╭-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╮
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE!
𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖊𝖓𝖉
╰-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╯
────── 〔ψ〕──────
THE GROUND WAS coming up faster than Salene liked. Unease was filling her chest as she looked at Tony. He looked to have the same amount of unease as he glanced between her and Peter.
"Hey, what's going on?" Peter asked, Tony looked at her and pointed to one of the arms that came out of the floor.
Salene walked over, sticking her right hand in, closing the open mouth of the handle over her hand and forearm.
"I don't think this rig has a self-park function." Tony seemed urgent with his words and pointed Peter to the other arm, "Get your hand into the steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?"
Peter did what he was told and did the same thing that Salene did. The ship started rumbling a bit now that it was no longer on autopilot. Salene could feel herself heating up as the fear of horrifically dying in a crash swelled up inside of her. Her nerves were aflame as a giant metal figure came into their view.
"We might wanna turn." Peter commented Salenes helmet and mask came up at her command to protect her head from any debris that may hit it, though if her hair tangles up in anything, she's screwed, "Turn! Turn! Turn!"
She and Peter had to move their whole bodies to make the ship change its course but they still managed to clip the giant metal that looks to her a giant game of jacks. Tony and Strange stood in between the steering gimbals and she watched as Strange moved his hands around, orange circles surrounded them as Salene felt the rumble of a part of the ship coming off.
Oh, now I remember he's a- Lucifer was cut off when they hit the ground and continued to run, the ground was now slowing them down, the grinding of the ship as the ground tore away at the bottom went straight into Salene and pointed out any joint that Salene ever had an ache in ever.
Finally, the ship stopped, Salene and Tony had ended up on the floor next to each other. Dr. Strange helped them up, Salene dusted her legs off as her mask and helmet fell away.
"You alright?" Strange asked as Salene looked out the windshield of the ship, it was covered in a layer of dirt, making the already dark ship even darker.
"That was close," Tony responded, patting Strange's arm and looking at Salene, the look on his face seemed to ask if she was okay, she nodded.
I'm feeling life forms on this planet, Lucifer spoke, Salene rolled her eyes.
Yeah, she responded, we're on the planet now.
Peter finally made himself seen, coming down on a web, upside down, he seemed to be okay as well.
"Let me just say, if aliens wind implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I'm sorry," Peter spoke, making Salene tilt her head in confusion. Why would he feel prompted to say that?
"I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip." Tony pointed to Peter, a stern look on his face to match his tone, "You understand?"
"I'm trying to say that," Peter held his hand up to stop Tony and point a thumb behind him, "something is coming."
Salene put up her mask and helmet and looked around. The thudding of metal on metal brought her attention to the ground where a ball rolled into the middle of the group. Not even a second later, the four of them were blasted back by the explosion.
She landed next to Peter, feeling disoriented after the explosion, her head spun as she heard footsteps of more people entering the ship.
"Thanos!" She heard a man yell, her vision still spinning, she looked to Peter who seemed to be the same way as him.
Her mind cleared though when a strange woman came into her vision, her eyes were all back and she had antennae coming out of her forehead, right in the spots where Salenes horns come out when she lets loose too much of her control over her powers. They started to glow when she realized Salene was aware of her presence. Salene slapped Peter's chest as she backed, scooting with her hands and feet on her bottom.
"Whoa whoa whoa, please don't put your eggs in us!" Peter yelped as he did the same, but still shooting webs at her as best he can. Eventually, her hands were tied down and she had to hop. Salene waited for her to be mid-hop to send a small blast and knock her back.
Just as she stood up next to Peter, she felt a kick in her back, whatever kicked her must have done the same to Peter because they both went flying forward over the antennae woman.
"Stay down, Clowns," she heard and whipped her head around, seeing a man in a red jacket and a weird mask pointing a gun at her. She grabbed Peter and jumped up, using her powers to keep her up, she threw Peter away from the gunfire.
She was blasted back by the gun and gasped when she saw that Peter still managed to get captured. Salene dropped down to the antennae woman and got a fistful of hair and a good grip on her shoulder, pulling her to her feet. She guided the woman to the rest of the standoff, making the suit pull away from her fist to show her glowing hand, powering up to send a blast that would leave the alien with a stump for a neck.
"Everybody, stay where you are, chill the eff out!" The man said, he tapped something on the side of his head and his mask fell away, after that, he pointed his space-gun at Tony, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?"
"Yeah," Tony's helmet fell away too, " I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?"
