I was re watching Infinity War today, and I got the idea for this. So this is a thing now. The Hermits are going to try and keep the Infinity Stones away from Thanos. Good luck guys.

And may the odds be ever in your favour.

(There's my subconsciousness, telling me I already Book Bouncers to reference on. Whatever.)

Grian POV

Thunder shook the earth. I faced the Hermits, all of whom looked nervous.

"He's coming." Doc said. "Thanos."

My hands shook a little as I drew my sword. 

A few weeks ago, a meteor had crashed on Hermitcraft. Inside the rubble, we found a shining, green crystal. That turned out to be an Infinity Stone, capable of destroying the universe.

We'd decided to keep it with Wither, since he understood the power of it greater than us. But two  days ago, he'd told us that Thanos was coming. 

And now he was here.

So all of us Hermits, along with a few Scribes, and a handful of skeletons (courtesy of Wither) were waiting on the old warzone.

"Something's happening!" One of the scribes, I think Tea, called out. And indeed something was. A portal opened up in the field, glowing dark blue.

"Ready your weapons!" Tango yelled. Mumbo, who was beside me, grabbed the Fork of Friendship and looked at me.

"We're going to win." I promised. We held hands.

A tall, purple figure stepped out of the portal. His eyes scoured the land. A golden gauntlet, with five sparkling gems in it was on his left hand.

"Thanos." I breathed.

He caught my eyes. "Finally." His deep voice echoed across the battleground. "The last stone-"

"Sorry Chins, you aren't getting it." Ren yelled.

Thanos narrowed his eyes. "Hermits. I've heard of you."

"Get lost Space Barney." I gripped my sword tighter as I spoke. "Leave, now."

Thanos sighed. "I had hoped you might have some sense. I'm doing humanity a favour."

"By killing half of it?" Iskall asked. "What about the other half?"

"A small price to pay for the greater good." Thanos stated simply.

Impulse drew out a crossbow. "We can take you on."

Thanos shrugged and held up the gauntlet. A blue stone glowed brightly for a second. Several more portals opened up, and alien troops poured out.

I looked sharply at Impulse. "You had to say it, didn't you?"

He shrugged as Doc yelled. "Hermits, ATTACK!" 

Our small army charged.

Being inhuman, Wither and Ren overtook us. They plowed through the first wave, killing with ease. The rest of us followed up.

For a while, the fight was going smoothly. We killed the monsters easily. I fought back to back with Mumbo. If one escaped from me, it soon met Mumbo's trident.

The ZIT trio fought together, a whirlwind in the mob. Iskall, Ren, Doc, and Wels worked together too.

Wither was fighting alongside some Scribes. A girl, in a wine red hoodie wielding a trident threw her weapon at the nearest alien. She pulled it out, and Wither finished it off by slitting its throat.

Eventually, the Titan's army started shrinking. Thanos was forced to fight as Ren leapt at him.

Thanos swatted the hybrid away. Ren flew backwards and barrelled into me. The breath left both of us as we crashed into the ground in a heap. 

Doc and Mumbo helped us up. "You two okay?" Mumbo asked.

"I'm fine." I said. We watched as Python and Biffa tried to attack Thanos. "Let's help them."

We ran at Thanos, weapons drawn and ready. I sliced my sword against his arm, and he turned to look at me. In that time, the others attacked.

Thanos roared in pain, as somebody managed to slice his arm. He threw the Hermits off, and I was alone against him.

He swung his fist at my face, but I ducked. Thinking quickly, I kicked at his leg, knocking him off balance. As Thanos stumbled, I made my move

I struck at his gut, but he grabbed the blade and snapped it off the pommel. I was left with only the handle. Thanos grinned, and swung the blade towards me.

"Grain!" I heard somebody call my name and I was pushed away. The blade passed through empty air.

I looked up to see Mumbo. He smiled weakly.

"Try not to die so much, will you?" He asked.

I was about to respond when Thanos grabbed me. He lifted me up by the throat, and I dangled helplessly in the air.

Memories from the Apocalypse rang in my head, of Meaty holding me this way before he killed me. Panic set in.

"Well." Thanos peered at me curiously. "You fight well. I hope they remember you."

"You'll never get the stones." I gasped for air. Thanos squeezed harder.

"Hey!" Wither's voice called from across the field. "Pick on someone else, will you?"

