Quinjet. Outside Wakanda

"Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0." Steve said, leaning out to peer through the window.

"I hope you're right about this, Cap. Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to." Sam said, directing the jet to a cliffside with a patch of trees... That dissolved once they passed through, the city of Wakanda in view. They flew past buildings, searching for a landing pad. Once they found one, they landed, the jet opening. The King of Wakanda met the group, flanked by his female guard.

"Should we bow?" Bruce asked, adjusting his jacket.

"Yeah, he's a king." Pietro replied. Cap walked up and shook hands with T'Challa.

"Seems like I'm always thanking you for something." he said. Bruce cleared his throat and awkwardly bowed.

"What are you doing?" Carson asked him.

"Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa said, holding up his hands. Bruce gave Rhodey a look. "So how big of an assault can we expect?" Bruce shuffled forward.

"Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault." Bruce said as they walked to the administrative building.

"How we looking?" Nat asked.

"You will have my King's Guard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and..." T'Challa started, being cut off as Bucky walked to the group.

"A semi-stable, 100-year-old man." he said, hugging Steve, then Carson with affection, pressing his face into the latter of the two's lilac hair, kissing it softly.

"How you been, Buck?" Steve asked.

"Uh, not bad, for the end of the world." he replied. They made their way to Shuri's lab to get an assessment on Vision. The girl scanned him.

"Whoa. The structure is polymorphic." she said in awe. Bruce looked at her with his glasses on.

"Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially." he said.

"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" Shuri said, Vision looking at Bruce in questioning.

"Because, we didn't think of it." Bruce replied, uncertainly.

"I'm sure you did your best." Shuri replied.

"Can you do it?" Wanda asked.

"Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures." Shuri turned to her brother. "It will take time, brother."

"How long?" Pietro asked.

"As long as you can give me." Shuri said, turning to prep her work. Okoye's bracelet let out an alarm.

"Something's entered the atmosphere." she said tentatively. A loud bang was heard as something hit the dome protecting the country.

"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here." Sam's voice said from the comms.

"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome." Rhodey said, geared up in his armor. Vision began to sit up.

"It's too late. We need to destroy the stone now." he said.

"Vision, get your ass back on the table." Nat snapped at him.

"We will hold them off." T'Challa said.

"Wanda, as soon as the stone is out of his head... you blow it to hell." Carson told the girl. Wanda nodded.

"Evacuate the city. Engage all defense procedures." T'challa said, then pointed to Cap. "And get this man a shield."

***

Nivadellir

"I don't think you get the scientifics here. These rings are gigantic. You wanna get them moving, you're gonna need something a lot bigger to yank 'em loose." Rocket said from inside the pod tied to a rope being held by Thor.

"Leave that to me." he said.

"Leave that to you? Buddy, you're in space. All you got is a rope and a-" Rocket started to snark, before Thor swung the pod around, and all that could be heard was Rocket's screaming.

"He told you to hold on!" Olivia called.

"MORE... POWER... RABBIT!" Thor called, being dragged by the pod as the rings of the forge began to loosen. Rocket did as he was told and accelerated, the rings finally moving and then the star sprang to life. Olivia ran to the pod.

"That's Nivadellir!" she said, pointing to the star. Rocket stared at it in awe, but then something broke and the forge shut off.

"Damn it." Eitri said.

"'Damn it'? What's 'damn it'?" Rocket asked.

"The mechanism is crippled. With the iris closed I can't heat the metal." the dwarf said.

"How long will it take to heat?" Thor asked.

"A few minutes, maybe more. Why?"

"I'm gonna hold it open."

"That's suicide." Olivia said.

"So is facing Thanos without that axe." he said, running to the iris.

***

Wakanda

Transport ships holding soldiers and Avengers alike sped across the field, heading for the edge of the dome.

"How we looking, Bruce?" Nat asked. The Hulk-Buster armor tramped along the field, stumbling awkwardly.

"Yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of it. Wow! It's like being the Hulk without actually-" he started, then tripped. He shook the dirt out of the crevices and stood tall. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

"I got two heat signatures breaking through the tree line." War Machine said over comms. The transports parked to the already assembled Boarder Tribe, chanting in their language. Black Panther walked to the leader, M'Baku.

