Chapter Text
The final battle happened as we all saw before.
Thanos held the stones up triumphantly, gloating, prematurely snapping his fingers, only to realize that the stones wasn't in his possession anymore.
Tony held his arm up, the stones in full display in a gauntlet of his own, the power of the stones surging through him, causing him indescribable pain, yet he still uttered what he thought would be his last words before snapping his fingers.
And in the next moment, everyone could clearly see Thanos and his army slowly fade to dust and…
Tony Stark, still standing there.
Completely unfazed.
He held his arm up and hesitantly turned it over.
And the stones were gone, along with it the bright light that had coursed through him, threatening to incinerate his arm to a crisp.
The scorch marks that had gone up the side of Tony's face still remained, however only kept to the far right side, ending at his cheek.
If he had taken a moment to look up, he might’ve been able to see a tall, dark figure saunter away, the glint of the stones in his hand shining through the gaps of his fingers as he did.
--
And back at the lakehouse, an argument ensued, everyone involved wondering where the hell the stones had gone, questioning Tony since he was clearly the last one who had them.
The gauntlet had long since been removed from his arm, as is the rest of the Iron Man armour, and everyone can see the charred remains of Tony's hand, almost completely marring it's appearance.
He could hardly feel it anymore, resorting to using a cast for it like Bruce had with his own arm.
“But see, that’s the thing. I don’t have the stones.”
“You what?” Rhodes shot back, taking a step closer.
“Yeah, I don’t know what else to tell you.” Tony threw his hands in the air in exasperation. Or, at least he tried to. “At one point, I thought I did, you know, when I took them from Thanos, I snapped my fingers and then he’s gone. I look at my hand and the stones aren’t even there either.”
Steve was the next to speak. “Well, then, where did they go? How did you do the snap? What happened then?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. And I doubt I was the one who actually did it. Me standing here right now is proof of it. I'm not like a god, or some mutant like the Hulk. The power of those stones should've killed me, but they hadn't. So it definitely wasn't me."
“Well then, who did?”
Silence followed soon after, the Avengers looking at one another, almost hoping that someone in there would actually answer that and finally address the elephant in the room.
“...I did, actually.”
...And their hopes were answered, as everyone in the room heard an unfamiliar voice, the sound of footsteps that pressed against the floorboard followed, growing louder until the source of it stood right in front of them.
A tall, thin figure sauntered into view, a red-haired man in an black suit with a jacket that isn’t even buttoned up proper, and the shades on his face showed nothing but his fairly obvious flair for the dramatic.
He gave them a casual wave before tucking both his hands into his pant pockets. “Hi, sorry, I let myself in. I doubt any of you would, so I had to.”
“...Did you want to explain yourself, or should we send you on your way?” Steve’s words cut through the silence right after.
“Oh, yes, of course, just a moment. Here you go…” The man appeared chipper as he pulled his arm out of his pocket and held it up for all to see.
All six infinity stones adorned his hand, all of them were embedded into rings and placed on each finger, with the exception of the Mind stone, which had been in a gold bangle that was wrapped around the palm of his hand, the stone positioned on the back of it, shining just as bright.
“The stones, as all of you have been asking for, as well as my explanation and reason for… breaking into the lakehouse. I’d say you left the door unlocked as an excuse, but really that would be a full-on lie.”
Tony was already halfway out of his chair, almost as if he was about to lunge for the stones, his jaw hanging off his face in disbelief, much like everyone else, who were equally as surprised, while the man stood there silently, a sly smile plastered on his face.
“Who… Just, who are you?” It was Carol’s turn to speak now, squinting at him as she readied her fists, glowing as though it was on fire.
The man’s smile dropped as he turned to Carol, and had it not been for the shades, everyone would’ve been able to see him do the same, like he was shooting the question right back at her, but in a more… accustory way of asking. “...Anthony J. Crowley. I’d prefer being addressed as Crowley, though.”
“What does the ‘J’ stand for?” Rhodes.
“It’s… just a ‘J’, really.”
“...The fact that you have the stones now can only mean…” We’re passing the braincell around and it’s going to Tony. “...Did you... do the snap? Did you wipe out Thanos’ army?”
Crowley doesn’t reply, and he can feel everyone’s burning gaze right at him. The stones still remain in his hand, held out like a prize. “That would be the most important matter at hand, wouldn’t it.”
“Answer the question.” Carol’s back.
“...I did, of course.”
“But then, how? How are you still alive? You don’t seem to sustain any injuries like when Bruce--” Steve interjects, but was then quickly shushed by Tony.
“...Ah, yeah. Was wondering about that. About who was the one who performed the second snap that brought everyone back.” He points a finger at Steve as he spoke. “I did know about the stones. About Thanos, the gauntlet and the snap, of course. What I didn’t know was that the power of the stones themselves could kill you. That’s why I survived.”
“...I’m sorry, what? What does this have to do with you surviving? Because even if you didn’t know, it would still kill you. Nothing would have changed.”
“I guess you could say it works on belief,” Crowley explained. “If I believe I’m immune to the effects of using the stones, then it won’t hurt me.”
“That’s not… how it works.”
“And who are you to say how it works, given the fact that I now stand before you, with the stones in my possession? I have no evidence that I used the stones at all, yet here I am. Pray tell, who in this room was the last to see the stones?”
Everyone looks to Tony, and Crowley caught on quick.
“...Me. I stole them from Thanos right after Carol got knocked back by him using the power stone.” Carol winced at Tony’s remark.
“And after that?”
“Then I tried to do the snap and the stones were gone. God, we’ve been over this, what are you trying to say here?”
“What I’m trying to say here, is that there was no way for me to obtain the stones up until the few moments that you have them in your possession. The game changing moment in that very battle, and they disappeared.”
“And?” Tony was getting impatient by this point, his voice now raised.
“And,” Crowley continued. “The snap occurred seconds just after you had them, causing the assumption that you were the one that caused Thanos to die.” He looked around the room, slipping off the rings and placing them on a nearby table as he spoke. “And I’m happy to declare that that very assumption is wrong.”
“...What?”
“It’s wrong, because I simply performed a miracle, and the stones went to me in an instant. Something like, poof! It’s with me.”
“That doesn’t explain anything.” Rhodes, again.
“...Would it make sense to you if I said it was magic?” He tilted his head back. “I can’t really explain the nature of miracles as anything else but a simple magic trick that I can perform.”
“...So you’re like a wizard.” Tony spoke up.
“...A what?”
“You know, a wizard. We happen to know some right here, and they’re probably outside right now....”
“I… No, no, you’re misunderstanding this. It’s not actually magic, like.. like the book with the boy with the wand and glasses and...” Crowley has an exasperated smile on his face at the moment. “I am by no means a wizard, but… I suppose if their magic falls within the realm of shaping the universe with the mere power of will, then sure. Less uttering spells and more… you know, godlike? Like, divine power, sort of.”
...Tony could akin Crowley’s explanation to Thor’s about the space stone.
“Like a saint,” He continued. “But evil. Me, a demon, that is. I’m not on the side of God, but I happened to be created by Her and thereby having my powers derived from Her. And from that, snap! I got the stones and did you all a favor.” Crowley mimicked snapping his fingers as he nonchalantly slipped off the rings and clicked off the lock on the bangle before placing the stones carefully on a nearby glass table. “That would explain the unlocked door too, wouldn’t it, so there you go.”