When I came to, a voice was speaking to me. "Amber, get up!" it said. I didn't recognize the voice, but when my eyes finally opened, I understood its words, "Get out of here!"
The ground above me was crumbling quickly. I hastily looked for an escape, but couldn't register where I was. It all had happened so fast that I didn't remember I was underground. All I knew was that I needed to get to the distant light to my left.
I rose to my feet and instantly, a sharp pain shot up my left leg. Not having the time to consider it, I clumsily ran toward the light as rocks from the collapsing ceiling fell around me. The light became closer and closer. I was almost there when a boulder above my exit loosened. If it fell, I knew I'd be sealed in with no chance of survival. There was barely time to think as I instinctively formed a forcefield beneath the rock. Thankfully, that held it suspended in the air just long enough for me to slide safely through the opening.
The tunnel to my left caved in as I lay on the ground, trying to catch my breath. As I stared above me, I saw a curtain of smoke in the sky that covered it in a shroud of black. My eyes drifted down and I turned my head to the right where the scene was more sickening than the smoke. Everything was in rubble. Dark and utterly destroyed.
I breathed out a heavy sigh in despair and returned my gaze upward. It was then that the voice from before spoke again, "No significant wounds. There is a minor fracture in your left ankle, but I've increased the suit's tension around it so you can walk without worsening the injury."
It took me a moment to realize that the voice was coming from my earpiece. The artificial intelligence Tony installed! My heart lifted at the thought of not being alone and hope began to rise. "And the baby?" I asked.
"No damage," was the reply. "Mr. Stark's additions significantly increased the chance of its survival. Without them, the fatality rate from that fall would have been ninety-three percent."
I closed my eyes in relief and silently thanked Tony. Even when he wasn't there, somehow he still managed to point out 'you owe me big time'.
As I lay there on the ground, a storm suddenly formed in the sky and thunder crackled. Thor? I quickly turned over so I knelt and then pushed myself up to stand. When I looked out over the destruction, a streak of lightning caught my attention as it fell from the sky directly on Thanos. I didn't think before I burst into a run toward the battle. My instincts told me to fight when my logic would have warned me about the possibility of death. If Thanos won, those of us who had survived the first time would surely die the second.
I leaped over the rubble and discreetly dodged in-between the ruins until I reached the battle. Before me stood Thanos with his double-edged sword, looming over a figure that took me a moment to identify.
A few feet away lay Cap's body. Unmoving. Panic filled me as I rushed to him, aware of Thanos' nearby presence but uncaring. I placed a forcefield around us and bent down to check if he was alive.
"Cap," I whispered as I touched his cheek. "Steve, I'm here." He breathed heavily from the taxing fight, but I was grateful he was breathing at all.
"Get out of here," he said through clenched teeth as he strained to get up. His shield was chipped and he was exhausted, but he wasn't done fighting yet.
Thanos watched us and seemed to think the situation was humorous. "In all my years of conquest," he said, "violence, slaughter, it was never personal."
"I don't back down on my promises," I said as I grabbed Steve by the shoulders and helped him rotate his body. "I'm not leaving."
"But I'll tell you now," Thanos continued to look at us with a terrible expression of anger and dominance. "What I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet . . . I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."
Steve and I looked behind him in horror as an alien army beamed down to the earth's surface from the ships above. The ground was covered with soldiers. There was no way we'd survive.
Suddenly, Steve gritted his teeth and groaned as he pushed himself up. I looped my arm underneath his and supported him as he rose from the ground. When he straightened, he breathed heavily from the effort but was filled with a determination that gave him the strength to stand. I lifted my forcefield.
Together, we faced Thanos and walked toward the army. Steve tightened the strap attaching what was left of his shield to his arm and then took my hand. We both knew we were about to be torn apart, but his action reminded me that we were still united. Connected even in the face of death.
Suddenly, he stopped walking. We both heard the voice of Sam Wilson over our intercoms, "Hey, Cap, can you read me?" His voice was clear, but we were too stunned to respond.
