Grace, donning Savior with the helmet down, stands on a ship — a flying ship, low to the ground, carrying mainly warriors of Wakanda — with Nat.

Nat presses the comm in her ear. "How we looking, Bruce?"

Grace hears his response through her own comm. "Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it," he says, then jumping over one of the ships. He's in the Hulk Buster suit, courtesy of Grace getting it for them via Savior. It flew right to Wakanda at top speed, though they had to let it in through the force field. Bruce shouts as if he were on a rollercoaster, running faster than some of the flying ships. "This is amazing, man; it's like being the Hulk without actually-!" He then trips over a rock and runs right into the ground, everyone else passing him as he gets up. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line," Rhodey says not long afterward. He and Sam are flying above. Grace would have, but Nat wanted to keep her close. She was nervous something would happen, and there was no arguing with her, even if Grace wanted to. She was nervous too, though she reminded herself that that was probably better than being overconfident and therefore incautious and unprepared.

The ships stop near the edge of the force field, tilting so the warriors can slide off and onto the ground. Grace opts to fly out, landing next to Nat. Warriors led by a man dressed significantly different from T'Challa begin to chant in a language Grace doesn't understand but wishes she did. It fights off her nerves and boosts her confidence, things she desperately needs right now. If Thanos steps off one of those crafts, she has no idea what she's gonna do.

At the front of the line, T'Challa shakes the man's hand when they stop chanting. "Thank you for standing with us," he says. The man's response is indecipherable to Grace, but his tone and expression convey solidarity and brotherhood.

T'Challa, Steve, and Nat walk forward to go speak with two specks of aliens that stand on the other side of the force field. Grace wants to go, but both Nat and Steve tell her to stay back. When they leave, Bucky moves over to stand next to Grace, his gun in a resting position across his chest, but ready to be raised at a moment's notice. Everyone watches the conversation from afar, hearing nothing until one of the aliens raises a sword.

And then the crafts begin to rise.

When T'Challa, Nat, and Steve come back, Bucky asks, "Did they surrender?"

Steve gets back in his position in line. "Not exactly." Bucky moves over so that Nat can stand next to Grace, and then they all watch as aliens that, from here, look simply like ugly, rabid animals come racing out of the crafts, heading straight for the forcefield. The forest begins to burn. T'Challa and his army begin chanting.

Thousands of the horrible, alien animals, all sharp teeth and disgusting grey skin, coming charging out of the forest. Grace raises her helmet.

"What the crap," Bucky says.

"What are those?" Sai asks, and Grace can see her trying to figure it out, scanning them from afar.

"Looks like we ticked her off," Nat remarks, referring to the alien they'd spoken to before.

The animals begin hitting the force field, all of them running on two legs, and the force field kills them. They try to push through savagely, splitting themselves in half, none of them stopping, even when they see others falling.

With horror, Okoye says, "They're killing themselves."

All of them trying to get in at once weakens the force field, and some of them manage to get through, though patches of Pepto-Bismol pink muscle are torn through their skin.

The warriors shield themselves, a electronic shield popping up in front of every one of them, all in a perfect line. Grace, Nat, Steve, and Bucky are protected too. The warriors brandish their spears. T'Challa shouts a command, and they all fire, blue bullets of light leaving the tips of the spears and hitting the invading creatures. Grace begins firing her blasters, Bucky shoots his gun. From above, Sam and Rhodey blast them. But they just keep coming.

"You see the teeth on those things?!" Sam shouts over comms.

"Alright, back up, Sam. You're gonna get your wings singed," Rhodey replies. He drops bombs along the force field, killing some creatures and setting others on fire. The ones still alive, though they burn, continue coming. The ones outside run along the force field, presumably looking for a weak spot.

"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us," Bruce says, "there's nothing between them and Vision."

"Then we better keep 'em in front of us," Steve says.

Okoye looks at T'Challa. "How do we do that?"

"We open the barrier," he replies, then speaking to Dome Control over comms. "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen." Grace looks at him, along with Steve and Nat. She can't hear what Dome Control is saying, as they aren't connected to the same channel. "On my signal," T'Challa repeats.

"This will be the end of Wakanda," the man from before says.

Okoye looks straight ahead. "Then it will be the noblest ending in history."

