Chapter 1: Thanos
Summary:
Thanos begins his conquest and search for the Infinity Stones and Heimdall makes a desperate attempt to help Earth prepare for the Mad Titan's arrival.
Notes:
So, this is another story in Aragorn II Elessar's series, covering IW and Endgame, which is probably going to be the final installment here and I'm going to take some creative liberties, since frankly, some things did bug me in Infinity War and Endgame and some things obviously cannot be like in canon and there are going to be some inspirations from Aragorn II Elessar's story 'Heroes stand united' and Stand with Ward and Queen's story 'Crisis on two earths' and my story 'Apocalypse Incoming'.
I am not sure whether this is going to be a good story, but I am going to try my best.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In the deep vast void of the space, Loki, the God of Mischief, was standing in the burned wreckage of Statesman, looking around, unnerved, at the lying corpses of his fellow Asgardians. He may not have been one of them by blood, but he had been one of them by heart and only recently, he had come to grow fond of the Asgardians, only to see them slaughtered.
"Hear me and rejoice." One of the beings, who had boarded the ship, spoke up as he paced down the ship. It was a tall, pale alien with rather big head with thin figure. "You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. For even in death, you have become Children of Thanos."
Loki eyed the alien and Thanos, the Mad Titan nervously, trying to keep himself from shivering in fear as Thanos turned to face Loki and to see the dead bodies around.
"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperate that you're right…" Thanos then looked down at Thor, who was lying at Thanos's feet. "Yet to fail, nonetheless." He grabbed Thor by his armor and dragged him as Thor groaned, while Thanos approached Loki. "It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now it's here. Or should I say… I am."
Thanos lifted his left hand and clenched his fist, in which he wielded a golden gauntlet with six slots and in one of them was a purple glowing gem and Loki immediately realized what it was. The Power Stone. One of the six Infinity Stones.
"You talk too much." Thor groaned.
"The Tesseract." Thanos ordered as he neared the gauntlet to Thor's head. "Or your brother's head." Loki sensed the weapons of the Children of Thanos aiming at him. "I assume you have a preference."
"Oh, I do. Kill away." Loki said coldly. Thanos placed the Power Stone on Thor's temple as it glowed and Thor screamed in excruciating agony. It didn't take too long and Loki found himself unable to watch his brother in pain as his resolve shattered. "Alright, stop!"
Thor panted out as Thanos pulled away. "We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard."
Loki shot Thor an apologetic glance before he lifted his hand and a glowing blue cube appeared in it.
Thor glared at Loki in disappointment, realizing he had been tricked again. "You… really are the worst brother."
Loki turned to Thor. "I assure you, brother… the sun will shine on us again."
Thanos chuckled. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."
"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another…" Loki smirked. "We have a Hulk."
With a roar, Hulk rushed in, tackling Thanos, knocking him down, while Loki tackled Thor down. Hulk started to pound in on Thanos before pinning him to a wall.
Cull Obsidian was about to intervene, when Ebony Maw raised his hand, causing for Cull Obsidian to stop. "Let him have his fun." Ebony Maw said.
Much to Hulk's shock, Thanos struggled out of Hulk's grip before they exchanged blows but Thanos proved to be a superior fighter as he pummeled and dazed Hulk before lifting him to the air and slamming him to the ground, knocking him out.
Thor rushed in and struck Thanos in the face with a piece of metal but Thanos was unfazed and replied in kind by kicking Thor in the chest, sending him flying back as he rolled down the floor. Ebony Maw then lifted some pieces of metal debris with his telekinesis and used them to restrain Thor.
Heimdall slowly turned to Thor before lifting his arm and reaching for his sword. "Allfathers… let the dark magic flow through me one last… time…"
A beam of light covered Hulk before he flew into the vast darkness of space as Thanos glared down at Heimdall. "That was a mistake." He then impaled Heimdall with Corvus's glaive as Heimdall stilled.
"No!" Thor yelled. Heimdall slumped back as light left his eyes and Thor glared at Thanos. "You're going to die for that."
Ebony Maw did a gesture of his hand as pieces of metal wrapped themselves around Thor's mouth, gagging him as Ebony Maw shushed him before kneeling in front of Thanos, with the Tesseract in his hand. "My humble personage bows before your grandeur." Maw said as Thanos discarded his helmet and armor. "No other being has ever had the might, nay the nobility to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp."
Thanos picked the Tesseract and clenched his fist, crushing it and revealing a glowing blue stone as he blew away the shards of the cube. Thanos then inserted the Stone into another slot, right next to the purple stone in his Gauntlet and gasped as power surged through him.
"There are two more Stones on Earth. Find them, my children, and bring them to me on Titan." Thanos ordered.
"Father, we will not fail you." Proxima Midnight promised as the Children of Thanos knelt before him.
"If I might interject…" They turned to see Loki step up. "If you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that arena."
"If you consider failure experience." Thanos mocked.
"I consider experience experience." Loki countered. "Almighty Thanos, I, Loki, prince of Asgard…" He glanced at Thor. "Odinson…" He turned to face Thanos again. "The rightful king of Jotunheim, God of Mischief, hereby pledge to you my undying fidelity."
Thor saw Loki withdraw a dagger from under his sleeve but as Loki attempted to stab Thanos, he was stopped, with the blade inches away from Thanos's throat as the Space Stone in the Gauntlet glowed, with Loki being stopped by some blue aura.
"Undying?" Thanos repeated mockingly. "You should choose your words more carefully." He grabbed Loki by his throat and lifted him in the air as Loki choked out.
Loki's skin was turning blue from Thanos choking him. "You will never be… a god."
There was a crushing noise as Loki went limp and Thor stared in despair, screaming through the gag. "No!"
Thanos dropped the lifeless form of Loki right in front of Thor. "No resurrections this time."
Thanos clenched his fist, in which he had the gauntlet as the Power Stone glowed and then the purple glow covered the entire ship before it was rocking in explosions. A blue portal then opened, through which Thanos and his Children entered and Thor was freed from his restraints as he cradled Loki's body tearfully. "Loki…" Suddenly, from the shadows, Loki held Thor by his shoulder as Thor stared in confusion. "What…"
"Did you honestly believe I would be killed so easily?" Loki smirked.
"Our people…" Thor stared in despair as he looked around.