"Thank you for standing with us."

"Of course, brother." M'Baku said in his native language. Nat, Black Panther, and Cap made their way to the barrier to talk with Thanos's adversaries. Carson could tell from his position that the one he shot earlier was missing. A moment later, the female one raised her sword and a whole bunch of grotesque aliens began to pour out of the pyramid like structures. Cap, Nat, and T'challa came back to the front lines.

"Did they surrender?" Carson asked sarcastically.

"Not exactly." Steve replied. The Wakandans began their war cry as the aliens quickly approached the energy barrier.

"What the hell..." Pietro said quietly.

"Looks like we pissed her off." Nat observed. The aliens started to attack at the dome, some poking through in their attempts to get through, most dying in the process.

"They're killing themselves..." Okoye said in horror. As aliens began to break through the barrier without dying, Black Panther gave the order for people to begin shooting at them. Carson had only two pistols, but a hell of a lot of backup ammunition. He fired at the ones that the others had missed. Sam flew overhead.

"You seen the teeth on those things?" he asked over comms.

"Alright, back up, Sam. You're gonna get your wings singed." Rhodey said, dropping bombs onto the area of the dome the aliens were coming from. Though, it became clear that they were starting to circle the dome for another way in.

"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us...There's nothing between them and Vision." Bruce said from his suit.

"Them we better keep 'em in front of us." Cap replied.

"How do we do that?" Carson asked.

"We open the barrier." T'Challa said. He turned on his comm. "On my signal, open North-West Section Seventeen." Someone replied to the call, in a confused tone almost. "On my signal." he confirmed.

"This will be the end of Wakanda." M'Baku said worriedly.

"Then it will be the noblest ending in history." Okoye replied. The order was given to lower the line's shields. T'Challa activated his mask.

"WAKANDA FOREVER!" he shouted, and the soldiers began their pursuit. The barrier was opened just a little, but enough so the aliens could pour in at a rapid pace.

***

Nivadellir

Thor stood in the iris of the forge, preparing to hold it open. Olivia readied herself as well. She was going to use a little magic to try and protect Thor. It wouldn't be for long; a dying star was an immense amount of power.

"Allfathers, give me strength." Thor said.

"You understand, boy? You're about to take the full force of a star. It'll kill you." Eitri asked.

"Only if I die." Thor replied.

"Yes. That's what... 'killing you' means." Eitri said, almost confused. Olivia rolled her eyes a little and prepared herself. Thor grasped the levers and pulled. The iris opened and Olivia held up protective barriers around Thor as the star's energy blasted forth, beginning to heat the forge. Thor yelled in pain, and Olivia began to strain under the pressure.

The longer the iris was held open, the harder it was to keep the spell up. After several tortuous moments, she groaned as her focus fell and the spell broke.

"You're on your own now, brother." she said as she collapsed from the expense of her energy, her consciousness fading in and out. After a while, Thor let go, the pressure of the star's energy becoming too much. He crashed a few feet away from her. Rocket landed the pod and jumped between the two bodies.

"Thor! Say something. Come on. Thor, you okay?" He asked, patting his burned face. A crash sounded as Eitri began to break Stormbreaker's mold. "I think he's dying!"

"H...he needs th-the axe." Olivia groaned from next to him, trying to stand up.

"Where's the handle? Tree, help me find the handle!" Eitri called to Groot, who finally looked up from his game. He saw the two halves of the axe and saw his friend on the brink of death. He puffed his chest and reached out for the halves, his arm growing and wrapping around the halves, bringing them together. Olivia finally stood up and stared at what was taking place in front of her.

"Holy mother of Frigga...." she breathed as Groot held up the completed axe and separated it from his arm with a crash. Thor's fingers twitched and small sparks started to form.

***
Wakanda

Warriors were falling all over the place. War Machine was knocked out of the sky as he poured explosives and gunfire all over the enemies. Bruce tried to throw aliens off his armor before being taken down by a large group. They began scratching and tearing the armor apart.

