broken ship crashed on Titan's surface.
"And now we're on Titan," Tony muttered.
Strange then helped Tony up as Peter hung upside down on a strand of web and said, "Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something... and I eat one of you, I'm sorry." Tony said, "I do not want another single pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?"
"You sound like his dad," Rhodey joked as the past Avengers all laughed.
Peter flinched, remembering Uncle Ben. He would only ever have one father, Peter thought passionately. And his name was Ben Parker.
Peter jerked his thumb backwards, "I'm trying to say that something is coming."
"And you couldn't have just said that?" Rhodey asked incredulously as Peter flushed and Parker looked embarrassed.
A space grenade fell near them, sending them flying off with a blast. Quill, Drax and Mantis entered as Drax roared for Thanos. He threw daggers at Strange but he defended himself with his Tao Mandala before his Cloak of Levitation wrapped on Drax's face while Quill and Tony flew and fired at each other.
"You know, you have a history of fighting people who turn into your allies when you first meet them," Rhodey pointed out and Tony looked thoughtful.
"Huh, I guess I do," Tony mused.
Tony fired a missile at Quill which he dodged but the blast threw him back as Tony threw him down but Quill had attached a gravity mine to him which trapped him. Peter crawled back on seeing Mantis, asking her not to put her eggs in him before webbing her up.
Everyone laughed at this as Parker put a hand to his face.
"That's not going away anytime soon," Parker muttered.
Then Quill kicked him away and tried to fire but he jumped away. Quill then restrained him with a bola just as Tony freed himself and flew at Drax while the Cloak of Levitation left him. Quill had Peter on gunpoint, asking them to chill the eff out and said, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where is Gamora?" "Yeah. I'll do you one better," Tony said as his visor retracted. "Who's Gamora?" "I'll do you one better," Drax said. "Why is Gamora?"
Everyone burst out laughing at this, the tension lifting momentarily.
"Oh my god this guy is hilarious!" Rhodey exclaimed.
"Say what you will about Drax, he's always there for a laugh," Parker said with a chuckle.
Quill said to tell them where she was or he'd kill Peter.
"He wouldn't actually do it," Parker said quickly as he saw Peter pale.
'Hopefully," Lila muttered and shrugged when Parker glared at her as Peter paled. "Hey, he did think you with Thanos at the time."
Tony said if he shot Peter, he'd shoot Drax and aimed the Cluster Cannon at him.
"Oh sure, because that's gonna help the situation," Clint muttered as Wanda put an arm around Peter.
"It's gonna be okay," Wanda assured him, hoping she wasn't lying to him.
Drax said he could take it but Mantis said he couldn't. Strange agreed as Quill said if they wouldn't tell him where Gamora was, he'd kill all 3 of them and beat it out of Thanos himself, shocking Strange who asked, "All right, let me ask you this one time. What master do you serve?" Quill asked. "What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, "Jesus"?" "You're from Earth," Tony realized. "I'm not from Earth, I'm from Missouri," Quill said. "Yeah, that's on Earth, dipshit," Tony said.
"He doesn't know what planet he's from?" Wanda asked incredulously.
"People in space usually call earth Terra," Thor noted.
"Plus, he was so young when he got taken so he forgot," Barton explained.
"Taken," Scott noted.
"It's a long story," Scarlet said simply.
Peter realized they weren't with Thanos as Quill said he was here to kill him. He asked who they were. "We're the Avengers, man," Peter said as his mask retracted and Mantis remembered Thor mentioning them. Tony was shocked she knew Thor as Quill said he was a tall guy, not that good looking and needed saving.
"He's really threatened by you Point Break," Tony said amused.
"Or he's just that insecure," Natasha said with a smirk.
Strange asked where Thor was as the scene changed to Nidavellir. Eitri led Thor, Rocket and Groot to a mold as Rocket joked if they were gonna hit Thanos with a brick.
"It's a mold," Thor realized.
"For the weapon you need," Steve said and Thor nodded.
"Better be some weapon," Tony muttered anxiously. "We need you Thor, more than ever."
"And you shall have me," Thor promised.
Eitri said it was a mold, a King's weapon and meant to be the greatest in Asgard, summoning even the Bifrost in theory.
"I can summon the Bifrost with this?" Thor asked shocked and Barton nodded.
"You won't be able to see into other realms like Heimdall, but you can travel it and bring others with you," Barton explained and Thor looked impressed.
"Did it have a name?" Thor asked. "Stormbreaker," Eitri revealed.
"Seems a little over the top if you ask me," Tony said and saw them all shoot him incredulous looks. "What?"
