This chapter comes directly after Chapter 6, so I would recommend to read Ch. 6 again before this one.
Chapter 19
If there was ever a time to panic, it was now. In front of the Justice League was a being who had appeared from thin air, and was holding one of their own, mid air, possibly deceased. But Batman was Batman, and his mind was working on a solution.
"Who are you?" Batman questioned.
"Why, I'm Ebony Maw, the right hand to the almighty Titan," he said, elegantly. "Like I said, I'm here for them."
"Why?" Superman called out, ready to put up a fight.
"You dimension travelers sure aren't very bright," he chuckled.
"The key," Batman said. "He needs the Avengers who know what the password to the key is."
"One among them who knows," Maw observed. "This one may be worthy."
"Maw, come down here and fight me, you worthless-" Spider-Man began shouting.
"Keep it down, Parker," Maria Hill said quietly, as she yanked him behind her.
"All of you will make fine subjects for his highness," Maw announced, satisfied with his catch.
"No," Superman stated briefly, and looked at the Martian. "J'onn, you know what to do." He nodded in response, and in the blink of an eye, everyone was no longer on the ground below Maw, leaving him alone, without the Lantern either, who had been snatched by Superman.
"I should have seen that coming," Maw mumbled, as the servant teleported himself back to the mothership.
"They outplayed us," Hill said in disbelief.
Once they knew the fight wasn't worth spilling blood over, Superman and the Martian Manhunter had used their super speed to carry everyone away to safety. It was a tactic Batman had told them to use in case things ever went south.
"They knew you would try to retrieve the key at some point," Batman inferred. "They wanted you to attempt a rescue to be able to capture you."
"Which would give them access to the magic word, if they tortured them," Superman finished.
"Where's Lantern?" Batman asked.
"He's in the infirmary room down the hall," Hawkeye said while drinking a bottle of water. "Well, it's more of our sleeping quarters, but you know."
"What are we going to do now then?" Daredevil asked.
"Rethink our plan," Batman mumbled. "To start, who was he?"
"His name is Ebony Maw," Spider-Man said, full of hate and resentment. "He's the technical mastermind behind everything."
"What are his powers?" Wonder Woman asked.
"The usual," Hawkeye said. "He can fly, is pretty tough to crack, and has telekinesis."
"Why did you never mention him?" Batman said, looking at Spider-Man.
"He killed my wife," the webcrawler said. "Right in front of me."
"Maw has never been away from the mothership, as far as we know," Hill explained. "This is a first for us."
"Well this is a complication in the plans," Superman said, thinking.
"The plan still hasn't changed," Batman certified. "But now we need to find the key."
"If it wasn't in the obvious location, then it's probably where none of us want to go," Hawkeye groaned.
"The mothership," Spider-Man said in a dramatic, yet sarcastic manner.
As Spider-Man finished the sentence, a weary Hal Jordan wandered into the room, and everyone turned to stare at him.
"What?" he said defensively. "I didn't see him coming, okay?"
"No one's accused you of anything, Jordan," Superman said, almost amused.
"Yeah, well, it still wasn't a fair fight, and I want all of you to know that," he emphasized.
"How do we find the mothership?" Batman questioned.
"We don't have a lead for this one," Hill admitted. "We haven't seen it since it descended on New York. It might be on the other side of the galaxy for all we know."
"Well then we don't have much choice but to find it," Superman declared. "Can any of you fly?"
All of the Avengers shook their heads. There hadn't been a single one who could fly left since the invasion.
"Did any of your recently passed teammates?" Batman asked.
"Some had natural flight, others had suits that let them fly, even in space," Hill replied.
"Are there any of those suits left?" Batman inquired. This time it was Hawkeye who nodded.
"There's a very good chance there are still some suits in Tony's mansion in Malibu," the archer said.
"That's almost 10,000 kilometers to and from that place," Spider-Man protested.
"Only about 5,000," Batman assessed. "If we get there, give you the suits, then we can fly straight to space without the need of returning here."
"Wait, hang on," Hill said, not fully understanding. "You want us to leave this place? It's the one place Thanos can't find! And the generator can't be moved."