"Brother, I'd be more concerned about ourselves." Loki said as he raised his hand and a magical barrier formed around them as the ship exploded.
"You really think Loki would let himself die so easily?" Thawne asked, wearing the face of Harrison Wells.
"He was always slippery and I assume he's going to join Thor and find those unruly wretches." Thanos growled as Thawne smirked, while Thanos lifted the Gauntlet into the air. "Be patient, Thawne. There are still four more Stones to take."
Sanctum Sanctorum, New York City, Earth
Stephen Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme and his loyal friend Wong were walking down the stairs of the manor, bickering over the lack of Wong's money before a beam blasted through the ceiling and something crashed into the stairwell. The Cloak of Levitation flew towards Strange as it placed itself on his shoulders, while Wong prepared his Tao Mandalas as they saw a giant hole in the staircase, where the Hulk was reverting himself slowly into Bruce Banner.
"Thanos is coming. He's coming…" Bruce whispered.
"Who?" Strange asked.
Notes:
So, one thing I've always found a bit dumb was how Loki was killed by Thanos. I mean, granted, Loki was terrified of Thanos, but still, one would think Loki would have a trick up his sleeve to escape and survive.
So, what do you guys think? Is it good? Is it bad? Should I continue?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter
Chapter 2: The Infinity Stones
Summary:
The heroes learn about the Mad Titan and what is he after, while Thanos and Thawne proceed with the next step of their plan.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Central Park
Tony Stark was with his wife Pepper Potts, discussing having a family, when they saw a glowing circle appear in the middle of the air and from it went out Doctor Strange.
"Tony Stark, I'm Doctor Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me." Strange said as Tony and Pepper stared before Strange noticed their wedding rings. "Oh, uh, congratulations on the wedding, by the way."
"I'm sorry, you giving out tickets to something?" Tony asked.
"We need your help." Strange said ominously. "It is not overselling it that the fate of the universe is at stake."
"And who's 'we'?" Tony asked.
Tony and Pepper stared in shock to see an old friend come out from the portal. "Hey, Tony."
"Bruce." Tony said, lost for words.
"Hey…" Pepper said and Tony was shocked that Bruce was hugging him like if he had not seen him in a lifetime ago.
Sanctum Sanctorum
Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Oliver, Barry, Cisco, Matt, Clark and J'onn met with Strange and Wong back in the Sanctum, when Wong began narrating. "At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then… Boom." In the air appeared a glow of light, showing the universe and six glowing stones, each with a designed color. "The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. The Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of universe."
"Space." The blue stone. "Reality." The red stone. "Power." The purple stone. "Soul." The orange stone. "Mind." The yellow stone. "And Time." Strange opened the Eye of Agamotto on his neck with a gesture of his hand to reveal a green glowing stone.
"Tell me his name again." Tony asked.
"Thanos. He's a plague. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki." Bruce revealed, much to their shock. "The attack on New York, that's him."
"I've heard of Thanos. He believes himself as a god, balancing the scales of the universe." J'onn said. "Because his people had become extinct because of overpopulation, Thanos travels across the universe, and on each planet, he kills half of its population, so that he could save them from the fate of his planet."
"So you're saying he's like Malcolm Merlyn, Ra's al Ghul and Damien Darhk and the Hand, but the only difference between them is the size of his ego and manpower." Sara summed up.
"This is it." Tony whispered.
"Wait, you knew about Thanos?" Steve demanded.
"No!" Tony protested angrily. "I mean, I saw something, yeah, it was in my head for years, ever since Loki, I knew something was gonna come to kill us all, I just couldn't explain who or what!" He tapped himself on the head. "Why do you think I wanted to create Ultron so badly?!"
Everyone looked at him in understanding and nodded, remembering when he had flown through the wormhole.
"What's our timeline?" Tony asked as he turned to Bruce.
"No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe." Bruce said and everyone felt pits of dread form in their stomachs. "If he gets his hands on all six stones…"
"…he could destroy life on a scale hitherto undreamt of. And it's not unlikely that the Stones would affect people beyond this universe." Strange finished and Team Flash shivered, imagining Harry, Jesse and other people being wiped out by Thanos.
Tony was leaning onto a nearby cauldron, muttering under his breath. "Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?"
"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Strange asked.
"Is that what it is?" Tony asked, when Strange's cloak smacked his hand and Tony stared at Strange. "I'm going to allow that." Everyone snickered at his antics.
"If the Stones are really that dangerous, can't we just send that one to another Earth? I mean, it's not like Thanos could track it down to Harry and Jesse or maybe Gypsy and Breacher." Cisco suggested as he pointed at the Time Stone.
Bruce shook his head. "Thanos has the Space Stone already. He would find a way to track it down to another Earth."
"Our main priority should be to locate the other Stones and make sure Thanos can't get to them. Vision has one and he's back in the Compound." Steve said.
"I'll call Rhodey and Wanda, tell them to keep an eye on Viz." Tony said.
"Thor mentioned another Stone that was somewhere on the other side of the galaxy, under the care of a dude named Collector." Cisco said.
"And how exactly are we gonna get to it, if we don't know where it is?" Tony pointed out.
"Well, that makes three, where's the last Stone?" Oliver asked.
"Somewhere Thanos can't get to so easily, but I would stay vigilant." Strange said.
Avengers Compound
"Viz? Are you packed up?" Rhodey called out as Wanda raised her hand.
"Someone's here." Wanda said.
"Who?" Rhodey asked and he got his answer, when Vision suddenly cried out in pain.
Rhodey and Wanda rushed to the scene and saw a hooded alien impaling Vision with his glaive and another alien, a female pulled out some kind of a spear and attacked them. Wanda deflected the attack with her powers, while Pietro sped in, knocking the female down.
The hooded alien placed the tip of his glaive onto the Stone on Vision's forehead as he cried out in pain but Pietro tackled him to the floor.
Rhodey put on his War Machine armor and fired repulsors, sending the female down on the ground. Pietro dodged as the hooded alien swung his glaive before punching him in the face, sending him sliding across the floor.
"You didn't see that coming?" Pietro asked.
"Get up." Proxima said as she knelt towards Glaive.
"I can't." Glaive groaned.
"We don't want to kill you, but we will." Natasha said as she and Sam entered, aiming their guns.
"You'll never get the chance again." Proxima said as she and Glaive were covered in some light and then vanished.