"There's too many of them! GYAH! AAAAHHHHH!" he screamed. There was a moment that passed. Suddenly, a beam of multicolored light exploded onto the battle field. From that beam, an axe charged with lightning started cutting through the enemies around it in a wide circle. The ones that had Cap pinned down were cut to pieces. Most fighting ceased as everyone stared at the beam retracting, leaving a raccoon with a huge gun, a teenager looking tree, as well as Thor and Olivia, the former bearing the charged axe in his hand. The raccoon pointed the gun at the enemies, Olivia drew her sword, and they began to charge. Bruce opened the armor's head.

"AH-hahaha! You guys are so screwed now!" he yelled at the opposition.

"BRING ME THANOS!!!" Thor screamed as he shot up into the air in a blur of lightning, crashing down a moment later, killing the aliens around him in one blow.

***

Titan

As soon as Mantis sensed he was coming, everyone hid in their set locations. Maya and Peter hid behind a pile of rock as the blue mist appeared and a large purple man emerged, wearing a gauntlet with four gems on it: purple, blue, orange, and red. Strange sat before him, his cloak missing.

"Oh, yeah, you're much more of a 'Thanos'." he snarked.

"I take it the Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission." Thanos replied. Maya had no clue who they were talking about.

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

"And where do you think he brought you?"

"Let me guess. Your home?" Strange asked. Thanos smiled a little. Maya felt a little scared as the red gem lit up and everything seemed to clean up around them, blue skies replacing the dirty orange one they found, the structures that had started to break down were perfect. Small people went about their daily lives.

"It was. 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." Thanos explained.

"Genocide."

"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." Thanos deactivated the gem, and everything went back to the way it was.

"Congratulations. You're a prophet." Strange said sarcastically.

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that...mercy." Thanos said, snapping his free fingers as a demonstration. Strange stood up.

"And then what?" he asked.

"I finally rest... and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe . The hardest choices require the strongest wills." Thanos said calmly. Strange activated his magic.

" I think... you'll find... our will... equal to yours." he said.

"Ours?" Thanos asked, before Iron Man thrust a large piece of debris at him and gets crushed.

"Piece of cake, Quill." he called. Quill activated his mask and flew up.

"Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off!" he yelled back. The debris turned purple and Thanos threw it off of him, throwing it at Tony, driving him back. Peter and Maya jumped out from their hiding spot next. Peter slung webs at Thanos's eyes as Maya began to hit him with a rod she found on the ground. Drax slid in and tried to slice at Thanos's Achilles tendons. Thanos flung him through a massive structure. Quill flew in next, firing at Thanos, who went for him. Quill just flipped around as a portal courtesy of Strange opened up.

"Boom!" he said, flipping off Thanos before falling into the portal. More portals opened and Spider-Man started kicking and punching at Thanos as the portals opened and closed.

"Magic! More magic! Magic with a kick!" he said as this happened. "Magic with a-" he began again, but Thanos was ready this time, grabbing Peter and forcing him to the ground.

"Insect!" Thanos hissed. Peter struggled to get free.

"HEY!" Maya called, gesturing wildly with her rods. Thanos went after her, allowing Peter to go free. Maya slid between Thanos's legs and smacked him on the back of the head with a rod before disappearing into another portal. A ship suddenly crashed into the field beside them. The pilot lept out and hit Thanos in the face with a sword.

"Nebula?" Quill asked.

"Well, well." Thanos said with a small smile.

"You should have killed me." Nebula snarled at him.

"Would've been a waste of parts!" Thanos roared. Nebula ran at him again.

"Where's Gamora?!" she screamed. Why is Gamora? Maya thought with a small smile as she went in for another attack.

"Quill?" Who's that?" Maya called.

"Gamora's sister, Nebula. Usually that's bad news, but it's been an upside down day, so... she's with us, I guess?" he replied back. Strange used his magic to bind Thanos's empty hand as Drax slid in and put the titan off balance and onto his knees, Peter slung some webs and wrapped them around Thanos, holding tight. Maya, not knowing what else to do, grabbed Thanos's legs to keep him down as Strange opened a portal, allowing Mantis to fall to Thanos's shoulders and put her hands to his temples, trapping him in a trance. It got eerily quiet.