"If the plan works, you won't need this place anymore," Batman said, which made the group fall silent. It was true; if the plan succeeded, then they would defeat Thanos, and they could start over, with no need to hide from anyone anymore.
"I say we go for it," Spider-Man said, changing his mind. "There's nothing else for us to lose."
"Then that's that," Superman said, clasping his hands. "We rest up today, and begin the journey tomorrow early in the morning."
Everyone nodded, and one by one, each of the League members began expressing their condolences towards the friendly neighborhood hero for his late wife, except for Batman. The hero noticed this, and once everyone was gone, approached the Caped Crusader.
"Everyone else said their sorry condolences, but not you," he noted. "Why?"
"Hill told us what happened to your wife. No one said anything to you the next time you showed up out of respect," Batman said.
"No, I don't think that's it," he said. "There's something more to it."
"Do you have any weaknesses?" Batman said suddenly, looking at the webslinger.
"No, why?"
"If you don't have any, I'll find one," Batman said, as he walked away.
"It's about a girl, isn't it?" Spider-Man smirked, causing Batman to stop in his tracks.
"What, too chicken to talk about her?" he taunted, before realizing she could be dead as well. "Wait, I didn't mean-"
Before he could finish his sentence, however, Batman turned at near super human speed and threw a Batarang at him, not intending to hit him, but to scare. It didn't work, because Spider-Man caught it and looked at it, but it still caught him off guard.
"You made this?" he asked while inspecting the gadget. After he got bored of it, he threw it back, which Batman caught.
"A weakness. I'll find it," Batman said darkly, before turning and disappearing into his small quarters. Spider-Man couldn't help but chuckle, and he took off the mask to breathe, exposing his charred, scarred face.
In the early hours of the morning, the Avengers had gathered their belongings, before the League had awakened, and were all in the meeting room to discuss their biggest issue.
"Any information to share from their leader, Peter?" Hill asked.
Spider-Man shook his head, but then grinned. "Nah, but I can get to him."
"Honestly, I don't think there's anything wrong with them," Hawkeye commented. "And that's coming from a guy who worked with SHIELD."
Maria looked torn between saying what was on her mind and not. She decided to say.
"I've been thinking," she started, and everyone groaned.
"Is it really necessary to share your opinion right now?" Daredevil asked.
"Listen!" she shushed. "What if when this was all over, instead of staying here, we went with them?" The tone of the room completely changed after that.
"A chance at a new life?" Hawkeye said thoughtfully.
"Think about it," Hill insisted. "We don't have to live here anymore, in this lost world. We can start again."
"I agree," Spider-Man commented, surprisingly. "It's better than this."
"Then we must succeed," she said, and everyone agreed. Unbeknownst to them, though, was the fact that Batman had been in a corner of the room that no one had paid attention to. He had gotten up in the earliest hours of the morning, while everyone else had slept, and now he had stumbled upon a secret little reunion. He was glad they were not planning anything against the League, but he still found it strange they would keep this a secret from them. Why not just tell them the truth? That they wanted to escape this Earth? He could understand going crazy in the conditions they lived in, and wanting to start again. It was interesting, and he would keep it in mind for later.
"Then that's that," Hill concluded. "Wake them up. It's time to go."
"My liege," Maw bowed as he entered the room.
"You have what I asked for, yes?" Thanos interrogated.
"There were, some complications," Maw hesitated. "The newcomers appear to be more powerful than expected."
"You failed, then," Thanos openly said, and Maw became nervous.
"My liege, you must understand-" Maw began.
"The only reason I tolerate your errors is because of your intelligence recovering abilities, and your loyalty, Maw," Thanos said.
"I am truly, truly-" Maw tried to apologize.
"Your next failure, however, will not be tolerated," Thanos interrupted. "Fail me again, and I will find another to help me in my duties."
"Of course, my liege," Maw bowed again.
"Now go, complete your tasks," Thanos commanded, and as Maw hurried out of the room, he sat in his chair, contemplating the news that had been brought to him.
After the League had been woken, the group was faced with a decision. Leave the generator running, or turn it off? They were all in the meeting room discussing what to do.
"I have an idea," the Martian spoke. "We can turn it off, and leave false directions behind. That will buy us some time."