"I'll do you one better!" The man that Tony had held down chimed in, "Why is Gamora?"
"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you," the man yelled as he dug his gun into the side of Peter's head, "I'm gonna French-fry this little freak."
"Let's do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!" Tony's hand turned into a giant blaster, electricity snapping as the open mouth of the blaster faced the man under Tony's boot.
"How do you think she'll look with no head?" Salene commented, the guy looked over at her with wide eyes as her own mask fell away to stare into his, she hoped to make sure there was a crazed look in them, she doesn't want any of the newcomers to underestimate her.
"Do it, Quill, I can take it!" The man under Tony's boot yelled out.
"No, he can't take it!" The woman that was in Salenes grip yelled out, she tried hopping but Salene tightened her grip on the woman's shoulder, her collarbone dangerously close to being crushed.
"She's right." Strange deadpanned, "You can't."
"Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine, I'll kill all four of you and beat it out of Thanos myself!" Quill turned his head to Peter, growling, "Starting with you!"
"Wait, what. Thanos?" Strange asked, shaking his head, "Alright, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?"
Salene furrowed her eyebrows at the question, her head tilting.
"What master do I serve?" Quill repeated the question in a mocking tone, "What am I supposed to say? Jesus?"
It would be awkward if he did, Lucifer interjected.
"You're from Earth?" Tony asked, Salene loosened her grip on the woman realizing the misunderstanding, she felt bad for the way she handled the woman, but she still didn't let go of her, not until it was fully cleared.
"I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri." Salene rolled her eyes, she hated people from Missouri.
"Yeah, that's on Earth, dip-shit," Tony sighed, "What are you hassling us for?"
"So, you're not with Thanos?" Salene frowned at the fact that Peter sounded disappointed when he asked that.
"With Thanos?" Quill seemed offended at the question which made Salene all but realize that they aren't even real threats, "No! I'm here to kill Thanos. He took my girl- Wai- who are you?"
Salene saw the back of Peter's head come out of the helmet, "We're the Avengers, man."
"Oh."
"You're the ones Thor told us about!" The woman under Salene's hold spoke up, Salene widened her eyes, they got to meet Thor? Jealousy was rising in Salene's chest.
"You know Thor?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking," Peter turned his head at Quill's words, she could see an incredulous look on Peter's face, "needed saving."
Salene wondered what situation Thor could be in that was so bad that the idiots Salene was seeing would be equipped enough to 'save' him.
"Where is he now?"
• • •
SALENE COULD ONLY feel unease as she and Peter wandered the planet, a few feet away from Tony. A shift in the rocks from Mantis jumping up and down had Salene holding Peters hand instinctively. She widened her eyes and looked to Peter, he only smiled and squeezed it. Her face heated up as she turned her head back to where Tony stood, he only glanced at their hands with an unreadable expression.
"The heck happened to this planet?" Quill wondered out loud, he was looking into a holographic device, a language that Salene didn't even want to attempt to decipher was shown, "It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place."
Salene looked back over to Mantis who was still jumping in place, her feet cleared Salenes head by a good few inches. She stuck close to Peter, not sure what the hell she could do now, her mind was still taking in the wasteland of her surroundings, trying to come to terms with the fact that she's not on earth.
"Yeah, we got one advantage. He's coming to us. We'll use it. All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one," Salene and Peter drew closer to Tony as he spoke, Salene was heavily relying on his guidance now more than ever, she knows that this is also his first time being on a different planet but it's not his first time in space, "It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet." Salene nodded, already thinking of ways to get the gauntlet off him and making sure he doesn't get it back.
If they cut off the hand that it's one he couldn't put it on the other hand, her gauntlets don't work like that, unless his gauntlet works like a pair of cotton gloves, which she doubts. Her thoughts were interrupted by an audible yawn, pulling her attention from Tony to the other man, Drax. He was pinkish purple with strange carvings on his skin. Apparently, they don't make shirts where he's from because he was clad in jeans and boots and nothing else.
"Are you yawning?" Tony's stern tone made Salene feel bad for Drax, though it's understandable given the high stakes, "In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"
"I stopped listening after you said, 'We need a plan.'" Drax responded, seeming dejected by the harsh tone.
"Okay, Mr. Clean is on his page." Salene snorted, earning a glare from Tony and Quill.
"See, 'not winging it' isn't really what they do."
"Uh, what exactly is it that they do?" Peter asked, pointing to the two non-humans idling a few feet away.
