Thanos arrived.
Peter crouched behind his hiding spot. Mr. Stark told him to keep his head down. Don't show himself too early. Stay the course. Everything would work. Everything would be okay.
He couldn't help himself though. His curiosity got the better of him and he peeked over the ruins, spying down at the scene. Directly below, was a colossal, purple Teletubby. The newcomer's purple hide was covered in battle armor, its bald head and massive chin exposed. Peter couldn't see the titan's face well. Too far up to get a good visual.
The titan's thunderous steps quaked the ground as he approached where Strange.
"Oh yeah," Strange noted, leaning against broken stairs that led to nowhere, casually looking at the most dangerous enemy in the galaxy, the same enemy that hunted them across the universe. "You're much more of a Thanos."
And it went from there. Peter listened to the two talk. Thanos' voice was deep and gravelly. It didn't sound like a snake or a rattling unhinged lunatic. He was still a lunatic, but his voice was measured, calm. An old, tired megalomaniac.
The titan raised his arm, showcasing a sleek gold glove. It looked more like a gauntlet, forged with six settings, one on each knuckle and a larger one on the back of the titan's hand. Already, four colorful stones fitted into the gauntlet. A bright red light emitted from the hand and the whole planet warped into a city center, thriving with life, bright blue skies and the star-like ships floating rather than laying in waste and broken.
Peter gazed at the incredible scene. It was beautiful.
"Titan was like most planets," Thanos voice rang out again, drawing Peter back to Strange and the foe. The titan sounded frustrated, furious. "Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."
"Genocide," Strange tsked, not at all mincing his words. Disgusted and repulsed.
Peter's insides rotted, crawling back away from the ledge. No wonder he was called the 'Mad Titan'. The guy was off his rockers! Killing trillions all to stop extinction. Did the purple giant not see the irony of his madness?
"Congratulations! You're a prophet," Strange mocked the titan. Was that a good idea to provoke the Mad Titan?
"I'm a survivor."
Along with the trillions of lives he won't have the chance to murder. Peter would make sure of it. The Avengers and Guardians would ensure everyone would be survivors in this war for life. Peter took a deep breath, jaw clenched. Ready for the fight of their lives.
Whatever it took.
"The hardest choices require the strongest wills," Thanos said with a heavy voice.
Strange matched it with a determined one. "I think you'll find our will equal to yours."
The wizard conjured up his two golden protective mandalas. That's the signal! The battle started.
On cue, Mr. Stark, in full Iron Man armor, slammed a massive, broken column down onto Thanos.
"Piece of cake, Quill," Iron Man called out, soaring up back into the sky.
Quill, aka Star-Lord, jumped out from his hide-out, activating his mask. "Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off!"
He shot up to join Iron Man right as a blast of purple energy exploded from the broken column Iron Man dropped on the titan. Thanos growled as the purple gemstone burned bright before the light switched to the red stone. The column morphed into a flock of bats. Thanos pointed to Iron Man and the bats zoomed right at him upon the Mad Titan's command.
Iron Man shot off, the bats giving chase. Thanos grinned eagerly, wickedly as he watched the bats attacked Iron Man. Peter saw the titan get ready to use the gauntlet. Not on his watch! Peter swung down and shot off a glob of web into Thanos's eyes.
Try to aim without sight! Peter thought as he watched Drax slide across the floor, knives slashing Thanos at the knees. Strange stepped down the stairs, a magical rope in hand as he joined Drax in battling Thanos. The titan deflected each attack, an impossible feat with his eyes covered in webs, but he stopped Drax and Strange from making a single hit against him. Then, Thanos got a good strike at Drax, sending the half-naked Guardian right through a rock structure.
Strange was alone, switching to a magical sword. Thanos grabbed the sword, ripping the webbing right off its eyes. Vision restored, he prepared to kill Strange when Quill bombarded him with blaster fire.
It distracted Thanos from Strange, giving the wizard time to create magical steps out of thin air for Quill to run across toward Thanos. The titan shot energy blasts at Quill, but missed as Quill hopped in air until he flipped over Thanos and strapped the bomb on the titan's back.
Thanos was shocked, reaching for it as he spun after Quill. Star-Lord retracted his mask as a portal opened behind him. "Boom!" he said as he gave the titan the middle finger before disappearing into the closed portal.