"They'll suspect we did it on purpose," Wonder Woman pointed out.
"Then we leave everything as if we were leaving in a hurry," Superman suggested. "Everything in here can be disorganized."
"It won't matter either way," Spider-Man said, yawning. "We're not coming back."
"Parker!" Hill reprimanded, and everyone looked at her.
"What do you mean you're not coming back?" Superman asked suspiciously.
"We were going to tell you later, but I guess now is fine," Hill sighed.
"Tell us what?" Aquaman said.
"We were hoping you would let us come with you guys after this is all over," Spider-Man said, getting it over with, and saving Maria the embarrassment.
"You would rather abandon your world?" Wonder Woman asked confused. "Why?"
"Look around you," Hawkeye said, motioning around him. "Is there anything to save here?"
"But the farmer!" Green Lantern said. "There's still people left here to save!"
"Let's leave this alone," Batman said. "Until we get the job done."
"That sounds good," Hill agreed, and the rest of the Avengers nodded in approval. However, the League members weren't as happy with the compromise, and their sour faces said it.
"Then that's that," Batman said, looking around. "We leave now."
One by one, the teams trickled out of the building, still inside the forcefield. They looked around and once again were welcomed by barren land in every direction. It was hard to be believe this world had once been thriving by seeing what it had become. And as they looked around, the force field began to disappear.
The group began walking towards the border of where the force field had once been, and as they passed it, every single one of them knew there would be no return to the base.
None of the members of the Justice League were using any of their powers, including Green Lantern, who had been the one most vocal about it. He had no aura protecting him, which meant he could be easily harmed by a regular person.
The group's first stop was a small, abandoned town in Kentucky, which appeared as desolated as the rest of the places they had seen along the way. They found a hotel that was surprisingly clean for being unoccupied for some time now, and they decided to stay there for the first night of their trip. Each member had a room to themselves, seeing there was no one else there. Once they had all been settled, they all reunited in the lobby.
"This isn't a crime, right?" Green Lantern said while eating a stale donut. "I mean, there's no one to uphold the law. There isn't even anybody, period."
Maria rolled her eyes, and no one answered his question.
"I find it hard to believe you guys were the only group around," Superman said, steering the conversation in a different direction. "Your Avengers didn't even have branches, or anyone else?"
"There were other teams, most notably the X-Men and Fantastic Four," Daredevil said. Upon hearing the names, Hal Jordan began to choke on his donut.
"Seriously?" the Lantern finally got out. "I thought the Teen Titans was a bad name."
"You've never mentioned them before," Batman said, waiting for an explanation.
"The Fantastic Four were there in the battle of New York," Hill clarified. "They fought alongside us."
"But the X-Men are another story," Spider-Man snorted.
"Some of the X-Men did help out in Europe," Hawkeye explained. "But most opted to stay out of the war entirely."
"We've just assumed the ones that went into exile are still in exile," Hill said. "Who knows where they are."
"Do you think any of the ones who remain would be willing to help us?" Superman asked hopefully.
Hill only shook her head, and Daredevil was the one who responded. "Not in a million years. They probably like the way the world is."
"These are superheroes we're talking about, right?" Green Lantern questioned. "Not like, a group of supervillains?"
"They were heroes, I guess," Spider-Man said. "But they were students who lived in a school for freaks."
"Freaks?" asked Superman.
"He means people with mutant genes," Hill said, as she glared at Spider-Man. "They were different, and they attended a school for people like them."
"Anyway, they usually fought the other mutants who held a grudge against normal humans, but I guess this time they got tired of that charade, because when we needed them, they disappeared," Hawkeye said in a passive aggressive tone.
"Were they powerful?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Oh yeah," Spider-Man responded. "They were more powerful than some of our guys."
"If they were to cooperate, would you think they could prove to be useful to our mission?" Batman inquired.
She thought for a moment, before answering, "Yes. Wolverine himself could be perfect bait."
"Like he would ever let himself be," Spider-Man scoffed.
"He's right," Daredevil said, agreeing. "There's no point in speculating over this. They will never help."
