I meant to do this last chapter but oh well. This story has reached over 1000 reviews and is well on its way to 1100. Thank you to each and every one of you who has helped me get this far. Now onto the chapter.
Loki: I disagree. It was well acted, but some of the dialogue was pretty horrible. The writers could have done a lot better for that scene.
Jinero: Far from Home didn't happen in this universe. I don't think that's how it works but I could be wrong. Pretty good. Look, if you keep asking, there's no point in you reading the story because you already have all the answers. Just keep reading.
Agent N: Yep.
Watson Smith: Glad you enjoyed it.
Pacers: Not how it works.
Jason Hunter: Nope.
Nora-11: I took a look at the reviews a while back, that was enough to make me decide I did not want to read another Tony prop fic.
Hanny-Hanny: Not sure what you are talking about.
Guest 1: That's not how it works. When Odin cast the enchantment over the hammer, he was looking for a very specific kind of person: Someone who was selfless, humble but not to the point of letting people walk all over them, and noble who also possessed great tactician and leadership skills. Vision may have possessed some of those qualities, but he lacked basic leadership skills, which would mean he wouldn't have been deemed worthy. That's possible but we won't know until we see the film.
Guest 2: That's not how it works. If Steve had been unworthy, Mjolnir wouldn't have budged. The fact that it did says he was always worthy. But I genuinely have to ask, with all due respect, have you ever actually seen an MCU movie with Steve in it? Out of the Big Three, Steve is the only one who has never been cocky. And doesn't know what it's like to lose? In his first movie alone, Steve is unable to save Erskine; watches Bucky fall to his 'death', and lost his entire time when he wakes up in the present. In The Winter Soldier, Steve learns he died for nothing, loses the life he was trying to build, SHIELD, and his faith in the institutions he's believed in all his life. In both films, Steve lost everything.
Guest 3: That could be why Thor was beaten by Thanos. Doesn't make it any less stupid though.
Guest 4: Exactly.
Guest 5: in the future, if you leave multiple reviews, please use something other than 'guest' so I don't have to guess if you're the same person or not. I'm sure there are some supervillains there, as Jessica Jones' mother was almost sent there and Trish Walker was sent there after she went on her killing spree. Not sure about the Abomination though. No kidding, but Hollywood logic, what are you gonna do?
Guest 6: Check out the new Black Widow trailer, she does call them her family, even saying the Avengers weren't her first. And yeah, it does cheapen it. Because if she had this family, what was Clint saving her from if she had people she loved back there? And the scene where Natasha says she had nothing before The Avengers is now a bunch of crap.
Cull was thrown down by a blast as Tony and Pepper started blasting from above. Thor slammed Stormbreaker on the ground and the lightning killed several foes. Hope enlarged and jumped on a foe as M'Baku roared and Bruce threw an opponent away just as Scott punched a Leviathan down.
"That was awesome! You took it down with one punch!" Peter cheered as Scott looked shocked.
"We really could have used you back in the Chitauri Invasion," Clint told Scott, who could only nod.
"Yeah, you knocking down a few of those giant whales would have come in handy," Tony noted.
"Sorry, I was still in prison," Scott muttered.
T'Challa and Okoye took down foes side by side as Shuri blasted them with her blasters. Drax jumped on Cull, who had grabbed Korg, and started stabbing him while Korg knocked Cull away. Tony and Pepper flew next to each other and blasted all foes around them back to back with their repulsors.
"Some couples do hobbies together. Pep and I fight bad guys together," Tony joked.
Steve and Thor fought side by side, throwing their weapons as they continued fighting. Thor then grabbed Mjolnir on return as Steve grabbed Stormbreaker. "No, no. Give me that. You have the little one," Thor said as he tossed Steve Mjolnir and took back Stormbreaker before flying off to fight.
"Feeling jealous Thor?" Natasha joked as everyone else laughed and Thor looked embarrassed.
"Don't touch your weapon, got it," Steve said amused causing everyone to laugh harder.