Rhodey then tapped his comms. "Cap, we just had uninvited guests here."
Lian Yu
A patrol of guards was pacing down the cell in which was Adrian Chase and Bullseye before a red bolt of lightning passed by and Chase and Bullseye stared as the guards had their heads 180 degrees backwards as they fell back before they saw a speedster in yellow suit.
"Eobard Thawne." Adrian whispered.
"Adrian Chase. I have a proposition for you." Thawne offered. "I break you and your friend out of here and we'll help you get your revenge on Oliver and his buddies. What do you say?"
Adrian smirked, intrigued by the offer. "Just you and us?"
"Don't worry, Adrian, we have other friends waiting for us." Thawne said. "Let's just say one of them is going to have… breathtaking anger management issues."
A.R.G.U.S.
A.R.G.U.S. guards were dead on the ground, with the cell block smashed to bits as a giant red muscular humanoid creature punched its way through the wall and jumped out.
"What happened?" Lyla asked. "Who did we have in that cell block?"
"Thunderbolt Ross, ma'am." Rick said and Lyla paled.
The Playground
"We have an unusual activity in space." Bobbi said.
"How bad is it?" Mack asked.
"Very bad." Bobbi said. "Where's Coulson?"
Daisy and Jemma rushed into Coulson's office but stared in shock to see him lying on the ground, groaning and clutching his desk. "Coulson? Are you alright?" Jemma lifted Coulson by the head. "He's having a seizure."
"Somebody get a medic in here, now!" Daisy exclaimed.
Notes:
I think you can take a guess what happened with Chase, Bullseye and Ross, but those familiar with comic books and who have read Aragorn II Elessar's other stories know that Ross is gonna become… something dangerous.
Some parts are going to be inspired by Stand with Ward and Queen's 'Crisis on two earths' and Aragorn II Elessar's 'Heroes stand united', to you guys, I hope you are not going to mind.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 3: The Children of Thanos
Summary:
The Children of Thanos travel to Earth to take the Time Stone, with the heroes attempting to fend them off.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Sanctum Sanctorum
"Alright, we'll meet up with them in the Playground." Steve said.
"Which is…?" Oliver asked.
"A S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. We need to regroup and come up with a plan." Natasha explained but they stopped, when they sensed something.
Tony slowly turned to Strange as his hair moved by the wind. "Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would ya?"
"Not at the moment, no." Strange said.
They looked outside the shattered window as Matt's senses heard something. "Something's coming. There's a commotion outside, people running."
"From what?" Natasha asked.
"I… I'm not sure. It could be a spaceship." Matt said.
They went outside and saw people running away as they were helping some of them on their feet.
"Hey, you might wanna put that Time Stone into your back pocket, Doc!" Tony said, turning to Strange.
"Might want to use it." Strange countered as he conjured Tao Mandalas.
Around the corner, they saw debris flying and up in the sky was a giant circular spaceship floating above Bleecker Street.
Peter Parker was walking down the street, when he saw a spaceship floating in the air. Peter ran into an alley and quickly suited up into his Spider-Man suit, swinging away.
"FRIDAY, evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders." Tony ordered.
"Will do." FRIDAY said.
Strange used the Winds of Watoomb and cleared the street of the debris flying in the air as a beam of light shot out from the ship onto the ground, when Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw showed up.
"Hear me and rejoice. You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos." Maw said. "Be thankful that your meaningless lives are now contributing—"
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here." Tony interrupted.
"Stonekeeper." Maw turned to Strange. "Does this chattering animal speak for you?"
Everyone else snickered at Maw referring to Tony as 'chattering animal'.
"Certainly not. I speak for myself." Strange summoned Tao Mandalas in his hands. "You're trespassing this city and on this planet."
Wong summoned Tao Mandalas as well.
"What he means is that Voldemort and Grawp are not welcome here." Cisco said.
Maw turned to Cull. "They exhaust me. Bring me the stone."
Cull grunted as Oliver turned to Bruce. "Dr. Banner, want to join the party?"
Bruce sighed. "Mmm, no, not really, but when do I get what I want?"
"We rarely do, doctor." Barry shrugged.
"Okay, push." Bruce said, his skin turning slightly green.
"It's been a while." Tony said. "It's gonna be good to have you back, buddy."
"Okay. Let me just…" Bruce grunted, seeming to be unable to turn into Hulk. "I need to concentrate here for a second." Everyone stared at him as he was turning faint green. "Come on, come on, man, God!"
"Uh, performance issues, Bruce?" Natasha asked.
Bruce sighed. "I don't know. We've sorta been having a thing."
"Right now? Are you kidding me?" Sara demanded.
"I know." Bruce snapped but he was unable to turn into Hulk for some reason as he grunted, his skin getting a little greener.
Tony refrained himself from rolling his eyes. "Dude, you're embarrassing us in front of the wizards."
"I'm sorry. Either I can't or he won't." Bruce said.
"You know what, just stay back and let us handle this." Natasha pushed Bruce gently towards Wong. "Wong, if you won't mind…"
"I have him." Wong nodded.
Cull Obsidian rushed at them and Tony pulled two strings on his jacket and tapped his chestpiece as the armor started to form around him. Tony then engaged Cull, forming a shield, blocking Cull's hammer before punching him in the face. Tony then fired at Cull with cluster cannons, sending him flying back but Maw pushed him aside telekinetically.
Cisco stared in awe before turning to Barry. "Nanotech, awesome! Man, I think I need to talk with Harry about some upgrades."
Tony chuckled as he turned to them. "You like it? It's little something I've been—" He was cut off, when Maw lifted him into the air and started throwing debris at them but Wong shielded them all with a giant Tao Mandala.
"Bruce, considering your performance issues, I think you should get out of here." Natasha suggested.
"Agreed." Cisco created a breach and sent himself and Bruce through it into Central Park.
"We can't let them get that Stone." Steve said.
"It stays with me." Strange said firmly.
"Exactly. Bye." Tony said as he and Barry engaged Maw, dodging the debris he was throwing at them.
Cull threw a chain, sending Tony flying away and Barry dodged the debris but Maw managed to push him back. Matt put on a scarf around his eyes, while he, Oliver, Sara and Natasha dodged the debris Maw threw at them.