"Well then, folks, it's time to rest up. We're going to need it to continue," Superman added. Everyone left to their respective rooms, but a certain webhead decided to question a certain bat further.
"You wouldn't mind sharing what happened with her, would you?" he asked playfully. "Let me guess, a heartbreak?"
When there was no response, he went on. "She left you, didn't she? Youch."
"Say a word to anyone else, and you won't wake up tomorrow," Batman said without turning to face him.
Ignoring him, Spider-Man went on. "Was it because of something you did, or because she got tired of you?"
Batman only grunted in response, his patience wearing thin.
"Hey dude, I know you seem scary," Spider-Man said, changing his tone to a more serious one. "But you still have her."
"Don't tell me what I have," Batman hissed, as he turned around to face the wallcrawler, towering over him.
"It's true though," Spider-Man said, without backing down.
"If she never wants to see you again, that's fine," he continued. "But whatever you do, make sure she's always safe. Take it from me, the last thing you'll want to see is her hurt."
"Why do you have an interest in my personal life?" Batman asked suspiciously. "Would it be because your leader doesn't trust us?"
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Spider-Man said, his eyes widened.
"I don't know what your group is hiding, but believe me when I say this," Batman threatened. "I will uncover you and your friends for who you are."
Hearing this, Spider-Man let out a laugh. "You think we're the bad guys? That we have some malevolent plan behind all of this?"
"It might be something minor, or something major," Batman said. "It's always a good thing to be prepared."
As Batman walked away, he heard a noise in one of the rooms, and found himself stopped in front of the door. He paused to listen, and when he did, he knew what was happening in the room. Spider-Man, curious, followed Batman's footsteps, and put his ear against the door, not knowing it was open. He tumbled onto the floor, to discover Maria Hill and Hal Jordan furiously engaged in a make-out session. As soon as Peter Parker fell in, they both quickly stopped and got up from the bed they were in, and left the room. While Maria passed by him, Peter gave her a thumbs up, indicating he had recovered information. He also decided he was tired enough to stay in the room to sleep, which was where he crashed on the bed, drifting away.
The next morning, the teams awoke, each ready to continue the trek. There was a tension brewing between Batman and the Avengers, but the only ones who felt it were Batman himself and Spider-Man.
Over the course of several hours, the teams did not talk to each other, and rather walked on in solidarity, only ever checking up on each other's condition, and nothing else. That would all change, however, when they made a stop in Missouri. They were walking through the forest, when they found themselves staring at a shack. None of the group members made much of it, until a light was illuminated inside. This caught their attention, but they still weren't worried by who or what could be in the shack. They walked over to the entrance and tested the door handle. It was open, and Superman went in first.
The man of steel found himself face to face with a blonde woman, who wore protective gear and was aiming a pistol at him.
"Who are you?" she demanded, not lowering the gun.
"Easy there," Superman said, raising his hands.
"Who's with you?" she questioned.
"We're trying to defeat Thanos, and we need you to put down the gun," he calmly said. As he studied the woman, he could tell she was extremely tired, and hadn't slept for two to three days.
As he completed his sentence, Spider-Man strolled into the shack without warning, and the woman shot the weapon, intending to hit Spidey, but ultimately headed towards Superman. He caught the bullet with ease, and he held it out in his palm for the woman to see. She had no words to say, and instead dropped the gun, and it was then that everyone else rushed in.
"You caught the bullet," the woman stated. Once the Avengers found their way into the shack, the woman's face turned sour.
"You're with them?" she asked, eyes wide open, not believing who was standing in front of her. "They're supposed to be dead..."
"You're supposed to be dead," said Maria Hill, stunned at this revelation. "Weren't you with Fury in Europe?"
The woman shook her head, before facing Superman again. "I'm Sharon Carter."
None of the Justice League members knew who she was, but the Avengers did. And they were as surprised to see her as the League.
"Weren't you in Europe when Thanos invaded?" Hill asked, still shocked.
"Fury had me sent away at the last moment," Sharon explained. "He had a feeling everything would go wrong, and I was his Plan B."
"Gee Maria, I thought you were Plan B," Spidey said sarcastically. "What a turn of events."