"Kick names, take ass." Mantis put on what Salene assumed was a power stance, but she literally could see anything frightening about the woman anymore.
"Yeah, that's right," Drax muttered, facing them as he looped his thumbs into his belt loops.
"Alright, just get over here, please." Tony turned to Quill, "Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"
Quill flinched at the way Tony used his name."'Mr. Lord.' Star-Lord is fine." Salene watched his motion for his part of the team to circle up. They reluctantly approached.
"We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude-"
"Dude, don't call us plucky." Quill interrupted, shaking his head, "We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good." Salene couldn't help her facial expressions, she wondered if the flash of utter offense when Quill sees her face is because she can't help the fact that she already doesn't like him.
"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe."
"What dance-off?" Tony asked, Salene couldn't help but switch her head to each person that's talking.
"It's not a- it's not- it's nothing." Quill stammered out, shaking his hands.
"Like in Footloose, the movie?" Salene hated that movie.
"Exactly like Footloose," Quill seemed excited about Peter understanding, "Is it still the greatest movie in history?"
"It never was." Both Peter and Salene were in unison with that response, though Salene seemed more disgusted with the idea of Footloose being the greatest movie in history.
Though, the disappointed look on Quill's face made her raise an eyebrow. Tony pulled her from her thoughts when he gestured them to circle in with him. Salenes hand was still in Peters and didn't seem to even hint at any notion that he no longer wanted to hold her hand. Her heart fluttered a bit as Tony shook his head. "Don't encourage this, alright?"
"Okay." Peter nodded.
"We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here." No shit.
"Flash Gordon?" Quill repeated, "By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half-human. So that fifty percent of me that's stupid? That's a hundred percent you." He pointed at them, a flash of anger went through Salene, making her hair catch fire. Quill's eyes widened at her reaction.
"Your math is blowing my mind," Tony responded, completely unfazed by Salene's ability to show her anger and frustration.
"Excuse me, but," Mantis' soft voice interrupted the conversation, pulling everyone's attention to her, though her attention was pointed on something behind them, "does your friend often do that?" She pointed to something behind them, Salene turned around.
Doctor Strange was sitting on air. Green bands encircled his forearms, the look on his face made it seem like he was searching for something, but his eyes were shut. The wind billowed his cape as if he was flying towards something, but he still hovered in the same spot.
"Strange, we alright?" Tony asked him; Salene and Peter all slowly approached Strange, Tony drew the closest as he kneeled in front of the man.
The green bands dissipated, Strange let out a gasp as he cried out, the pain was still evident on his face. Salenes eyes were wide as she looked down at the man, Peter seemed to have kept her even closer to him than before, Salene didn't mind after seeing Strange do that. She thought her abilities were weird but his name suits him.
"You're back," Tony spoke in a soft tone, it was soothing to Salene to hear considering the situation they were in, "You're alright."
"Hey, what was that?" Peters' concerned voice was a contrast to Tonys and Salene could see the genuine worry on his face.
"I went forward in time to view alternate futures." Strange explained, he was still panting, she wondered how it worked, to make him so exhausted, "To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."
"How many did you see?" Quill asked
"Fourteen million - six hundred and five," Strange answered. How could he keep track like that?
"How many did we win?"
Tony's question hung in the air, making Salenes stomach turn in anticipation, hope constantly building and destroying itself in the silence.
"One."
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SALENE COULDN'T LET go of the feeling of dread in her gut, her heart was racing and everyone could tell, her hair was so hot that Quill was sweating a few feet away from her. She heard the wind move and the solid thud of footsteps of the barren ground. She could sense his presence, more so she could sense the stones on the gauntlet she was informed that he wore. Strange ha told them where to go and when their queue was, but Salene still had no idea what the fuck to do. But that's when she heard him.
"Oh, yeah...you're much more of a 'Thanos.'"
"I take it, the Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."
"You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts." a feeling of enlightenment washed over Salene, no donut from Lucifer. I swear that's what I was gonna say, it's been so long since I encountered a sorcerer, I didn't want to get it wrong.
Hush, you're distracting me, Salene snapped, peeking over the wreckage as best as she could without letting her hair expose her position.
"And where do you think he brought you?" Salene looked up, Peter was down at the scene from atop one of the metal jacks, Salene seriously wanted to know what their purpose was before this place became a shit hole.
"Let me guess." Strange's casual coolness about their situation made her feel a little more comfortable about it all as if maybe they will get out of this in one piece. "Your home?"