Steve continued to breathe heavily as he tried to process the possibility of his old friend being alive. The idea of hope had disappeared the moment headquarters was blown to bits. We had lost and made our peace with it. Outnumbered, we'd accepted that we'd die fighting for the survival of the universe. To let hope enter the equation was nearly impossible when it didn't have a place.
"Cap, it's Sam, can you hear me?"
Dazed and confused, Steve reached up to his ear to use his com, but before he could ask any questions, Sam said, "On your left." As we turned around to follow his direction, a portal grew and opened wide enough so T'Challa, Shuri, and Okoye could step through. They entered the dark battlefield from their sunny portal and our morale began to strengthen. We weren't alone after all.
As Sam flew above the Wakandans' heads, other portals opened to reveal more friends who had died at the snap of Thanos' fingers. Dr. Strange, Drax, Mantis, Peter Quill, Peter Parker.
T'Challa lifted up the "yibambe" chant that his army of warriors shouted behind him. More heroes entered from their portals. All of the realms had come to our aid and they couldn't have picked a better time.
Having our confidence restored, Steve and I turned again to face Thanos. This time, we were more evenly matched. "Avengers!" Cap yelled so all could hear. He lifted his hand and Thor's hammer flew to him. At any other time, I would have questioned this, but it didn't seem like the appropriate moment.
No long motivational speech was required for this battle. As soon as Cap uttered the word, "assemble", a loud battlecry erupted from the army as everyone rushed forward. The two seas of heroes and aliens surged and collided in mayhem.
"So," I shouted to Steve as I punched an alien and crushed his body with a solid mass of a forcefield. "Since when can you use Thor's hammer?"
Cap launched it at a creature, but this time Thor's axe returned to him instead.
"No, no," Thor said and pointed to the axe since he was now holding the hammer, "give me that." They tossed the weapons to each other in exchange. "You have the little one."
I laughed aloud as I pulled out one of my pistols. "Still always needs the bigger weapon!" I pulled the trigger while following Steve deeper into the battle.
"Cap!" Clint said over the com. "What do you want me to do with this thing?"
It took me a second to understand what he was referring to. "He has the glove!" I shouted to Steve.
"Get those stones as far away as possible!" Cap shouted as he fought an alien three times his size. The battle was getting tighter and we were nearly surrounded at the moment.
"No!" Bruce countered. He punched an alien out of his way as he approached us. "We need to get them back to where they came from."
"No way to get 'em back," came Tony's voice over the com. "Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel."
"Hold on," Scott said. "That wasn't our only time machine." He pressed down a button on his car keys and a distant horn was heard playing La Cucaracha.
I jumped onto a pile of rubble to see over the field, hopeful of spotting the van. "Anyone see an ugly brown van out there?" I asked.
"Yes, but you're not going to like where it's parked!" Valkarie answered from where she flew above the field.
"Scott, how long do you need to get that thing working?" Tony asked.
Lang thought quickly, "Uh, maybe ten minutes."
Steve ran into action. "Get it started, we'll get the stones to you."
I followed behind him until I spotted Spiderman running with the glove. He was surrounded by aliens, almost completely buried, "Help, somebody help!" As Cap threw his hammer to carry the boy out of his predicament, I surrounded myself with a round forcefield and ran toward the cluster. Steve always teased me that it was my "hamster ball" attack because of how I looked running inside the purple ball, but it was one move that could take out large numbers of an enemy.
I leaped up above their heads and reshaped my field so it became a solid circle below me. As I descended, they were crushed beneath its weight. When I redirected my attention back to the battle, lasers from Thanos' ship were raining down on the earth's surface.
Clouds of dirt rose as each missile struck the ground so it was nearly impossible to see. I didn't question how many people I could cover with one forcefield. It had been years since I tested and stretched them, but I stepped down from the pile of bodies and lifted up my hands.