"Is he under? Don't let up." Tony said, starting to pull at the Gauntlet.

"Be quick. He is very strong." Mantis said, straining.

"Parker, help! Get over here." Tony said. Peter let go of his webs and went over to help pull off the Gauntlet. "She can't hold him much longer. Let's go." Quill flew in a moment later and landed in front of the group, deactivating his mask.

"I thought you'd be harder to catch. For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?" he said to Thanos.

"My... Gamora..." Thanos groaned.

"No, bullshit. Where is she?" Quill asked again.

"He is in anguish." Mantis said. "He... he... mourns." she said, tears streaming down her face.

"What does this monster have to mourn?!" Drax asked.

"Gamora." Nebula said suddenly.

"What?" Maya asked.

"He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone... but she didn't." Nebula said in horror. Tony removed his helmet, still pulling at the half removed Gauntlet.

"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now, you understand?" he called. Quill's face slowly darkened. "Don't, don't, don't engage, we've almost got this off!" Maya could tell this wasn't going to end well.

"Tell me she's lying..." he said quietly, before getting up into Thanos's face. "ASSHOLE! Tell me you didn't do it!"

"I... had... to." Thanos groaned quietly. Quill shook his head.

"No, you didn't...! No, you didn't...!" he said, before beating Thanos with his gun. Maya let go of Thanos's legs as Mantis yelled and let go. "NO, YOU DIDN'T!!!"

"QUILL!" Tony and Drax yelled at the same time, Tony leaping for Quill's arm, trying to stop him. Peter continued to pull, Maya helping him at this point.

"Hey, stop! Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!" Tony yelled at Quill.

"It's coming! It's coming! It's coming! I got it! I got it...!" Peter said, before Thanos finally came to and pulled the Gauntlet back, just before Maya and Peter could get it all the way off. He flings Mantis off his shoulders as Peter and Maya stumble back.

"Oh God." Peter said as he jumped to snatch Mantis out of the air with his webs. Thanos, activating the Gauntlet, aimed for a nearby moon and using the stones, threw it at Tony and the rest of the group, crashing it into the surface of the planet.

***

Wakanda

The situation was getting worse. More and more soldiers fell and those that still lived were taking beatings. Carson was slowly running out of bullets as more aliens swarmed. He couldn't help but notice that after Olivia had arrived, she fought with much more ferocity than normal, more emotion. He also couldn't help but notice her normal violet cape was missing, replaced by a deep green one that was heavily scuffed up and just a little too large for her. It had been a while since he'd seen her last, but then he realized that she was fighting alone. Usually, when they'd fought together in the past, someone was usually close by or right next to her. He slowly began to realize what had happened and started to make his way towards her.

"Olivia, what happened? Where is-" he asked her as she cut through more aliens.

"I'd rather not discuss what happened right now! The more of these Outriders I get, the more I feel like I'm avenging him. I'm an Avenger, after all. If we survive this, I'll tell you!" Olivia yelled back as she ran away to attack more Outriders. Carson shook his head and began firing at more of the Outriders, making his way to Nat and Okoye. There was a rumble. Suddenly, Threshers burst from the ground and began approaching the group.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK NOW!" Black Panther screamed into the comms. As the machines approached them, Wanda suddenly flew in front of them and used her magic to stop the Threshers and break them apart.

"Why was she up there all this time?" Okoye asked, flipping her spear.

"Guys, we got a Vision situation here." Pietro said over comms.

"Somebody get to Vision!" Cap yelled.

"I got him!" Bruce said. Carson ran from the women in pursuit of Vision. After fighting his way through more waves, he could hear Bruce's struggle through comms.

"Hulk. Hulk, I know you like making your entrance at the last second, well, this is it, man. This is the last, last second."

"NOOOO!!!" The Hulk seemed to scream.