Steve readies his shields, two triangular, grey things, one on each arm. Grace readies her blasters again. She mentally goes through all the rockets that she helped Tony add to the suit a few months ago when they got bored.

T'Challa shouts a command, and the army stands straight, the shield disappearing. He walks to the front of the line.

"Well, I figured out what they are," Sai declares. "They're called Outriders."

"I don't know how that helps me, but thanks," Grace says.

"I don't think it does," Sai replies, "but we're gonna annihilate them."

"I hope so."

"Oh, come on," Sai chides. "For Narnia!"

Grace sighs as T'Challa shouts, "Wakanda forever!"

At the moment before they all charge, to appease Sai, she cries, "And for Aslan!"

She stays with Nat, though she flies at the beasts, about half a foot off the ground. She hears T'Challa shout, "Go!" Then, a small section of the force field opens up in front of them, and the Outriders start pouring in.

Steve and T'Challa reach them first, Steve attacking them with nothing but a shield and his fists, as per usual. Grace blasts the ones not close to anyone on her side for fear of hurting someone. And few get close to her, and she's forced use a combination of her hand-to-hand skills and the suit's blasters. Sai tries to figure out some sort of fight pattern, but the Outriders are simply just... savage. There's no predicting anything they do, certainly not precisely.

When she manages to get a moment amidst all the chaos — which serves to distract her from much of her fear — Grace searches for Nat. She lost her in the mass of Outriders. She can't see anyone she knows, barely even a Wakandan warrior.

"I'm here, Grace. And if it gets too much, I'll take you out, okay?" Sai assures her.

Grace punches an Outrider square in its ugly face. "Okay."

Bruce jumps into a whole gaggle of them and begins fighting the best he can. Grace can see Bucky fighting near her, hear his gun going off, and, ironically, it calms her a little. But then an Outrider knocks his gun out of his hands and jumps on top of him, snarling.

Quickly, Grace runs to him, deploying a small rocket, hitting the Outrider in the back. It explodes on impact, ripping a hole through the beast but leaving Bucky unharmed. He gets to his feet and nods at her in thanks before grabbing his gun off the ground. Grace turns; there's barely any time to pause now. They're everywhere.

Then, a giant alien — as big as the Hulk — walks through the opening in the force field, a female alien next to him. He throws a large axe and knocks Rhodey out of the sky. Grace frantically fights her way to him, but the Outriders grab at her, the sound of their growls horrifying in her ears. She screams, blasting, kicking. Sai tries to fly her out, but they have a hold on her.

"There's too many of them!" she hears Bruce shout over comms. He'd been heading for her, going to save her when he heard her screams in his ears. But he can't. No one can. Everyone is being overrun with them, attacked by too many at once.

Grace is almost about to risk hurting the suit or even herself by deploying a rocket at this close range, but she doesn't have to.

A burst of rainbow-tinted light from the sky touches the ground, through the force field, killing some Outriders and distracting others. A weapon is thrown out of it, sparking with lightning, hitting Outrider after Outrider. It hits the group attacking Grace, setting her free. She struggles to her feet, then watches Thor emerge from the light, his hair now short, his weapon now an axe. Behind him are a live, humanoid tree and a raccoon dressed in armor and walking on two legs.

"Sai, am I still alive? Am I... Am I hallucinating...  while dying?" Grace asks.

"Nope," Sai says. "This is very, very real."

Bruce retracts the Hulk Buster's helmet and laughs. "You guys are so screwed now!"

Thor charges the alien army, the second wave approaching, the tree and the raccoon behind him. He roars, "Bring me Thanos!"

