CHAPTER FORTY FOUR: "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
When the first missile hit, we were all sent into different directions. I hit my head against a piece of debris as I fell, causing me to groan in pain. The destruction didn't stop there, however, as countless other missiles were fired before it finally stopped.
The Avengers Compound was in ruins. It was completely unrecognizable. I barely heard the cries of the others in my ear piece, but some things came through. Many of the heroes were stuck underneath all the rubble, underground. Fortunately for me, I was blasted through a back window, being left laying away from the mess of a building as I regained balance and attempted to ignore the stinging pain in my head.
My legs wobbled as I stood, and my vision was hazy. With a long look around at the destruction before me, and a quick glance back, I realized where I was. I began to make my way to the front of the building where I had originally seen the ship before the missiles hit. I could only hope that I wasn't the only one left standing.
I nearly fell about five times, and I actually fell once. I landed hard on my knees, scraping them against the rubble. But, I stood back up again and continued walking. My pain was probably nothing when compared to those who got trapped under the building itself. I was really lucky to be walking around right now.
I glanced around as I finished my walk around the right side of the ruined Compound, my eyes landing on Steve, Tony and Thor. I made my way to them as fast as I could.
Steve's eyes found mine after noticing the sounds of ragged breaths and heavy footsteps behind him. He made his way towards me, holding his arms on my shoulders as he checked for injuries. He grimaced at the bleeding cut on my forehead, and my scraped knees. I had a small gash on my thigh, which wasn't all too bad, and didn't hurt that much.
His eyes bored into mine once again, "can you fight?" His voice was slightly muffled, but I could understand well enough.
I shrugged, a sigh escaping my lips. "I don't think I have a choice."
Steve pursed his lips before leading me forwards, towards the other two. I made it clear that there was no room for discussion on whether I was fighting or not. I wasn't going to run off and save myself. I've fought Thanos once, and I could do it again.
Steve and I stopped in line with Thor and Tony, their eyes remained focused on Thanos. The Mad Titan himself sat calmly on pieces of rubble, his double bladed sword stuck in the ground with his helmet balanced on top. I furrowed my brows at him, "what's he been doing?" I asked.
"Absolutely nothing." Thor replied simply, his eyes squinted. No one dared look away in case of missing an attack, or anything that the Titan could be planning.
"Where are the stones?" Steve asked, his hands clenched tightly at his sides.
"Somewhere under all this." Tony sighed, frustrated. "All I know is he doesn't have them."
"So we keep it that way." Steve decided, his eyes flickering around the area, searching for any possible enemies. He found none. Only the Titan was visible, looking off into the distance as if it was the most beautiful landscape he had ever seen.
Thor looked beyond furious as he eyed Thanos, his words like venom whenever he spoke, "you know it's a trap, right?"
"Yeah." Tony nodded, "And I don't much care."
I hummed, "I'll take any chance I can get to kill him where he stands." I narrowed my eyes, "I don't care how many bruises I get along the way."
Thor seemed pleased with our answers, "Good." He muttered, his voice low in anger, "just as long as we're all in agreement." The sound of thunder cracking in the sky reached our eardrums. I took one glance over to him to see his axe landing in one hand, and his hammer in the other. A bolt of lightning engulfed him before vanishing, revealing his Asgardian armour which shone in the dim light. "Let's kill him properly this time."
The four of us cautiously made our way towards Thanos, who still remained calm as he sat. When we were in earshot, he spoke up, his voice as menacingly calm as ever. "You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
Tony shot back a sarcastic comment, "Yep. We're all kinds of stubborn." Classic Tony.
"I'm thankful." Thanos wasn't phased by our anger, or rage, or even Tony's sarcasm. "Because now, I know what I must do." He stood to his feet, "I will shred this universe down to its last atom." He calmly placed his helmet back on his head, the golden metal was eye catching. "And then-with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given." Thor's eyes began to glow the same as mine, the two of us preparing to light the Titan up with all the power we had. "A grateful universe."
Steve glared at the tall being ahead of us, "born out of blood." He stated.
"They'll never know it." Thanos hummed, before his eyes grew dark. There was something so frightening about his calm nature, he never seemed to be truly full of rage. But, he was all too aware of how terrifyingly powerful that made him. "Because you won't be alive to tell them."
I wasted no time in charging forwards, my hands glowing as brightly as the sun. Thanos stepped away, squinting at me as he held a hand over his eyes. His eyes adjusted far too quickly, and he grabbed his double bladed sword in anger. He raised the sword with ease, bringing it down to slice me in half, without mercy.
But I was faster than him.
I dodged the attack, sending boiling hot beams of light his way. They melted the weak spots of his armour, and burned his skin. He cried out, before shoving me away in anger. My body smashed against rubble, causing me to groan in pain before shakily standing up.
My eyes found his new wounds, and so did his. After a moment of expecting the burns, he whipped his head up to meet my eyes. I was surprised at what I found in his.
Realization. He tilted his head slightly, unaware of Thor and Tony coming up with a plan to his left. A small smirk graced his face as his voice came out soft, almost impressed. "Demigod."
In my peripheral vision, Steve turned his head to face me. His eyes burned holes into the side of my head, but I didn't meet his gaze. We were both trying to figure out how Thanos knew that. I glared at Thanos, who seemed amused at the fact that he had struck a nerve.