Frank then rushed to the scene and opened fire with his machine gun, roaring, while Cull used his hammer to shield himself. Oliver, Sara, Matt and Natasha jumped at the debris Maw was throwing at them and Sara kicked Maw in the face, staggering him back before Jessica, Luke, Danny and Colleen rushed to the scene.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Jessica demanded.
"Long story." Oliver shrugged.
"Bad guys?" Danny asked, eying the aliens.
"Yup." Matt said.
"Good." Luke nodded as he and Jessica knocked away the debris Maw was throwing at them.
In Central Park, Tony was trying to blast Cull but was knocked down. Before Cull could finish him off, Spider-Man rushed in, grabbing Cull's hammer.
"Hey, man. What's up, Mr. Stark?" Spider-Man asked.
"Where'd you come from?" Tony stared.
"I thought you could use some help!" Spider-Man explained before Cull threw him away.
Matt rushed in, throwing a billy club at Cull's face, while Sara threw a shuriken but Cull was unfazed. Tony flew around, firing repulsors but it had no effect as Cull threw a half of a car at him and Tony and Spider-Man dodged before Spider-Man webbed the car and used it as a hammer, slamming it at Cull, while Barry rushed in, speeding around Cull, pummeling him.
Back on Bleeker Street, Maw lifted some bricks and turned them into spikes, throwing them at Strange and Wong but the sorcerers formed portals, sending the spikes back at Maw, who used a car as a shield but one of the spikes grazed him at the side of his head. Maw then broke a hydrant as the sudden current of water knocked Wong away.
Strange created an Eldritch lasso, pulling Maw towards him but Maw pinned Strange to a nearby wall, trapping him with bricks.
"Your powers are quaint. You must be popular with children." Maw said and he tried to take the Eye of Agamotto but his hand was burned by the magic enveloping itself around the amulet.
"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable." Strange said.
"Then I'll take it off your corpse." Maw growled as he threw Strange down on the ground.
Strange got up and opened the Eye of Agamotto, about to use the Time Stone but Maw restrained him with cables emerging from the ground and Maw did a gesture of his hand as the grip tightened.
"You'll find removing a dead man's spell troublesome." Strange choked out.
"You'll only wish you were dead." Maw said, tightening the grip as Strange passed out. Maw then lifted the road, about to take Strange away but the Cloak of Levitation flew away with Strange, much to Maw's anger. "No!"
Oliver saw Strange flying away. "Barry!"
"On it!" Barry said as he and Peter started following Strange, dodging the flying debris. They managed to catch up with Strange, when a tractor beam caught them.
Oliver, Sara, Steve, Natasha, Matt, Jessica, Luke Colleen and Danny dodged as Cull swung his hammer. Cull lunged at them but then a portal opened and he crashed into Antarctica. He was about to jump back, when Wong closed the portal and Cull's hand was cut off, rolling down the ground.
"Ugh!" Bruce groaned.
"Wong, you're invited to my wedding!" Tony quipped as he flew away.
"Guys! We have a problem here!" Barry shouted as he and Peter were onboard the spaceship.
"Guys, let go, I'm gonna catch you!" Tony said.
"What?" Peter demanded.
"Just trust me!" Tony insisted and they let go, freefalling. "FRIDAY, unlock 17-A and 17-B."
Some pods flew towards Barry and Peter, with Barry having red and gold strips with white eyes and a special breathing mask, while Peter had a red and black suit with the Spider symbol in the center, helping them to breathe.
"Awesome!" Barry quipped.
"I got the wizard, you get to safety!" Tony ordered, when Peter webbed up a parachute, helping him and Barry to safety.
Deep space
The Benatar, the spaceship of the Guardians of the Galaxy, were responding to a distress signal coming from the Statesmen, when they saw ruins of the ship floating around and managed to rescue Thor and Loki, who were both floating in space.
When the Guardians were examining their unconscious forms, they both came to, very much alive.
"Who the hell are you guys?" Thor demanded as he and Loki eyed the Guardians.
S.T.A.R. Labs
Harry was pacing down S.T.A.R. Labs as he entered his workshop. "Jesse. Is everything—"
Harry froze, when he saw a group of ninjas led by a brown-haired man wearing a jacket and a bulletproof vest, with a belt of shurikens across his chest and a katana strapped to his back, with one of the ninjas holding a blade against Jesse's neck as she shivered in fear.
"Harry Wells. We haven't been properly introduced. My name is Adrian Chase." Adrian said with an evil smirk that matched the one of Thawne's. "You and I have a mutual acquaintance, who wants something from you."
Notes:
Just a sidenote, when rewatching IW, obviously, Tony's plan to take on Thanos on his homeworld, while serving him up the Time Stone, was stupid and suicidal but what I found OOC was Strange going along with this insane plan, when he could've portaled out with the Time Stone at any time, when Strange said that he would protect it, no matter the cost. Strange probably wouldn't be that cold but if he really wanted to, he could've just portaled back to Earth, leaving Tony and Peter alone on course to Titan to face Thanos.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 4: Rescue
Summary:
Thawne and Chase leverage Cisco into helping them with their plan, while Tony rescues Strange and they form their own plan to stop Thanos.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Benatar
After telling them about Thanos, Gamora stared outside the window, her worst fears coming true. "The entire time I knew Thanos, he only ever had one goal. To bring balance to the universe by wiping out half of all life."
Loki nodded. "I've seen for myself what he is capable of. Few years ago, I was…" He glanced at Thor awkwardly. "…exiled from our kingdom and he saved me in exchange for retrieving the Tesseract from Earth, with me leading his Chitauri. When I failed, he tracked us down, took the Space Stone from us and killed half of our people. And we thank you for your rescue, but if you won't mind, I'd like to get as far away from here as possible, before Thanos finds out we're alive and finishes me and my brother off. So, where can you drop us—"
"Loki." Thor grabbed Loki by his arm before he could leave and Loki pouted upon meeting Thor's glare. "We're not going anywhere. Besides, him getting the Stone is your fault, so it's your responsibility to clean up the mess!"
Loki seethed but knew that there was no point trying to argue or run as Rocket laughed. "Looks like you're in a bit of a ruckus, greenie."
Loki sat down, grumbling under his breath.
"I'm surprised you managed to escape my father. Only very few people manage to face off with him and live to tell about it." Gamora said, turning to Thor and Loki.