Bucky and Rocket fired at foes, standing next to each other. From up above, Tony fired at more foes and landing on the ground, fired at more before Cull knocked him away from behind. Tony slammed into some debris, dazing him as Cull approached. Before he could bring his hammer down on Tony, Peter pulled him away with webs and Scott stepped on Cull.
"Hey!" Peter said as he helped Tony up. "Holy cow!" As Tony looked at him he said, "You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, 'cause I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been five years. Come on, they need us!"" Peter mimicked Strange's gestures of portal opening and said, "And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time..." Tony cut him off by wrapping him in a loving hug. "What are you doing?" Peter asked in shock before finally hugging back, "This is nice."
Tony and Peter looked at each other awkwardly before looking away, both deciding not to talk about it as everyone else chuckled at their reactions. Parker simply stared at the screen with a wistful look in his eyes.
At a distance, Quill fired at foes before he was thrown down. There, he fought two simultaneously, knocking one down when the other punched him down. He was about to kill Quill when a shot from behind killed him instead. Quill got up and was shocked to see Gamora standing there. "Gamora?" He asked in shock.
"Yes and no," T'Challa said as they all stared at the screen sadly.
"This should be interesting," Rhodey muttered.
"You have no idea," Parker said with a wince.
Quill walked to her saying, "I thought I lost you."
"You did," Wanda said sadly as they all stared at the screen.
He was about to touch her face when she grabbed his hand and twisted it. "Don't..." She kneed him in the nuts, "touch... me!" She kneed him again and he was down.
"Damn," Sam said as everyone winced, especially the guys.
"Was that really necessary?" Scott said uncomfortably.
"The Gamora you first saw had been away from Thanos' influence for over four years. This Gamora just escaped him," Scarlet explained.
"She's a lot more ruthless and brutal," Lila added.
"You missed the first time... then you got them both the second time," Quill groaned in pain.
"Didn't need to know that," Scott said uncomfortably.
"This is the one? Seriously?" Gamora asked as Nebula walked up to her. "The choices were him, or a tree," Nebula said as Quill looked between the two and mouthed.
"Poor Quill," Tony said sympathetically as everyone nodded.
Clint ran, avoiding a Chitauri Gorilla when Sam flew into it and with a roar, stabbed it with his wings.
"Thanks Sam," Clint said gratefully and Sam simply nodded
"Yeah man, that was awesome," Scott said and Sam shrugged.
"Just doing my job Tic-Tac," Sam said.
"Cap, what do you want me to do with this damn thing?" Clint asked as he ran. Steve threw Mjolnir at some foes and fighting an Outrider said, "Get those Stones as far away as possible!" He recalled Mjolnir and ended the Outrider, throwing it into Bruce who knocked it away with his uninjured hand and said, "No! We need to get them back where they came from."
"Easier said than done," Clint noted.
"And Thanos isn't just going to sit back and let you do it," Natasha pointed out.
"No way to get them back. Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel," Tony pointed out. Scott shrank to normal size and said, "Hold on! That wasn't our only time machine." Then he pressed a button and the horn of Luis' van was heard.
"Luis' van is going to save the universe," Scott said in utter disbelief.
"Somewhere out there, someone is laughing," Natasha noted.
"Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?" Steve asked.
"It is not ugly!" Scott protested.
"It's kind of ugly," Rhodey shot back and the others murmured their agreement as Scott sighed.
"Yes!" Valkyrie said as she flew on Aragorn. "But you're not gonna like where it's parked." It was seen on some destroyed rubble between foes.
"It had to be there," Scott said with a sigh as everyone groaned.
"Why couldn't this at least be easy?" Clint groaned.
"Because the universe hates us," Thor groaned.
"I'm beginning to think you're right Point Break," Tony grumbled.
"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" Tony asked him. "Maybe ten minutes," Scott said as Hope enlarged next to him. "Get it started. We'll get the Stones to you," Steve ordered. "We're on it, Cap," Hope assured as she and Scott shared a knowing smile.
"Now she gets to call you Cap," Scott grumbled as everyone laughed at him.
The two shrunk as Hope flew Scott away. Strange flew and opened numerous chasms in Earth, producing purple tendrils of energy that forcefully lifted up Thanos' minions and dragged them into the ground before resealing and vanishing.
