by Liza Palmer
Mantis began to sway on Thanos's shoulders, her face contorting in pain. "He is in anguish," she said. "Good," Quill shot back.
Mantis shook her head as Thanos's pain filled her. "He...he mourns."
"What does this monster have to mourn0" Drax grunted, still struggling to hold Thanos down.
"Gamora," spoke a sorrowful voice from behmd them.
Quill turned to face Nebula, the speaker, confusion on his face. "What?"
Nebula's gaze was trained on Thanos as she spoke, examining his expressions, praying she was wrong even while knowing she wasn't. "He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "But she didn't."
Sensing where this was going, Tony receded his face mask and started talkmg as fast as he could.
"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now. You understand? Don't, don't, don't engage." Quill turned to face Thanos and, desperate, Tony barked, "We almost got this off!" "Tell me she's lying. Tell me you didn't do it!" Quill's face flushed in anger, his eyes were rimmed m red, the tears already welling in their depths. Thanos forced out the words, "I had to."
Quill shook his head in disbelief. "No, you didn't. No, you didn't." Star-Lord whipped out his blaster and slammed it across Thanos's face. "NO. NO, YOU DIDN'T!" "Quill!" Tony lunged mto Quill, making him stop hitting Thanos. "Hey, stop!"
"It's comin', it's comin'—" Spider-Man said, the Gauntlet pulling away from Thanos's hand more and more. "Hey! Stop, stop!" Tony fought with Quill, desperate to keep their plan on track. "It's comin'—" Peter said through gritted teeth.
"Hey! Stop, stop!" Tony repeated with desperation. He wrapped himself around Quill's arm as he heard Peter getting closer and closer. Just a little bit longer. Just a little bit longer. And then it worked.
Peter pulled the Gauntlet about an inch off Thanos's hand. "I got it! I got it!"
Thanos's eyes snapped open and his fingers curled around the Gauntlet, pulling it back from Peter's grip. Thanos reached up to Mantis and hurled her as far away from his shoulders as possible. "Oh, God..." Spider-Man took off after Mantis, catching her before she hit the ground.
One by one, Thanos made quick work of the remaining Avengers and Guardians. A purple energy rippled out from his Gauntlet, knocking out Quill, Drax, and Nebula all at once.
As Tony blasted Thanos, the Titan decided to handle this gnat once and for all. Thanos looked to the sky, made a fist with the Gauntlet, and sent an energy blast high into the air. Looking up, Iron Man paled. The moon Thanos had summoned with the Infinity Stones was crashmg down around them.
The battle of Wakanda raged on and, while Thor's arrival had bought the Avengers and the Wakandans some time, there was still no end m sight. Cull Obsidian slashed through the Wakandan ranks with his hammer, and it took the Black Panther himself to stall the Child of Thanos for even just a moment.
"Come and get some, space dogs!" Rocket taunted as he spun around and shot at any Outrider that came near. Next to him, Bucky saw an opportunity. Picking Rocket up, he spun the shooting raccoon around m a rapid circle as he took care of whoever charged them on his side. "Come on! Get some! Get some! Get some! Come on, get some!" Rocket yelled as they wiped out an entire mile-wide circumference. Bucky set down the raccoon with a nod of thanks.
"How much for the gun?" Rocket asked.
"Not for sale," Bucky answered.
"Okay. How much for the arm?" Bucky gave Rocket a bemused look before walking off in search of his next victim. "Oh, I'll get that arm," Rocket muttered after him with a grin.
Thor swung Stormbreaker, taking out countless Outriders. In a brief lull, he looked across the battlefield to see Cap.
"New haircut?" Steve asked, breathless.
"Noticed you've copied my beard?"
Cap nodded, still trying to catch his breath.
Behind them, Groot impaled three Outriders. Thor said, "By the way, this is a friend of mine, Tree."
"I am Groot!" Groot said, holding up the three impaled Outriders.
"I am Steve Rogers," Cap said, putting his hand on his chest as introduction.
Just when the Avengers and Wakandans felt they'd started to get a handle on the battle, Thanos's army unleashed another nasty surprise: great war machines taller than the highest trees in the forest rolled out, spiked gears mauling everything in their way.
"Fall back!" T'Challa commanded. "Fall back now!" He needed to get his troops to safety'.