Loki chuckled. "Lady, I'm the God of Mischief. I don't die so easily. But half of our people…" He shivered as he and Thor shared solemn looks.
Gamora nodded. "If he gets his hands on all six Infinity Stones, he can do it with a snap of his fingers like this." She snapped her fingers.
Thor looked at Gamora curiously. "Did you say 'my father'?"
"Gamora is the daughter of Thanos." Drax explained.
Loki looked at Gamora in shock, while Thor's eye narrowed as he got up and Quill and Rocket paled.
"Your father killed one of my closest friends." Thor growled as he got up on his feet.
"Oh, boy." Rocket groaned, expecting the situation to escalate.
"Stepfather, technically. And she hates him as much as you two do." Quill corrected.
"Brother, before you tear the ship apart…" Loki stepped up in between Thor and Gamora but much to everyone's surprise, Thor placed his hand on Gamora's shoulder, looking at her in sympathy and understanding.
"Families can be tough. Before our father died, he told me and Loki that we had a half-sister that he imprisoned in Hel." Thor said.
"And then she stabbed my brother in the eye and then we had to kill her and while we're at it, are you going to mention the feuds that we had over the centuries too, brother?" Loki asked sarcastically as he held Thor by his shoulder. "Anyway, as much as we appreciate you saving our lives, we'd like to get as far away from here as possible."
"You're right, we need to stop Thanos." Thor said and Loki paled, mortified by the idea.
"What? No! We need to run before he finds us and finishes us off!" Loki snapped.
"You can't run from him. He'll find you, eventually and he'll make you suffer fates worse than death." Gamora said.
"Oh, is that so?" Loki drawled. "Thank you, I experienced it for myself, when he almost choked me to death! And besides, how do you propose we stop him exactly?"
"We need to find out where is he going next." Gamora said.
"Knowhere." Thor explained, approaching a pod.
"He must be going somewhere." Mantis said, confused.
"No, no. Knowhere?" Quill shook his head before turning to Mantis upon noticing her puzzled expression. "It's a place. We've been there. It sucks." Thor took some food from the fridge as Quill cleared his throat. "Excuse me, that's our food."
"Not anymore." Thor said.
"Why would he go to Knowhere?" Gamora wondered.
"Because that's where the Reality Stone is kept by the Collector." Loki explained.
"If it's with the Collector, then it's not safe. Only an idiot would give that man a Stone." Quill said.
"Or a genius." Thor shrugged.
"Depends. That place might not be as safe as you'd like to think." Loki drawled.
"How do you know he's not going for one of the other Stones?" Gamora inquired.
"There are six Stones out there." Thor explained as he turned to them. "Thanos already has the Power Stone, because he stole it, when he decimated Xandar."
"He stole the Space Stone from us, when he destroyed our ship and killed half of our people." Loki added.
"The Time and Mind Stones are safe on Earth. They're with the Avengers." Thor said.
"The Avengers?" Quill repeated.
"Earth's mightiest heroes." Thor said and Loki pouted.
"Well, I wouldn't go that far but I wouldn't underestimate them, either." Loki said.
"Like Kevin Bacon?" Mantis asked and Loki snickered.
"He may be on the team, I don't know, I haven't been there in a while." Thor shrugged and Loki bit his lip, amused that Thor was still unfamiliar with much of Earth's culture. "As for the Soul Stone, well, no one's ever seen that. No one even knows where it is." No one noticed Gamora looking away, having a very good idea where the Soul Stone was. "Therefore Thanos can't get it. Therefore he's going to Knowhere. Hence, he'll be getting the Reality Stone. You're welcome."
"Then we have to go to Knowhere now." Gamora said.
"Wrong. Where we need to go is Nidavellir." Thor corrected and Loki's eyes widened, realizing what was Thor planning.
"Are you certain that it's going to work?" Loki asked.
"Nidavellir is real? Seriously?" Rocket asked as he jumped up on the desk, enthusiastic. "That place is a legend. They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe."
"He's not exaggerating, although I'm not certain that they could forge a weapon that could kill Thanos." Loki said, realizing he had been neglecting all the other realms, while posing as Odin, making him wonder whether the place would still be the same, although he decided not to share his thoughts on that.
"I'm sure they can." Thor assured.
"I would very much like to go there, please." Rocket said excitedly as he turned to Thor.
"The rabbit is correct and clearly the smartest among you." Thor said and Rocket blinked, surprised that he was called 'rabbit', although not insulted. "Only Eitri the Dwarf can make me the weapon I need."
"We'll see about that." Loki said dryly and Thor narrowed his eyes at Loki, as the realization hit him.
"Tell me you at least kept eye on there." Thor said.
Loki's tone was low and awkward. "We-e-elll…"
Thor groaned and rolled his eyes. "Let's hope the place is alright."
"Are we missing something?" Quill asked.
"Long story."
"Long story." Thor and Loki said simultaneously.
"We'll see when we'll get there." Thor turned to Rocket. "I assume you're the captain, sir?"
"You're very perceptive." Rocket smirked.
"You seem like a noble leader. Will you join me and my brother on our quest to Nidavellir?" Thor asked.
"Let me just ask the captain. Oh, wait a second, it's me!" Rocket said quickly. "Yeah, I'll go."
Quill was about to protest but Thor, Loki, Rocket and Groot had entered the pod and flew away.
Deep space
Tony was inside the ship, seeing Maw torture Strange, who was floating in the air, with needles piercing his skin before Tony was being poked by the Cloak of Levitation that was floating behind him. He had to think of a plan quickly as he scanned the area, while hearing Strange's screams.
Strange was screaming as the needles were bringing him excruciating pain and Maw smirked. "Painful, are they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them…" He slowly turned to face Tony. "…could end your friend's life in an instant."
"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy." Tony shrugged.
Maw lifted some debris with his telekinesis, about to throw them at Tony. "You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine."
"You have powers on your side. I have technology on mine." Tony quipped.
Tony dodged, when Maw threw debris at him and Tony fired a missile, making a hole into the wall and Maw got sucked out of the ship. The Cloak of Levitation flew to Strange, wrapping itself around him and flying him to safety as Tony sealed the hole, while Maw was frozen to death as he ended up in the vacuum of space.
Strange got up, groaning. "This was your plan? Blasting me out into space?"