Tony's voice was loud over the nearly empty battlefield, "okay, Thor. Hit me."
Thor brought his weapons together fiercely, causing Stormbreaker and Mjölnir to collide. They cracked with lightning, sending waves of electricity Tony's way. His metal suit took in the new energy with ease, and Tony blasted the Titan in seconds before he could get any time to come up with a plan of attack.
But unfortunately for us, Thanos saw it coming. Thanos spun his weapon at an incredible speed, causing the beams of energy to bounce off as if hitting a shield. Thor growled in anger and threw his hammer up in the air before hitting up with his axe as if it were nothing more than a baseball.
Thanos thought fast and lifted Tony into the air, causing Mjölnir to smash against his suit, sending the man flying. Tony landed in a pile of debris, unmoving. He had gone unconscious.
Steve and I charged at the same time on opposite sides, but Thanos seemed to be becoming familiar with our fighting styles. He beat us both down with ease, before shoving us away as if we weighed no more than feathers.
Thor went in next, and the battle was brutal. I glanced up through hazy vision to see Thanos holding Stormbreaker to Thor's chest, inching closer and closer. Blood dripped from the gods mouth as he struggled to keep the axe from embedding itself into his chest.
I stood to my feet, heaving and stumbling about. I glanced around to see if anyone else was here, but the four of us remained to be the only ones around for Thanos to fight. The Mad Titan clearly had no problem doing it.
My eyes met Steve's. I furrowed my brows in confusion, and he sent me a quick nod. I frowned before letting my eyes widen in understanding. Steve held out his hand, looking off into the distance. I found his line of sight, watching as Mjölnir slowly raised from the ground.
The hammer found itself in Steve's hand, and he made eye contact with me once more. A thought crossed my mind, we never did have that talk about being worthy did we? I suppose it was just another silent understanding that had passed between us.
Steve's eyes locked onto Thanos before he threw the hammer, knocking the Titan off Thor. The god breathed in heavy breaths of relief, before catching the floating hammer above. Mjölnir changed it's course, flying all the way back around and into Steve's hand once more.
Thor smiled softly from a distance, his eyes beaming as he looked across to see Steve exchanging one more look with me. "I knew it."
Thanos glared at Thor before stomping his foot down on him in an attempt to keep him quiet. He turned back to us after doing so, his glare darkening.
Steve and I charged at the Titan, who began to do the same. I let my hands glow, the same as my eyes, before kicking off the ground and raising my fist. My knuckles came crashing down before smacking against Thanos' skull, a wave of light erupting as I released the energy to make Thanos even more dazed.
Steve used his distraction, spinning Mjölnir for a moment before smashing it against Thanos' jaw. Thanos groaned in pain.
Steve threw his shield at Thanos, who deflected it, before throwing Mjölnir at the shield to create a shockwave. Thanos was knocked to his feet once more, and was growing even angrier by the second.
Steve passed Mjölnir to me, which I immediately used to my advantage. I hurled the weapon at the Mad Titan, smacking him between the eyes, before calling the hammer back to me. It returned to my hand in seconds, and I smiled. I then threw it up into the air before blasting it with a beam of light. Mjölnir was not damaged, but Thanos on the other hand was struck with both boiling beams of light and Thor's hammer. He was left stumbling on his feet.
Steve called the hammer to him, before lifting it up into the sky. Lightning fell down from above, connecting with the hammer. Steve smashed the hammer into the ground, causing the lightning to dance across Thanos' skin. The Titan screamed out in pain.
Thanos looked to be completely fed up with Steve and I, so with his remaining strength, he stood to his feet and sent the deadliest glare our way. He charged towards me, grabbing me by the neck before throwing me across the field. I landed with a thud, my entire body aching.
I looked up through my hazy vision to see Thanos pounding his double bladed weapon on Steve's shield countless times. Boom. Boom. Boom! The shield began to crack and crumble, leaving only half of one of the worlds most prized weapons left behind.
Steve was thrown across the field as well, landing a couple of feet away from me. He got to his feet in an instant, groaning in pain, before helping me stand as well. The two of us sent each other pained and defeated looks, before looking back to Thanos.
The Titan stared us down with distaste, frustrated by how far we were willing to go to make sure he suffered for what he did, or at least, what he was going to do.
He spoke, his voice sounding calm as ever, "in all my years of conquest-violence-slaughter-it was never personal. But I'll tell you now-what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet-I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."
I reached down towards Steve's hand, gripping it tightly. It shook and trembled, just like the rest of me. The two of us were exhausted, but our chins were held up high as we stared down at the growing army ahead. This was the fight of our lives, and it was only the two of us. It reminded me of old times.
There was crackling in our ear piece. I furrowed my brows, listening intently as a staticky voice came through, "hey, Cap, you read me?"
Steve and I made eye contact once again. My eyes grew wide in realization and disbelief. I knew that voice anywhere. Sam Wilson.
His voice came through again, "Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?" A pause. "Quinn?" Crackling came from behind us, and Sam's voice came through one more time. "On your left."
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lizzie speaks...
i'm posting the rest of the book all at once so GO FINISH IT!! i'm feeling generous today