"Wow," Peter said in awe as the past Avengers all looked impressed.
"The Wizard is very powerful," Thor said and everyone nodded.
"Yeah, we do not want to mess with him," Tony said.
He turned to see Tony land behind him and open his visor. "Hey. You said one out of 14 million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it."
"Please be it," Tony pleaded, not noticing the grim looks on the faces of the future Avengers.
"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen," Strange said almost regretfully. "You better be right," Tony told him.
"He was," Parker said sadly.
"Why do you sound so bummed about it?" Scott asked confused as the future Avengers exchanged a look.
"Just watch," Barton said gruffly.
The past Avengers exchanged uneasy glances, a hollow feeling settling in their stomachs. There was something the future Avengers clearly weren't telling them. But, knowing prodding them would be pointless, they simply turned back to the screen, hoping it would shed some light on the situation.
Hope flew Scott to the van and they enlarged as she said, "It's a mess back here." Scott pressed some buttons and said, "It's... it's dead."
"Damn it!" Steve swore as everyone groaned.
"Why couldn't this at least be easy?" Scott groaned.
"Because then we wouldn't be heroes," Clint said with a sigh.
"What?" She asked. "It's dead," Scott said before pulling out wires. "I have to hotwire it."
Thanos struck down a Master of the Mystic Arts with Thanoscopter and asked Glaive, "Where's Nebula?" Glaive killed an Asgardian and said, "She's not responding."
"Yeah, she's a little dead," Tony quipped.
"Sire!" Maw pointed at Clint, who was running while killing enemies and shooting explosives.
Natasha swore in Russian as Wanda paled, clutching Clint's arm tightly as the past Avengers all looked at Clint worriedly. Clint simply watched silently.
"I'm right here, clearly we lived," Barton said dryly.
None of them relaxed, not that Barton had expected them to. After the things they'd seen in the recordings, they'd be naïve to expect anyone was safe.
Clint turned around to see a group of Thanos' army approaching before T'Challa jumped to the ground, his suit discharged kinetic energy, taking them down. "Clint!" He said as he walked to Clint and opened his visor. "Give it to me."
"Oh so now you care," Clint cracked and everyone chuckled, the tension lifting slightly.
"It would seem so," T'Challa said with a chuckle.
Clint gave it to him and he ran, kicking away a foe before flipping, his suit absorbing the blasts from their weapons. T'Challa knocked another down and then kicked two away. He then ran and leaping up, punched the ground, discharging more kinetic energy to take down foes.
"Awesome!" Peter cheered and T'Challa simply nodded at the praise.
"Yeah, that was badass!" Scott cheered as well.
"Thank you," T'Challa said humbly.
"On Asgard, such a feat would merit a feast in your honor," Thor told him.
"No thank you," T'Challa declined humbly.
Then the Thanoscopter flew at him, knocking him down as Thanos caught it on return while the Gauntlet fell away.
"Damn it," Sam swore as they all tensed.
As he charged at T'Challa, Wanda jumped in his way.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Clint demanded worriedly as he paled and the past Avengers, especially Steve and Natasha, looked at Wanda worriedly.
"Oh don't worry about it," Lila said and they noticed the smirk on her and Barton's faces.
"It's Thanos who should be worried," Barton said as he looked at Scarlet proudly, who only shrugged.
Her eyes glowing red, Wanda declared with venom in her voice, "You took everything from me."
Feeling awkward, Wanda pointedly avoided looking at Vision. While she would always consider him a friend, it could never be more than that. Which made this super awkward to watch.
"I don't even know who you are," Thanos said as he charged.
"Something tells me you're about to find out," Steve said as he noticed the looks on the future Avengers' faces.
"You will." Wanda promised and flew into the air, raising huge columns of debris with her. She threw two of the columns at Thanos who chopped them with his sword before she jumped down and fired at him twice, making him drop his sword as he tried to defend himself. He picked his sword again to defend as she walked closer, firing at him.
"Son of a bitch," Tony breathed as the past Avengers all stared at the screen in stunned disbelief.