"Oh, screw you, you big green asshole! I'll do it myself!" It was almost comical. Carson would have laughed in better situations. After a few moments, Carson could see the Hulk-Buster's arm hit the dome, one of the lead aliens attached to it, before it exploded. Carson smiled a little as he ran towards the woods in search of Vision.

***

Titan

Poor Peter was trying so hard to use his webs to catch people before they drifted away from Thanos's onslaught. Maya was trying her hardest to even land blows on Thanos, but she was usually thrown aside, Peter needing to catch her a few times. Strange threw different forms of magic around, Thanos using the Stones to block the attacks. At one point, Strange threw a large wall of geometric mirrors at him, but Thanos broke it before the shards turned to a massive hoard of butterflies. After that, Strange multiplied himself and threw golden ropes at Thanos to try and keep him at bay. That attempt was thwarted also. Thanos lunged and grabbed Strange.

"You're full of tricks, wizard." he said, before taking and crushing Strange's medallion. "Yet you never once used your greatest weapon. A fake." Strange was hurled to a nearby rock and promptly was knocked out.

Great, now we lost the wizard. Maya thought as she charged with Nebula, again, to be knocked back. Tony suddenly burst forth.

"You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna to lose it." he said.

"Stark." Thanos said.

"You know me?"

"I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."

"My only curse is you." Tony said before throwing rockets at Thanos. Thanos deflected them easily and they exploded in different directions. Tony threw weapon after weapon at the titan. Eventually, Thanos just sent a purple stream of energy at Tony, who blocked it with a nanotech shield. He advanced and powered up another hammer-like weapon and slammed it hard against Thanos's face. Maya ran up and saw that Tony had drawn blood. Thanos put a finger to the cut.

"All that for a drop of blood." he said. Tony lunged at him, hitting him with several more weapons. Eventually, Tony's arm was pinned up and he extended a blade on the other one, prepared to stab Thanos with it. The titan noticed, however, and ripped the blade off, driving it into Tony's gut.

"MR. STARK!" Maya and Peter yelled. Tony groaned in pain and Thanos rested a hand on Tony's head.

"You have my respect, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you." he said, ready to use the Gauntlet.

"Stop!" Strange said, coming to. "Spare his life... and I will give you the stone."

"No tricks." Thanos said.

"Don't!" Tony said, but Strange seemed to pluck the Time Stone from out of the sky. He let it float to Thanos, who took it and placed it onto the thumb slot of his Gauntlet. He groaned as the new power came to him.

"One to go." he said, when Quill came out of nowhere and started yelling and shooting at him. Thanos took no damage and teleported away with the blue stone.

"Where is he?!" Quill asked, landing and removing his mask. Tony patched up his wound. "Did we just lose?" Tony turned to Strange.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"We're in the Endgame now." Strange replied.

***

Wakanda

The tides were beginning to turn in the favor of the Avengers. Despite this, however, more and more outriders seem to pour in, the stream never seeming to stop. Thor was flying around trying to take out the containment things containing the Outriders. Carson had found Vision a little while ago, keeping him defended with Cap and Pietro until Wanda found them.

"Are you okay?" she asked, before Vision flinched in pain. "What? What is it?"

"He's here." Vision muttered worriedly. The air seemed to grow heavier.

"Everyone, on my position. We have incoming." Cap said into the comms. The team arrived shortly after, everyone in defense mode. There was an eerie silence... then blue smoke appeared before them. Emerging from it, came the purple face of Thanos.

"What the hell?" Nat said in slight shock.

"Cap. That's him." Olivia said, flipping her sword around. Cap activated his shields.

"Eyes up. Stay sharp." He said. Thanos began the slow walk towards the group. Bruce ran forward first, but was thrown and fused into the cliff-side behind Thanos. Cap was sent flying back before he could even do anything. Black Panther came up to face the titan next, but was plucked out of the air and slammed to the ground, the stored energy in his suit dispersing. Carson then took aim with his pistols, the bullets glancing harmlessly off in wayward directions. Thanos lifted him up with the Space stone.