"It was. And it was beautiful." A red mist glossed over their surroundings, Salene could now see what the planet looked like before and a pang of sadness washed over her as she saw the green lawns, intact buildings, water-filled ponds, strolling citizens, the jack-like structures hovering and connected to the ground-based buildings with beams of energy, Thanos was right about it being 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."
"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." The red mist dissipated the vision Thanos showed her, though he didn't even know of her existence, not yet anyway.
"Congratulations," Stranges' sarcastic tone made Salenes anxiety flare-up, afraid that they weren't going to get the outcome Strange predicted with how he used his words, "You're a prophet."
"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."
I think he needs to look up Webster's dictionary definition of "Mercy" because that doesn't sound close to it, and I'm the King of Hell.
"And then what?" Strange asked.
"I finally rest...and watch the sunrise on a grateful universe." Thanos spoke softly, but Salene was grateful for her enhanced ears to help hear him, she could even hear the hum of the stones in his gauntlet if she focused hard enough, "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
"I think you'll find our will, " Salene could hear claps and what sounded like glasses breaking - "equal" She turned her head, grabbing the ponytail the suit put her hair in to conceal it so she could peek once more at the scene before her - "to yours."
That was the cue.
"Ours?" Thanos looked up to see Tony pushing a giant chunk of the wreckage of the planet quickly coming down towards him. Salene jumped out from behind the wreckage, her hands glowing through her suit as the lines of it were overflowing, her gauntlets too.
"Piece of cake, Quill." Tony chirped, flying overhead both her and Quill.
"Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off!" Quill retorted, triggering his mask as both he and Salene joined Tony in the air, she watched as the crumbled wreckage blew up in purple energy, the purple stone on his fist glowing brightly as he did so.
Salene wanted to go home. She watched as Tony had been blasted back in a flurry of bats through the ruins. She sent a blast of energy to his head, wishing that it would kill him and stop him. The blast distracted long enough for Peter to swing in and kick him in the face. Drax slid in on his knees behind him, trying for a tendon slide on the back of the Purple Giants' knees.
She watched as both Drax and Strange fought Thanos with their respective blades. Hope had filled her chest and she felt it get crushed when he kicked Drax away and crushed Strange's sword, throwing him back. Strange held himself up with the cloak a golden circle on each hand as he levitated. Salene charged him, blasting him everywhere she could, doing her best to dodge his punches and whatever blast he had pulled from his gauntlet. She let loose of her power, even more, she could feel the horns come out of her head, pushing through the suit.
The more she stalled him for the next volley of attacks, the more her horns grew. Eventually, he grabbed her by her horn with his bare hand, holding her up and he punched her in the face with his gauntlet. Salene cried out as he did one rotation and flung her away, she landed in a heap next to Strange as she cradled her nose, she heard the crunch, she knew it was broken.
He wasn't even fazed by our horns, Lucifer commented, that was just rude.
Salene finally was able to get up and turned around to see what was happening when she saw Quill flip Thanos off and jump through a portal, just as it closed, a bomb that was attached to Thanos' back went off, making him fall to his knees. She heard Strange whisper to the cloak and watched it fly. It wrapped itself around Thanos' hand. Don't let him snap his fingers, is what she realized he said. She charged him, a portal appearing in front of her, she jumped through, a fist charged and reared. She used the boost of the energy in her suit to pack a punch, pulling his attention from the cloak wrapped around his hand. Salene threw a leg up, kicking Thanos in the crotch before jumping back, falling through a portal that she heard open up behind her. It closed before he could grab her again, the pain on his face made this all worth it just a bit more.
Salene let her mask and helmet fall away, pushing her nose back in place. She let the mask go back up only for Peter to get thrown into her and Strange. She pushed Peter off of her, she would have to apologize to him about it later. Salene jumped up anger flaming in the pit of her stomach as she glowed so bright, she could see Thanos squinting to look at her. She held her hands up, more energy surging to her fists and she sent two white-hot beams of light to him.
As she did this, Tony was dropping bombs on him. Thanos was engulfed in flame but wispy, purple energy warped around her streams of energy and the flames that Tony engulfed Thanos in. Salene lowered herself to the ground, digging her feet into the ground, grunting as she let loose more power to send into Thanos. She had almost let out a laugh when he tried redirecting the flames and energy back to her. She felt a little push but she was otherwise fine.