The portal closed and the bomb's beeping repeated rapidly right before it ceased. An explosion rocked Thanos, electrocuting the titan and throwing him off-guard. Strange whispered urgently to the cloak.
"Don't let him close his fist."
The cloak whipped off Strange's shoulders and surrounded the gauntlet, keeping Thanos occupied. Peter saw a ring of fire come to life in front of him. His turn to play.
Peter jumped through, coming out right next to Thanos' head. "Magic!" he exclaimed, punching hard at Thanos' head. His knuckles collided against the titan's head. Peter's heart leapt when he heard the titan grunted at the pain.
Peter dropped into another portal and opened above Thanos again. "More magic!"
He snatched the bald head, swinging them both down to the ground as he dropped into another portal. Peter braced himself for the next portal, leaping through it and attacking Thanos from behind.
"Magic with a kick!"
He high kicked Thanos right in the face, knocking Thanos backwards. Peter smiled, happy to knock the big titan around, sending the titan spinning. Peter twisted into another portal and flew out to one on Thanos' right, ready to continue his barge of attacks.
"Magic with a—"
His voice got cut off when a grip crushed his windpipe. Thanos was waiting for him and clasped him in a tight hold. Peter struggled, gasping for air as the titan slammed him down on the floor with such force that it left a crater where his body met the hard ground.
Still gasping, Peter wiggled and squirmed to get out of Thanos' grip. Thanos glared down at him, bearing his clenched teeth. "Insect!"
Oh no… Peter's lungs struggled to inhale. Collapsing. His head heavy and dizzy. Thanos was killing him!
Thanos scraped him up, shaking him hard to the point his head became a bobble head. With a loud growl, he hurled Peter directly at Strange. He and Strange fell into a ball of mess, tumbling over one another against the ruins until they stopped. Peter drew breath, loud and sore from almost being crushed.
Thanos ripped the cloak off his gauntlet and turned back to Strange and Peter. The gauntlet was raised, aimed at them.
Peter instantly backed up, cringing in anticipation of being blown apart.
A static sound erupted in his ear. A voice coming in. "Roll!"
It was Mr. Stark. Peter didn't know where the man was, but he did as instructed. He snatched Strange's arm and rolled them both out of the way. They left in time to avoid Iron Man's explosive force. Rocket after rocket rained down on Thanos. Fire engulfed the titan, burning everything. Iron Man swooped down, more missiles dropping and exploding in a fire ball. A massive inferno engulfed the area.
"Whoa… yeah!" cheered Peter as he stood up, knees wobbling a little. He helped Strange up to his feet as well, watching the flames burn.
Strange pushed Peter back, throwing up gold shields to stop the fire from consuming them as well. Yet, all the glee and cheers faded when Peter watched the fire swirl, diminishing quickly as the gauntlet absorbed the fire. Thanos growled.
"Stark…"
The blood in Peter's body went ice cold. How did the titan know Mr. Stark?
Even Iron Man sounded shocked, taken aback by the name recognition. "You know me?"
"I do," Thanos affirmed. "You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
What did Thanos mean? What knowledge? What do those two know?
Peter didn't get the chance to analyze or even dwell on it. Thanos took that moment to reengage. He thrust the gauntlet, directing all the explosive fire it absorbed earlier right back at Iron Man.
"No!" Peter screamed as he watched the blast of fire strike Iron Man, shooting the man up into the disable structures with smoke billowing from Iron Man's armor.
Peter raced at Thanos, shooting his webs at the gauntlet. His silk webbing exhausted the fire. Peter tugged, pulling the titan down and away from everyone. He won't let Thanos kill anyone!
Thanos gritted and growl, yanking his webbed hand back to swing Peter forward and right into his fisted hand. Peter's head snapped back and pain raged on every muscle in his face. Did his skull inverted into his brain?
Peter's spidey-sense awakened. Danger! Incoming! Move!
Peter flipped up and over right as a new spaceship crashed right into Thanos. For a split second, Peter thought Thanos died. Who could have survived that? But he remembered the resilience of the monster, surviving the fire, column and other attacks they threw at him.
