Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 45: Closed Today

    Spencer knew that Thanos was coming, but she was not expecting it to be so soon. A couple days, sure, but not now. She didn't anticipate having their nice stroll interrupted by Doctor Strange, and certainly not while they were in the middle of a discussion with him. They just had to show up now. Standing on the other side of the street between piles of debris and overturned cars were two of what she assumed were Thanos' henchmen. One was tall, gray, and thin, while the other one towered over him, and definitely looked like the brute force of the operation.

    "Hear me, and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos," the tall, thin one said. "Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing to the balance of..."

    "I'm sorry, Earth is closed today!" Tony yelled out to him, cocky as always. "You better pack it up and get out of here."

    The tall, thin alien looked at Strange, ignoring Tony entirely. "Stone Keeper, does this chattering animal speak for you?"

    "Certainly not. I speak for myself," Strange responded, doing that weird thing with his arms that made his circular orange magic activate around his arms and hands. "But you're trespassing in this city and on this planet."

    "It means get lost, Squidward!" Tony snapped.

    Spencer would've doubled over in laughter if this hadn't been a life or death situation. But the facts of the matter were that this wasn't the time for jokes, and even Squidward wasn't as ugly as the guy Tony was insulting. So Spencer bit her tongue and smiled a little. She could laugh about it later.

    The gray alien sighed. "He exhausts me. Bring me the Stone."

    As the taller, bulkier alien grunted and made his way slowly towards them, Tony glanced at Bruce. "Banner, you want a piece?"

    Bruce sighed. "No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?"

    "That's right," Tony agreed.

    Spencer watched on as Bruce attempted to release the Hulk, his muscles and body straining with the effort he was putting into it. Despite his attempt, the most that turns green is part of Bruce's neck. Definitely not a good sign.

    "Been a while. Good to have you, buddy," Tony added, eyes still focused on the gargantuan alien walking towards them, smashing vehicles in his wake.

    "I just... I need to concentrate here for one second. Come on, come on, man," Bruce continued to mutter, straining some more.

    Strange and Spencer both looked at him briefly before back at the monstrous alien. Someone needed to be keeping an eye on it, and it wasn't Tony.

    "Where's your guy?" Tony asked incredulously, turning slightly to look at Bruce.

    "I don't know," Bruce admitted. "We've sorta been havin' a thing."

    "There's no time for a thing," Tony continued.

"I know."

Tony gestured at the alien. "That's the thing right there. Let's go."

    Spencer watched in quiet horror as Bruce grunted and strained once again, only to fail to release the Hulk again. Spencer wasn't quite a psychologist, but from her studies, she thought it was safe to assume whatever happened on Knowhere between Hulk and Thanos was probably playing a huge factor in this.

    Tony side glanced at Strange and then back at Bruce. "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."

    "Tony, I- I'm sorry," Bruce stammered. "Either I can't or he won't-"