NADENKA WAS NOT AT ALL surprised when she felt wind surround her, before strong arms did. Recognizing his touch anywhere, she leaned into his arms, before pulling back and analyzing his wounds.
"I did wait fifteen minutes."
"I know you did, draga mea." He smiled, holding her cheek with his hand before he held her to his chest and headed to the battlefield, where they stopped in front of James Barnes; who look distraught as he looked for Allura.
"Nadenka." He whispered when he saw her dusty state and the blood on her hair. He immediately rushed to his little girl, hugging her briefly. "Where's Allura?" He asked, Nadenka pointing to where they had just come from.
"She's safe, dad. She's alright." She reassured him, the man sighing in relief as the thoughts that clouded his mind vanished; but not completely.
They had been apart from one another for a while, and even though he knew she could take care of herself, he found himself worrying for the strawberry blonde.
This was bigger than anything he ever faced, he was sure. And he would be lying if he said he wasn't terrified of what would come next, when the dust cleared and everything truly hit.
"Mr.Barnes, we need to help Vision." Pietro spoke respectfully, his tone urgent but still hesitant.
This was Nadenka's father, after all.
"We do. We saw him fall right-" But James was stopped by a pained groan coming from Nadenka as she held her stomach, her eyes and her veins glowing slightly as she fell to her knees. "-Nadenka!"
She was held by her father and she looked at him and Pietro, the two not knowing what was going on.
"What's wrong? Are you alright?" James spoke softly, removing the hair from her face as he held her still, a concerned look in his ocean blue eyes as he stared at the identical ones Nadenka possessed.
But it wasn't how she looked that caused them to freeze, it was the words that came out from her mouth.
"He's here." She whispered, trying to stand up and failing before trying again an succeeding with Pietro's help.
"Everyone on my position. We have incoming." Steve spoke through the earpiece. Pietro held Nadenka's hand and James' wrist and sped them to the scene, where Allura, Okoye, Natasha, Ezekyel, Steve, Sam, Bruce and T'Chall already were.
Allura and James quickly found each other, holding hands as they sighed in relief— of course, the anger at seeing Allura's face bleeding was noticeable in his gaze, just like the concern in hers when she saw he was covered in dirt and blood.
Then, a blue mist appeared, like a black hole opening right before their eyes.
And there he was.
Standing as if he owned the universe, as if they owed him their lives. His expression was determined and his stance was firm, four stones covering the golden gauntlet covering his fist.
He wasn't what Allura expected. She didn't imagine him to look like that at all. But she had to admit, the power he radiated was overwhelming. She had read about the Infinity Stones back home, endless amount of stories and explanations regarding their creation and existence.
And even though the information wasn't specific about a lot of things, and was vague in most aspects, one thing she knew for sure was that no being should hold the six of them within their grasp.
No being could be so powerful; so mighty. For balance was something Jupiterians believed in, a balance between good and evil, right and wrong— which is why no Jupiterian could create hydrogen without oxygen, why no Jupiterian could have more than one ability; apart from one percent of the population (and even then, they were limited).
But it seemed like their idea of balance had served as inspiration to his; but he had it all wrong. His idea of balance was a belief of control of life and death, pain and glory. He thought of himself as a hero, but the only world Allura could think of to describe him was monster.
She and James weren't monsters. They were victims. And that took her a while to understand.
But now, as he stood so clear before them, could she understand what a real monster looked like.
And his name is Thanos, destroyer of worlds.
"That's him." Bruce spoke.
"Eyes up. Stay sharp." Steve spoke clearly, preparing his shield.
Bruce headed to hit him, but was stopped and engulfed in blue. He went through Thanos and was then placed against a rock— well, through a rock that held him in place.
One down.
Steve did the same but was thrown back like a rag doll, crashing against the ground.
Two down.
Then T'Challa jumped, but was grabbed by the neck before being punched. The energy of his suit went haywire on impact, which caused him to stay down.
Three down.
Then it was Sam, who was effortlessly defeated.
Four down.
James and Allura ran at Thanos, their mind set on protecting Nadenka and Vision. They shot at him with their guns, naively believing that it would harm him.
But not a scratch was made.
They were pushed back by a stone, their only reflex being to not lose the other as they were surrounded by roots. For the first time in years, the two assets had been momentarily defeated by their adversary.
Six down.
Then Okoye was thrown back, after failing to hit Thanos with her spear.
Seven down.
Then Natasha was practically buried by roots as she was thrown back, held by the earth they were trying to save.
Eight down.
Then came Ezekyel, who stretched his hands and grabbed the roots covering Natasha before throwing them at Thanos.
That made him flinch back a little...
... a little.
The roots grew back and Ezekyel was hit by one of the stones, being held in the air before being thrown near Bruce.
Nine down.
Now, it was only Pietro and Wanda; who would now get to watch as the people they loved most, took their last breaths.
Wanda and Vision were speaking, but with tears falling down from his eyes lo Pietro's blue eyes were focused on Nadenka.
"N-No."
"Pietro. Love." She spoke, her own tears in her eyes as she looked at him.
If there was something Nadenka never did, was cry. It wasn't because she felt like it made her weak, but she didn't feel comfortable with tears trailing down her cheeks, sobs racking from her chest, her nose running or the feeling of a hole in her stomach.
But she didn't feel a hole in her stomach. She felt the stone. She felt the stone telling her it was time.
"It's not fair." Pietro whispered, holding her cheek with one of his hands and the back of her neck softly with the other.
