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｡･:*:･ﾟCHAPTER FOUR ｡･:*:･ﾟ
"repercussions"
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SPOILER ALERT: that was not good news. 

Gray pinched the bridge of his nose, his hair falling messily in front of his eyes as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. He wasn't one to get truly scared easily. Anxious - sure, that was pretty much a regular emotion, but scared? Now that was a whole other ballpark. 

 He wasn't afraid of dying. His entire life had been built on a foundation made of death and destruction. The prospect of ceasing to exist, of having your soul ascend from your body, wasn't exactly all bad. Maybe it would mean that Gray would actually have a chance to catch his breath for once. The thing that scared him to the point of hysteria was the idea of living in a world without people he loved. 

 He didn't have many people in his life to love. His parents were silhouettes in the back of his head, and as far as he was concerned he had never had any real friends his own age. But Tony Stark? That was a different story. Tony Stark allowed Gray to become something more than a genetically modified weapon. He kept him safe, and he taught him how to be whatever he wanted. Tony Stark may not be his father, but he was sure as hell the closest thing the Moreno boy ever had to a family. 

 "You good?" The man himself spoke, standing in front of the boy and putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Gray nodded. 

 "I'm fine. I'm fantastic." 

"Good, so am I." Tony squared his shoulders, although his eyes were soft as he looked at Gray. "Hey," he began, his voice holding an edge of sincerity that was rare to see on the Stark man. "It's gonna be okay." 

 "One in fourteen-million," he chuckled, although there was no humor in his tone. "I should have stayed in the cafe, huh?" 

 "But then you wouldn't be with me," Tony reminded, gently hitting his shoulder, an easy-going smile on his face. "And I wouldn't have gotten to ask you something." 

 "Shoot," Gray ran a hand through his hair, shutting his eyes for a moment. "Whatever it is can't be worse than this." 

 "I need you... to babysit Parker." 

 "I'm sorry, you need me to what?" 

 "Just if something happens to me," the man added hurriedly, putting a hand on his chest. At the look he recieved from the boy, he sighed deeply. "Look, we're going worst-case scenario. If anything really shitty happens, I want you to make sure to keep him alive. He's a good kid, he's just..." he bit his lip, "he needs some reminding of it sometimes." 

 "Deal," Gray held out his hand, "I'll make sure Peter doesn't fuck anything up, you just stay alive." 

 A ghost of a smile dusted over Tony's face as he shook the boy's hand. "I'm proud of you." He said. The words were simple, but they made a warm feeling spread throughout Gray's chest, a smile tugging at his lips. 

 He watched as the man walked away, a new sense of purpose spreading through his veins like the blood he needed to survive. He couldn't guarantee that he would be successful in saving the universe. But watching out for Peter Parker? 

 Now that he could do. 

 ***

THANOS LOOKED LIKE the kind of guy who yelled at kids in supermarkets for being 'too rowdy'. 

That was Gray's first honest impression of the Titan, although he was certain that it was a stupid thing to think staring crisis in the face.

 Thanos was huge - making Drax (which was apparently the big-dude in Quill's gang's name)  look like a barbie doll. He was a dull shade of purple all over, and had this assholish face that made Gray want to slap him even though he was standing yards away. Sure, he may have been the strongest being in the universe, but he seemed like such a dick that Gray hated him for a completely different reason. 

 "Can you see him?" Peter whispered, his voice so quiet that Gray had to lean closer to hear him. 

 "Yeah, he looks like a little bitch." 

Peter nodded, although Gray's disrespectful observation didn't seem to ease his state of mind. He leaned over, his voice nothing more than a breathy whisper. "Are you scared?" He asked, his true emotions obscured by the mask on his face. Gray bit his lip, glancing over at the boy in the spider-suit. 

 "No," he muttered, squaring his shoulders and inhaling deeply,"you?" 

"Nope," Peter repeated, shaking his head slightly as they stood in silence. Gray knew that they were both lying, but didn't dare say anything as he kept his gaze stubbornly ahead. His arms were aching like he had just done a tough workout - one of the unfortunate side effects of his abilities. He wondered what it felt like for Scarlet Witch to use her powers. They were similar in effect, but the woman's were natural, while Gray's were drilled into his brain by a bunch of assholes in lab coats. He thought the prospect of having power with no side effects was much too risky. Being able to bend the world at your fingertips is an incredibly dangerous quality when it doesn't come with the burning pain in your joints and exhaustion brimming beneath your eyes. 

 Thanos seemed as if he needed that reminder. 

 The outburst of sound was what kick-started Gray's autopilot mode. He patted Peter's shoulder, giving him a reassuring nod, before turning and exposing himself from their hiding place. 

In the place where Thanos had been standing previously was a huge structure that had once been a building on Titan. It was shattered and destroyed in many places, and dust swirled around in the air from where the impact was made. It was a big enough force to kill even the strongest of humans... but Thanos wasn't a human. 