"You're actually beating him," Sam said stunned.
Wanda simply stared, in a state of shock. She knew Thanos was not invincible but to know that her power measured up to his…it was mind boggling.
"That's my girl," Clint as he, Steve and Natasha looked at her in pride.
"Most impressive little witch. Let us hope you can finish him," Thor said as they turned their attention back to the recording.
T'Challa ran to the Gauntlet when Maw lifted it up with telekinesis along with rocks. T'Challa jumped to grab it but was lifted too when Peter swung to get it. T'Challa tossed it to him as he said, "I got it!" Peter landed on a foe and commanded, "Activate Instant Kill!" And then his suit's eyes glowed red as his feet started killing foes that came close.
Peter stared, stunned and horrified at the scene. He was killing people. Sure, mindless alien minions of Thanos, but still. He had never killed anyone before.1
Sam placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, hoping to offer him comfort as everyone looked at him sympathetically.
"It wasn't easy," Parker said gently as Peter looked over at him. "Doing that, it kept me up for a few nights. But I did what I had to. Sometimes, there's no other way. Hopefully, you never have to cross that line when you get back."
After a moment, Peter nodded but it was clear he was still shaken.
Wanda blocked Thanos' sword with her magic as Thanos grunted, using his other hand to bring the blade down as she strained.
Clint, pale, wrapped an arm around Wanda, as if needing to reassure himself she was still there as the past Avengers all looked to Wanda worriedly.
Then Wanda smirked and straining a little, pushed his sword away, breaking it.
"You broke his sword!" Scott cheered.
"Thanos is so screwed now!" Rhodey added.
However, Steve, Clint, Natasha, Sam, Thor, T'Challa and Tony noticed the looks on the future Avengers' faces and a pit of dread formed in their stomachs.
Using her powers, Wanda lifted Thanos into the air along with debris and using her magic, started ripping apart his armor and slowly moved to his skin as he screamed in pain.
"You're doing it!" Peter cheered, recovering some of his enthusiasm as he watched this.
"He's so done for now!" Scott cheered.
'Then why do they look so grim' as the thought that was running through everyone else's head as they saw the grim looks on the future Avengers' faces.
"Rain fire!" Thanos then commanded, his voice strained due to his pain. "But Sire, our troops!" Glaive pointed out in concern a she struck down a defender. "Just do it!" Thanos groaned, still in pain.
"He'd sacrifice his own men to save himself," Steve said in disgust.
"He sacrificed his own daughter earlier," Tony pointed out and Steve nodded.
"Still, he had to use friendly fire to stop you from killing him," Natasha noted as she looked from Wanda to Scarlet.
"He still escaped," Wanda said softly.
"We did the best we could. Playing 'what if' doesn't help, trust me," Scarlet told her and Wanda just sighed.
Then the Sanctuary II pointed guns at the ground, piloted by The Other, and fired, killing several defenders. Wanda had to raise a shield to defend herself, distracting herself from Thanos as one blast sent her back too. Wong used the Shield of Seraphim to defend himself and the other Masters used those too, though shots were still rained upon them. Pepper noticed a flood approaching from a nearby broken dam and asked, "Is anyone else seeing this?"
"Great, as if we didn't have enough problems," Rhodey said as they all groaned.
Strange noticed and using his powers, stopped the approaching flood. "I got this! I got this!" Peter was saying as the foes covered him. "Okay, I don't got this. Help! Somebody, help!"
Everyone paled as they looked at Peter worried.
"Not again, please not again," Tony whispered, momentarily forgetting about Parker.
Steve noticed and said, "Hey, Queens. Heads up!" And then he threw Mjolnir in his direction. As it passed over Peter's head, he used a web to hang onto it, escaping as it pulled him away.
"Thanks Mr. Captain America…sir," Peter said awkwardly and Steve smiled.
"Call me Steve," Steve said kindly.
Peter hung onto Mjolnir as it flew; avoiding shots before Pepper got him and flew with him. "Hang on. I got you, kid." She dropped Peter on Aragorn as he said to Valkyrie, "Hey! Nice to meet-" The shots knocked them away as Peter yelled. "Oh! My God!"
