The Guardians, Avengers, and Lana are dealing with the gravitic aftermath of dumping a large chunk of moon onto an unstable planet's surface. The unconscious Guardians are flying upwards uncontrollably, moon-chunks are still making fiery ballistic inbounds, and random debris and massive rocks are floating in any possible direction. Spider-Man is well-equipped to handle this physically, even if he's freaking out emotionally.
Peter webs Mantis. "I got you! I got you!" He snags Drax, securing both of them to something not moving. "I'm sorry I can't remember anybody's names!" He starts to reels in Star-Lord but finds Lana talking to him. He decides to give them more alone time. Peter instead reels in Clint.
The Cloak of Levitation sets Doctor Strange down on a relatively stable outcrop as Thanos extricates himself from rubble. The Sorcerer Supreme makes a few passes with his hands, producing the familiar golden magic filigree circles, and slams his hands down on the rock before him, invoking the Seven Suns of Cinnibus as a lightning-like effect of immense heat jumping from rock to rock until it reaches Thanos, sending him flying. But he makes use of the erratic gravity to keep control and fire back a blast from the Power Stone. Strange blocks the purple plume with a wall of Mirror Dimension, which he then pushes back at Thanos. It shatters around the Titan, who suctions the magic into a miniature black hole with the Space Stone, volleying it back at Strange. Lana notices this and frowns. Just in time, Strange raises a shield and changes the dark energy into a swarm of aqua butterflies which return to their master.
Before Thanos can counterattack again, Strange levitates and invokes the Images of Ikonn, giving him arms like a Hindu diety before dozens of Strange replications rush away, forming a circular wall around a snarling Thanos. They call cast magical cords, wrapping around Thanos's torso, arms and hands. He struggles to close his gauntleted fist, and uses the Soul and Power Stones to discover the real Strange among the many copies, blowing the duplicates away and sending the singular Strange reeling. Reality and Space pull Strange forward, Thanos grasping him by the throat once in range. Strange grabs futilely at Thanos's hand.
"You're full of tricks, wizard," Thanos remarks.
"No!" Strange yells as Thanos reaches for the Eye of Agamotto.
Thanos snaps the Eye off its chain. "Yet you never once used your greatest weapon." He crushes it in his bare hand. "A fake." He throws Strange hard enough that Strange's head hits stone and he passes out.
Almost simultaneously, a red and gold device slaps into the palm of the Infinity Gauntlet, bracing the fingers open; and a red and gold Avenger makes a fast and hard entrance. "You throw another moon at me, and I'm gonna to lose it," Tony states, done with the Titan.
"Stark."
"You know me?"
"I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
"My only curse is you." Small rockets pop out of Iron Man's back and launch at Thanos.
"Come on!" The rockets all explode on target, momentarily shrouding Thanos in smoke. Before it clears, Iron Man piledrives into Thanos horizontally, using his single super-jet boot configuration. As he bounces off, he flips and sticks his landing, immediately reconfiguring his boots into ground clamps for stability and his gloves into rocket-driven battering rams, punching Thanos into a ruined wall behind him.
Thanos shakes it off quickly, reaches forward and tears Iron Man's helmet off, revealing Tony's surprised expression before the suit recovers automatically and re-forms his head protection. The Titan makes use of the fractional delay and punches back hard, sending Iron Man sliding meters away, giving Thanos time to rip the brace device off the gauntlet. He immediately uses the Power Stone to stream furiously lambent energy at his opponent, who forms a shield to kneel behind just as instantly, getting pushed back even further by the incredible force.
Iron Man slides out from behind the shield, letting the angled energy push him away for a faster start, and whips back to Thanos full thrusters. He kicks at the Titan with his left foot, turning the boot into a ground clamp at the same time to pin the gauntlet, and keeps twisting while his left glove becomes a ram again, slamming into Thanos's face, cutting his cheek.