Thanos dropped me as Wither came closer. He threw one of his knives at his face, and the other at his gut. Thanos knocked the one going for his face out of the air, but the other went into his gut.

Thanos roared with rage, and lashed out wildly with his fists. Wither ducked, and grabbed the knife from the Titan's gut.

False ran up and started helping Wither, fending off the Titan. Jevin, Xisuma, and Python joined them. Wither threw one of his knifes, and it embedded itself in Thanos's chest.

The Titan yanked the blade out and threw it away. Wither tried to jump back, but Thanos grabbed him by the throat. Helpless, Wither struggled as Thanos pulled him closer.

"The last stone." He whispered. He reached for where it hung around Wither's neck, and grabbed it off the cord.

He let Wither go, and the halfhel fell to the ground unmoving. X ran up and dragged him away from Thanos.

Carefully, Thanos placed the stone in the final spot on the gauntlet.

A surge of energy shot outwards. We all stopped fighting, as Thanos grinned, and raised his hand.

"No!" I heard somebody cry, and a few people rushed forwards, but it was to late.

Thanos snapped his fingers.

We all stared at Thanos. The gauntlet was smoking and mangled. He raised his hand weakly and the portal opened up behind him. He went through.

The Hermits looked at each other in confusion. What just happened?

Then Iskall spoke up. "Guys?" He raised his hand, to show that it was flaking away, turning to dust. It raced across his body and he faded away.

"Iskall?" I ran over to where he had been standing. Nothing. Mumbo ran behind me, and I turned around to face him.

"What happened?" Mumbo asked.

"He did it." I whispered. "Half of humanity is disappearing."

Around the field, other Hermits were meeting the same fate.

Wels faded away, leaving a confused Biffa behind. "Wels? Where are you?" He looked around for him. A moment later, he turned to dust as well.

Python and TFC both flaked away, trying to help Zedaph stand up. As Zed regained his balance, the pair faded.

Jevin was helping Cleo, and started fading. "Jev? What's happening." Cleo asked.

"I don't know." Panic filled Jevin's eyes as he turned to dust leaving Cleo alone.

"What is happening?" Ren asked. Doc pulled the panicking Ren closer to him.

Stress looked terrified as she faded. Joe stared at her dust blowing away, and he dissolved too.

Xisuma, who'd picked up the injured Wither, watched as the halfhel started fading. "I couldn't stop him." Wither whispered.

"It wasn't your fault." X protested.

"I'm sorry." Wither turned to dust.

I felt numb, watching our friends fade away.

"No, no please no." Ren looked at his hand, starting to flake into dust. He looked at Doc pleadingly, terror in his eyes. "Doc, no." And he faded away. Doc's eyes glazed over, and he slumped to the ground.

I knelt beside Doc, who was shaking a bit. "Why him?" He choked out. "Why not me instead?" I wished I knew how to comfort him.

But then came the one thing I was dreading most.

"Grian?" 

Mumbo, who'd been standing beside me, raised his hand to find it dissolving. He looked at me. "What's happening?"

No, I thought. This can't be happening.

Not to Mumbo.

I caught my friend as he stumbled, and lowered him to the ground. He sat beside me, fear filling his eyes. "Please, no. I don't want to die too."

 I didn't know what to do. I hugged him close to me, feeling his heart beating frantically.

"Grian, please." I looked up and watched as Mumbo faded away. My heart shattered.

Tango and Impulse ran up to us. "What happened to Mumbo and Ren?" Tango asked, kneeling beside me. 

"Gone." I barely heard Doc say the word. I burried my face in my hands, trying to hold back tears. Half the Hermits were gone.

And it was my fault. I couldn't kill Thanos.

"Hey." I heard 's voice, and a pair of arms wrapped around me. "You're okay. It's not your fault."

I know the voice in my head said. It's Thanos's fault.

Silently, I promised we would find a way to fix this. To get all the people who were gone back.

Iskall.

Wels and Biffa. 

TFC and Python.

Jevin.

Stress and Joe.

Wither.

Ren.

And Mumbo.

I swore, that I would find and kill Thanos, even if it was the last thing I would do.

-----

That got sad. Sorry, but don't worry! Part two is coming, sometime or another.

In the meantime? Don't mind me, I'll be over in the corner, sobbing at what I've done.