From the tower above, Wanda had watched the battle unfold. She knew Shuri needed more time to remove the Mmd Stone, and over the comms she heard the Black Panther give the orders to fall back. "Focus that fire on the left flank, Sam," War Machine commanded.
"I'm doin' it," Sam answered as the two men focused on taking out as many of these great rolling spikes as they could.
As Okoye and Black Widow fought, they didn't notice a rolling spike coming right their way. Just as they both braced for impact, Wanda landed in front of them and used her red energy bolts to lift the giant machine over the allies and right on top of the Outrider army behind them.
Okoye turned to Black Widow, flipping her staff around m her hand. "Why was she up there all this time?"
Across the stream, well hidden, Proxima Midnight spoke into her comm. "She's on the field. Take it."
In the lab, Shuri and her Dora Milaje guard, Ayo, were shocked at the sudden entrance of Conns Glaive, who was apparently not dead after all. Ayo and Glaive's battle rang throughout the lab as Shuri worked twice as fast to try to sever the connections between the Mmd Stone and Vision.
Deep down, Vision knew this was not their battle. This was his own unfinished business. So, when Conns Glaive made his way to Shun after overpowering Ayo, Vision stood suddenly and tackled the lean alien. He propelled himself and Corvus Glaive to a window and the pair crashed through, falling to the ground below.
Using his long-range vision goggles. Falcon saw the duo's fall from across the battlefield. His palms instantly began to sweat.
"Guys," Falcon radioed, "we got a Vision situation here."
Steve was surrounded by Outriders, kicking and shield-bashing them at every turn. He yelled into his comm, "Somebody get to Vision!"
"I got him!" Banner answered, speeding toward Vision.
"On my way," Wanda said, just before she was smacked across the face with Proxima's staff, sending her rolling mto a nearby ditch. Proxima turned Wanda over and loomed above her.
"He'll die alone. As will you," Proxima tormented.
"She's not alone," said a raspy, calm voice from behmd Proxima. Proxima turned to see Black Widow. She turned back around to see Okoye spinning her staff around. Both were ready for a fight. Okoye gave Natasha a nod, but it was Proxima who lunged first. Black Widow and Okoye threaded and moved around Proxima, their movements so precise and lethal it was as if they had been choreographed.
Banner finally caught up to Vision, just in time to see Cull Obsidian deliver a massive blow to the superbot, sendmg him reeling. Bruce settled in across from Conns and Cull.
"This isn't gonna be like New York, pal," Banner warned. "This suit's already kicked the crap outta the Hulk." Cull latched onto Banner and launched himself and Banner through the woods and far away from Vision and Conns Glaive.
"Guys, Vision needs backup now!" Banner radioed as he and Cull smashed against the side of a waterfall. "Hulk? Hulk? I know you like making your entrance at the last second. Well, this is it, man. This, this, is the last, last second."
Cull responded by using his mechanical hammer to smash one of the arms on the Hulkbuster armor, wrapping the chain around it. Cull pulled the armor off.
"Oh, no. Ah! Hulk! Hulk! Hulk!" Banner called.
"Noooooo!" Hulk responded.
"Oh, screw you, you big green jerk. I'll do it myself." Banner lunged at Cull Obsidian and after a brutal back-and-forth, slid his own detached Hulkbuster arm onto Cull Obsidian. Banner pressed a button and Cull's eyes widened in alarm as the repulsor ignited.
"See ya!" Bruce waved. The Hulkbuster's repulsor carried Cull Obsidian high into the air until he collided with the domed shield. The alien exploded on impact.
"Hulk, we got a lot to figure out, pal," Banner said, finally able to catch his breath.
But things were only getting worse. Just as it looked like Proxima had bested both Natasha and Okoye, Comas Glaive ran his spear through Vision.
"I thought you were formidable, machine. But you're dying, like any man." Conns pulled his blade from Vision with one cruel tug. Vision collapsed at Conns's feet. As Conns bent over Vision to begin the process of extracting the Mind Stone, Captain America managed to reach the pair and tackle Conns Glaive to the ground.
"Get out of here!' Cap yelled to Vision as he parried against Conns Glaive, spear against shield, hand to hand, outright brawling. "Go!"
Vision struggled to get to his feet.
