Chapter Text
They won. It's finally done. The giant menacing titan and his alien army got what they deserved, for wrecking other people's lives in pursuit of a senseless, vain and meaningless ideal. All it took was one snap to reverse the damages, and another to wipe out the enemies, or so most thought in the beginning. When the moment came, he knew what was going to become of him. Tony Stark, the one and only Iron Man, knew that his life, his very short-lived happiness, needs to be traded for the well-being of the universe, who mostly never cared, or stood for him anyway. Regardless, he did it ,in a swift motion, and out of desperation, Tony stole all the infinity stones from Thanos, muttered his about-to-be final words, "And I, am... IRON MAN", then snapped.
The power coursed through each and every vein on his body, but alas, it was too much. His measly human body couldn't contain the power, and the recoil did far more than what the others thought and wished. In just a few minutes, the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthrophist is gonna be no more. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play." a certain super soldier in blue, red, and white suit said to Tony a few years ago. As he was laying, back pressed against a stone on planet Titan, almost lifeless, he suddenly remembered it and said in his crumbling mind, "Yeah, F*ck you, Cap." . With each passing moment, it became harder to breathe, Tony was used to it, but this one was different. He wasn't panicking, he was calm, still as a lake in the summer. He was just thinking of what he could have experienced if he could live for longer, just a little bit longer, what it was like to be a parent and take care of Morgan, just like Clint with his own daughter, what it was like to lead a peaceful life, what it was like to watch Peter and Harley grow up and eventually become Men from the little boys they currently are, what it was like to live away from everything dangerous. But it was all too late now.
In a blink of an eye, Pepper rushed by Tony's side. Visibly trying to hold back her tears, she kept herself strong, she put up a chaotically beautiful but obvious and transparent facade of a smile. She had never cursed her powerlessness far more than in this moment. She hated that she couldn't do anything but sit back and watch. She thought that if she fought beside Tony, it would somehow make a difference, but it didn't, she didn't have it, the power to save Tony. Before bursting into tears, she put her hand on Tony's Arc reactor, with its electric blue light starting to fade, she said in the most calm voice she could muster at that moment, "It's okay, we're going to be alright, you can rest now."
Tony knew it was lie, he knew it was all a lie that Pepper conjured because she didn't want him to see her crying before dying. It broke his heart even more, he wanted to live, he really did. Funny and ironic, cuz all this time, before all this Thanos bullsh*t, he really did want to die. Life is such a b*tch, it gives you what you wish for when you don't need it anymore.
Regrets, regrets, regrets flooded everyone's mind, even Peter Parker's, who was beside Pepper, crying and crying, screaming "Don't go Mr. Stark! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please live for me, I need you Mr. Stark, please, please. You told me we were gonna go to different places. You told me you weren't gonna leave me. YOU TOLD ME IT WAS GONNA BE ALRIGHT!". Seeing the boy's suffering, Tony told himself, "I'm such an ass. If only I could live, I would, Peter, I would." Too bad all those thoughts are in vain cuz no one can hear them. If's, all these if's can never become reality.
And now, his body is betraying his will. He's slowly becoming tired, eyes slowly closing without his permission, he wanted to say goodbye, he wanted to say a lot of things but he can't. His eyes are now filled with darkness, can't see anything but pitch black. "Goo...d...by...e" Tony muttered.
But then, amidst the darkness, a bright orange lit up. An orange so warm and bright it resembled the sun. It was comforting, soothing, very relaxing. He was enjoying the warmth of the color, when his thoughts were suddenly broken by a cold, baritone voice that served as an offset to the orange. "Who said you could rest without my permission, douchebag?" Tony's hazel eyes darted open and met another pair colored with an electric blue. What he saw and heard, gave him hope, lit up the fire within him. "Stephen?" he thought to himself. With his arrival via sling ring, everyone turned to the wizard, eyes begging him to do something.