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The plan was too simple.
It was foolproof.
How did the earth's mightiest heroes manage to screw it up?
This was their one chance. Hulk threw a gigantic rock towards Thanos as he flung himself onto him, delivering a clean punch to his face. The collision was huge. Dust particles were everywhere. Some of the avengers could feel it under their eyelids, on their exposed skin, and in their lungs as they breathed it in. But it didn't matter.
The impact was so big that the gauntlet got knocked off of Thanos' hand. It was buried under the heavy rubble and the avengers knew that they needed to find it before the purple beast did.
If they got it in time, they would win.
The fighting would be over.
They would get to go home.
"I GOT IT!" A voice yelled. Tony would recognize it anywhere. It was Steve's.
Stark and the other avengers got into a fighting like stance, side by side. They were ready to fight. They were going to get rid of this monster before he wipes out half of the galaxy because of his extreme obsession with death.
They kept their guard up as the dust slowly started to settle. Maintaining an eagle like gaze for Thanos. In all honesty, they all were expecting him to be scared. This was his end, his downfall, his demise.
But they got the opposite.
"I got it too." The voice said as it slithered smoothly from his lips.
When the surroundings cleared, they all saw the purple titan once again.
And Tony's stomach fell as the overwhelming guilt washed over him when he saw what Thanos “Got.”
As if he could ever forget that image.
The purple titan stood confidently on a pile of rubble as he gripped Peter Parker's, Spider-Man's, neck in one of his oversized hands.
The brunette was struggling frantically. Kicking and swinging his legs, trying his best to have the titan let go of his body. After that pitiful attempt, he used his hands to pry Thanos' fingers off of him, but it was no use.
"NO!" Tony yelled, his voice was filled with an unmeasurable amount of rage. “LET GO OF HIM!” Everything in his body, every fiber he had wanted to fly over to Thanos and sucker punch that purple bastard in his face, but he knew that was a dead end.
A sinister grin plastered itself on Thanos' features. "I'm impressed." He began. "Out of the whole galaxy, your little earth is the only world idiotic enough to try and fight me."
"Drop him." Tony gritted through his teeth, taking a couple steps forward. Seeing Peter in pain, squirming in Thanos’ arms filled him up with regret. He shouldn't of brought Peter here. In this battle, he wasn't fearing for his own life, he was fearing for the kid’s.Tony knew that he was damaged goods, but Peter had so much ahead of him. He wasn't going to die today, he couldn't. "Or I will drop you."
"Give me back my gauntlet." Thanos grimaced. "And I will hand over your… arachnid pet."
They all were silent as they exchanged worried looks towards each other. Steve had his shield in one hand, and the gauntlet in another. He knew that Peter’s life was worth more than the gauntlet, but what would happen afterwards? Would Thanos even keep his word?
The silence of the atmosphere was interrupted when they heard Peter gagging and choking on his own blood though his mask. Thanos' death grip was sucking the air out of Peter's lungs. Tony’s heart fell when he saw the brunette struggling even harder, trying to get free. But his strength was no match for the hold around his neck, squeezing the life of of him. None of his attempts were working.
“GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF HIM RIGHT NOW!” Tony screened with rage. He was so close to flying over no matter what the cost was to get Peter. But Steve held his arm back and shook his head. Warning Stark that it was a bad idea.
“Take a single step closer to me and I will tear out this child’s spine.”
“What the hell gives you the right?” Stark replied. He needed time to stall the purple beast until he could come up with a new plan. They had to get Peter back, but they didn't want to give Thanos the gauntlet either.
‘Think Stark’
‘Think’
“I wrested these gems from the elders of creation. Clawed them from the hypothetical entities locked in the forgotten corners of the nothing-verse. Stole them from the abysmal entrails of star worms gnawing at the fringes of reality.” Thanos gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes.
“And you have the audacity to ask me, ‘What gives you the right?’ “
"Do not make me ask again to return what is rightfully mine, you unworthy maggots."
"Give the boy back first." Steve spoke up, his voice demanding and confident. It was the polar opposite of how he was really feeling. Tony could see it in his eyes.
If anyone could get Peter back, it was Steve.
He had to.
"No." Thanos argued. "I will not be played for a fool in my own domain.”