"What are you even doing here?" Hawkeye questioned. "This doesn't seem like a very safe place, much less one to plan your revenge in."
"The Chitauri patrol this area regularly," she said. "How did all of you even manage to get here without-?"
"We didn't," Batman said. "Superman here can move at super sonic speeds, allowing him to quickly disable the soldiers."
"How long ago did you do that?" Sharon asked, worriedly.
"About half an hour ago. Why?" Wonder Woman replied, confused.
"Then they're already here," she said, and to coincide with her statement, the small building was suddenly torn out of the ground, and began floating above them. Next to it, they could make out two flying men, and as they grew closer in range, they saw it was Ebony Maw, who held the levitating building, and the Green Goblin, flying on his Goblin Glider. He let out an evil cackle as he set his eyes on Spider-Man, his sworn rival.
"It's time to play, little Spider," the Goblin grinned, to which Ebony Maw made a face of disgust.
"I'm afraid not; you're no longer useful to me," Maw said, as he twirled his fingers. The Avengers and League watched in horror as the Goblin's neck was snapped, and he fell from his Glider in the sky to Earth with a heavy thud. The body was quickly engulfed in flames.
"He was a rather enthusiastic character," Maw said, giving the groups a small smile.
"How did you find us?" Maria Hill demanded.
"With the mess you lot leave behind?" Maw scoffed. "Please, don't insult me with how reckless you are."
"There's no-" Superman started, but before he could, Maw twirled his fingers again, and bound Superman to the ground, tying him down with branches from the nearby trees.
"Ah ah ah!" Maw sang, as he also tied down the Martian Manhunter. "Can't have you pulling that trick again. You or your friend."
"What's your plan, Maw?" Spider-Man shouted. "You can't take us all and win."
"You're right," the alien responded, to the surprise of everyone. "But I can cause the roots of distrust to grow even further in your group."
"Oh yeah?" Hawkeye yelled. "How 'bout you try? Because that may be the only way you can win against all of us."
"Quite," Maw smirked. "Would you like to know the real reason these visitors came?"
When no one said anything, Maw continued. "It turns out your "friends" are-"
He would never finish what he was about to divulge, for at that moment, Batman used a sonic emitter device he carried in his utility belt to send powerful shockwaves through the alien's head, causing him to lose his grip on the force that bound Superman and the Martian to the ground. Once Maw was down, the League quickly got to work, pinning his hands together to make sure he wouldn't be able to use his telekinesis against them. They also made sure he was knocked out cold, before they began discussing their situation.
"What was he about to say?" Spider-Man exhorted. "Are you guys really on our side?"
"Come on now," Aquaman maintained. "This is exactly what he wants from us. Division."
"So you guys are aliens too?" asked Sharon.
Superman shook his head in response to her question. "Not exactly. We're from what you guys would call an alternate universe. We came because Thanos sent an invasion force to our Earth to try and conquer it, so we came here to stop him from ever trying again."
"But according to Ebony Maw, you guys aren't what you say you are," Daredevil said.
"Um, guys?" Sharon said, as she noticed movement from Maw's body.
"We are what we have presented ourselves to be," Wonder Woman argued. "And we-"
As she was speaking, however, a piece of the 'rope' Ebony Maw had used to tie Superman and the Martian flew from the ground to Sharon Carter, who was impaled through her abdomen. The Avengers processed what happened slowly, while Superman moved to disarm the grey alien. He grabbed his hands, turned them over, and used his heat vision to 'cook' them, rendering them momentarily useless as weapons.
Hawkeye held to Sharon's dying body, and she spoke her final words, in a whisper.
"Save them," she whispered. "Finish your mission..."
"Let me kill him," Spider-Man growled, as he walked furiously towards the still alien.
"No," Superman said, stopping him. "We don't cross that line."
"Are you kidding me?" Spider-Man hollered. "This guy just killed one of our own, in front of you, and you still defend him?"
"And she won't be the last," Ebony Maw said with glee, as he began flying away. He had just escaped from right under their noses. Superman got ready to take off, but Batman placed his hand on his shoulder to stop him. He shook his head in disapproval, knowing another direct confrontation would not end well. The teams were at a loss for words, for anything really, and they began walking on, still on the way to California.