They just laughed, his look of confusion making them laugh even harder.
Rocket said it was a bit much as Thor asked how they made it. Eitri said they'd have to restart the forge and awaken the heart of a dying star as Thor told Rocket to fire up the pod.
"Looks like you have a plan," Steve noted and Thor nodded absently.
At Titan, Quill noted it was 8 degrees of its axis with bad gravitational pull as Mantis hopped high behind them. Tony said their plan was to draw him in, pin him down and get what they need. He noticed Drax yawning and was angered, asking if he had heard him. Drax said he'd stopped listening after Tony had said "We need a plan." Tony said Drax was on his own page as Quill said this was exactly what they did and Peter asked what they did. "Kick names. Take ass," Mantis said and Tony's expression looked like he was going to kill himself before facing Thanos.
"Just kill me now," Tony said as he put a hand to his face. "Clint, take out your bow and take your best shot. Go right ahead."
"Tempting, but no," Clint joked before getting serious. "Seriously, how are they still alive?"
"Luck. Lots of luck," Scarlet said simply.
Tony and Quill argued a bit as Quill told him not to call them plucky and said, "All right, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan... and that way it might be really good."
"So he's an idiot," Rhodey deadpanned as they all groaned. "A big idiot."
"Pretty much," Parker agreed.
Drax reminded Quill off the dance-off to save the Universe as Peter asked like Footloose and Quill said exactly like that before asking if it was still the greatest movie and Peter said it never was. Tony told him not to encourage this, saying they weren't getting help from Flash Gordon. Quill took that as a compliment and said he was half-human so the 50% of him that was stupid was a 100% of them. Tony said his math was blowing his mind.
Tony looked like he wanted to bang his head against the wall as everyone else groaned.
"Seriously, how are they still alive?" Scott wondered.
Mantis pointed at Strange and asked if he often did that. Strange was hovering in the air in a meditation pose with the Time Stone glowing in his hands as his head jerked wildly.
"What is he doing?" Rhodey asked as the past Avengers looked confused.
"He explains in a minute," Parker assured them.
He then fell down as Tony caught him and they asked what he was doing. "I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict," Strange said. "How many did you see?" Quill asked. "14,000,605," Strange said to their shock.
"Whoa," Peter said as the past Avengers looked completely shocked.
"He saw that many?" Steve asked stunned and the future Avengers nodded.
"We have to win at least a few," Tony said, not noticing the grim look on the future Avengers' faces.
"How many did we win?" Tony asked. After several moments of silence, Strange said, "One."
"One? Just one?" Steve asked in shock after a moment of silence.
"Before the Time Stone arrived on Titan, there were a lot of other alternatives. But once it arrived, there was only one road that led to Thanos being defeated," Barton said gently and Tony winced.
"I shouldn't have gone to Titan," Tony said with a sigh.
'You shouldn't have," Parker agreed. "But Strange shouldn't have backed a plan he knew would lead to disaster. You're both to blame."
"And that's why you're here, so you don't make the same mistakes," Scarlet pointed out and, after a moment, Tony nodded.
"I guess," Tony muttered.
A portal opened in Vormir as Gamora and Thanos stepped out and he said the Stone better be there on the mountain in the front for Nebula's sake. They hiked up the mountain as a cloaked flying figure appeared, "Welcome, Thanos, Son of A'Lars. Gamora, Daughter of Thanos."
"Who's that?" Clint asked as the future Avengers exchanged a glance.
"A guide. A soul that has been condemned to an endless existence of guarding the stone," Scarlet said carefully.
Steve narrowed his eyes, a nagging voice in the back of his head telling him he knew the voice from somewhere.
The figure said it was his curse to know all that journeyed there and Thanos asked where the Soul Stone was. The figure said it extracted a terrible price. "I am prepared." Thanos said confidently. "We all think that at first," The figure said as it flew out, revealing his red face. "We are all wrong."
"What the hell?!" Steve exclaimed as he stared in shock at the screen as they all turned to stare at him startled.
"Steve, what is it?" Natasha asked.
"That's the Red Skull," Steve said as they stared at him stunned.
"The Red Skull as in…" Tony trailed off as Steve nodded.
"How is he still alive?" Steve demanded as he turned to the future Avengers.
"The Tesseract didn't kill him; it just dropped him in Vormir. He went insane at first, but then the Soul Stone turned him into its guardian," Barton explained. "He's not even the man you knew Cap. He's just an empty shell, a shadow that guides others to the Soul Stone."
"It's pretty ironic. He's forced to stand guard over the thing he wanted most, knowing he can never have it," Scarlet said. "Poetic justice."