"You'd have to try harder than that, young fool." he said, before hurling him into a nearby tree, knocking him out. Sam tried next, flying in with more gunfire. After a blast with the Power Stone, Falcon's wings folded and bent, sending him falling to the ground. Pietro tried to run circles around the Titan, but Thanos used the Reality Stone to slow him down. Pietro all but halted in his tracks until Thanos threw him aside. Behind them, Vision and Wanda conversed.

"Wanda. It's time." Vision said in a defeated tone.

"No." she said simply, not ready for what was coming.

"They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can. Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone."

"Don't."

"You must do it. Wanda, please. We. Are. Out of time."

"I can't." Wanda's lower lip was quivering now, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the stone, half the universe dies. It's not fair. It shouldn't be you, but it is. It's all right. You could never hurt me. I just... feel you." Vision took her hand and positioned it in front of the stone. Crying now, Wanda beamed her energy, directing it to the stone. War Machine began sending a barrage towards Thanos, before getting his armor crushed, being tossed aside. Bucky begins firing at Thanos, again, the bullets glancing off harmlessly. He gets thrown back with the Power stone. Okoye throws her spear, which then gets thrown back, her along with it, Nat getting caught in the crossfire and becoming trapped underneath a pile of rocks. Olivia ran behind him, attempting to hit him with her sword. Thanos was prepared for it, though, grabbing her arm and yanking her weapon out of her grip. He threw her aside and she hit a tree, becoming dazed. Groot tried to wrap Thanos up with his roots, but Thanos broke them easily.

Wanda took the time to glance over her shoulder, seeing her friends get hurt. She turned back to Vision and began using both hands to try and destroy the stone. As a last line of defense, Cap then slid between Thanos's legs and upper-cut him with his shield. Then he grabbed the Gauntlet, holding it open for a moment, before getting knocked out with a fist to the head. Realizing nothing stood between them, Wanda moved her hand and shot an energy beam at Thanos, holding him back, but not for long.

"It's all right. It's all right. I love you." Vision tells Wanda, and a few moments later, the stone shatters and explodes, sending Wanda flying back from it's force. Once the dust cleared, Thanos approached Wanda, patting her head.

"I understand, my child. Better than anyone." he tells her softly.

"You could never." Wanda snarled.

"Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn. Now... is no time at all." Thanos replied before activating the Time stone and began to turn back time, Vision beginning to reform. A moment later, Vision was reassembled with the Mind stone intact.

"NO!" Wanda screamed, before getting sent flying back by Thanos. He picked up Vision and pulled the Mind stone from his head. Vision turned grey and went limp. His body was thrown aside, his eyes blank. Thanos then inserted the stone in the final and largest slot in his Gauntlet. The new energy rippled through him, his collection finally complete. Suddenly, a great beam of electric energy hit Thanos square in the chest. Thanos tried to block Stormbreaker from hitting him, but the axe blew through the energy blast from the stones, burying itself into his chest. Thor flew down and stared Thanos right in the eye. He put a hand on the axe.

"I told you. You'd die for that!" Thor snarled, pressing the axe further into Thanos's chest. He let out a scream of pain. He looked back to Thor.

"You should have... You... You should have gone for the head!" Thanos said, before he raised the Gauntlet...

And snapped his fingers.

"NO!" Thor yelled as a bright flash emitted from the Gauntlet. Once the smoke cleared, the Gauntlet was melted and in shambles, smoke coming out of it.

"What'd you do? WHAT'D YOU DO?!" Thor yelled at him. Thanos said nothing, just used the Space Stone to teleport away, leaving the bloodstained axe on the ground with a clang. Slowly, everyone began to stir and stand up.

"Where'd he go? Thor... where'd he go?" Cap asked.

"Steve?" Bucky called from behind him. Everyone turned around to see Bucky stumble and disintegrate in front of them, his gun falling to the ground. Cap ran over and put a hand on the ashes.

Carson picked up a few of them, letting them slip between his fingers. He crumpled and started sobbing into his hands, no one saying anything. Yells came from the battlefield, the sounds of soldiers disintegrating being heard.

T'Challa found Okoye on the ground and went to help her up.

"Up, General. Up! This is no place to die." he said, her grabbing his arm, before there was nothing to grasp, Black Panther disintegrating as well.

