CHAPTER XL
ashes and dust
TITAN — 2018
NOAH WOKE UP, still feeling ill, but not as much as he was beforehand. He widened his sea green eyes in confusion, his breath extremely shaky as he heard tons of booming noises going on around himself.
He glanced up, his muscles and limbs aching with pain. He found himself being held by Peter, hidden away behind a piece of rubble.
Peter's face was etched with worry, his mask not equipped. He just held Noah within his arms tightly, not wanting anything to happen to him whatsoever.
"W-What happened?" Noah whispered.
"Noah? Thank god, you're alive." Peter breathed in panic. "Well, uh, you kind of passed out and the others are fighting the big purple guy now and-"
"Don't worry, Peter."
Noah tilted his head to the side, slightly peering over Peter's shoulder. He got a glimpse of Tony and Fiona battling against the mad Titan, Thanos.
His jaw almost dropped to the ground once Thanos had finally tossed Fiona miles away. Then, he witnessed Thanos impaling Tony with some kind of weapon.
Unlike Noah, Peter hadn't even acknowledged the whole entire incident just yet. He just wanted to hold Noah in his arms forever, feeling like this was his last chance to do so.
Noah's head resting on Peter's shoulder, his expression grew panicked and devastated. His sea green eyes widened and his eyebrows furrowed, he could feel tears beginning to blur his vision up.
Tony was being guided to a piece of rubble by Thanos. He was panting in shock and pain, sitting down on the pile of rocks as Thanos placed his hand onto his head.
"You have my respect, Stark." Thanos told. "When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive."
And with those words, he let go of Tony. He allowed him to just sit there and struggle in pain. He didn't even care.
"I hope they remember you."
Thanos then held up the infinity gauntlet, pointing it right in Tony's direction. He wore an emotionless expression upon his face, beginning to activate all of the stones he had collected.
"Stop!"
Thanos paused, his gaze falling upon Stephen, who had just gotten up from falling. He looked over at the Titan, blood pouring from his forehead.
"Spare his life and I will give you the stone."
"No tricks." Thanos demanded.
Seeing that Stephen was unsure, Thanos pointed the almost activated stones towards him, prepared to end his life at any given moment.
Then, all of a sudden, Fiona rushed into the picture. Her face was etched with horror, staring between Stephen and Thanos with her brown eyes widened. She clenched her jaw, tilting her head to the side.
"Don't." She stated.
Stephen didn't care to listen to his younger sister. Instead, he placed his fingers into the air, forcing the Time Stone to appear within his hands.
Thanos then placed his hand out, awaiting for Stephen to hand the green stone over. If not, he was most likely going to kill everybody on Titan without any hesitation.
Those firm actions made Stephen do so. He made the Time Stone slowly hover towards Thanos with his magical abilities, not daring to take a step closer to the mad Titan.
Thanos clasped the Time Stone within his hands, taking a few moments to admire the rare item. He then inserted it into the gauntlet, absorbing it's power for a few seconds.
"One to go."
And with those words, Quill flew in. He began to aggressively shoot at Thanos with his blasters, screaming in anger along the way.
But, Thanos had already summoned a portal with the Space Stone, briskly walking through it and forcing the portal to disappear within an instant.
Quill then collapsed to the ground, allowing a few grunts of pain to escape from his lips. He then coughed, forcing himself back onto his two feet.
"Where is he?!"
Tony panted for some fresh air, beginning to freeze his wound up with the remaining pieces of his broken suit.
Quill realised what was happening. He let his arms drape to his sides, no longer pointing the guns at anybody. His face was etched with complete horror.
"Did we just lose?"
Those words just made Fiona collapse to the ground in disappointment. She held her head in her hands, her knees pulled up to her chest.
Tony, on the other hand, just glanced over at Stephen. He was almost as disappointed as Fiona already was.
"Why would you do that?" He asked.
"We're in the endgame now."
And with those words, the two teenagers finally landed, standing right beside each other. They both held tightly onto each other, not daring to let each other go as they slowly approached their friends.
The others had seen the two teenagers approaching them, a relieved and thankful expression planted upon each of their faces.
"Thank god." Tony breathed. "You two doing alright?"
"I know I'm going to die." Noah replied. "But, yeah, I'm doing okay."
"You're not going to die." Tony assured.
"Whatever."
Everybody just grew quieter and quieter as time passed on by. Each of them were either unsure on what to do or were currently having a mental breakdown.
Tony was stunned after being impaled by Thanos. He was especially shocked that Stephen had given away the Time Stone. Just like that.
Fiona, on the other hand, was still fallen to the ground. She was currently sobbing out of disappointment and stress, not able to believe that Stephen had given away the stone. She knew how important that object was.