Thanos now battled the newcomer. Someone blue with weird, sculptured metal as a head. She was screaming and going head-to-toe with the titan. They were both yelling, but Peter didn't care what they said to each other. It was time to go into action.
Peter's turn. He swung around Thanos, lassoing him up in his webbing to keep Thanos in place. He held strong, keeping a tight grip. Thanos tried to free himself and slowly pulled Peter closer to him. Peter's tentacles came out and pierced the ground to hold him steady.
Iron Man returned, landing right beside the gauntlet hand. The red energy from Strange's ropes evaporated and Iron Man grabbed the gold gauntlet.
They had him! They had him trapped!
Peter glanced up to see a portal opening up under Strange's command. Mantis, who waited for her big break, dropped from the skies and landed right on top of Thanos shoulders. Hands grabbed both sides of Thanos' face, doing whatever magic or talent she had. Thanos fought. He screamed and yelled, but Mantis' antennas burned white. And Thanos eyes went grey. He grew sluggish at every second. Mantis' empathetic powers must be working.
Thanos' eyes rolled to a close and his shoulders sagged. The titan was out.
"Is he under? Don't let up!" Iron Man ordered.
"Be quick!" Mantis cried as she strained to maintain her hold on the titan. "He is very strong!"
"Parker, help!" Iron Man called. "Get over here."
Peter abandoned his position, attaching his webbing to the floor to hold the titan. He rushed over to where Iron Man gripped the gauntlet, heaving the object off.
"She can't hold him much longer. Let's go!" Iron Man directed.
Peter fell right next to Iron Man and together, they took the gauntlet and struggled to pull it off the titan's enormous hand. Iron Man at the hand and Peter at the wrist.
The gauntlet felt superglued to the titan. It didn't even budge with their combined strength!
He heard Iron Man growl under the stress of removing the impossible gauntlet. "Again, again, again…"
"I am!" Peter strained, his muscles bulging underneath the suit. "It's not working!"
Iron Man adjusted his hold. The nanites all working down at Iron Man's wrist, exerting power in assistance. "Push on three," he told Peter as he signaled down to three on his fingers. "Go!"
Peter pulled at the same time as Iron Man's armor flared up. Together, they tugged and jerked, working together to loosen the gauntlet from Thanos's arm.
"Good, Pete," Iron Man encouraged. "Keep pulling."
Peter squeezed with all his strength. He pulled the gauntlet to him, exerting all his energy into ripping it off the titan's arm. Teeth clenched and face pinched in strong concentration, he tugged and tugged and tugged.
It was loosening. The gauntlet was moving! It was coming off. Sliding down the titan's arm toward them.
"It's coming undone!" Peter sparked in excitement.
"Cool! Let's move," Iron Man said to Peter as the gauntlet continued to give under their combined strength.
Peter examined the rest of the gauntlet, noticing a problem. "We gotta open his fingers to get it off!"
Iron Man worked on getting the fingers flattened so Peter could slide the gauntlet right off. A sound of rockets was heard overhead. Quill landed in front of Thanos. His face smug and gloating as he sauntered up to the titan.
"I thought you'd be harder to catch. For the record, this was my plan," Quill boasted, throwing a finger at Iron Man as if to call dibs on Strange's idea. "Not so strong now, huh?"
Thanos groaned as he tried to fight off Mantis' mental attack.
Quill didn't give a damn though. "Where is Gamora?"
Thanos's head lolled, murmuring, "My Gamora."
His response only angered Quill. "No, bullshit," he spat. "Where is she?"
Mantis swayed on Thanos' shoulders, her face contorting in pain. "He is in anguish."
"Good," Quill sounded happy as Thanos let out a loud groan.
"He… he's mourns," Mantis panted, almost near tears.
Mourns? Peter quickened an eyebrow at the purple monster. That didn't seemed right. The man was a murderer! He wanted to assassinate half of the universe. How could a monster like him mourn over anything? He didn't care about lost or death or anything or anyone!
"What does this monster have to mourn?" Drax spoke out what everyone thought.
"Gamora."
It was a voice Peter never heard before, but Quill knew it. He turned to the blue person behind him. "What?" he asked.
The blue person zeroed in on Thanos, studying the monster's expression. "He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone…" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "But she didn't."