"'Thank you, Mr. Stark for saving my life and the Stone, I'm very grateful and in your debt.' 'You're welcome, Dr. Strange.'" Tony drawled as he helped Strange up to his feet.
Strange rolled his eyes. "We need to get back to Earth. We can't protect the Stone on our own."
Tony wanted to face off with Thanos, due to the fact that he had been having nightmares about the Mad Titan for years but he knew he could not take him on alone. "And what exactly do you propose? I mean, assuming we'll get back to Earth, Thanos has an army."
Strange considered. "Let me think about it, once we get back." He formed a portal with his sling ring and entered it with Tony. "I'll let you know, once I have a plan."
"And I should go meet up with Cap to mobilize everyone else." Tony said.
S.T.A.R. Labs
Harry had finished building tachyon and breach devices for Thawne and Adrian and handed them to Adrian.
"I did what you wanted." Harry said.
Adrian tested the device as a breach opened before smirking. "Excellent."
"Let my daughter go." Harry said and Adrian smirked as one of the ninjas let Jesse go.
"I said I'd let her go. I never said I'd let anyone of you live." Adrian said, pulling out a shuriken and throwing it but Harry had turned on an alarm on his watch and a breach opened, with Cisco jumping in and knocking Adrian down on the ground with his vibe blast. Cisco was about to finish Adrian off but Adrian rolled away and turned on the device, opening the breach as he and his associates jumped in with the breach device and tachyons.
"You should aim better next time, Mr. Ramon!" Adrian gloated before the breach closed and Cisco, Harry and Jesse, dreading what were Adrian and Thawne going to do.
"What happened?" Cisco demanded.
"Nothing good." Harry said.
The Playground
Team Arrow, Team Flash, the Avengers and other heroes met up with the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in their base, which was an underground bunker that used to belong to SSR and Steve had a strange Déjà vu, when he saw the familiar symbol.
"Nostalgic, Cap?" Sam asked.
"I'm not sure if I'd say that. More like 'sad'." Steve said, remembering Peggy, Phillips, Howard and his friends from World War II.
"You're all here. Good." Fury said.
"Why'd you bring us here? Who does this place belong to?" Oliver asked.
"It's one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s headquarters." Fury explained.
"I thought it was disbanded." Matt frowned.
"Not really. They just operate off-the-books nowadays." Hill explained.
"So, care to bring us up to speed?" Steve asked.
"Well, perhaps I could shed some light on what we know."
The Avengers, Oliver and Matt froze, recognizing the voice as from the shadows emerged a middle-aged man wearing a suit and they all stared at the man as if they were seeing a ghost.
"Coulson?" Oliver stared.
Notes:
I'm not gonna cover the events on Knowhere and Thanos getting the Soul Stone, since they are going to end up the same way like in the film and as for meeting the Guardians, let's just say that Strange is gonna portal to them and recruit them later.
Tony didn't decide to take on Thanos on his own like in the film, since there was no fallout with Steve here and knows that his plan would be suicidal.
This felt like a fitting place to stop. Well, looks like there's a lot of explaining to do.
As for what is Chase up to with Thawne, well, I think you can guess, if you've read my stories 'Age of Injustice' and 'Apocalypse Incoming' and Stand with Ward and Queen's 'Crisis on two earths' and Aragorn II Elessar's 'Heroes stand united'. The part with Chase forcing Cisco and Harry to create a breach device and steal tachyons is inspired by Aragorn II Elessar's 'The revenge of Fisk and the Throwing Star Killer' and Stand with Ward and Queen's 'Crisis on two earths'
So, here are the rules about which villains can be included, since Thawne and Thanos are not gonna screw around.
The villains can be anyone, who has appeared in Aragorn II Elessar's 'The Devil and the Hood' series and my sequels to it, except for the rules mentioned below.
From Arrow, it can be anyone from first five seasons, except for Slade Wilson, since I'm not sure that Slade would join Thanos, Thawne and Chase.
From The Flash, cringeworthy villains like DeVoe, Cicada or Weather Witch are off-limits and Flashpoint didn't happen, so no Savitar either.
From Superman fandom (DCEU, Arrowverse, Smallville, comic books) and Supergirl TV series, human supremacist villains like Lilian Luthor, Lex Luthor, Ben Lockwood etc. are off-limits.
From X-Men film universe, Magneto, Mystique and Phoenix Jean are off-limits, since I don't see why would they help Thawne and Thanos.
Villains from the first two Blade films and DCEU are allowed, save for the exceptions that I shall mention.
High-tier supernatural or god-like villains like Trigon, Dormammu, Ego etc. are off-limits, since that would be an overkill but villains that fall into this category that are slightly weaker but still powerful enough, like Surtur or Darhk are allowed but as you've noticed, Loki is helping Thor.
From MCU, Ultron, Kilgrave and Killmonger are off-limits, since I see no reason why would they help Thawne or Thanos.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 5: Reunion
Summary:
The Avengers, Oliver and Matt reunite with an old friend, while Thanos and Thawne start to execute their plan and Thor and Loki arrive to Nidallevir.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tony had entered a portal conjured by Strange into the Playground and stared in disbelief, alongside the Avengers and Oliver.
"Phil?" Tony breathed out.
"Been a long time." Coulson said awkwardly as the original Avengers, Oliver, Matt and Rhodey just stood rooted with shocked expressions.
"I don't understand? How is this possible?" Steve asked.
"We thought you died." Oliver said.
"Technically, I did." Coulson said, glancing at Fury, which they noticed and Matt could feel Fury's heart race as everyone's blood started to boil.
"Is there something you wanna share with us?" Tony demanded, crossing his arms.
"Project TAHITI." Fury said and Clint's eyes narrowed.
"Wasn't that supposed to just alter memories?" Clint asked.
"It was just a cover. It was originally designed to revive a fallen Avenger." Coulson explained as everyone turned to him again.
"And you used it to bring Coulson back and you never told us." Natasha realized as she crossed her arms, as the Avengers, Oliver and Matt were getting more and more angry.
"When can you ever be straight with us?" Steve demanded angrily.
"There's a reason we shut the project down." Coulson explained as they turned to him again. "Before they used it to bring me back, there were other test subjects and while it worked on them, they all suffered mental breakdown and started carving alien writing on any surface they could find, because 'they needed to know'. We had to alter their memories, so that they could live normal lives."