“If you make me ask again, you leave me no choice." The purple head turned the slightest towards the kid who's suffocation became louder and louder as his desperate movements to escape became less and less.
"Steve." Tony whispered. They had no other choice. Peter was his responsibility, always and forever. If he died, Tony would feel like that was on him. He didn't need another death on his conscious. He was the one that brought him into this battle. And when he did, Peter was alive. Tony promised himself and the kid that he was going to bring him out the exact same way.
Rogers exchanged a worried glance towards Tony before he obeyed. One of their own was not worth the gauntlet, they would find another way to defeat Thanos. He took hesitant steps towards Thanos as he placed the gauntlet on the ground, a couple feet away from him, eyeing him closely.
"The gauntlet." Rogers said.
As the blond took a couple steps backwards, Thanos took a few closer. Eagerly, he slid the gauntlet on his free hand while still holding onto Peter effortlessly.
"That's better." He whispered to himself, raising his free hand above his head and staring at it with awe. Lusting over the beautiful stones laid out for his disposal to wreak havoc to the galaxy as he sees fit.
"The boy." Steve commanded. "A deal is a deal."
Thanos turned his attention from the gauntlet, to Steve, and then tauntingly towards the almost limp teenager in his other hand. As he smiled, he made direct eye contact with Tony. “Think of this…not as a defeat, but as an honor.”
‘No.’
“What the hell are you saying?” Tony asked, his voice came out quick and angry. They were supposed to get Pete back now. Peter was supposed of be in his arms.
He was supposed to be safe.
“The pathetic civilizations of the galaxy will crumble and fall before my will. A new order will rise…”
‘No… no…’
The purple hand peeled away the mask on Peter's face as it fell pitifully to the ground. The maskless figure revealed a pale face and a bloodied teenager gasping for air. Eyes wide and frantic, begging for life.
‘Please… anything but this…’
The only thing Peter wanted was to live.
“A new kingdom of death spinning the stars... The new kingdom of Thanos.”
“And it shall begin… with him.”
"NO DON'T! HE'S JUST A KID!" Tony screamed, begged even.
Thanos smiled as he stared down at Peter's feeble physique before turning back towards Tony, looking right at him.
"I don't care." He said indifferently. And with one swift motion, he changed his position. He was now holding Peter in a headlock. The other hand gripped the sweaty brown hair tightly and yanked it upwards, causing his head to jerk backwards. The bloodied face of a fifteen year old boy was now struggling to keep his eyes open as he looked at his team, his family, the avengers.
The movement made Tony flinch forward as he tried to run to Peter, but Rhodey held him back with as much force as he could. He didn't want to say it, but… Peter wasn't going to make it out of this one. Rhodey simply didn't want Tony to share the same fate too.
"NO!" Tony pleaded. "DON'T YOU DARE! PLEASE!"
“TAKE ME! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT WITH ME. KILL ME IF YOU WANT, BUT PLEASE….”
“I’m begging you…” His voice quieted down as it became hard to speak with the tears in his throat, choking him.
“Don't hurt my son…”
"All of this... is on you, Stark." Thanos said. "His age obviously didn't seem to matter when you brought him here."
"The inevitable death of this human was caused by me..." He continued, tightening his headlock. Peter’s screams, illegible pleads, and coughs echoed in the domain, but nothing could be done.
Absolutely nothing.
The brunette's eyes were staring right at Tony, as weak as they were, they still kept fighting to stay open. So he could see his family one last time.
He didn't want to be in the dark.
“T-Tony…” Peter choked out, his voice barely audible.
"But the blood is on your hands."
“I’m… sorry…I’m so… so… sorry… I’m-”
The sound of Thanos snapping Peter's neck would be with Tony even in the afterlife.
The everlasting agony he felt in his chest was from from the reality of this moment collapsing inside of him. The image of Peter’s body, hanging lifelessly like a rag doll in Thanos’ arms made him want to collapse into a ball and cry for days on end. The scene would forever plague Tony for the rest of his life. The image was stitched into his brain and embedded into his eyelids.
He wanted to hold Peter again and tell him how much he loved him and cherished him. And how he was sorry for failing him, just like he managed to fail everyone else in his life.
He promised Peter that he would bring him home, alive.
Tony didn't know why it took him this long to realize he was never good at keeping his promises.