Above me appeared a forcefield that continued to grow and ward off the lasers. My hands shook violently as the field expanded to shield those who ran to it for protection. The missiles continued to pound against its surface and I braced myself for each impact. Every blow felt like a knife was passing through my palm. But then there was silence.
As we all stopped to look above, Sam asked, "What the heck is this?"
The ship had ceased fire on the battle below to redirect its lasers at a new target in the atmosphere. For a moment, no one could see what it was, but then a beam of light soared through the sky. The beam was unfazed as it streaked through the middle of the ship and caused it to descend from the air. Captain Marvel was our ace card. With her on our side, our chances of winning increased even more.
"Danvers," Cap said as if she wasn't already here to help, "We need an assist here."
She didn't verbally respond but landed beside Peter Parker to take a turn carrying the gauntlet.
Before Peter handed it over, he looked at the incoming army that rushed toward them with a skeptical expression. "I don't know how you're gonna get it through all that."
"Don't worry," I said as I joined the group of female warriors who stood behind Danvers. "She's got help."
We rushed forward to meet the incoming sea of creatures and fought desperately to clear the way for Captain Marvel. She burst again into a bright light as she flew with the glove to the van holding the quantum tunnel. Thanos ran into her path but was held back by laser beams created by the Wasp, Shuri, and Pepper Pott's armored suit. Unfortunately, he quickly recovered and threw his spear. His aim held true and the weapon imbedded itself in the quantum tunnel.
A blinding light suddenly filled my eyes and a blast of energy surged across the field, throwing everyone to the ground. My body was launched backward and I painfully slid through the dirt. Darkness overcame my vision.
When my eyes opened again, I had a pounding headache from the fall. I twisted my head to see what we had all feared and tried so hard to prevent. Thanos had gained the glove and stood about to snap his fingers.
"I am inevitable," he said. And then he snapped his fingers, but this time nothing happened. He looked at the gauntlet in confusion when he suddenly realized the stones were missing.
It was then that Tony's hand began to glow. Oh, no. He had managed to steal the stones from Thanos and install them in his own glove, but there was no chance he could withstand the radiation.
"And I . . . am . . ." Stark panted heavily from the power surging through his veins, "Iron Man." With those words, he snapped his fingers.
That snap was different than the first. This time, the Avengers were no longer the ones to disappear. Instead, the battle around us gradually came to a stop as the entire alien army disintegrated.
Steve's head flew from side to side as he nervously scanned the field. When he finally saw me, he ran to my side, "Amber!"
"I'm alright," I said, trying to push myself up, but found I didn't have the strength. Steve placed his arm around me and drew me to my feet. I couldn't help but grimace from the pain when I placed my hand on his shoulder. All of a sudden, my palms burned. I hadn't noticed the cuts that covered them from earlier when I created the large forcefield.
As Steve supported my weight, we stood and watched Thanos come to grips with his defeat. One by one, his army turned to dust and he watched it all disappear. The once great Titan sat down to accept his defeat. In a kind of despair, he closed his eyes and disintegrated into a cloud of black dust that blew away in the wind. It seemed ironic that such a gentle breeze would seal his fate.
"Tony," I whispered when I saw him collapse in exhaustion against a pile of rubble. My legs had regained their feeling so I stepped away from Steve before bursting into a run. Every step felt as if my legs were made of lead, but I pressed on, determined to reach my friend. "Tony!" I knelt beside him and took his hand in mine.
His eyes seemed unresponsive, but eventually, they shifted to meet mine.
"You did great," I smiled and touched his forehead to smooth out his hair. "Maybe you're not so bad after all, Stark."
This gained an almost perceptible smirk when Rhodes dropped to the ground. I moved out of the way as he came to see Tony. I was there when Peter came. And when Pepper knelt before him and his arc reactor dimmed until void of light.
The rest of the team watched in silence, holding back tears as our dear friend gave up his life for the world. For us.