Grace can only watch him leap in the air, lighting crackling all around him as he calls it down to the earth, felling nearly the entire second wave of the army.

~~~~

Tony, Peter, and the morons all hide separately, the morons briefly arguing over who gets to hide where while they wait for Thanos to arrive.

They don't wait long.

Thanos emerges from a large, dark blue portal, huge, purple, and yet still somehow menacing. He looks at his damaged home while the portal closes behind him. The half of the crashed ship  particularly catches his eye, as it's a new addition to the landscape.

And so he doesn't see Strange, sitting on part of a ruin, pretending to be alone.

He speaks up, getting Thanos' attention. "Oh, yeah. You're much more of a 'Thanos.'"

Thanos looks at the wreck again. "I take it that Maw is dead." Strange nods slightly in response. Thanos walks forward, glancing at the necklace around Strange's neck. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that," Strange replies. "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

Tony can see it all clearly from where he hides, but Peter can only hear it. He's on a structure high above and slightly behind Strange, and he risks a peak over the edge, to see Thanos, to know what his enemy looks like. Fear spikes in him at the sight.

"And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asks.

Strange already knows; Quill told him everything. Still, he pretends to think. "Let me guess... Your home?"

Thanos chuckles a little, then turns serious. "It was." He closes his fist, the one wearing the gauntlet, which had Stones in it. The red one lights up, and the whole planet changes — green grass, in-tact, running buildings, people, fountains, starfish ships in a blue sky. "And it was beautiful. Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide," Strange says, his tone incredulous.

Thanos doesn't correct him, not entirely. "But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." He lets the illusion fade away, brings back the ruins, the whole planet rust-red again.

"Congratulations," Strange deadpans. "You're a prophet."

Then, Thanos does correct him. "I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers-" he does, with his right hand, the one without the gauntlet "-and they would all cease to exist. I call that... mercy."

Strange stands, walks towards Thanos, his voice still as calm as it's been the whole conversation. "And then what?"

"I finally rest, and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe." He makes himself seem like a suffering hero, forced to make a sacrifice. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

Strange finally becomes agitated, his voice gruff as he arms himself with magic. "I think you'll find our will equal to yours."

Thanos looks at him, slightly confused. "Our?"

In answer, Tony, using power from his suit, pushes a large, heavy part of the broken ship onto him before he can use a single Stone on his gauntlet. Tony shoves, determined to push Thanos into the ground. Dust pushes up when the piece makes contact with the ground, and it seems as though that's it.

"Piece of cake, Quill," Tony says, half surprised.

Quill and the others come out of hiding, heading for the spot where Thanos was. Quill, in some distress, shouts, "Yeah, if your goal was to tick him off!"

Tony moves, still in the air, when there's an eruption of purple light, destroying the part of the ship completely, smaller pieces of it floating around Thanos. He stands, shouting, and the purple light ceases as a red one glows. The pieces light up with the same red and turn into bats, which fly at Tony and overwhelm him, forcing him away.

That's when Peter swoops in, shooting a web at Thanos' face, right over his eyes. Peter continues swinging as Drax leaps in, attacking Thanos' legs with swords. Strange makes his own out of magic and does the same, and then Quill flies over, right when Thanos pushes Drax aside and it's only Strange against Thanos, Thanos' hand closed around Strange's blade.

With his gauntleted hand, Thanos rips the webbing off his face.

Peter grimaces, mumbling, "Well, that's not supposed to happen."

Strange gets rid of the blade, quickly making a shield when Thanos kicks him. Finally, Quill gets close enough and blasts Thanos, distracting him, and Strange casts magic platforms for Quill to jump across so he can reach Thanos quicker and to get him higher. He jumps off the last one, flips, attaches a device to Thanos' back, and lands behind him.

"Boom!" Quill shouts, jumping backwards into the portal Strange opened up behind him. Thanos goes to strike again, but he's shocked by Quill's device, and then Strange's cape flies over and wraps around the gauntlet. Thanos struggles with his other hand to pull it off.

And now it's Peter's turn.

He jumps into a portal in front of him, coming out right next to Thanos and punching him in the face, shouting, "Magic!" He jump forwards  through a nearby portal, falling out in the direction he just came from, flipping and grabbing Thanos' head as he does so, swinging down to kick him. "More magic!" He falls into yet another portal and comes out behind Thanos, jumping over his shoulder and kicking him in the jaw. "Magic with a kick!" After going through yet another portal, he leaps at Thanos, intending hit him again. "Magic with a-!" But Thanos stops him, grabbing him by the neck and then slamming him into the ground.