Peter flickered back to Thanos. Gamora—kidnapped Star-Lord's lady friend. The moaning. Mantis saying he was in anguish. The blue person's face twisting into anger and grief at her own words. Peter's chest went cold. Oh no… no… no, no, no…
He killed her. Thanos killed Gamora. And he was mourning her death. Thanos was truly a monster!
Quill's face creviced deep. Lips squeezed smaller and smaller, line firm into an aggressive scowl.
Oh no… no… no, no, no…
Apparently, Peter wasn't the only person to notice the dangerous situation. Iron Man did too. Iron Man's mask receded and he rapidly talked to Quill to calm him down.
"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now. You understand?" Iron Man pleaded as Quill turned to face Thanos, his face contorted with fury. Iron Man, desperate and panicking, barked, "Don't, don't, don't engage! We almost got this off!"
Quill ignored Iron Man's pleas. "Tell me she's lying!"
The blue person choked up as Quill screamed at Thanos. "Asshole!" he screamed, face flushed in anger and eyes rimmed in red and tears glossing the irises. "Tell me you didn't do it!"
Thanos forced out his words. "I had to."
Peter balked at Thanos' reasoning to kill a person. Quill agreed. He shook his head in disbelief. "No, you didn't. No, you didn't."
There was a quiet tension. Nervous, fearful energy electrifying the situation. Iron Man kept yelling at Quill to not engage. To back away, but Peter knew Quill wasn't going to do that. Peter understood the man's grief, the raw pain of loss. The need to do something. To release the anguish and pain and anger and sadness.
But not now. Peter had the gauntlet halfway off Thanos' arm. A few more yanks and Peter would have the gauntlet off and in their possession. He needed Quill to not do anything stup—
Quill pistol whipped Thanos right in the face, slamming his blaster right into the monster's face. "NO. YOU. DIDN'T!"
"Quill!" Iron Man shouted.
"Quill!" Mantis whimpered in in shock.
Iron Man abandoned the gauntlet and lunged at Quill, grabbing the man's arm and restraining Quill. "Hey, stop!" he commanded. "Hey, stop! Stop!"
Peter worked quickly. He wiggled and pulled at the gauntlet, watching as it slipped further off the titan's arm. "It's comin', it's comin'," he said as the gauntlet continued to slide into Peter's grasp. He almost had it!
Iron Man wrestled Quill away from Thanos as Mantis screamed that she was losing control. Strange and Drax tried to assist Mantis, tightening their hold but the titan was coming around. He was regaining strength.
Peter, teeth grinding together, gave one final yank. The power of his tug sent the gauntlet flying right off Thanos' arm. "I got it! I got it!"
In that exact, same moment, Thanos's eyes snapped open.
Thanos roared back to his full strength, angrier than ever. He reached up to Mantis, snatching her off his shoulders. She screamed in terror right before he hurled her as far away from him as possible. Peter went to save her, but had to duck right as Thanos smashed everyone out of his way.
Drax, Quill, the blue person and even Iron Man flew backwards and tumbled down the Titan's landscape. He turned to Strange, tugging on the red, energy ropes hard to force Strange off his feet. He flung the wizard across the planet, leaving Thanos free from all binds and interference.
Only Peter remained standing. Frozen, gauntlet in his hand.
Thanos's gaze narrowed dangerously at him. "Give it to me!"
Peter was alone. Him and Thanos were the only ones standing. Just him facing the Mad Titan. Alone. With the gauntlet. The same gauntlet Thanos demanded now.
Peter shook his head, clutching the gauntlet to his chest. He backed away from the titan. Thanos would never get the gauntlet from him. Over his dead body!
Thanos growled at the disobedience, his teeth grinding down as his gigantic chin tensed in battle ready. The titan charged right at Peter, feet pounding the dirt hard enough to make Peter vibrate head to toe. The titan's hand slapped Peter, like one would hit a pesky fly. The power of the titan's slap knocked Peter off his feet, flying across the planet until he crashed into the ruined wreckage.
Moaning and his vision spinning, Peter weakly attempted to get up. But he was hit from behind, slammed back down to the ground, flattened as if to crush him to death. Then the weight disappeared and Peter was splayed on the dusty floor, sprawled helplessly underneath a cracked crater formed around his body. He whimpered at the pain crawling up inside him. But, Peter didn't let go of the gauntlet. He wrapped it around his arms, refusing to give it up.