Wanda needed to finish this fight and get to Vision. This was precious time, and she'd wasted enough of it on Proxima to last a lifetime. The Scarlet Witch heard a by-now-familiar sound approaching. Red energy began to rise from her hands, and one of the war machines rose from the ground behmd her, soared over her head, and rolled right over Proxima Midnight.
All three women looked away as blue liquid from their enemy splattered them. "That was really gross/' Black Widow sighed, wiping the alien blood from her arm.
Steve managed to disarm Glaive, but m the process had given higher ground to his foe, who sprung upon the soldier. His long fingers wrapped themselves around Steve's neck and began to squeeze. Gaspmg for air, Steve reached for anything to beat the villain back, but he was beginning to lose consciousness.
Suddenly, he saw the last thing he expected: the curved end of Corvus Glaive's own spear emergmg from his chest. The foe gasped, lost his grasp on Steve, and was lifted into the air by his own blade.
Steve saw it was Vision wieldmg the spear, in a reversal of the fight that had torn Vision's own side m Scotland. With a final gasp, Corvus Glaive went limp. Vision tossed the final member of the Children of Thanos to the side and struggled to stay standing after his own fall and fight with Glaive moments earlier.
"I thought I told you to go," Steve gasped.
Bracing himself against a nearby tree stump. Vision gave a weak smile and repeated Steve's earlier words back to him. "We don't trade lives. Captain."
The moon had broken into meteors when Thanos pulled it from its orbit and brought it crashmg onto the surface of Titan. The destruction had ravaged the remaining gravitational balance, not to mention the toll it took on the heroes that had faced Thanos.
Of everyone that had fought him, only Doctor Strange still stood conscious. With a circular motion. Strange cast a spell that encased Thanos m a crystal prison. Thanos smirked as he used the Reality and Power Stones to break the prison into a thousand shards and send them flying back at the Master of the Mystic Arts. Strange countered by creating a shield that turned the shards mto a multitude of blue butterflies upon impact.
Quickly recovering, he cast a spell that split his image mto dozens of identical copies, each wielding eldritch whips. They struck as one, hundreds of whips entwining Thanos from every angle.
Thanos, not fooled, gripped a smgle cord and yanked hard. All of the images collapsed back into one: Doctor Strange's true form. The mystic kneeled, stunned.
"You're full of tricks, wizard," Thanos said, grabbing the dazed mystic by the neck. "Yet you never once used your greatest weapon."
His gaze turned to the Eye of Agamotto hanging around Strange's neck. Thanos grabbed it and crushed the mystical artifact in his bare hand. The amulet shattered easily.
"A fake." Thanos smiled at Strange's cleverness... for a moment. His eyes hardened and he flung Doctor Strange mto a pile of rubble. Walking to him, Thanos raised the Gauntlet and aimed it at Strange's head, only to find something blaze past and stick to his palm, making it impossible to close.
"You throw another moon at me and I'm gonna lose it," Iron Man said, squaring off one more time against the Titan.
"Stark," Thanos growled.
Iron Man was taken aback for a moment. "You know me?" "I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
Apparently, Tony thought, he had been hauntmg the Titan's thoughts for the past six years as well. That gave him a slight bit of joy. "My only curse is you." With that. Iron Man's shoulder missile launchers rose, clicked into place, and fired. Thanos blocked them all with the Gauntlet's power. "Come on!" Thanos challenged, crushing the device that briefly inhibited the Gauntlet.
But for every missile landed, every beam fired and blocked, every punch countered, Thanos outmatched Iron Man. With the power of the Stones he was too much for one person. Slowly, painfully, Tony's nanite suit was stripped away or torn apart by the power of the Infinity Stones. In the process, Tony landed one good kick to Thanos's face.
"All that for a drop of blood," Thanos mused, wipmg at the scratch with his finger. The payback for this bloodletting, albeit minimal, was fierce and immediate. Thanos wrenched his arm up and punched Tony hard, flipping him through the air. Another punch. And another. Tony was being ground down, one body blow at a time.
In a last-ditch effort, Torn- formed a makeshift sword from a piece of debris and swung it at Thanos. The villain grabbed the sword and jabbed it into Tony's side, twisting it for added pain.