"Phil started experiencing the same symptoms as the others, so we altered his memories of after Loki stabbed him in the heart." Fury explained.
"I thought I was recovering in a S.H.I.E.L.D. medical facility but eventually, I found out the truth and later started carving alien symbols too, but I recovered." Coulson said.
"We deserved to know." Matt snapped, remembering discovering about his own mother.
"Four years." Tony hissed, clenching his fist, restraining himself from punching Fury. "Four years, Fury!"
"Look, it was my choice not to let you know I was alive, so if you wanna be mad at someone, be mad at me." Coulson intervened before groaning as he clutched his chest, leaning onto a nearby desk.
"Phil?" May held Coulson.
"Phil, are you OK?" Tony asked as Coulson was slowly passing out in May's arms.
"What's going on?" Oliver asked.
"He doesn't have much time, it's a long story but the serum that was keeping him alive, it's been burned out of his body. He's dying." Jemma explained as she and May dragged Coulson away.
"How much time does he have?" Natasha asked lowly.
"Days. Weeks, at best." Mack said grimly.
"Can you—" Caitlin started.
Mack shook his head. "No. There's nothing we can do for him."
The original Avengers, Rhodey and Oliver glared at Fury. "We thought you deserve some slack, when we found out about Hydra infiltrating S.H.I.E.L.D. and we were willing to give you a benefit of the doubt." Natasha said. "But the truth is that you just don't trust. Maybe it's because of Pierce or because of you losing your eye but I've been lied to and manipulated to before and I was willing to accept your lies, because you only told us what we needed to know to accomplish our tasks. But now I see you're no better than the people in the Red Room."
"So does that mean you don't trust me anymore?" Fury asked, not hurtfully but in a matter-of-fact tone.
"This is bigger than petty grudges, so we will work with you and follow your lead if we have to. But after that… trust needs to be earned and you're a long way from it." Clint said.
Fury nodded, knowing it was more than he deserved.
Bruce cleared his throat. "Well, I think we should check in on Vision in the lab, I may be able to fix his wound and remove the Stone…"
"Perhaps we shouldn't." Vision intervened as they stared at him, horrified, while he pointed at the Mind Stone on his forehead. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition." He turned to Wanda. "I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature, perhaps… its molecular integrity could fail."
"Are you suggesting she should destroy the Stone and you with it?" Pietro realized.
"No." Wanda shook her head. "We're not having this conversation."
"Eliminating the Stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it." Vision pointed out and Wanda looked conflicted.
"That's too high a price." Wanda protested.
Vision held Wanda's hands. "Only you have the power to pay it." Wanda pulled away, torn. "Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."
"But it should." Steve argued. "We don't trade lives, Vision."
Vision turned to Steve. "Captain, seventy years ago, you laid down your life to save, how many, millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?"
"Because you might have a choice." Bruce said as they turned to him. "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays."
Tony nodded. "Jarvis, Ultron, me, Bruce, the Stone, all of them mixed together, all of them learning from each other."
"You mean that Vision isn't just the Stone?" Pietro questioned.
"I think what Bruce means is that if we take out the Stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts." Tony said.
"Can you remove the Stone?" Sara asked.
"Depends on the equipment you have here." Bruce said, turning to FitzSimmons, who nodded, accompanying Tony and Bruce to the labs as Bruce turned to Tony. "How did you even get here? Did Strange send you here?"
"Yup." Tony nodded. "We have some catching up to do."
Deep space
Thor, Loki, Rocket and Groot were in the pod, flying towards Nidallevir.
"I am Groot." Groot said.
Loki rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, glaring at Groot. "I swear, if you keep whining, I'm going to freeze you, Tree."
Rocket blinked as he turned to them. "You speak Groot?"
"Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective." Thor explained and Loki swallowed, resisting the urge to snicker.
"I am Groot." Groot said.
"You'll know when we're close and I know, my brother can be an arse." Thor said and Loki pouted, while Thor sat down, reminiscing. "Nidallevir's forge harnesses the blazing power of a neutron star. It's the birthplace of my hammer. It's truly awesome."
Loki looked at Thor in sympathy, holding him by his shoulder as Rocket decided to intervene. "So, dead friends, huh?"
"Most of them." Thor said sadly.
"And dead parents and sister too." Loki added, his tone equally sad.
"Best friend?" Rocket asked.
"Stabbed through the heart." Thor said.
Rocket felt less optimistic as he saw Thor's and Loki's expressions. "You sure you're up to this particular murder mission?"
Thor chuckled, getting ahold of himself. "Absolutely."
"Not really." Loki admitted.
"But we can beat him. Once Eitri helps me forge my new hammer, I'm confident we can beat him." Thor said. "How many enemies have we bested? Thanos is just the latest in the long line of bastards and he'll be the latest to feel my vengeance."
"And what if you're wrong?" Rocket asked, skeptical.
Thor took a breath, looking less certain but trying to keep a brave face. "If I'm wrong, then… what more could I lose?"
"A lot." Loki said.
"Like your life." Rocket added as Thor sat down, seeing that they were arriving at their destination before Rocket pulled out a cybernetic eye from his bag and handed it to Thor. "If fate wants you to kill that crapsack, you're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball."
"Where did you get that eye?" Loki asked curiously.
"Some jerk lost a bet with me on Contraxia." Rocket explained.
"He gave you his eye?" Thor asked.
Rocket smirked. "No, he gave me 100 credits. I snuck into his room later that night and stole his eye."
Thor smiled. "Thank you, sweet rabbit." He put down his eyepatch and put into his eyehole the cybernetic eye as Loki and Rocket groaned.
"I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my…" Rocket stopped, when they arrived at Nidallevir. "Hey, we're here!"
"Odin's beard…" Loki whispered as he and Thor noticed that the forge went dark and then he realized that it was his fault for neglecting the Nine Realms.
They entered the forge and noticed that there were no dwarves and the furnaces were not burning. "Loki…" Thor growled at him. "If we don't get that weapon, it's all on—"
"I know!" Loki snapped, grumbling under his breath. "I get it, it's all my fault."
"You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?" Rocket asked.
"Yes." Thor nodded.
"It looked anything like that?" Rocket pointed to the gauntlet on a nearby pedestal.