Thanos was peeved. "You're a fighter. I'll give you that," he acknowledged. "But I am… inevitable!"
The Mad Titan curled his fingers into a fist, preparing to hammer Peter dead when a streak of red and gold flew at the titan. A brilliant sword shot out of nowhere and stabbed Thanos's side.
Thanos bellowed in pain, surprised by the sudden attack. But, his surprise ended when the sword was yanked out and sliced right through the titan's neck. There was only a small gasp from the purple tyrant before the head lolled to the side and fell off the shoulders. The head bounced and rolled a couple feet away, its face away from Peter. The rest of the body swayed before it too tumbled to the dirt in fallen decay.
Peter remained inert on the ground. His eyes focused on the headless titan who, mere seconds ago, attempted to murder him. He should have been dead. Thanos was about to kill him.
As the silence continued and the body remained lifeless, Peter lifted his eyes up. Iron Man was above him, standing with a sword—not sure where he got that. His iron mask was gone and he saw Mr. Stark's face. He looked frozen too. He hadn't even moved an inch since he cut off Thanos's head. Both stunned in disbelief by all that happened in the past thirty seconds. Both fighting the urge to scream and cry, wanting the fear to ebb away from their hearts.
Peter thought it was best to try to get up. Carefully, he creaked up into a sitting position, but hissed when a spike of pain shot up his back.
Mr. Stark whirled, retracting the sword right back into his armor. He dropped down to his knees, frantically taking Peter's shoulders. His fingers dug into the grooves of his shoulder blades. Peter tried to get up again, but Mr. Stark pressed him down, restraining him.
"I'm fine," Peter insisted, but Mr. Stark wasn't listening.
"FRIDAY? Scan," Mr. Stark ordered.
The man ran a hand over the back of Peter's head, diligently checking for any major bumps or cuts. Peter didn't pull away. He sat still as he let the man check over him. Mostly because he too wanted affirmation that he wasn't going to die.
Someone bounced over to them. "Kid! You okay?"
Star-Lord. Quill's mask retracted and his face a burly mess of conflicting emotions. His crew stood back, watching apprehensively as they brushed the red dirt off themselves.
Mr. Stark sighed, hands sliding off Peter's head in admittance that Peter was indeed fine.
So, Peter nodded to Quill. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Star-Lord whistled. "Dude! How the hell did you not get cobbled to death?"
Peter almost gave him a scientific explanation, but then remembered Star-Lord probably didn't care for the reason. More surprised and relieved than actually curious. Peter shrugged. "Luck."
Star-Lord's lips quivered up into a smile. A triumphant, but sad smile as anger burned behind his eyes. He pivoted, pointed his blaster back at the titan. Mr. Stark pushed Peter's head down and away from the scene right as Quill fired several rounds into the titan's body.
Peter counted. Quill fired six shots.
Then, another, final shot rang, but further away. Peter couldn't see where. Mr. Stark still blocked him.
"That's for Gamora, you asshat," growled Quill.
He stomped off, back to his teammates. All of them wore tired faces as well. Mantis reached out and touched Quill's shoulder, murmuring words to him as Quill's shoulders sagged just a bit.
Peter managed to gander a look past Mr. Stark's concerned and anxiety-riddled eyes to look at the still, purple, headless giant, now riddled with black dots. "Is he dead?"
Mr. Stark didn't even glance back. "That's what happens when one loses its head."
Peter looked from the body to the lone head. The face unseen. Unknown.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
It took Peter a second to compute it in his brain. The big bad. The main threat to the universe was gone. Dead. They won. Dr. Strange's plan worked and… they won.
Peter blinked up to Mr. Stark, still crouched beside him, worry in his eyes. "You saved me."
Mr. Stark said nothing. So much was happening in that iron face of Mr. Stark. A cross of disbelief, distress and hope. His eyes were wide, but lips pressed into a thin line. The man swallowed, like something was stuck in his throat as he brushed a hand against Peter's cheek, a thumb gently rubbing right below Peter's left eye.
"Yeah. I did," Mr. Stark finally answered.