She halted though when she saw that he was getting nowhere with her and directed it to Tony. Her heart stopped when she saw, but Peter had swung in webbing onto the gauntlet. He had landed on the ground in front of Thanos, she could see the obvious struggle and tried to help him, Strange grabbed onto her arm, tilting her head to show her the incoming blob of darkness: the spaceship he warned them about. She looked back to Peter to see that Thanos had punched him in the face, similar to how he did to her just a few moments before, her hair glowed brighter in anger as Peter scrambled away, just in time for the spaceship to crash onto Thanos for a few yards. A blue woman jumped out of the wreckage, a sword with electricity crackling along with it, seeming ready to battle.
"Well, well."
"You should have killed me."
"It would've been a waste of parts!"
The woman let out a battle cry at his words "Where's Gamora?" She screamed as she ran at him. He punched her away, Strange flew up, kicking her back to hide her among the wreckage, she crawled over to where the blue woman landed. Salene figured it wasn't hard for the woman to see her, she's visible from a mile away.
"I'm Salene," She spoke in a low voice, loud enough for the woman to hear though, "we have a plan, okay?" The blue woman stared at her as if she was contemplating, and finally, she nodded.
Salene jumped up, the blue woman doing the same as her. They both witnessed Mantis falling through a portal, landing on Thanos' shoulders, her hands immediately going to his bald head. Salene ran to join Tony in pulling on the gauntlet, it was stuck on tight, she groaned as she pulled, glancing at Tony to see that his mask was off and that there was a visible strain on his face.
"I thought you'd be harder to catch," Quill spoke up, Salene looked over to see that he finally approached Thanos and the group, his mask was gone, "For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?"
"My Gamora?" Thanos spoke weakly, Salene raised an eyebrow, pursing her lips at his words, she from she heard, Gamora hated Thanos just as much as everyone else despite being his daughter.
"No, bull-shit," Quill seethed, "Where is she?"
"He is in anguish." Salenes face drained, glancing to Tony, he seemed to be puzzling together the same line of thought. She just hope for the sake of Quill and the task at hand that they were wrong, they were so close, Salene thought she was strong enough to take off gloves, then she met Thanos.
"Good."
"He..." Mantis paused, "he mourns."
"What does this monster have to mourn?" Drax yelled out as he held onto Thanos's bare hand, holding him back.
"Gamora," the blue woman spoke. Salene let out a breath, the look on Quill's face showed confusion, Salene could see the underlying horror before he turned to the blue woman.
"What?"
Salenes heart sank a little as she looked at the people she had just met that day, she could see the sadness wash over their faces, especially Quill. She could see that there was something between them.
"He took her to Vormir," the Blue Woman spoke, "He came back with the Soul Stone... but she didn't."
Tony and Salene shared a look and that was all it had taken for Tony to start putting out the fire.
"Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now, you understand?"
Quill slowly turned to Thanos, Salene could see the newfound, revenge-driven bloodthirst on his face. She knows he's feeling a strong loss but she hoped that he could think clearly for a few more minutes.
"Don't, don't, don't engage, we've almost got this off!" Tony's pleading yells fell on deaf ears when it came to Quill, defeat was taking over Salene and they haven't even lost yet.
"Tell me she's lying," Salene glanced down at Quills shaking, loaded hand as he spoke, his words quivering, "Asshole! Tell me you didn't do it!"
"I... had... to," Thanos whispered as his hoarse tone seemed to have struck Quill, Salene nudged Tony, the man was going to lose it, she looked to him desperately, he was going to cost them everything.
"No, you didn't..." Quill was tearing up, Salenes heart was breaking for him as she watched, doing everything she could, "No, you didn't!"
Salene looked at Peter who was holding Thanos back with a string of web. She nodded him over, she could see that Tony was going to have to fight Quill off and she couldn't get this gauntlet off alone, she knows that with Peters added strength, it would come off.
Quill pistol-whipped Thanos twice in the face, causing Mantis to let go in pain. Salenes blood started to race, it was going to be a matter of seconds before Thanos would be awake again. Peter nodded and joined her, she had her mask and helmet come back up, her hair getting put into a ponytail with the helmet.
"NO, YOU DIDN'T!" Quill beat Thanos over and over again in the head with the butt of his gun.
"QUILL!" She and Tony yelled in unison.
Tony leaped for Quill's arm, re-helmeting and leaving Peter and Salene to pull off the gauntlet. They were so close, it was loosening more and more with each pull.
