Chapter Text
Stephen Strange reached into the air, and produced the Time Stone. From my perch, I saw him hold it out and release it to float through the air to Thanos. I watched the Mad Titan take it, ponder it for a moment, then attach it to his Gauntlet. He surged with power.
“One to go,” Thanos said.
A desperate yell echoed across the dead moon. Star-Lord flew past me, firing his guns at Thanos, who casually opened a portal and disappeared into space. The spaceman crashed into the ground, quickly getting to his feet and looking around wildly.
“Where is he?! ” he roared.
Tony Stark was hunched over where Thanos had left him. As he patched up his wound, he glowered at Dr. Strange, the one person he had counted on not to give over the Stone. “Why would you do that?” he asked.
“We’re in the endgame now,” Dr. Strange said, as though that answered anything.
It looked like the fighting was over.
I dropped down to the ground where Reed Richards was crumpled, having just regained consciousness after Thanos flattened him. I offered him my hand, but he pointed to some rubble on the other side of the ruins.
“Get Ben,” Reed coughed. I nodded, and swung over to where he’d pointed. The pile of ancient rubble that Thanos had dropped on The Thing was the size of a house, and normally it would be too heavy for me on my own. Titan’s gravity was all out of whack, though; between that and the strength boost I was getting from the suit I’d found aboard Thanos’s ship, I was able to shove the debris off Ben easily.
Ben was lying on his back, sputtering, no worse for wear, but alive. I dropped into the ditch and helped him to his feet.
“Thanks,” he said, brushing himself off. He looked me over admiringly. “Good work out there, Web-Head,” he said.
He couldn’t see my face, but I know he knew I appreciated it. “You too, Ben,” I said. “Too bad it wasn’t enough.”
Ben shrugged. We climbed out of the ditch, and he gave me a once-over as we headed back to Reed and the others. “Still not big on that suit, though. You look even creepier than before,” he called back.
I looked down at my new suit, a black shimmering material with a big white spider-emblem.
“Everyone’s a critic,” I muttered, and followed The Thing.
We walked in silence back to where the others had gathered around to discuss their next move. I felt too exhausted to talk. At first I thought it was from the fighting, but then I realized that I didn’t know how long I’d been awake. When did I last sleep? I wondered. On the ship? I had napped while we were approaching Saturn, but time gets so weird in space, I had no idea how long we’d been on this moon. I didn’t even know how I was putting one foot in front of the other; all my body wanted to do was collapse.
As we got up to the clearing where the fight had ended, we saw Tony free himself from the last of his broken suit, arguing with the Guardians about where to go next.
“We have to go after him!” Quill was saying. He was looking panicked and disturbed -- the guy really seemed to crack under pressure.
“By the time we reach Earth’s orbit, Thanos will have the last of the gems,” said Dr. Richards. “It’s up to whoever’s left on Earth.”
“Then we catch him before he gets away!” Star-Lord insisted. “Isn’t that what you guys are supposed to do? Catch badguys?”
“Lay off , Quill,” Stark snapped. “The guy can teleport instantaneously.” He walked over to the others. “Look, there’s no plan here. Alright? We lost. We need to pick ourselves up and focus on our next move. Okay? How are we getting off this rock?”
Richards, Quill, and Strange all looked like they were about to talk, but the bug-lady interrupted them.
“Something’s happening…” she said.
We all looked over to her, then around the ruins. I could almost feel it, too…like a shiver had passed down all of our spines at the same time.
“Reed…”
I turned around. Ben’s arm had dissolved into dust. He looked across the clearing at Dr. Richards, and then the rest of him faded away, too. All 500 pounds of Sgt. Benjamin Grimm dissolved into the wind.
I didn’t know what to think.
“Ben…?” Reed said. There was a hint of desperation that I’d never heard in him before. Tony stepped up onto the platform, and Reed turned to him -- just in time to dissolve into dust, as well. In an instant, the smartest man on Earth, the greatest scientific mind of the modern day, had ceased to exist.
Star-Lord, on the other side of the wreckage, stared at Tony, wild-eyed.
“Steady, Quill,” Tony said, but Quill didn’t freak out. I don’t think he had the energy left for another tantrum.
“Tony.” Dr. Strange, leaned up against the wall, was calling to him. Tony turned to him, and Dr. Strange gave him a grave look. “There was no other way ,” he said.
Stark stared at him for a minute. He looked like he wanted to ask Strange what he meant, but had suddenly forgotten what he was going to say. He didn’t do anything for a second. Then he stumbled.
“Tony?” I said.
“Oh, man…” said Quill.
I hopped over to Stark, just in time to catch him as he fell over. I was struck by how small he felt, how old. “Mr. Stark, are you alright?” I knew it was a stupid question, but with everything that was happening around us, I didn’t dare consider that we were about to lose Iron Man, too.
“Don’t…don’t feel so good…” Tony muttered. The two of us sank to our knees. His brow was furrowed like he was trying all he could to cling together, but it was a losing battle.
“You can’t go,” I said, the panic setting in. I tried to stave it off, but I was flooded with memories of other people who had died in my arms -- Gwen, Captain Stacy, Uncle Ben. “No, you can’t go, sir, please. We…we need you. We need--”
But Tony laid down against the rocky ground. I could see in his face he knew it was happening. At first he wouldn’t meet my eye -- but then he did.
“I’m sorry ,” he whispered.
And then Tony Stark faded to dust.
I was left grasping in the dirt. Out of the dust, I pulled out the chestpiece of Tony’s nanotech suit, the only thing that didn’t go with him. Behind me, the others stood there; Strange, Quill, and Mantis. The only ones left.
“He did it,” Quill said.
Thanos had beaten us.