There wasn't smugness or a cocky grin. Or a smirk. Or an instant demand of gratitude like Mr. Stark did for Dr. Strange's rescue. Only a deep, quiet sense of happy relief.
Mr. Stark helped Peter to his feet. Standing up, all that tension and fear fell out of Peter in one swoop. He was lighter, even with the heavy gauntlet nestled against his chest. Peter saw Drax pumping in victory. Mantis giggled with a cherry smile, squealing in delight. The blue person, whoever she was, stared at Thanos' body. Expressionless, but gaze hard at the body as if they still failed. Like she lost.
And Star-Lord rocked on his toes, like he was almost dancing with someone. A ghost no one else could see. His face remained somber, eyes hardened to hold back unshed tears. After all, the man lost someone. He lost his love. Thanos killed her for one of the stones.
Not all endings are happy, Peter supposed
Peter looked right back to Mr. Stark. The man was tired, rattled and worried. For him—Peter. He watched Peter, hands hovering near him like he was cracked glass, readying for the fall. But, Peter wasn't going to fall.
Because they won.
His lips burst into a tired, but real smile. Peter's whole body tingled as an impish glee and sweet relief expelled every worry or anxious thought. He looked back to Mr. Stark—Iron Man. The hero who stopped the Mad Titan and saved them. Saved Peter! Like he always did. Even back when Peter was that foolish eight year old boy, staring down at a Hammer drone.
In the adrenaline rush of pure elation, Peter dropped the gauntlet and swung his arms around Mr. Stark. "We won, Mr. Stark," he breathed, excitedly. "We won!"
The gesture surprised Mr. Stark as his body tensed for a few seconds before it melted into reciprocation. Mr. Stark hugged Peter, one hand cradling the back of the boy's head and pressed close. Peter heard the man sigh, happy as he gently carded his fingers through Peter's hair. No words passed, but the slight squeeze of the returned hug was enough to make the heaviness in Peter's stomach flutter, feeling safe and cared. Everything was going to be all right. They won. They saved the universe.
No more alien invasions. No more worldwide—galaxy!—threats. No more senseless deaths. Or destruction. No more nightmares. It was over.
The endgame was finished.
The sound of footsteps stumbling over the rocks and metal caught Peter's attention. He looked over and spotted Dr. Strange moving along, a gash on the side of his forehead.
"Dr. Strange!" Peter shouted, ripping away from Mr. Stark and running over to the wizard.
The wizard stilled, unexpected by Peter's call. He didn't even have time to register Peter embracing him. Or at least, that was what Peter believed when he slammed into him with a strong embrace of his own.
"It worked!" Peter gleefully shouted in the wizard's ear. "The plan... everything! We did it! We saved the universe!"
Strange didn't say anything. He didn't even reciprocate the hug. His body was tense, rigid and alert. His heartbeat steady and his breath deep and shallow as if in preparation for another round. Strange knew something. Something bad. Something none of them were aware about.
Peter was about to ask what was wrong when Dr. Strange whispered, "Stay behind me."
Strange stepped forward, forcing Peter to let go of him. Peter was confused. He followed after Strange, wondering what was happening. Mr. Stark killed Thanos. He stopped the Mad Titan. What other threat was out there? Peter's senses didn't tingle. He didn't feel anything coming after them.
Yet, Strange looked determined and wary.
Peter closed the gap, walking up and examining the scene once again. There was nothing. Only them, celebrating their victory. The Guardians were all reenacting their greatest hits against Thanos, jibing one another. The blue woman stood beside Quill, both somber and gaze down in remembrance. And Mr. Stark... he stood in the center, near the dead titan as he bent over and picked up the fallen gauntlet.
"Peter."
Peter looked to Strange, who subtly slid himself close enough to Peter to almost block him from the others. "Peter," he whispered again from the corner of his mouth. "Get behind me."
The edginess of worry spiked Peter's concerns as he darted glances from Strange to Mr. Stark. Strange had his hands up, a sign of readiness for battle, and his stern, narrowed eyes watched Mr. Stark hold the gauntlet in wonder.
"Is something—"
"Peter."
Strange's voice was no less a command than a plea. There must be some kind of threat nearby, something that his spidey-sense couldn't pick up quite yet. Peter obliged and started to move into the directed position.
Until a cold, powerful voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Don't move, Peter."