A defeaning roar sounded as the structure exploded, a piercing purple light penetrating the orange hues of the planet as Thanos yelled, emerging without even a scratch. Gray held up his hand, shielding his body from the flying debris as he marveled at just how strong this asshole really was. 

 With a wave of his hand, the renments from the explosion transformed into a flock of birds that swarmed around Tony, whisking him out of sight. Gray let out a long, deep breath as he held out his hands. He was facing a being who could alter reality, and the odds weren't very good. But who was he if he didn't go down fighting? 

 Peter fired a web at Thanos' eyes, and Drax jumped into the scene, hitting the back of his knees and making him stagger. Gray stepped through a cleverly timed portal, swiping his hand to the side and hitting Thanos with a shard of metal that opened a cut across his purple cheek. 

He jumped back through another portal, reappearing on the Titan's opposite side as Quill and Strange attacked from the front. He kicked his legs out, using his powers to assault the titan with an onslaught of rocky debris left over by the planet's massacre. He ended off with a loud "fuck you!" before backing through a portal to avoid being shocked by a device that Quill had planted. 

 As Strange's magical cape-thing (Gray still wasn't sure what it was) wrapped around Thanos' thick hand, Peter decided to showcase his talent by popping through portals at rapid speed, firing off kicks and hits that actually seemed to do damage. That is, until Thanos managed to snatch him from the air, throwing him the ground with a growl of "insect", before tossing him aside like he weighed nothing. 

 Gray clenched his teeth, running forward and ducking as a punch was thrown in his direction. He willed rocks to rise from the ground, building up around Thanos' legs to root him in place. Before Gray could get a firm grip on the trap, he grunted as Thanos grabbed his arm, rearing his fist back to hit him in the face, tossing him a few feet away like a rag doll. 

 He groaned, rolling onto his side and wincing. His mask did lessen the blow, but when it comes down to the skin; he was still a normal teenager. He didn't have enhanced strength like the others, and it showed when he spit a glob of blood onto the ground. 

 He may have an injured face, but in a way; Thanos just screwed himself even more. 

 Because he made Grayson mad. 

 He watched as the Titan was positively smoked by another flying structure; courtesy of Tony, and stumbled as he tried to run over to where the action transferred. He watched as Strange shot an odd coil of red ropes at Thanos's gloved hand, Quil rooting the other to the ground with another of his electrical gadgets. Peter webbed him in place, Drax kicking him to his knees as Strange opened a portal. Mantis - the female in Quill's gang - landed on his shoulders, putting her hands to his temples as the antenna on her forehead lit up. 

His eyes turned milky, rolling back into his skull somewhat as whatever magic the woman had possessed him. Gray ran over to the gauntlet, where Tony's effort to pull it off wasn't making much of a difference. 

 "Let me," he said, taking a half step back and holding his hand out towards the iron glove. Tony took a step to the side, his eyes drilling holes into the boy's figure. 

 Immediately, pain began to spike up his arm, and he winced. This thing may seem ordinary, but it sure held a shit-load of power. Gray outretched his other arm, although the pain did nothing but double as he squinted, focusing all of his attention into pulling outwards from the glove. 

 It began to move. It was a small movement at first, but then Gray could feel the resistance slackening. He felt tears brim in his eyes from the pain, but didn't stop as he managed to choke out, "his - his fingers." 

 "I got it," Tony grabbed onto Thanos's hand, calling Peter over to help him pry his fingers opening. Gray couldn't force himself to force air through his lungs, his arms feeling like they were being put through a meat grinder. He had never delt with anything more powerful than the Infinity Stones, and his body wasn't liking it one bit. His chest burned, his arms in so much pain it felt like they were seconds from snapping. 

 Still, it was working. Gray couldn't hear anything but the rushing of blood in his ears as he took a half-step back, pulling harder as the gaunlet began to slip. 

 And then it came off. 

 It was only for a moment, but it worked. The metal glove slipped right off of the Titan's hand, Peter crying that he had ahold of it. But then, Thanos seemed to snap back to reality, as his hand snatched the gaunlet right back, the force making Gray slip and tumble onto his back. 

 That was when it all went to shit. 

 Gray felt a sharp kick to his ribs send him flying back a few feet, and he rolled uselessly a few times against the terrain before stopping. He gasped for air, his entire body burning like he was standing inside of a fire as he wrapped an arm around his chest, coughing and spitting out more blood. 

 He felt kind of like he was gonna die. His chest felt hot, like it was pooled full of blood, and his arms hurt so bad that he couldn't move them without thinking of calling nine one-one. He rose his head to see a shower of meteorites rain down on the planet, and then he was scooped up. 

 Tony had his arms wrapped protectively around the boy as he flew away, dodging the rocks as they plummetted into the atmosphere. He circled around to the top of the last standing building in Titan, gently setting him to the ground. "Hey, kid, are you alright?" 

 "I'm-" Gray coughed, "I'm stupendious." 

 Tony smiled, "stay here, okay? You're fight is over." 

 And he didn't give him the chance to say anything else, as he turned and disappeared from sight.