Tony and Quill fought as Tony pulled him back, doing his best to keep him away
"It's coming! It's coming! It's coming!" Peter stammered out, Salenes heart was skipping beats, her last bit of hope helping her keep her last small bit of control, "I got it! I got it!"
Thanos woke up completely, Salene could se his anger, and her heart stop. He grabbed Mantis, grabbed the cuff of the gauntlet just as it was sliding off his hand, causing her and Peter to stumble back, she watched as he threw Mantis away off his shoulders.
"Oh, God!" Peter gasped, jumping off to catch her.
Salene directed her attention to Thanos, he kicked away the blue woman along with Quill and Drax and punched Tony away from him. He put the gauntlet back on. Strange had lassoed onto the gauntlet with red bands, but Thanos only closed his fist and threw Strange to the ground.
She roared out in a battle cry, charging at him as she continued to glow brighter and brighter, she was losing control of her powers, her head began to ache as the horns grew to the tallest they could get. She jumped, rearing her fist back as she got ready to send a supercharged fist.
Thanos got her by the throat, her eyes grew wide as he began to squeeze. She lifted her legs, wrapping one around his arm, and used her body to bend his arm. She lifted one fist to send a blast to his eyes, she didn't expect for it to blind him, she just needed it to be enough to get her throat out of his grip.
Salene gasped for air as she scooted away, her throat ached, her chest hurt, her eyes watered as she heaved. The three people that were kicked earlier tried charging Thanos but Salene watched in horror as Thanos sent a pulse of indigo energy that knocked them out.
Salene crawled to them, still trying to find some air in her lungs. Tony had attacked Thanos while she crawled away, a sword-like shape had been manifested from his suit and he charged at Thanos with it. She kneeled over the unconscious bodies of the people she's just met, pulling her suit away from her fingers to check their pulses, she couldn't get a read of the blue woman though, Salene figured it was the bionics.
A vibration and a loud crashing noise made Salene look up, she watched in horror as two stones were used to send an electric-like bolt to one of the moons, a wave of energy surrounding it from what she could see. Her jaw dropped in absolute dread, the moon had been broken up to bits and pieces and was hurtling toward Tony.
She couldn't go save him either, a piece of the moon had strayed away from Thanos' target and was heading for them. She stood up, and charged her fists, sending a series of blasts to break up the pieces and preserve the four of them. Salene watched as Tony was crushed by the moon, she had to hold on to the small bit of hope that his suit saved him, but she now had to worry about the three unconscious people under her floating away from the rebound of the moon crashing into the planet.
She grabbed onto the blue woman by her torso and tucked her under her arm, she did the same for Quill, she wrapped her legs around Drax's torso, his head and arms facing the ground as she propelled herself to Peter. He webbed onto Drax and she released him, watching as he made Drax hang off a piece of rubble. He did the same for Quill and the blue woman, god, Salene needed to know her name before she lost her mind.
"Now, I'm mad," She grumbled to Peter, he was panting as he secured his webbing.
"Same," he responded, "there's something I gotta tell you when this is over though." Salene nodded and patted his shoulder before flying away, heading back to where Thanos was.
He had Strange in the same chokehold he had her in a few moments before. He grabbed the necklace that held the Time Stone, her heart stopped.
"A fake," Thanos seethed, crushing the necklace and throwing Strange to the ground. Salene landed next to the man, holding her hand in front of his nose, the metal fogged up and she sighed in relief. He was still breathing.
She looked up to see Thanos fighting a gold and white metal piece stuck against the glove, preventing him from using his fist. She was so out of breath, she wanted to fight, but the only way for her to get up would be to relinquish the last bit of control over her power, she looked to Peter who was taking care of their webbed up companions, and sighed, she couldn't trust herself to not hurt her allies.
"You throw another moon at me," Tony warned, "and I'm gonna lose it."
"Stark."
"You know me?"
"I do." Thanos nodded, Salene figured that he had known about Tony since 2012, he sent the attack on earth, he would have to know who stopped it, "You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
"My only curse is you." Small rockets popped out of the back of Tony's suit and launched at Thanos. Salene looked over her shoulder at her back, wondering if little rockets charged by her powers would do the same.
"Come on!" She heard Thanos yell, making her roll her eyes.
She watched as Tony fought Thanos, she watched as he used tech she had never seen before, she used to watch clips of his fights from when people were able to record, from the fight in New York to the battle in Sokovia.
