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The old star symbol blinked on the small screen of her wrist gauntlet, indicating the message had been sent successfully. (Y/N) hoped that the message would reach Carol immediately, especially because she knew she'd never send one if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Based on the thousands of ships and strange creatures (Y/N) saw scattered all over Thanos's enormous battleship, they might need all the help they could get.
A ship's hatch was open for everyone to see how much they destroyed the compound, and the sight made (Y/N) sick in her stomach. The compound she once called a home was completely unrecognizable, turned into a pile of nothing but debris. She hoped her husband and teammates had made it out unharmed, because she'd never forgive herself if they weren't.
Gamora stood on her side, sharpening her blade. "You contacted your friend?"
"Yeah," (Y/N) moved just a few inches and felt a slight pain in her abdomen, but she shrugged it off as just a bruise. "Let's just hope she comes before anyone dies."
(Y/N) and Gamora had to sneak their way out of the ship without being detected, which was harder than it sounds. They didn't know where to start looking for her team in between the rubble, but they had to start somewhere. There were dozens of leaks of broken pipes and and electricity cables dangling with sparks flying out of them. After searching for what it seemed like an eternity, they found the end of a wider tunnel, so they figured this could be their way inside.
They walked inside the tunnel with their defenses up, not knowing what to expect on the other end of the tunnel. It was like walking in a labyrinth, the tunnel having more than one direction and this frustrated (Y/N) since she didn't have enough time to search through it all. But when they heard faint sounds coming from one of the sides, Gamora figured this could lead them to find someone.
"Stop."
Gamora's voice rang through the tunnels. She had her gun pointed at the other Nebula with a set jaw meanwhile (Y/N) stood beside her with her glowing fists. Clint was on the floor, stopped by Nebula's foot on his chest and a laser gun pointed at him. He did a double take when he recognized (Y/N)'s figure from the tunnel, eyes widening at the sight.
The other Nebula moved from her position to face them with the gun still pointed at Clint. "You're betraying us?"
Nebula walked out of the other tunnel with her arms raised up to indicate she didn't carry a weapon. At the sight of her double, the other Nebula pointed the gun at her with no hesitation. Clint took this as an opportunity to slip away from the range of fire and hid in the corner of the room.
"You don't have to do this."
The other Nebula's gaze flickered from her sister to her other self. "I am this."
"No, you're not," Gamora argued with her gun still raised in the air.
Nebula pointed to her own temple with her burnt metal hand. "You've seen what we become."
"Nebula, listen to her."
"You can change."
Gamora lowered her weapon, showing vulnerability with this action. (Y/N) could see the hesitation behind the other Nebula's eyes, and she could've sworn to see tears forming in her black eyes.
"He won't let me."
Her face turned stoic again as she raised the gun in the air to shoot at Gamora, who let out a protest at the sudden change of behavior. She turned her entire body around to protect herself from a blast, but it never came. Nebula had shot at her double before it was too late, smoke coming out of the weapon by how fast she pulled the trigger. The other Nebula collapsed against the fence that was behind her, sliding to the floor with the new hole in her chest.
Clint stood up from his kneeling position, eyes fixated on the unmoving body a few feet away. (Y/N)'s attention turned to him and that's when she noticed the large glove tucked underneath his arm, with the Infinity Stones still placed in it. She left Gamora's side to approach him, preparing to ask the question that she was terrified to voice.
"Did you do it?" she stopped in front of him.
He nodded in response, but she could see the hidden emotion behind his eyes. It was sadness of some sort, like he felt guilty for something.
"Hey," she placed a hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"
"Natasha," Clint voiced and (Y/N) felt her heart in her throat, already fearing the worst. "She never made it back."
(Y/N) cupped her mouth with her hands to stop a sob mixed with a gasp from leaving her lips. She thought that her brain was playing games with her and it was cruel joke, but jokes were never this harsh, never this painful. Clint lowered his head in shame, adding more fuel to his burning fire of guilt.
"I tried to stop her, but. . ." Clint trailed off, his own voice giving up. "It's all my fault."
"No, no. No," she shook her head firmly when Clint was nodding his in disapproval. "It's not your fault. I know it isn't."
He stayed silent but he looked ready to argue, he just couldn't find the right words to. At that moment, (Y/N) didn't care if Gamora and Nebula were still behind them listening to the conversation, her preoccupation was reassuring her friend despite her own pain of the loss.
"We're gonna go out there," she began. "And we're gonna fight Thanos. For Nat."
"For Nat."
(Y/N) pulled him into a hug, which wasn't a proper one since he was still holding onto the glove with the other hand. When she pulled away, she turned around to face Gamora and Nebula, who looked on board with their plan despite only one of them knowing the person they were mourning of. With a set jaw and a firm objective, (Y/N) was prepared to confront the man of her nightmares once and for all.
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"In all my years of conquest. . ." the mad titan Thanos spoke in his rumbling low voice. ". . .violence, slaughter, it was never personal."
His eyes were trained the disaster he had caused; the destroyed compound, the beaten and bruised members of the Avengers laying on the floor, and his large army descending from his ship into the unexplored territory. He placed his double-sided blade on the dirt, taking off his helmet and leaving it on the blade. His words were directed on the only conscious person with him, and that was Steve on the ground with a broken shield.
"But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet," he continued. "I'm gonna enjoy it very, very much."
The Black Order descended from the ship, standing on the front of the army. Outriders were being set free into the field behind the lines of Chitauri soldiers. Leviathans were flying in the air, slithering their long bodies from side to side. Thanos stood in front of his large army, proud to be in the position he was today.