"No more than he deserves," Steve said, getting over his shock as he settled back into his seat.
The three walked to the top of the mountain where a rocky plateau with 3 stone pillars stood as Thanos asked how he knew the place so well and he said he had sought the Stones a lifetime ago but when he had held one it had banished him here and now he had to guide others to a treasure he couldn't possess.
"And now he's guiding someone even worse to it," Steve muttered as they all tensed.
They stopped in front of a cliff as Schmidt said what they sought lay in front of them along with what they feared. Gamora asked what this was and Schmidt said, "The price. Soul holds a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain wisdom."
"Earlier, you said the stone had a price," Natasha remembered as she turned to Barton and he nodded.
"It's a high one. One that almost no one can bear," Barton said grimly and a shiver went down the spines of the past Avengers at his tone. "A price no one should have to pay. I'm showing you this so you don't have to pay it. Don't let me down."
Thanos asked what it needed and Schmidt said it demanded a sacrifice so its bearer understood its power. "In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. A soul... for a soul."
"A life for the stone," Natasha realized as it all hit them. "You need to kill someone to take it."
"Not just someone, someone you love," Barton said grimly, fighting not to look at her.
"Why would anyone demand you do that?" Wanda asked horrified.
"To stop those who are unworthy of its power from taking it. Only someone who is willing to pay that price is worthy of holding the Soul Stone," Parker said sadly.
"That is such bullshit man!" Scott exclaimed.
"It is, but it's the way things are," Scarlet said as she and Lila looked at Barton in concern.
Gamora laughed, "All my life, I dreamed of a day... a moment... when you got what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed. But now... You kill and torture... and you call it mercy. The universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize, and it told you no. You failed. And do you wanna know why? Because you love nothing. No one." Thanos turned to her with tears in his eyes.
"He's crying? Because he didn't get the stone?" Scott asked disgusted.
"He's not crying for him," Lila said softly as it hit them.
"He's gonna do it. He's gonna kill his own daughter," Tony said horrified.
"Really? Tears?" She asked. "They are not for him," Schmidt said and her smile faded and she backed off as Thanos approached. "No. This isn't love," Gamora said.
"He doesn't know the meaning of love," Clint said, his entire body shaking with rage.
"If that were true…this wouldn't work," Parker said softly. "In his own twisted way, he does love Gamora."
"He's not like Ultron who wants to wipe out all of humanity because he's thinks we're a plague. Thanos is doing this not because he's an unfeeling bastard. He's doing this because he does feel love. Which makes him even more dangerous," Barton said darkly.
"I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do it again. Even for you," Thanos said. Realization dawned on Gamora's face as she managed to take the old knife Thanos had given her from his belt and was about to stab herself when he used the Reality Stone to turn it into bubbles.
"Damn it," Sam said as they all watched with a growing sense of dread.
"I'm sorry, little one," Thanos said as he grabbed her and dragged her to the cliff. She screamed and tried to hit him but to no avail. Thanos threw Gamora off the cliff and she screamed as she fell down. Thanos stood there sadly as her bloodied and broken body lay down there.
"He killed her…his daughter. HIS OWN DAUGHTER!" Clint exclaimed, jumping to his feet, his entire body shaking with rage.
"That monster," Scott said his usually cheerful face twisted into a snarl of rage.
Natasha had a hand over her face, looking like she was about to be sick. Scarlet looked on the verge of tears, thinking of Stevie as Barton had wrapped his arms around both Scarlet and Lila, as it to remind himself they were still there. Everyone else simply looked to be in too much shock to even show emotion.
A light shone up as Thanos closed his eyes in grief. Sometime later, Thanos woke up in a pool and saw the Soul Stone in his other hand. He looked at it sorrowfully as well as in anticipation.
"I'm going to kill him," Thor growled as he overcame his shock.
"Get in line pal," Clint sneered as he finally sat back down, though he still looked enraged.
"Line starts behind me," Tony said with a scowl.
"We can discuss who gets the right to kill Thanos once we finish these," Steve said struggling to remain calm after what he had seen.
The future Avengers exchanged a glance, all thinking the same thing. If they reacted badly to this, there was no way they were going to take what happened at the end well.
1: I think what's interesting about MCU Thanos is that, when you stop to examine him, he's actually a dark reflection of Tony. Both are highly intelligent individuals, both are often ruled by hubris, they rarely trust anyone's plans but their own. And the novel Titan consumed, which reveals Thanos' origin story, it reveals that, like Tony, Thanos' background has quite a few parallels with Tony's.