She watched as he managed to hold Thanos' hand to the ground and launch a giant ram into Thanos' head. Strange stirred beneath her. She shuffled back a bit to give him space. She helped him up, seeing the rip in the cloak, she frowned.
She looked back up to see Tony losing more and more of his suit as he tried fighting Thanos off. She jumped up, she couldn't allow much more. She looked at Peter and her heart ached, she hoped that she won't murder everyone on the planet.
Salene, don't, you don't know what you'll do, unleashing hell like that, Lucifer warned.
You better help me control it after this then, she responded, she stood, starting to glow so bright that Strange groaned beneath her and held his hand over his eyes.
"No," Strange groaned, grabbing her shin, he shook his head. Salene looked down at him, he shook his head. She stopped glowing and looked back to see Tony get stabbed with a sword that came from his suit.
"No!" She screamed, pulling her leg out of Strange's grip. She ran for them, Thanos sent a blast her way, knocking her back, she hit the back of her head on a rock, a flash of pain
"You have my respect, Stark, when I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive," He let go, straightened himself, and stepped back, dropping the sword that he just ran through Tony, "I hope they remember you." Salene stood up, her vision blurring and her head spinning, she stumbled over to Tony, falling to her knees next to him.
Tony looked at her, shaking his head, he tried pushing her away but she shook her own head. Thanos held up a fist, she held up her own, Tony had to hold it in the right direction. She could feel blood dripping from the back of her head, she wondered how long it would take for her to heal.
"Stop!" Strange yelled out, panting, she widened her eyes and looked at him, lowering her fist, he was sitting up now, "Spare their lives... and I will give you the stone."
"No tricks."
Strange shook his head as Thanos pointed all four Stones at him instead. Salene held onto Tony's arm, she squeezed, her heart racing as tears flooded her already blurry vision.
"Don't!" Tony forced out, grunting in pain after. Thanos took a couple of steps closer to him. She shook her head.
Strange reached up and the Time Stone materialized out of thin air. He opened his hand, it was now visibly trembling as the Stone floated to Thanos' bare hand. Strange watched him intently, as he took the Stone and dropped it into the thumb slot, the energy pulse made the giant purple man wince.
"One to go," he sighed, a blast of energy hit the gauntlet right in the empty slot that was on the back of his hand, and Thanos grimaced in what seemed to be a pain.
Quill was screaming in rage, helmet up, firing with both hands and flying straight for Thanos. Salene rolled her eyes, hatred boiling under her skin at the sight of him. Her vision was clearing, the cut on the back of her head was forming a scab, she could feel it.
Thanos didn't even bother responding to the assault; he just left in a dark purple and black cloud. Quill flew through where Thanos had been and crashed, rolling several times. He stood back up, his helmet falling away.
"Where is he?"
"Probably on earth now, shit for brains, what the fuck!" She screamed, her head was pounding but she didn't care, "I blame you, Star-Lord, and your inability to think about what others may lose if you lose your cool!" Quill look at her in shock, her head was on fire, outside and inside as well, she never felt this much rage.
"We were this close," She held her pointer finger and thumb together, "we had the gauntlet off his hand, we could've tried to bring her back, but you didn't stop to think!"
"Sal, Sal," Peter's words cut through the fog of her rage, Salenes vision cleared as Peter pulled her away from Quill, her head finally clearing out the flames and going back to a regular blonde, "breath, calm down."
"Did we just lose?" Quill asked, Salene wanted to stab him with the sword Thanos ran through Tony.
"Why would you do that?" Tony asked Strange exasperated, he had just used some of the spray that she saw earlier on his side where he was impaled. Salene looked to Strange, wondering the same thing.
"We're in the Endgame now."
Salene stumbled, grabbing onto Peter and leaning onto him. Her heart was racing, it was up to whoever was left on earth to stop him, she hoped and prayed to everything out there that the avengers came out of hiding and that they're at least prepared. Her chest heaved as her hands shook, fear, rage, and the perpetual feeling of absolute despair. They lost. This isn't how it's supposed to go.
They were supposed to win.
"Salene," Peter spoke softly, he pulled her out of her trance, "This is the worst timing for me to do this, but we may not have long for me to say it."
He was constantly switching his gaze between her eyes, seeming to search for something. She didn't know what. Maybe he was building himself up to say it. He closed his eyes and sighed, his hands on her shoulders. She held her hands on his, looking into his eyes, giving him the silent support that she could see that he clearly needed to say whatever it was that he was about to say.
