Chapter 8

Thanos Arrives

Doctor Strange had felt uneasy the rest of the day. He knew something was coming. Something dangerous. The words of Bruce Banner burned into his mind.

Thanos is coming…

Thanos also had pawns he was sending. They tried to attack Vision, and then they tried to attack the Avengers Tower. Now, they were in the quiet before the storm, and Stephen could sense it.

Thor had returned, after informing his father what had happened. The God of Thunder didn't want to leave Earth for too long. Now everyone was on edge, prepared for the worst.

Later on, Peter Parker finally came back to the tower. He approached Jenny and Loki when they were allowed back in the game room. The two were still under close supervision of Bruce, who often checked on Jenny's wound.

"Peter, this is Loki." Jenny introduced.

"Nice to officially meet you." Peter said, shaking the god's hand. Loki looked at him in confusion, surprised by the boy's enthusiasm. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I'm sorry to say this but…I thought you were evil."

"It varies from moment to moment." Loki replied.

"He's complicated." Jenny chimed in.

"Oh, okay. So…on a scale of one to ten, one being petty evil, like "I'll spit in your hotdog" evil; and ten being the worst possible thing you could do, like…killing puppies, where are you on the scale right now?" Peter asked.

Loki gave him another confused look. "Um…a three, maybe?"

"Okay, let me know if it gets to a six or higher." Peter said.

"Excuse me, are you a therapist?" Bruce retorted.

"He needs peer support Mr. Banner!" Peter reasoned.

Loki glanced at Jenny, giving her a warm smile.

"I told you; you'd like him." Jenny beamed.

~jb~

Stephen stayed outside on one of the balconies, watching the skies and city carefully. Eventually, Tony walked out to join him.

The two stood there quietly, unsure what to say.

"You're putting a lot of faith in that kid." Doctor Strange said.

"Who? Robinson?" Tony asked. "To be completely honest with you, I've never hated Loki, I've always thought he'd be an important asset. Or at the very least, he's funny when he wants to be. I knew there was something off when he attacked New York. I knew there was someone worse pulling the strings. Thor knew it too. Now everything makes sense."

"I can't protect the time stone from him." Dr. Strange said.

"He's not after the time stone. He's not even after the tesseract." Tony argued.

"Either way, Loki can't stay on Earth, even if he has a handler." Dr. Strange said.

"That won't be up to you." Tony replied. "If Loki joins the Avengers, he can stay, and I have a feeling we'll need him. Because Thanos has been in my head for years, and now he's back!" Tony stated, raising his voice.

There was a pause before Vision had floated outside. "Mr. Stark, I heard you raise your voice. Are you all right?" The android asked gently.

"Y-yeah…" Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Just…on edge…"

"We all are." Vision said. "But at least the Avengers are all back togeth-" Before he could finish his sentence, a large ship was drifting by the tower, and a large man jumped onto the balcony. He had violet skin, and was covered with scars-mostly on his face. On one hand he wore a brass gauntlet with two glowing stones on them- one violet and one red.

This had to be Thanos…

He was joined by two others- an alien almost the same size as him, and one who was thin and appeared sickly.

"Perfect." Thanos said. "Two stones in one place, and a being who can lead me to another one." With a large hand, he reached towards Vision, who instantly used the mind stone to shoot him back.

"You must peacefully surrender the stones, and the Asgardian." The thin alien stated.

"I'm sorry, but Earth is closed today." Tony retorted.

"Stone Keeper," the tall creature turned to Doctor Strange. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?" He half-heartedly gestured to Tony.

"Certainly not, I speak for myself." Doctor Strange replied, revealing his magic and getting in a fighting stance. "You are trespassing in this city and on this planet."

"It means get lost, Squidward." Tony added. The thin alien charged at Strange, throwing items at him with what seemed to be his mind, and the large monster charged at Tony. The commotion drew the attention of the rest of the Avengers.

Thanos charged at Vision, only to be blocked by Wanda's magic. Tony was joined by Peter, who was using his webs to slow the monster down. Even Loki had run out to join the fight, and aid Doctor Strange.

Thor joined in to help fight the monster.

"Ebony!" Loki shouted, distracting the creature from Strange.

"Loki…" The thin alien growled. "You betrayed us."

"I will gladly do it again." The God of Mischief sneered. Ebony, Loki, and Strange were locked in a battle of magic and wits, while Wanda and Vision began to fight Thanos together.

As the fight became more intense, and the ship was still hovering around the building, bystanders were standing by the building, looking up at the scene.

More of the Avengers joined in; many working to detain the large monster. But things took a bad turn when Chitari began to jump out of the ship and onto the building.

"We gotta take down that ship!" Steve shouted. Summer, using her fire, began to fly around the ship and shoot fire out of her hands. She kept flying around, aiming for weak spots. The ship finally began to give, slowly falling to the ground. Summer realized there were still civilians below. Panicked, she flew under the ship and tried to stop its fall, or at least slow it down. Even Spider-Man shot out webs, holding onto the side of the building. The webs seemed to be helping, but civilians were still running away from the fall.

Suddenly, Summer spotted a red mist surrounding the ship. The Scarlet Witch had flown to her level, using her magic to stop the ship and lowering it slowly towards the ground once everyone had reached safety.

Back at the top of the tower, Jenny realized Vision was fighting Thanos on his own. She wasn't sure why he wanted the Mind Stone, but she had a bad feeling he would be more powerful if he got it. She ran to the android's aid. She tried kicking the back of his knee. He stumbled slightly, then turned to glare at her as though she were a pest. He raised his fist to her, but then Spider-Man appeared out of a magic portal casted by Strange.

"Magic!" He yelled, punching Thanos in the face and disappearing into another portal. He appearing out of another one. "Magic with a kick!" He yelled again before disappearing a reappearing. "Magic with a punch!" Just as he was appearing again, Thanos grabbed at him.

"Magic with a-ow!" Thanos grabbed him and pinned him to the ground. The large alien could almost wrap his hand around Spider-Man's torso.

Jenny saw red. She charged at Thanos, unsheathing a sword from her baton. She sliced at his arm, leaving a scratch that started bleeding. He stepped away from Spider-Man, and wiped the blood off his arm. He looked surprised, but not hurt, and not shaken.

"All that for a drop of blood." He mused. He charged at Jenny, who narrowly dodged him and spun around to kick the front of his knee as hard as she could. To her surprise, she heard something snap. A dislocated knee. But her foot began to ache. She tried to stand up to run, but the pain in her ankle made her fall.

"Jenny!" Spider-Man shouted, before getting shoved to the side by Thanos.

On the ground, Jenny turned to see Thanos raising both fists in the air, standing over her. She imagined him easily crushing her skull. She turned away, covering her head with her arms, waiting for the final blow.

AN: Cliffhanger! It's good to be writing again!