Thanos pants. "All that for a drop of blood." He smiles before punching Iron Man. . . But his fist never meets Tony. Lana stands in front of both Iron Man and Thanos, holding the Titan's fist. Her arm is dripping in blood and her armor has been cut in some spots but she remains firm- determined. Thanos is surprised to see her looking so confident. "Didn't you learn your lesson already, little Asgardian?"
Lana snorts. "Perhaps I would've if I were Asgardian," she comments. The two stare at one another before Lana blasts his knees with her magic (and Quill's gun). He starts to fall. She then sucker punches him in the face and, jumping onto him, wraps her legs around his neck. Lana summons a sword in her hands (a truly beautiful sword with snake carvings in the hilt), holds it above hers and Thanos' head, and is about to stab him through when he blasts her off with the Power Stone. She falls off him, the sword clattering with her.
Thanos stands. "Where were we?" He punches Iron Man a second time, this time hitting him and sending him pinwheeling, then starts beating him with his fists. Tony attempts to block the blows with his forearms, but Thanos is relentless, picking him up by the helmet and blasting his midsection with the Power Stone. The gaps in nanite coverage are now gaping, as the armor loses the ability to recover from the intensity and extent of the damage. Iron Man lands hard from the Power blast, struggles to one knee and fires his right hand repulsor at the inexorable Thanos; the beam is easily deflected by the gauntlet. He gets to both feet as the suit tries to complete repairs, adding the beam from his left hand as well. Thanos walks right up to him, and backhands the incomplete helmet completely off Tony's head. He crosses his arms to block a blow from Thanos's gauntlet, and has his left hand caught over his head. In desperation, he forms what's left of his right glove into a shortsword, which is also easily caught by Thanos, snapping it off clean and driving it through Iron Man's left side. The fight is over. Thanos walks Iron Man back until he sits, and places the gauntlet almost comfortingly on Tony's head. "You have my respect, Stark. When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive." He lets go, straightens, and steps back. "I hope they remember you."
Iron Man's just a little distracted with the pain, and blood drooling out of his mouth, and compromised breathing. Thanos raises the gauntlet and closes his fist with all four Stones glowing.
"Stop!" Strange yells, sitting up and sounding entirely damaged. "Spare his life. . . and I will give you the stone." Strange looks to Lana. She nods.
"Both stones," Lana says, shakily leaning up on her arms.
"No tricks." Strange and Lana shake their heads as Thanos points all four Stones at the two of them instead.
"Don't. . .!" Tony protests.
Strange reaches up and plucks the Time Stone out of its hiding place in the stars. He opens his hand, the scars on his fingers and their inherent trembling particularly obvious now, and the Stone floats to Thanos's bare hand. Strange watches him intently, as he takes the Stone and drops it into the thumb setting, the energy pulse making the Titan wince. Lana concentrates really hard, her palm outstretched. The blue Stone appears and she extends it to Thanos. The Titan takes it and slots it with the bloody fake one.
"One to go," he states. An energy blast hits the gauntlet right in the empty Mind Stone setting, and Thanos grimaces in surprise. Quill screams in incoherent rage, helmet up, firing with both hands and flying straight for Thanos. Thanos doesn't even bother responding to the assault; he just leaves. Star-Lord flies through where Thanos had been and crashes, rolling several times. He lands next to Lana who's still laying on the floor. Quill grabs her and helps her stand up as he does the same while also dehelmeting.
"Where is he?! What did he do to you?!" Lana shakes her head, leaning heavily on Quill. Iron Man stitches up his stab wound as well as he can with his suit functions. He has no breath for answers. Quill is now fearful instead of furious. "Did we just lose?" Lana wipes her nose, getting blood onto it from her arm.
"We lost when you stopped us from getting the gauntlet off," she says softly. Quill looks to her, regretting everything he's done today (except everything having to do with her, of course). She curls into his chest, just wanting to be in his embrace. He wraps his arms around her. "You should've helped us." He strokes her hair gently.