"Life's not fair." There was no other sentence Nadenka could've said. She was like her mother in more ways than she could imagine, and her strengths proved it perfectly.
Wanda's red mist interrupted them as they saw Wanda attempt to destroy Vision's stone.
It was heartbreaking that somehow, Vision had to die so that Nadenka would live.
But it wouldn't go that way at all.
Thanos was now in front of the four, and as Pietro rushed to attack him, he was slowed down by the space stone, before landing on the floor with a painful grunt.
Steve slid between them and held Thanos' gauntlet in his hands, using all of the strength he could muster to keep him still.
But it was of no use.
Nadenka choked back a sob as she watched him fall, being punched across the face mercilessly as Thanos' impressed gaze disappeared and turned careless.
Careless for the beings he would kill.
Half the universe.
He approached Wanda, Vision and Nadenka, attempting to get closer.
But there was no way in hell Nadenka would allow that.
Purple mist danced in her hands once more, the young girl reminding herself that she and the stone were one. In her mind, she thanked it for keeping her alive, for giving her a chance to meet her parents, her family, her Pietro. She thanked her for choosing her and not killing her, like it could have.
Like it would.
She stood between Wanda, Vision and Thanos, the young woman holding him back as Wanda used her entire strength to do the last thing she would ever want to do: destroy the man that she loves.
"The power stone." Thanos spoke, his voice rough as he put up a shield against the unbelievable power. "Give it to me."
"Over my dead body." Nadenka grunted, pushing her hands forward to make sure that he would stay back, her blue eyes closing as more tears fell from her eyes.
This is not how she imagined the end of the world to be.
Not like this.
And then, it finally happened.
The impact of the stone exploding was strong, and it threw them all back. Nadenka screamed in surprise, feeling the pain in her stomach from the stone and the sob that left Wanda's mouth.
This was not how it was supposed to be.
They were supposed to win.
So, why did it look like they were losing?
"I understand, my child. Better than anyone." Thanos spoke to Wanda, the young girl glaring at him.
"You could never."
"Today I lost more than you can know." He stopped, caressing her hair as he passed. "But now is no time to mourn." Nadenka stumbled towards them, her blue eyes sent on Thanos. "Now is no time at all."
Then, Nadenka felt as if her body was levitating, a pained groan leaving her lips as she was brought back to the center of the entire thing.
"NO!" Wanda screamed, but she was hit by Thanos who was removing Vision's stone.
And next thing Nadenka knows, is that Vision is limp on the floor.
The girl cried once more, attracting the attention of Allura and Thanos. The man carefully placed the time stone on the top of his finger, before grabbing the blade from the floor and turning to the blonde on the ground.
Allura tried to break free from the roots as she looked at the pained gaze Nadenka held.
"No. No! NO!" She screamed, tears beginning to fall for on her eyes as she watched Thanos approach her little girl.
"You said over your dead body." Thanos told her, grabbing her hair and pulling her up, then grabbing her neck and holding her in the air.
"STOP! PLEASE! NADENKA!" Allura screamed, fighting the roots around her. She felt so stupid! So useless! She sobbed as she kicked and scratched and pushed.
"So over your dead body it will be." And then he stabbed Nadenka, the girl crying out in pain as broken sobs escaped her lips. She could feel the blood in her mouth and lips. Her own.
He twisted the blade in her stomach and she let out a bloodcurdling scream, that hurt Allura more than any of the ones she could produce before ever would.
"NO! PLEASE!" Allura sobbed, Nadenka turning to her mom with a soft smile as her skin became a light shade of purple, and the stone solidified inside of her; instead of running through her veins.
"It's okay." She mouthed to her mom, hissing in pain once more when the blade was removed and the stone was out.
"No." Allura whispered, watching as her little girl fell, her lips and jaw covered in blood and her eyes wide.
Her skin began glowing a beautiful blue pattern, showing that her body was cold. The iris around her eyes became red as oxygen hit her body. Her long blonde hair became darker than strawberry blonde, less orange than ginger, and a bit lighter than auburn.
But then, more blood came from her mouth, as the hundred percent of alien genetics inside of her went overdrive, and she convulsed.
Allura's cries were heartbreaking, as she sobbed for the daughter that she had just gotten to hold in her arms, to kiss on the cheek, to whisper in her ear.
"I understand your pain." Thanos told Allura, the woman glaring at him even further.
"YOU MONSTER!" But the stone was already in his grasp, and soon, the power stone was placed on top of the gauntlet and power surged through it.
And in a second, it was over. Thunder hit him across the chest and an axe was stabbed in it. Allura saw James woke up and stared at her in confusion. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was shaking.
But then his eyes landed on the body behind them, and he felt a sob of his own fall from his lips.
His daughter. He failed to protect his daughter.
But the only thing echoing in their air apart from the couple's sobs, were the words that would deem the the end of the beginning.
"You should've gone for the head."
And then, his fingers snapped.
"NO!"
And there was nothing anyone could do.
Noooooooo! I did not look forward to this at all! It's so heartbreaking!!
And we know what comes next, after the snap. Who do you think will vanish?
I would love to read your thoughts on this! I adore your comments and inputs into the story and they truly are motivation to keep writing!
Also! Thank you for 91k reads on Alien! I can't believe this! I never thought it would reach a thousand , never mind 91 thousand! Thank you! You're all amazing!
Stay safe!
- evanescence2016