"Insect," Thanos says, picking him back up.

"Actually, I'm an arachnid!" Peter argues, even as he struggles to breathe.

"Is that so?" Thanos chucks him into Strange, knocking them both to the ground, then finally ripping the cape off his hand. Peter can hardly move, but he vaguely wonders where Mr. Stark is.

The man himself, having defeated the bats, shoots rocket after rocket at Thanos, explosion after explosion going off. He flies around, knowing that, even if the fire is engulfing Thanos, that doesn't mean he's dead.

Tony is right.

Thanos sucks the fire into one of the Stones, then shoots it all back at Tony, who isn't quick enough to dodge, and he's shot away again.

Peter scrambles to his feet, running at Thanos, webbing the gauntlet and desperately trying to pull it off. Thanos just pulls his left hand back, yanking Peter toward him, and punching him in the face. Peter hits the ground hard, then turns over just in time to see a small spaceship run over Thanos.

"Woohoo!" Peter shouts weakly, lifting his hand a little, even though he has no idea who's in that ship. He feels like he should, though.

As soon as Thanos gets to his feet, an alien bursts from the ship, punching him in the face. It — she — lands in front of Thanos, brandishing an electrified blade.

"Well, well," Thanos says.

"You should have killed me," the alien replies, and then it hits Peter — the metal parts, the fact that Thanos knows her. That's the cyborg. What was her name?

"Would've been a waste of parts!" Thanos replies scathingly.

Ga... Gamora?

The alien charges Thanos, hits him repeatedly yet skillfully, then shouts, "Where's Gamora?!"

So, not Gamora.

Thanos hits the cyborg with one hand, sending her crashing into debris. Strange steps up at this point, sending glowing red, whip-like tendrils to wrap around Thanos's free hand. Thanos pulls at them, but he can't get them off. Strange locks them on and pulls, while Drax slides in and kicks Thanos' foot, forcing him to take a knee, and Drax grabs onto his leg.

Quill fires something on the ground next to Thanos, and it glows with electricity, forcing Thanos' left hand down. Peter leaps into action, webbing Thanos in the front and swinging around his back, then lands and pulls back with all his strength. His feet slip, and he deploys his spider legs to give him more grip on the ground.

Finally, Mantis joins them, falling through a portal Strange creates over Thanos' head. She lands on Thanos' shoulders, then places her hands on his head, working her weird alien magic. Everyone pulls as Thanos roars. But then Mantis finally subdues him, and his struggle lessens a little. Peter can feel it.

Tony lands in front of Thanos and grabs the gauntlet, the device holding it down having turned off. Tony attempts to pull the gauntlet off. He looks up at Mantis. "Is he under? Don't let up."

"Be quick," she says, sounding distressed. "He is very strong."

Tony looks at Peter. "Parker, help!" Peter immediately attaches his web to the ground, running over, though Tony continues, "Get over here. She can't hold him much longer. Let's go."

Peter grabs the gauntlet at the base and helps Tony pull, fighting through exhaustion and pain. Quill flies over and lands near them, then retracts his mask. Peter is barely paying attention, telling Tony, "We gotta open his fingers to get it off." They're bent, and it's making it harder.

Quill approaches Thanos, who's all but dead to the world. "I thought you'd be harder to catch — and for the record, this was my plan." He's almost laughing, he's so smug. "Not so strong now, huh?" He gets in his face. "Where is Gamora?"

Thanos, his voice a low growl, says, "My Gamora-"

"No, bullcrap," Quill replies. "Where is she?"

"He is in anguish," Mantis says.

"Good."

Mantis sounds like she's crying. "He... He mourns."

"What does this monster have to mourn?!" Drax shouts as he struggles in holding him down, still.

The cyborg from earlier has been standing there for some time, without anyone noticing. She says, "Gamora."

Quill turns, his voice quiet when he asks, "What?"

"He took her to Vormir," the cyborg says, getting breathless with every word. "He came back with the Soul Stone... But she didn't."

Tony hears this, and he can only imagine what Quill is feeling right now. If somebody killed Pepper, and he was standing right here, Tony would want to destroy them. But if Quill attacks, then they fail. Mantis won't be able to hold Thanos.

"Okay, Quill," Tony says, "you gotta cool it right now, you understand?" Quill starts to turn back to Thanos, and Tony starts to panic. "Don't, don't. Don't engage. We almost got this off!"

Quill looks at Thanos. "Tell me she's lying." Thanos says nothing, and Quill screams, "Tell me you didn't do it!"

Slowly, Thanos breathes, "I... had... to..."

Quill shakes his head. "No, you didn't... No, you didn't."

And then he explodes.