"Why would you do that?" Tony asks Strange. "Why would you let her do that? If you knew we had another Stone-"
"We're in the Endgame now," Strange cuts off. Everyone remains quiet except for Lana who is crying into Quill's chest.
~~~
M'Baka bashes another Outrider. The ground game has improved considerably with the addition of the God of Thunder. His tribesmen are equally successful around him. "MAYEFA!"
"YA HU!" Jabari shouts.
Thor is in the air, using Stormbreaker on the Outrider drop ships which are now retreating. He is having considerably more success than the Wakandan Dragon fliers firing on the fleeing ships.
Wanda Maximoff lands as she finally locates Vision. "Are you okay?" Vision flinches in pain before he can answer. "What? What is it?"
"He's here," Vision states. The wind picks up. It feels. . . strange. Eerie.
"Everyone, on my position. We have incoming," Steve says. He is joined by the Black Widow, Falcon, Okoye and the Black Panther in short order.
"What the hell?" Natasha asks.
Bruce sees the blue-black clouds of a Space Stone relocation just before Thanos steps forward, and confirms this isn't just another member of the Black Order. "Cap. That's him."
"Eyes up. Stay sharp."
Bruce reaches Thanos first, lunging forward fist-first. But Thanos uses the Space Stone on him, renders him immaterial until the Hulkbuster is half-buried in the stone of the cliff behind him, and freezes Bruce in place. Captain America is sent flying by purple energy before he even gets to strike a single blow. The Black Panther, armor fully charged kinetically, leaps high and with claws extended, but is easily grabbed by the throat and punched to the ground, his armor discharging violently. Falcon stoops, strafing with both Steyr pistols, but is felled when his wings become rubbery and unable to sustain flight.
"Wanda. It's time," Vision tells her.
"No," she denies.
"They can't stop him, Wanda, but we can. Look at me. You have the power to destroy the stone."
"Don't."
"You must do it. Wanda, please. We. Are. Out of time," Vision begs.
"I can't."
"Yes, you can. You can. If he gets the stone, half the universe dies."
"It's not fair."
"It shouldn't be you, but it is. It's all right. You could never hurt me. I just. . . feel you." Wanda extends a trembling hand and starts beaming her energy at the Mind Stone.
War Machine joins the fight, firing his guns at Thanos until he uses the gauntlet to crush his armor around him and toss him aside. Bucky runs in firing, and is punched away by the Power Stone. Okoye activates the vibranium-powered elements on her spear and flings it; Power stops it inches from Thanos, and throws her and it aside while wrapping the Black Widow in unescapable bands of earth. Groot stabs his hands into the ground to wrap Thanos in cables of roots, which he breaks easily.
Wanda watches all this over one shoulder, and turns back to Vision to add her left hand to her tearful effort.
Captain America slides under one blow and comes up swinging his deployed arm-shields, punching Thanos in the gut and chin. He grabs the gauntlet, keeping Thanos' fingers unclenched. Thanos looks very briefly impressed at Cap's efforts as he screams before slamming a fist into his head and rendering him insensible.
Wanda looks over her shoulder again and sees Thanos approaching unopposed. She swings her left hand around to fend him off with a stream of scarlet energy, and pushes him back despite his blue-purple energy shield. But then he starts to make slow headway.
"It's all right. It's all right. I love you," Vision assures her softly. At those words, the yellow Mind Stone finally starts to crack. Vision's face is overcome by an expression of joyful peace. As the crystal fragments completely break, a pulse of pure yellow energy explodes from him, shuddering the trees for many meters around his epicenter. Wanda's and Thanos' energy subsides.
Thanos walks closer to Wanda. "I understand, my child. Better than anyone."
"You could never," she snarks.
He reaches down to presume to stroke her hair, as if in comfort. "Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn. Now. . . is no time at all." He reaches forward, clenching the gauntlet, emerald filigree surrounding his wrist, and makes a gesture very similar to that Doctor Strange made when activating the Eye of Agamotto. In response, a bead of yellow light starts gathering in on itself as time is reversed and growing in size, solidifying into an intact and conscious Vision.