"Shit!" Sam exclaimed as they all paled.
"Can't we get a break?! Just this once?!" Scott cried.
"It would appear not," Vision noted.
Aragorn was knocked away by the airstrike as Peter fell down, still holding the Gauntlet tightly as he rolled. As he got up, one shot destroyed his spider-legs and he rolled away, holding the Gauntlet tight. As more shots were fired near him, he covered himself and yelped.
No one said a word as tension mounted. As Steve said, this was the fight of their lives. And if Thanos got his hands on those stones, they lost, all of them. This was one fight they could not afford to lose.
The shots knocked down Clint, Korg, Bruce, Rhodey and Groot when Rocket covered him with a fierce roar, not wanting to lose him again. And in that moment, the firing stopped.
"What?" Scott asked as they all stared at the screen confused.
"Something's happening," Peter muttered.
All looked up as the guns started firing at someone above. "What the hell is this?" Sam asked. "Friday, what are they firing at?" Tony asked his AI. "Something just entered the upper atmosphere," FRIDAY told him.
The past Avengers all tensed, thinking it as another problem.
The ship fired at a glowing light that was flying down on it. The light wasn't affected and smashed into the ship, destroying it. The light then straightened, revealing herself to be Carol Danvers. "Oh, yeah!" Rocket cheered as Steve looked at the ship being destroyed.
"Never thought I'd be happy to see her," Tony said as he sighed in relief.
"Tell me about it," Clint said with a laugh.
Carol flew as the ship was destroyed while Thanos breathed heavily, watching in horror.
"He's scared now," Scott noted gleefully.
"He should be," Steve said darkly.
"Danvers, we need an assist here," Steve then informed her. Scott opened the back of the van and managed to restart the tunnel at last.
"Finally!" Scott exclaimed in relief.
"Something tells me it's not gonna be that easy," Natasha noted.
"Nothing ever is," Thor said and they all nodded in agreement.
"You said it Point Break," Tony said.
Carol flew down and stopped in front of Peter. "Hi. I'm Peter Parker," He said, still holding onto the Gauntlet. "Hey, Peter Parker. Got something for me?" She asked playfully. He gave her the Gauntlet and noticing the charging army said, "I don't know how you're gonna get through all that." And then Wanda flew down next to her with Valkyrie landing on Aragorn and Okoye and Shuri walking up to them. "Don't worry," Wanda said. "She's got help," Okoye said as Pepper landed too while Mantis arrived, walking with them just as Hope enlarged all of a sudden, joining them with Gamora and Nebula. They all nodded at each other and started walking at the army.
"I'm sorry, what the hell is this?" Tony asked as they all stared at the screen in disbelief.
"Somehow, all of you converge on that spot and stop to pose everyone else is fighting for their lives?" Rhodey asked as he looked at Wanda oddly.
"Why would Hope head over there instead of helping me with the van, she knows she'd be more use there," Scott said perplexed.
"And weren't you trying to take out Thanos?" Clint asked as he looked back and forth between Wanda and Scarlet.
"I can't explain it, all I can say is we all talked after and we all came to the same conclusion: we all felt compelled to head over there for a reason we can't explain," scarlet said, still as perplexed by it as she was ten years ago.2
Everyone exchanged bewildered glances before shrugging, deciding just to roll with it.
As the army charged, Wanda fired a blast, scattering some of them while Pepper, Shuri and Hope all fired at a Leviathan and more soldiers respectively just as Gamora leapt, slicing a Chitauri Gorilla while Okoye stabbed Glaive through the heart and lifting him up, threw him down.
"Yes!" Scott cheered.
"One down, only a million to go," Tony muttered.
Wanda stopped a Leviathan with her magic while Valkyrie flew to another one on Aragorn, slicing it brutally.
"Damn she's ruthless," Sam muttered.
"She's a Valkyrie," Thor said as if that explained everything.
Carol flew past them with the Gauntlet in hand, destroying more Leviathans. Thanos ran with his broken Thanoscopter to stop her when Pepper, Shuri and Hope fired at him together, sending him back.