"I- I-" he stammered, closing his eyes and shaking his head as if he was clearing his, he took a deep breath, "I love you, I should've said it sooner, like god this timing is the worst, but if something happens, I want you to know, I love you Salene Kalimeris."
Salenes eyes widened, her mind had gone completely blank, she had been waiting so long to hear those words, now that she's hearing them, she doesn't know what to do. She started to form what she wanted to say in her head, the sentence clear as day to her in her mind. She had opened her mouth to say what she had wanted to say for over a year now.
"Something's happening," Mantis spoke, she looked over at the woman, shock overcoming her as she turned to ash where she stood. The words in her throat stopped as the scene unfolded in front of her. She was just gone.
"Quill?" Salene glanced over at Drax, she now stood up as the man disappeared the same way, her rate was picking up so fast that her hair caught on fire. It wasn't anger-driven, it was the result of the thing she fought so hard to not happen.
Quill turned to Tony and her as she approached Tony, gripping his arm as she helped him up.
"Steady, Quill."
"Aw, man." Quill turned to ash.
"Tony," Strange spoke up, making him and salene spin around to face him, "there was no other way." Doctor Strange turned to ash. The words hung in Salenes head, he said that this would be the plan that made them win, she just saw four people turn to ash and no doubt, more people on more planets will.
"Mr. Stark? Salene?" Peter spoke, his voice trembling and quiet, "I don't feel so good..."
"You're all right?" Tony asked though both he and Salene knew better.
"I don't know what's- "He stumbled towards them "-I don't know what's happening. I don't-" Peter fell into salenes arms, squeezing, and then stumbled to Tony's, she could see that he was holding Tony tight. Tony had laid him down on the ground in his arms. "-I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, Mr. Stark, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go-" There was a silent moment where they had made eye contact, Salenes tears ran down her face, her hand running through his hair, her blurry vision prevented her from seeing him fully he held out his hand, placing something soft in her own, "-I'm sorry."
Salene watched in silence as Peter's face was reduced to ash as if he wasn't there at all. An uncontrollable ringing began in her ears, she couldn't even hear the scream coming out of her own throat, she could feel it tear her vocals. She lost him. She lost him. Peter was gone. Her Peters was gone.
Salene stumbled back, the pain in her power was bubbling out, she couldn't contain it. She let out another scream as she felt a wave of her light spread out, flashes of Peter's face were all she saw when she closed her eyes, a wave of heat left her body as another scream escaped her throat. Her sobs wracked her body. She stopped screaming when she felt something different about her heat, she opened her eyes to see a ring of blue flame around her, she looked at the blue flames that lined her suit, those lines used to glow white light. She wasn't the same anymore, this is what it looked like to lose control. She couldn't focus on one thing, she just watched Peter die, her powers were evolving. She just wanted to go home. She's crying on a planet that isn't earth.
Her sobs were so deep that they got to the point where she felt bile rise in her throat, she spat out her breakfast from the morning. Salene looked down at what Peter had placed in her hands. The overwhelming feeling to cry took over and she gave in.
She looked down at the fabric mask that Peter wore with the suit Tony made for him.
"He did it."
────── 〔ψ〕──────
ITS ALMOST LIKE I HAVEN'T PLANNED THIS SINCE I FIRST MADE THIS BOOK IN 2019.
THATS RIGHT! SALENE SURVIVES THE SNAP!! SNOW SHE GETS TO MEET BEARD STEVE!!!
Peter: I- I- I love you
Salene:
AND THEN SALENE A MINUTE LATER
SO YEAH ANYWAYS !?!?! GO CHECK OUT MONSTERS BOARD I DREW SALENES SUIT FROM HOMECOMING AND I ALSO DREW THE SUIT THAT SHES WEARING RIGHT NOW WITH HER NEW EVOLVED POWERS???
who knew that all it took become as powerful as a fallen Angel was to lose your anchor?
also, EVERYONE THANK stilestastic FOR GIVING ME THE IDEA OF PETER GIVING SALENE HIS MASK.
IF YOU WANT POWER COLOR AND REFERENCE, SEE: HADES FROM HERCULES. BUT YEAH HER POWERS ARE SHOWN IN HER PINTEREST BOARD GO CHECK IT OUT
DIRECT LINK!!
THANK YOU AGAIN EVERYONE FOR READING THIS FAR I CANT WAIT FOR YALL TO READ THE NEXT CHAPTER
-greta!