Thanos walked Tony back, until he finally stumbled into a seated position on a loose piece of rubble. Thanos placed his Gauntleted hand on top of Stark's head. "You have my respect. Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive." Tony stifled a moan of pain. "I hope they remember you," Thanos said as a stream of blood dripped down from Tony's mouth. He raised the Gauntlet and pointed it at the unarmored and defenseless Tony Stark.
"Stop."
Pulling himself from the rubble, Stephen Strange struggled to sit up. "Spare his life and I will give you the Stone."
This came as a shock to both Tony and Thanos.
"No tricks," demanded Thanos.
Strange shook his head. No tricks.
"Don't," Torn- gasped at Strange, mustering everything he had to protest. He and Strange had a deal. Strange had the moral compass. He'd promised.
Strange gave his ally a knowing look before gazing to the heavens. He reached up and appeared to pinch a star in the distance. Instantly, it grew and began to glow emerald. The Time Stone, hidden the whole time in plain sight. Tony winced in pain at the sight of the Time Stone.
The Stone flew from Strange's hand mto Thanos's. He gently held it above the knuckle piece in the Gauntlet and dropped it in. With a rush of energy, the power of the five Stones washed over Thanos. He breathed it in and then looked down at the sole empty spot on the glove.
"One to go," Thanos said and vanished. Just then Peter Quill rounded the corner, firing his blaster mto the space Thanos had just occupied.
"Where is he?" Quill panted. Looking around, he saw that Thanos was nowhere to be seen. "Did we just lose?"
Stark pulled the blade from his side, muffling his cry of pain. Nanites quickly began to stitch the wound, but he was still in critical condition. Nonetheless, he stared at Strange in disbelief. The Keeper of the Stone had traded it...for Stark's life?!
"Why? Why would you do that?" Tony was baffled, but Strange's look in return was one of resolve as he answered.
"We're in the endgame now."
With their leaders defeated, the Outriders were quickly rounded up and destroyed by the Wakandans and the Avengers. Thor flew across the fields of battle wielding Stormbreaker, cleansing the land with lightning. In the forest clearing. Vision was struggling to stand. Wanda helped him to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Vision winced, touching the Mind Stone. "He's here," was the only answer Vision could give.
Steve Rogers, alerted by Vision's words, spoke into his comm. "Everyone on my position. We have incoming."
The air was eerily still. After the largest-scale battle Earth h
ad seen in a single day in decades, the silence was deafenmg. Black Widow, Falcon, T'Challa, Okoye, and Banner all made their way to Steve's position.
An unearthly movement in the air caught Natasha's gaze. "What the hell?" Black smoke appeared from what looked like a tear in the middle of the air. Through it stepped the massive Titan, Thanos. Banner's breath caught in his throat.
"Cap. That's him."
That was all the confirmation Steve needed. "Eyes up. Stay sharp."
Banner leaped to attack, but Thanos used the power of the Stones to cause Bruce to pass through him, then phase mto the rock wall behind Thanos.
After that, one at a time the heroes rushed to Thanos only to be tossed aside or blown back by an energy wave. Vision saw all of this and knew what must be done. He only hoped Wanda could trust him. "Wanda, it's time," Vision said, his voice pained and constricted.
"No," Wanda said, still standing, ready to fight. Her voice was defiant. She was not having this conversation. There was another way. There had to be another way. "They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can." Vision reached up and pulled Wanda to him. "Look at me. You have the power to destroy the Stone." "Don't." Wanda remained standing, at the ready to fight. Still convinced there was some other way than the plan Vision was proposing.
"You must do it. Wanda, please." Vision curled his fingers around her hand and placed it on his face. Making her stop. See him. This was the only way. "We are out of time." Wanda shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. "I can't."
"Yes, you can. You can." Vision lifted her hand and placed it m front of his forehead. "If he gets the Stone, half the universe dies." He looked deep in her eyes. "It's not fair. It shouldn't be you, but it is. It's all right." Wanda backed away from him, her hand still raised. Vision's voice grew calmer as he sensed his end drawing near. "You could never hurt me." A wave of acceptance washed over Wanda as she finally recognized what she must do. Vision locked eyes with her. His voice was soft and loving as he spoke. "I just feel you."
With a swirl of energy, Wanda took a deep breath and began to use her powers to destroy the Stone and, with it, the love of her life.