"No!" Wanda shouts. She lunges for Vision and is swatted away.
Thanos picks up Vision by the throat, lifting him to eye-level, and digs the fingers of his right hand into Vision's forehead, digging out the Mind Stone. He pulls it loose, and Vision goes limp and colorless; he tosses the lifeless android aside like trash. Bringing his gauntleted hand up, he slowly moves the Mind Stone over the last empty setting, and drops it in. The energy surge is much more than any previous - his torso is wreathed with iridescent static and he bellows from the sensations.
As Thanos studies the completed gauntlet, a massive bolt of lighting strikes him, digging him into the ground and grinding him back for meters. Thor has arrived, eyes glowing with power, stooping down from the sky like a bird of prey. The God of Thunder pauses his attack, reverses his position, raises Stormbreaker above his head, and hurls it. Thanos fires the whole might of the gauntlet against it, but it only creates a rainbow-like bowshock, not slowing the axe as it slams right into Thanos' chest.
Thor lands in front of Thanos, who is down on one knee. "I told you. You'd die for that!" He takes hold of the back of Thanos's head and forces Stormbreaker deeper into his chest, staring angrily into his eyes while Thanos cries out in pain.
"You should have. . . You. . . You should have gone for the head! Like your sister tried to!" He raises his gauntlet and snaps his fingers.
"NO!" Thor bellows.
~~~
Thanos, not wonder, seems to be inside the Soul Stone. He sees a young Gamora and the pavilion from the home world of the Zen-Whoberi. "Daughter?"
"Did you do it?" She asks.
"Yes."
"What did it cost?"
"Everything," he tells her solemnly.
~~~
Now out of the Soul World, Thanos is snapped back to normal reality, and notices the damage inflicted on the gauntlet. The metal is scorched and distorted from heat and the stones are no longer glowing.
"What'd you do?" Thor asks angrily. "WHAT'D YOU DO?!"
Thanos merely seems to not notice Thor before he uses the Space Stone and teleports away, leaving Stormbreaker behind on Wakandan ground.
Steve stumbles into the clearing, holding his left side. "Where'd he go? Thor. . . where'd he go?"
"Steve?" Bucky asks. He suddenly stumbles over, and collapses into ashes, much to Steve's shock. The blonde walks over and touches the ground where Bucky's ashes evaporated unbelievingly.
On the battlefield, Wakandan soldiers disintegrate to ashes, much to M'Baku's horror.
"Up, General. Up! This is no place to die." T'Challa says as he holds out his hand for Okoye. But he suddenly disintegrates into ashes and an anguished Okoye falls back on the ground.
"Kumkani?!" She shouts.
Groot slowly corrodes into ashes as well by Rocket. "I am Groot. . ."
"No. . . no. No. No. No!" Rocket exclaims. "Groot, no."
Wanda is mourning over Vision. She then turns into ashes. An injured Falcon turns to ashes, hidden in the undergrowth.
Rhodey's searching for Falcon, missing him by only a few feet. "Sam? Sam!? Where you at?!"
~~~
On Titan, the remaining members of the Guardians, Avengers, and Lana collect themselves. Mantis props up Star-Lord, Spider-Man helps Tony to his feet, Drax and Nebula manage to limp over on their own. Labs is now leaning against Clint who has his arm wrapped around her protectively.
"Something. . . is. . . happening," Mantis starts before she, too, disintegrates into ashes. Lana's eyes widen.
Drax turns to Quill as he dissolves. "Quill?" Quill stares in horror.
"Steady, Quill," Tony tells him.
"Aw, man." Quill also gets disintegrated into ashes. Lana cries out and reaches for where he was just standing. Barton!Loki's expression softens; she really did care for the fool.
Doctor Strange calmly turns to Tony. "Tony, there was no other way." He finally gets erased as well.