Steve groaned in pain but managed to pull himself up to his feet. He could barely stand up, but he adjusted the straps on what was left of his shield before walking forward. There were too many to count, too many enemies to fight with alone, but just when he thought all hope was gone, he heard someone call on his right ear.
"Hey, Cap, you read me?"
The voice made him halt.
"Cap, it's Sam. Can you hear me?"
Steve pressed a hand to his ear, ready to respond, but Sam's voice returned. "On your left."
A flickering light caught his attention. An orange ring appeared out of nowhere behind him, creating some sort of passage. A blinding light came out of the portal, almost resembling the shining sun, and out of it came three familiar figures. There, King T'Challa stood with his general Okoye and his sister Princess Shuri. A breath of relief escaped Steve's lips but then another figure came out of the portal, this time flying out of it. He recognized Sam's suit immediately. and he saw the way he flew in the air and entered through another portal that was summoned higher in the air.
More portals were opened, revealing Stephen Strange with three of the Guardians, along with Peter Parker landing right in front of them. Behind King T'Challa, his entire Wakandan army began walking in formation, repeating in Xhosa the chant he was doing. Through the other portals walked out Valkyrie and armored soldiers of New Asgard, ready for battle. Wanda lowered herself on the ground with her own red mists, her long jacket blowing behind her as she did so. Wong leaded a group of sorcerers behind him, walking out of another portal. In front of them, just a few feet away, landed Pepper Potts in a purple with gold armor, the helmet lifting off her head.
A rumble shook the entire ground as a larger Scott Lang broke out through the remains of the compound, extending his bigger hand for Bruce, Rocket and Rhodey to jump out of it. (Y/N) landed on the ground near the Guardians, and Clint let go of her hand and jumped down on the ground once it was close enough. Her eyes could see Tony behind his suit just a few feet away, and no matter how hard she wanted to walk up to him, her eyes remained focus on the enemy.
"Avengers. . ." Steve called out in the loudest voice he could find. He extended a hand and the Mjolnir set itself on his hand. "Assemble."
A simultaneous battle cry left everyone's lips and they charged, all at the same time. (Y/N) took the sky and her glow enveloped her body familiarly, being almost a guide to the ones in the air. She caught a glimpse of Pepper in her new armor, and she saluted her way before focusing. Tony, Stephen, Rhodey and Sam were on her sides or in front of her in the air, hovering just inches above the ones running on the ground. The Black Order and the rest of Thanos's army ran to counter attack, and there was point were they all met in the middle.
(Y/N) swerved the blasts from one of the smaller ships in the air, firing down at the Chitauri on the ground. She got tired of dodging the attacks and fired a single blast in that ship's direction, making it explode into tiny pieces. A blast rang through her ears behind her, and that's when she saw Tony flying up to her while fighting off his own opponents. There, in the air, (Y/N) and Tony flew back to back as they blasted everything that flew their way.
"Where were you?" he spoke, communicating through comms. "I was worried sick!"
"Long story," she responded without missing a beat to her fighting. "Tell you later."
"Oh, you better."
They kept firing at every Chitauri and enemy space ship, too distracted in the opponents in the air to notice the ones on the ground. In just a matter of seconds, a familiar claw flew up from the ground and grasped onto Tony's figure before pulling him down. (Y/N)'s eyes widened in shock at the sudden attack but flew downward just as quick, recognizing Cull Obsidian's growls. She landed on the ground with a harsh thud, firing a blast in the creature's direction.
Cull Obsidian moved away from the blast and threw his axe her way before focusing back on Tony. He raised his bulky arms in the air ready to strike, but just as he was about to deliver the blow, two webs pulled him back. The strain pulled Cull Obsidian back into the ground, where (Y/N) quickly delivered a blast to keep him there, sensing some movement above her. Just as he was about to stand up and fight back, he was crushed under Scott's larger foot and was left there as if he was just a bug.
Once the small fight was over, (Y/N) made her way back to Tony, but stopped when she noticed she wasn't the only one. There, in the flesh, Peter Parker ran to aid Tony up to his feet, the mask pulling back from his head.
"Holy cow!" he exclaimed in that same, young voice. "You will not believe what's been going on."
(Y/N) reached them both but Peter was too concentrated in rambling to notice her presence. Tony looked too stunned to speak, the typical annoyance from the kid's rambling being out of the picture.
"Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty?" Peter continued with his ramble. He didn't seem to notice the looks of relief the adults were giving him. "And I must've passed out, because I woke up and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? And he was like 'It's been five years. Come on, they need us'. And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing he does all the time — "
"He did?"
Tony wasted no time and wrapped his arms around Peter's smaller figure, leaving the kid completely frozen in his spot. (Y/N) couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of her.
"What are you doing?" he froze, but then melted into the hug. "Oh."
"This is nice."
Tony looked hesitating to pull away from the hug, but he knew he needed to at some point. (Y/N) took this as an opportunity to step forward, and that's when Peter noticed her presence. His expression relaxed until he let out an 'oof' sound at the intensity of the hug she pulled him in. Tony knew it wasn't the right time to get all sentimental, but he wrapped his arms around them both into a larger embrace.
(Y/N) shifted her head in the right angle to press a kiss at Peter's temple for comfort. She couldn't see it, but the kid closed his eyes at the gesture.
"Come on," she pulled away after a whole minute. "We have a fight to win."