"Come on come on come on," Clint prayed as they all watched tense.
He got up as Carol flew past him and threw the Thanoscopter at the back of the van, causing an explosion that sent many of them flying back, including Carol as the Gauntlet dropped from her hand.
"Damn it!" Tony swore as they all paled.
"He's just too strong," Scott said weakly.
"To beat hand to hand, yeah," Lila said softly as the recording continued.
The explosion made the flood rise as Strange strained to stop it. Tony pushed a dead foe off of him and saw the Gauntlet. He ran to it, pushing Thanos away, but Thanos elbowed him in a rotatory motion, sending him down.
"Damn it!" Tony groaned as the future Avengers looked grim, knowing what was coming.
As Thanos tried to pick the Gauntlet, Thor jumped to him, swinging Stormbreaker before summoning Mjolnir to him. Thanos backed to avoid Stormbreaker and ducked to avoid Mjolnir being thrown at him. Thor turned to pick the Gauntlet when Thanos grabbed him so he freed himself and swung Stormbreaker, though Thanos managed to grab it to save himself. As they struggled, Thor summoned Mjolnir and used it to push Stormbreaker, trying to break the deadlock. Thor roared as lightning flashed and then Steve leapt at Thanos from behind, grabbing Stormbreaker as well, trying to pull it into Thanos to help Thor.
No one said a word, too absorbed in the recording, the tension in the room so thick you could cut it with a knife.
Then Thanos head-butted Thor, sending him back before grabbing Steve's head and throwing him down too, punching him out.
"No!" Thor groaned as Steve looked guilty that he hadn't been able to stop him.
"What the hell does it take to beat this guy?!" Sam exclaimed.
As he picked up the Gauntlet, Carol leapt at him, kicking his knee, sending him down before punching him and dodging his punch. She hovered in the air, firing two blasts at his face, sending him back and then tried to punch but Thanos dodged and grabbing her hand, spun her around and threw her off.
"Damn it damn it damn it!" Thor roared as the tension in the room skyrocketed.
Thanos then put on the Gauntlet and grunted as energy surged through him.
"He has the stones," Natasha whispered as they all paled.
Struggling through the pain, he tried to snap his fingers when Carol grabbed the Gauntlet, stopping him. With her hands on the Gauntlet, Carol absorbed its power, increasing her energy as she did so. Thanos angrily head-butted her but she was unaffected, only looking pissed. Absorbing more energy, Carol flew into the air while holding onto the Gauntlet, sending Thanos to one knee. As she pushed him back, he suddenly ripped out the Power Stone from the Gauntlet and before she could react, punched her with it, sending her flying off.
"Damn it!" Steve swore as they all tensed.
"Okay, seriously, he wipes the floor with me, Cap and Point Break, but he has to use the Power Stone to take her down?" Tony asked in disbelief.3
"I guess she's just that strong," T'Challa said.
Tony looked up at Strange. As he struggled against the flood, he looked at Tony regretfully and with shaking hands, raised one finger. And then Tony knew what he had to do.
Tony froze. As did everyone else as the realization hit them.
"No. No, it can't…" Rhodey trailed off, looking at the future Avengers, pleading for them to tell him they were wrong. His only response was four grim looks.
Tony stared at the screen, stunned as the realization of what was about to happen set in. Everyone else looked too shocked and horrified to even move.
Thanos put the Power Stone back in the Gauntlet and power surged through him. Tony rushed him and grabbed the Gauntlet, trying to snatch it. Thanos kneed him and smacked him away. As Tony looked up, Thanos looked at the Gauntlet and turning to him declared, "I am... inevitable." Then he snapped!
No one so much as breathed; they just watched the screen, waiting to see what would happen next.
But nothing happened! Thanos turned the Gauntlet around to see the Stones were missing and turned to Tony in horror. The Stones assembled onto Tony's right gauntlet, to Thanos' horror. Tony closed his eyes, grunting painfully as power surged through the suit.
Rhodey put a hand to his face, looking like he was about to break down at any moment. Tony, still in a state of shock and disbelief, placed a hand on Rhodey's shoulder. Although whether it was to comfort Rhodey or himself, Tony didn't know.