Peter Parker then realizes he's fading away. "Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good. . ."
Tony tries to be calm, his voice shaking as he looks at Peter in terror. "You're all right." He tells the boy. Peter stumbles and is terrified. Lana turns to face both of them.
"Not you too," she coos, tears falling down her cheeks.
"I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-" Peter falls into Stark's arms, clutching him tight while beginning to cry. "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 is a short silence before Peter speaks again. "I'm sorry." Peter disintegrates into ashes in Tony's arms. Lana cries out in anguish.
Nebula turns to Tony, seeing Thanos' victory. "He did it." Tony mourns silently at their failure. Lana glances to her brother, expecting him to dissolve as well.
~~~
Back on Wakanda, the remaining team members, Captain America, Thor, War Machine, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Rocket are left mourning near Vision's dead body. Captain America turns over Vision's bleached corpse as Black Widow runs up to the other survivors.
"What is this? What the hell is happening?" Rhodey asks.
"Oh, God," Steve whispers.
~~~
Meanwhile, in a different place, in a rustic house on a terraced slope with a scarecrow made of discarded armor, Thanos sits down and watches the sun rise.
~~~
"Still no word from Stark?" Nick Fury asks.
"No, not yet," Maria Hill responds, "we're watching every satellite in both hemispheres, there's still nothing." Now, she receives three beeps from her device.
"What is it?"
"Multiple bogeys over Wakanda."
"Same energy signatures as New York?"
"Ten times bigger."
"Tell Klein. We'll meet him at-"
"Nick!" A car spirals out of control in front of them. They get out and Hill checks on the passengers.
"They okay?" Fury asks.
Behind their vehicle, a motorcycle lies in the middle of the street with a concerned citizen approaching it.
"There's no one here," Hill tells the director.
They hear helicopter rotor sounds from the direction they'd come, but it sounds wrong. A Leonardo executive helicopter, tail rotor smoking from damage already, appears and crashes nose-first into a building. Screaming intensifies. The two are now witnessing civilians around them suddenly disintegrating.
"Call Control. Code Red."
"Nick?"
Fury turns around to see Hill disintegrating.
"Hill?" He races back to their car and gets what appears to be an old pager with extra gear attached out of his bag on the back seat. He sends out an emergency alert, mere seconds before his hand turns into ashes. "Motherfu-" Fury corrodes to dust. The pager falls to the ground, red lights blinking on the additions. The screen reads "SENDING" then displays a red-blue-and-gold star insignia; the symbol of Captain Marvel.
~~~
Lana glances around at everyone. "So what, we don't get to die?" She asks sharply. Tony turns to her and glares. "Don't. I lost someone too." His expression softens just a tad. Loki drops the glamor. "And who knows? I probably lost my brother as well!" Nebula sits down. "Half the population?" Nebula nods.
"It appears to be choosen at random," Loki states. Tony furrows his brows, confused; that doesn't sound like Clint. He looks up and, for a second, locks eye contact with Loki before he's lunging at the god. Lana stands immediately.
"You bet my ass it was chosen at random if you're still living!" Tony punches Loki in the face. Lana quickly approaches the two and grabs Tony's arms. "You've been here this entire time?" Loki nods, sitting up and moving away from Tony. "And Clint? Did you kill him?"
"No!" Lana and Loki shout.
"I only used my magic to appear to be him. Both my sister and I felt it wise for me to look like your archer and not myself." Tony stops struggling against Lana and just sits. "Of course, I didn't think Thanos would win." Lana looks down as, she too, sits on the ground. "Why'd you do it?" She shrugs.
"Strange knows the outcome," she mumbles, "if he was giving up his stone. . ." She sniffles. "Loki." She coos. He nods in understanding.
"We have to fix this," Tony states, "we have to. . . Get off this damn planet first!" The remainder three nod. "And we'll do whatever it takes to get both done." The three exchange looks and nods.
"Whatever it takes."