The next week and a half went by in a blur, with many stops along the way. They always avoided the Chitauri legions scouring the land, and kept going to their destination. When they finally arrived, they were surprised to see everything was still intact, and there seemed no evidence of looters of any sort. It seemed as if Tony Stark's house defenses had done their job in protecting his massive mansion that overlooked the sea.
"Anyone home?" Green Lantern called, as he opened the front doors, letting everyone peer inside. The inside was still clean, and even looked shiny. As the Avengers looked, they could tell there was nobody there. They would have thought Tony would keep robots employed, but there was no sign of life or robots or anywhere.
"Quickly now, Thanos is sure to know we're here," Batman ordered. Everyone split up and began searching the giant mansion. There were so many rooms everywhere, it was incredible they didn't immediately get lost. But it was Daredevil who found the door to what he presumed to be Iron Man's armory.
Once everyone had reunited at the entrance of the mansion, everyone reported their findings. When it was Daredevil's turn to speak, he informed the group of his discovery. As they all hurried to the staircase that led underground, he showed them the door was locked. The good news for them was that Superman was in their ranks, and he quickly yanked the door off of its hinges. As he gently placed it down, the rest of them rushed into the other side. They found a very big garage, with many luxurious sports cars, and Batman felt a twinge of bitterness pass through him.
Spider-Man was the first to locate the suits, all in order from Tony's oldest to his newest marks, and he shouted for the group to follow him.
Batman was the first to reach the suits, and he quickly opened the glass doors guarding them. As Spider-Man was the first to try the suit out, Batman took note of adjustments to make. While he worked on the suits, Green Lantern kept looking around the garage, and to his amazement, he discovered blueprints to something he barely understood.
"Hey Bats!" Jordan yelled. "Come look at this."
They were plans for an interdimensional portal, the likes of which Batman understood. He got to work immediately.
By the next day, everything was ready, and everyone was ready to fly into space to find Thanos. They all met upstairs, where they held what they knew to be their last meeting.
"It's time we address that problem," Superman announced.
"The Avengers are not allowed on our Earth," Batman said. "This Earth is your home and you must defend it."
"Once again, there's no one or nothing left to defend," Spider-Man said.
"If we succeed, there won't be any more threats to your world," Wonder Woman chimed in. "It will only be a matter of rebuilding."
"You think Thanos is the only bad alien out there? Why do you think he's the only one attacking Earth?" Hawkeye said angrily. "No one else gets near him, but if we get rid of him, then everyone else will rush to us."
"There's no way we can defend the Earth by ourselves successfully," Maria added.
"So you'd rather let the remains of your world be in the hands of other monsters?" Jordan said.
"Yes! I don't care about this place anymore. We fought our battles and we're tired of the war," Spider-Man defended.
"Look, the portal is ready for use," Batman said. "You can use it now to get out of here forever, or you can stay and help us defeat Thanos."
Hearing this, the Avengers hesitated in their decision. They were finally free from their home, and they could start over somewhere else. But it didn't feel right, abandoning it.
In the end, it fell to three votes versus one. Spider-Man was the only one who stood by his earlier statements, but he was forced to remain, at least for the time being.
Everyone exited the mansion, and they all looked at the sky. It was intimidating, knowing it could be their last journey, but they knew it had to be done.
"This is it, folks," said Superman. "This is where we defeat the Titan."
With that, everyone activated their suits, and they began their flight. They accelerated faster and faster, until they were past the speed of sound, and into the sky.
It didn't take long for them to search the Earth's orbit and find something out of place. Thanos' mothership was enormous, and was directly above Europe.
"This is it," Wonder Woman said through the comms. "We've made it this far and we're not backing down."
All of them combined blasted forward, and entered the ship with an explosion. There was nothing where they landed, but soon, a voice could be heard booming overhead.
"I believe this is where you meet your end," the voice thundered. Batman was the first to realize that it was from a speaker of some sort.
"You're not taking us alive," Spider-Man snarled.
"Then we'll take your corpse," the voice boomed.
Dozens of Chitauri rushed from the sides of the walls, and surrounded them.