Steve looked at Tony; unshed tears in his eyes as he felt the pangs of grief hit him. To say he and Tony had their disagreements was an understatement, but that didn't mean they weren't friends. Remembering their first encounter, Steve silently and sadly acknowledged that Tony had proven him wrong.
Thor stared at Tony sadly as self-loathing filled him; feeling like this was another result of his failure to stop Thanos as a tear rolled down his cheek.
Natasha stared at Tony sadly, remembering the selfish, narcissistic man-child she'd met all those years ago that never would have been capable of such an act of selflessness. He'd come so far since then, Natasha thought in a mix of pride and grief.
Clint stared at Tony sadly and gratefully, knowing that Tony was the reason his family, friends and the entire universe was safe from Thanos. He just wished it hadn't come at such a cost.
Vision looked at his creator sadly, knowing Tony had come far from his days of partying and thinking only of himself. Wanda looked at him as well, unshed tears in her eyes as she was finally able to forgive him for his role in her parents' deaths. Sam, T'Challa, and Scott only looked at him with respect while Peter looked shocked once more that, like Black Widow, Iron Man, a seemingly larger than life person, could die.
The future Avengers simply looked grim, sad at the loss but all the while knowing it was necessary for the survival of the universe.
Tony looked at Thanos and declared defiantly, "And I...am... Iron Man." With that, he snapped his fingers as the screen went white.
For a moment, it was silent as Steve and Rhode both put their hands to their faces, their shoulders shaking as they grieved. Everyone else was silent, Tony himself still looking in disbelief. But, if you looked closely, you could see a grimness to his eyes, knowing this had been necessary, whatever the cost.
Tony suddenly found himself in an orange landscape and looked around. It was the Soul World.
"What's this?" Tony asked confused, his mind coming off his death for the moment.
"Just like Thanos, this is what you saw when you snapped your fingers," Parker said thickly.
"Hey!" He turned to look at a dark haired young woman approaching him.
"Who's that?" Tony asked as he studied her, finding her somewhat familiar.
"Don't you already know?" Barton asked with what was supposed to be a smile but looked more like a grimace.
As everyone else looked confused by what was happening, Tony studied the girl, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he knew her from somewhere.
"Do I uh-do I know you?" Tony asked in shock as they walked closer. "You do," She said with tears in her eyes and Tony's eyes widened in realization. "Morgan?"
"What?" Tony asked in disbelief, his jaw dropped to the floor as the past Avengers all looked shocked. "How?"
"The stones work in mysterious ways. We're still not completely sure why you or Thanos saw what you did. Our best guess is it showed you what you wanted to see most at the moment you snapped," Scarlet explained softly.
"Hi Dad," Morgan said as they took each other's hands. "I guess it worked then," Tony mused. "Yeah, it worked, we all go to live," Morgan said, but Tony sensed she was holding something back. "And for me?" Tony asked and saw the look on her face. "Oh."
Everyone felt a lump in their throat, the realization about what was about to happen when this faded hitting them all hard.
"I'm sorry," Morgan said sadly. "Are you happy?" Tony asked after a beat. "Yeah, I'm happy. And proud. Proud to be your daughter. I just wish we'd gotten more time," Morgan said fighting tears. "Me to. But I have no regrets. Because if I'd done it any differently, I would never have had you," Tony told her and she smiled sadly. "I love you," Morgan said before they hugged. "I love you 3000," Tony whispered before the screen went white again.
No one could fight back their tears at this point, even the future Avengers were struggling not to break down. All of them took a moment to compose themselves before Barton unpaused the recording.
Back in reality, Rocket fired at a Leviathan which was about to eat him when it turned to dust. And then all of Thanos' army around them started turning to dust too while T'Challa and Quill watched.
"It worked," Tony said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "It worked."
"At what cost?" Steve asked feeling numb.