Nearby, Groot began to flake a way as well.

"I am Groot?" he said.

"No... no. No. No. No! Groot, no." Rocket said, trying to grab him before Groot disappeared as well.

Wanda, sitting over Vision's body, began to flake away as well, She said nothing, she just leaned back with an accepting expression as she disappeared as well.

Pietro ran to find his sister, only seeing an ash pile next to Vision's broken body. Pietro could barely look at it in horror. Then, his vision went as he flaked away as well.

Sam began to disintegrate as well, fear in his expression.

"Sam? Sam!? Where you at?!" Rhodey called as Sam flaked away.

***

Titan

The team was tending to their wounds, slowly accepting defeat. Peter helped Tony up from the ground, the Iron Man armor completely gone.

"Something's happening." Mantis said, before suddenly flaking away next to Quill. Everyone stared in shock at what just happened.

"Quill?" Drax said, confused as he disappeared the same as Mantis just did. Tony straightened.

"Steady, Quill." Tony said to him.

"Oh man..." Peter Quill said as he disintegrated as well. Tony turned to face Dr. Strange.

"Tony." he said. "There was no other way." Then he flaked away as well.

"Mister Stark? I don't feel so good..." came Peter's voice from behind Tony. Nebula watched on as Spider-Man ran to grip onto Tony, embracing him into a hug.

"You're all right." Tony said, though there was no conviction in his tone.

"I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-." Peter said, crying. Maya watched in horror. She didn't know what do do. " Save me, save me! I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, sir, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go..." Tony placed him onto the ground, cradling his head. Maya sat down next to them, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry." Peter said softly before he flaked away as well. Tony's hands fell onto nothing, Maya reached up and tried to catch Peter's ashes, but they floated away before she could.

"He did it." Nebula said quietly. She sat down next to Tony and Maya. Tony looked at the girl, tears in both of their eyes, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as they mourned their losses.

***

Wakanda

The group of survivors crowded around Vision's broken and grey body. Tears were falling down everyone's faces. Rocket sat on the fallen tree that Groot had died on. Thor held Stormbreaker in his hands, looking around in confusion and loss. Bruce looked on, the Hulk-Buster head retracted to show his lowered head and defeated expression. Nat ran up and clutched her gut in horror. Near Bucky's ashes, Olivia let Carson cry into her shoulder as she rocked him back and forth like a mother would, though she had the same expression as Thor; misty eyed and confused, both of their eyes hiding a brokenness behind them. They had already lost everything, or so they had thought.

"What is this? What the hell is happening?" Rhodey asked. There was silence for a long time.

"Oh, God." Steve said.

***

Titan II

Thanos approached his small shack on his new home planet.

His armor was hung in the field acting as a scarecrow.

The Gauntlet was now fused to his left hand.

He sat down on the patio of his little shack.

The sun began to rise over the horizon, shining on his face.

He smiled.

His life's work was finally complete.

The sun finally rose over a grateful universe.

***

New York

"Still no word from Stark?" Nick Fury asked Maria Hill as they drove through New York.

"No, not yet. We're watching every satellite in both hemispheres, there's still nothing." Hill replied. Something beeped.

"What is it?"

"Multiple bogeys over Wakanda."

"Same energy signatures as New York?"

"Ten times bigger."

"Tell Klein. We'll meet him at-"

"NICK! NICK!" Hill interrupted as a car suddenly spun and hit theirs. They got out and Hill checked the driver.

"They okay?"

"There's no one here." Behind them, a helicopter crashed right into a building, exploding. People began to run away, some suddenly flaking away as they did so.

"Call Control. Code Red." Fury told Hill.

"Nick?" she replied. Fury turned around to see Maria Hill disintegrate like some of the civilians.

"Hill?" he asked. Nothing. Panicking, he ran to the back seat of his car and found a pager. An old one, probably made in the early to mid 90s. He pressed a few buttons, but then his fingers started to disappear.

"Oh, no. Motherf-" He was cut of as he flaked away. The pager fell onto the ground, beeping a few times before a symbol appeared on the screen.

The symbol of Captain Marvel.