"Stay together," Batman shouted. It was finally time for all the heavy hitters to use their powers. Superman used his ice breath, Martian Manhunter phased through them, and Green Lantern made constructs out of his will power. Slowly but surely, the Chitauri were all defeated, and everyone looked around to see where the next enemy would come from. Instead, they were all instantly teleported to another part of the ship, and the Justice League was finally looking at the mad Titan.
He was large, maybe a bit bigger in size than Darkseid, but was purple. He wore golden armor, and wielded a gauntlet which revealed to have five of the six spots for the gems to be filled. The only one missing was the Power Stone, the gem the Justice League held back on their Earth.
"We finally meet," Thanos announced.
"For the last time," Spider-Man muttered.
"As you may know," he continued, "you are in the possession of something that belongs to me."
"You want it back?" Superman asked.
"Not only do I want it back," the titan said, "but I want more in return for your theft. Your world will suffice."
"Well," Superman said, looking at Batman. "We can't let you do that."
And with that, the fight began.
"Find the key!" Batman shouted to the Avengers while he and the League fought off the attacks from Thanos. "Find it!"
Maria Hill led the remaining Avengers to search for the key, but they quickly realized that since the mission was to destroy Thanos, there was no reason to retrieve anything from the Sanctum Sanctorum anymore. So now, the mission became to search for weaponry on the ship, and when they found the armory, they found explosives powerful enough to destroy a small moon on board. Spider-Man quickly began to arm them.
"How much longer?" Daredevil asked, becoming increasingly worried because the doors that they had shut to prevent anyone disturbing them were now being banged on, as the Chitauri soldiers had found the intruders.
"It's not going to be ready in time," Maria Hill said, as she took off the Iron Man suit she was wearing. "This is the end of the line."
Everyone knew what that meant, and Hawkeye began helping Hill assemble the interdimensional portal, which had become mobile. It was roughly the same technology that Thanos had utilized to teleport them all to his throne room, and it could be used remotely on the Iron Man suits, since they held a special signature. The program was transmitted from the mobile portal, without the knowledge of the League. But the problem was that there was only enough energy for seven people to use it at most, and there were six League members, and four Avengers. They had previously agreed that if they couldn't all go together, then no one would go. The decision they had dreaded finally arrived, and they knew they would not be going.
After Maria had dismounted her suit, Hawkeye did so as well, followed by Daredevil, and finally, Spider-Man.
"I'm glad I did it my way," Spider-Man said, looking around.
"Justice League," Maria Hill called through the comms.
"We're here," Superman said through gritted teeth. He was going blow to blow against Thanos.
"We have the weapons ready to destroy this ship," she explained.
"We're not ready," Batman said. "The key?"
"We have it, and don't worry, we've set up the portal to take us out of here," she responded. The League knew that if there was no other choice, then they could come to their Earth to seek refuge.
"We're taking him down," Hawkeye said, already feeling triumphant. "No one can withstand a blast of this magnitude."
"Do it!" Wonder Woman yelled. "Get everyone out of here!"
As Maria Hill sent them away, the rest of the Avengers knew Thanos wasn't very far away. The trigger to the bomb was in her hands, and as she pressed it, a ten second countdown began.
"I'm sorry, MJ," Spider-Man muttered.
Then, there was nothing.
The mad Titan felt the pressure and heat from the explosion, but was unscathed. He was floating in the vacuum of space, and no one except he remained. However, as he looked around, he found he was mistaken, as Ebony Maw lay unconscious a distance away, sleeping peacefully.
"Maw," he hollered.
The grey alien woke up, and looked around. "We lost, didn't we?"
"Not yet," Thanos growled. "Take me to their last location. The Avengers sent the other people away before the explosion."
"Of course my liege," Maw trembled, and as they arrived at Stark's mansion, Thanos treated the place with caution, not knowing what to expect. It wasn't long before Maw found the blueprints to the interdimensional portal, and with his telekinesis, quickly constructed one.
"There, o mighty Thanos," he presented.
"Your final work," the Titan said, before using the Infinity Gauntlet to kill his most loyal servant. He grinned, ready for the final showdown. It was time to recover the Power Stone.