Then, there was Quill. He was just traumatised after hearing that Thanos had murdered Gamora. It seemed as though Gamora was a very special person to him.
Noah was also just frozen in place, his arm wrapped over Peter's shoulder for some support. He was also pretty traumatised that he had almost been shot at by the Power Stone.
Peter, Stephen, Mantis and Drax were all just confused on what to do next. They didn't know whether or not they should comfort the others or try to locate Thanos somehow.
Then, all of a sudden, thunder and lightning crashed within the amber skies of Titan. It seemed to have given everybody a horrible feeling, as if they knew that something horrid was ready to happen.
"Something's happening." Mantis informed.
Surprisingly enough, her body began to transform into a pile of ashes, causing everybody to look in horror and shock at the unexpected scene.
Noah could feel himself on the edge of throwing up. He was disgusted. Panicked. Afraid. He knew that Thanos had completed his quest by now.
To kill half of the population.
"Quill?" Drax whispered.
And with those words, he disappeared into a pile of dirt too, everybody looking his way now. They were all even more panicked than beforehand, realising that Thanos really had completed his life mission.
Quill was traumatised. First off, he lost Gamora, who seemed to be the love of his life. And now, he had lost his best friends, the ones who helped him through all of this.
"Steady, Quill." Tony hushed.
"Oh, man."
Then, Quill disappeared. He wore a disappointed expression upon his face, his whole body just turning into ash and dirt, just like Mantis and Drax's bodies had done only seconds ago.
"Tony."
Those words caused Tony, Noah, Peter and Fiona to glance over at Stephen. They could see that he was still sitting down, knowing that he was next.
"There was no other way."
That's when Fiona knew. She widened her brown eyes, her lips parting in disbelief. She began to rush over to her older brother, accidentally tripping herself up before she could even reach him, horrified sobs escaping from her lips.
"No!" She cried.
And with those words, Stephen was gone. He just stared at his younger sibling, leaving her to just sit there and cry whilst he just dissolved into nothing but a pile of dirt.
Noah rushed over to Fiona, seeing the state that she was currently in. He kneeled down by her side, placing his hand onto her back to give her some hope and reassurance.
But, really. He wasn't feeling any hope.
"You're going to be okay." He assured. "Trust me."
Fiona looked up at the young boy. She shook her head from side-to-side, her jaw clenched and her cheeks stained red with an endless river of tears.
"Nothing is going to be okay."
And with those words, she began to dissolve into a pile of ashes and dirt, too. She was too stunned by her brother's disappearance to even comment on her own disappearance herself.
Now, Noah was sat on the ground next to a pile of ashes, which were Fiona's. He exhaled deeply underneath his breath, his breath shaking as he could feel tears beginning to stroll down his cheeks.
With Tony being completely stunned, Peter began to approach Noah. He kneeled down by Noah's side, looking over at him.
He was attempting to hide his shock and sadness, his features twitching as he held himself back.
Noah glanced up at Peter, his head slightly lowered. He allowed a sob to slip from his lips, tears streaming down his cheeks endlessly as his bottom lip trembled. He was distraught, unable to process what had even happened.
Sooner than later, Tony began to approach the two teenagers, his face etched with complete horror. He leaned down ever so slightly, placing a hand onto Noah's shoulder.
"It was an honour working with you, Noah." He murmured.
Noah looked down with those words, only able to see his pale fingertips disintegrating into dust, as well as his whole body. He widened his sea green eyes in shock, not wanting to die.
His breath hitched, he watched the sight of his body slowly beginning to fade away and out of existence, even more tears running down his stained cheeks at this point.
"What-" He choked out. "What is happening to me?"
Tony was once again frozen in place. He just watched the younger boy transform into a pile of dust and ashes, not even able to function properly.
Peter looked over. He spun around with a breathy gasp escaping from his lips, frantically wrapping his arms around Noah in panic and fear.
He glanced down at Noah, making eye contact with him. He could feel tears escaping from his eyelids, his vision blurring up as he shakily placed a hand onto Noah's cheek.
"Please." Noah begged in a whisper. "I don't wanna go."
Peter just held Noah closer, even more tears spilling from his eyes. He couldn't hold back any longer, painful sobs escaping from his lips as his bottom lip trembled.
"Noah, please, please." He cried loudly. "I want you to stay with me, please."
Noah knew his time was coming up, unable to even feel his body anymore. He shook his head from side-to-side, not daring to break eye contact with Peter.
"I'm sorry." He mumbled. "I'll miss you, spinne."
"I'll miss you too, elektrisch."
AUTHORS NOTE — bye i literally love but also hate writing sad chapters like these