Steve looked around at the army turning to dust before turning to look at Thanos, who backed off in horror. Maw staggered up to him, not feeling well, like Peter had when he had been snapped. And then he turned to dust. Midnight was cradling the dying Glaive, like Wanda had done to the dead Vision before being snapped, and both turned to dust as well. Thanos looked around and knew he had been defeated. Refusing to let his enemies see him cry or beg, he sat on a rock and sighed, watching the sunset solemnly, closing his eyes and accepting his defeat with dignity. And with that, he turned to dust as well.
It should have felt like a victory, like they had won. But it didn't, because the cost was too high. Everyone continued to fight their tears as the recoding continued.
Tony staggered and supported himself, his entire right side now charred, burnt and blackened brutally. As he fell down, Rhodey flew in front of him and opening his visor, patted Tony's head, trying not to break down while Tony tried to say something and failed.
Tears fell down Rhodey's cheeks as they all watched this, fighting tears of their own.
Then Peter jumped own and tried to help Tony as he soon cried, "Mr. Stark? Hey...Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. We won. Mr. Stark...We won, Mr. Stark. We won and you did it, sir. You did it."
"This was no victory," Clint said roughly as tears fell down his cheeks.
Natasha placed a hand on his back, knowing no words could make him feel better. She was having a hard time not breaking down herself.
"I'm sorry... Tony..." He cried as Pepper helped him up from behind while he sobbed. She then knelt in front of him and put her hand on his Reactor as he grasped it. "Hey," She said weakly. "Hey, Pep..." He groaned painfully and weakly too. "Friday?" Pepper called out, even though she already knew the answer. "Life functions critical." Friday said.
Thor clenched his pants legs tightly, trying desperately not to lose control of his powers like before as tears rolled down his cheeks. Everyone else was in a similar state, fighting not to break down.
"Tony," She called out, putting on a smile as she didn't want his last sight of her to be of her crying. "Look at me," He weakly groaned and managed to look at her. "We're gonna be okay," She smiled through a veil of tears. "You can rest now." And in a few seconds, his Arc Reactor shut itself off and his hand slumped to the side, letting Pepper's go. Steve and Thor watched sadly from behind, struggling not to cry as Pepper sobbed and kissed the dead Tony, having lost him forever.
That did it. Steve and Rhodey lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking as they sobbed. Natasha and Clint, while much more dignified, also cried silently. Thor simply looked solemn and guilty while everyone else looked saddened.
For although they had won, Earth had lost its best defender. And nothing could ever make that okay.
The ending was pretty difficult to write for obvious reasons, so I hope I did okay there.
The Tony/Morgan scene, while well-acted, was ruined by some really bad dialogue, so I tried my hand at fixing it. Not sure I did alright, but I hope you guys enjoyed it.
1: I'm not a fan of the Instant Kill scene. For one thing, Spider-Man is a character who is almost religiously against killing. And I usually think the 'no kill' rule that a lot of Superheroes have is, with the exception of characters like Batman, stupid, so if I'm saying something about it, you know it's bad. But the worst part is that Peter doesn't seem affected at all, despite the fact that he kills for the first time. At this point, I'm wondering if the MCU writers did any research into Spider-Man at all.
2: I'm all for female empowerment, okay? I have a sister and if someone told me that she could not do something because she's a girl, I'd probably punch them. But forced displays of empowerment like this are so stupid. It was forced, contrived, and cringe-worthy. Somehow, all the females converge on that spot and stop to pose while all the guys are fighting for their lives? Seriously? And didn't Carol just destroy an entire ship by herself? Yet she needs the help of all these women to get through Thanos' forces? The straw that broke the camel's back was Hope leaving Scott to open the tunnel by himself, heading over to fight with these people she hasn't even met, to fight back to exactly where she just left. It makes as little sense as all the guys doing the same thing.
3: The combined forces of Tony, Steve and Thor were completely obliterated by Thanos without the aid of any stones, but Thanos had to use the Power Stone to push Carol back. And it wasn't even earned or set up like Wanda tearing Thanos apart either. I've heard the speculation that Carol can absorb energy which is why she was able to do it and, if that's the case, I'm okay with that. But until such a time that that can be confirmed, it just seems like another moment where the writers are trying to prop up Carol like they did the entire movie.