Thor and Loki felt pits of dreads in their stomachs. "Go back to the pod—"
Next thing they knew, a giant bearded man with metal hands knocked them both away and kicked Groot, sending him flying back.
Thor got up to his feet, raising his hands. "Eitri, wait! Stop! Stop."
Eitri took a closer look, on verge of tears. "Thor? Loki?"
"Dwarf, what happened here?" Loki asked, looking around.
"You were supposed to protect us." Eitri said brokenly. "Asgard was supposed to protect us!"
"Asgard is destroyed." Thor said.
"What is the glove doing here, dwarf?" Loki gestured to the glove next to them.
Eitri sat down, devastated. "300 dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. A device capable of harnessing the power of the Stones." Loki suddenly felt deep shame and guilt, realizing that Thanos getting a gauntlet to harness the power of the Infinity Stones was his fault. "Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me." He showed them his metal hands. "'But your hands are mine alone.'"
"Dwarf. You don't need your hands to forge a weapon that can kill Thanos." Loki assured.
"Loki is right. Every weapon you've ever designed, every axe, hammer, sword, it's all inside your head. Now, I know all hope is lost. Trust me, I know." Thor assured as Eitri turned to them. "But together, we can kill Thanos."
Elsewhere
"Do you have our army?" Adrian asked, sharpening his sword.
"Yes, and an ace in a hole as well." Thawne smirked as behind him appeared a giant muscular humanoid with red skin and a moustache, clenching his fist.
"I'm gonna show Banner who's puny." The giant said.
Wakanda
The Quinjet arrived to Wakanda, where the heroes were greeted by T'Challa and his Dora Milaje and Bucky.
Notes:
This felt like a good place to stop.
Say what you will about Loki, his and Thor's interactions can be amusing and it's always fun to write scenes where they are together.
The confrontation with Fury and Coulson is inspired by Stand's story 'Crisis on two earths', thank you for the inspiration and permission.
And Strange is currently back in Sanctum Sanctorum, using the Time Stone to look into the future, in case you're wondering and is gonna recruit the Guardians later.
Thank you for the suggestions, I've already got a list of villains that are going to appear the next chapter, where we are heading to the Battle of Wakanda.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 6: Dust and blood
Summary:
The heroes unite in Wakanda to fend off Thanos's army, while protecting the Mind Stone.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Vision was lying on a table in Shuri's lab as she scanned the Mind Stone. "The structure is polymorphic."
"Right, we had to attach each neuron non-sequentially." Bruce explained.
"Why didn't you just reprogram the synapses to work collectively?" Shuri asked.
"Because… we didn't have much time and we… didn't think of it." Tony said awkwardly.
Shuri shrugged. "I'm sure you did your best."
"Can you do it?" Barry asked.
"Yes, but there are more than two trillion neurons here. One misalignment could cause a cascade of circuit failures." Shuri warned as she turned to T'Challa. "It will take time, brother."
T'Challa nodded.
"How much time do you need?" Oliver asked.
"As long as you can give me." Shuri said.
Some sort of an alarm blared as Okoye turned on her Kimoyo bead, showing holographic image of Earth. "Something's entered the atmosphere."
"Hey, Cap, we got a situation here." Sam said as they looked up into the sky and saw pyramid-shaped dropships crash onto the shield protecting Wakanda as they exploded.
"God, I love this place." Bucky said.
"Yeah, don't start celebrating yet, guys. We got more incoming outside the dome." Rhodey said as more dropships crashed outside the city.
"He's found us." Oliver realized as they looked outside the window.
"We need to destroy the Stone now." Vision groaned as he got up from the table.
"Vision, get your ass back on the table." Natasha ordered.
"We will hold them off." T'Challa promised.
"I wonder where's the wizard. We could really use Strange's help." Tony said.
Steve turned to Wanda. "Wanda, as soon as that Stone's out of his head, you blow it to hell."
"I will." Wanda nodded.
"Evacuate the city. Engage all defenses." T'Challa ordered before he turned to Barry, as one of the guards handed Barry a sword. Barry pulled it out of the scabbard, revealing red and yellow metal. "Mr. Allen, this sword has been in my family for generations. In your language you would call it 'Lightning Strike'. I hope it shall prove useful to you in this battle."
Barry tested the balance of the sword as he eyed the blade. "Cool."
"Do you even know how to use it?" Natasha asked skeptically.
"I got the basics from Oliver and Sara and besides, fast learner." Barry said as he started to swing the sword in superspeed, testing the weapon.
Nidallevir
The pod flew to the rings as Thor and Loki eyed the forge outside. "Are you sure about this, brother? You do realize that you may not survive it and I don't like the idea of facing Thanos without you."
"We don't have a choice here, Loki. I need to at least try." Thor said as he went aboard Rocket's pod and flew out towards the rings around the forge and started to spin Rocket's pod around with a rope as the rings realigned themselves, as the star began to glow.
"You did it…" Loki whispered, impressed but hoping that Thor would survive. The mechanism opened but closed soon enough. "What?"
"Damn it." Eitri sighed.
"'Damn it'? What's 'damn it'?" Rocket demanded.
"The mechanism is crippled." Eitri explained.
"What?" Thor demanded.
"With the iris closed, I can't heat the metal." Eitri explained.
"How long do you need it open?"
"A few minutes, maybe more. Why?"
"I'm gonna open it." Thor said.
"Brother, this is suicide." Loki protested, staring at Thor as if he had lost his mind.
"So is facing Thanos without that axe." Thor said as he jumped towards the forge.
Wakanda
Bruce took a breath as he was in his room, sitting in Lotus stand, taking deep breaths, remembering the meditation techniques he had studied to control the Hulk. "OK, big guy. We need to talk. A lot of things need to be sorted out." When Bruce opened his eyes, he looked into the mirror and rather than his own reflection, he saw Hulk staring back at him.
"Hulk no talk." Hulk said.
"What do you mean, 'no talk'?" Bruce demanded.
"Banner like Ross. Banner use Hulk. Banner hate Hulk." Hulk growled.
Bruce looked insulted by the comparison. "Hulk, that's not true and this is bigger than you and me. The whole universe, trillions of lives are at stake."
"Banner's problem. Not Hulk's problem." Hulk said.
"How can you say that?" Bruce demanded. "Our friends need you. Need us." He took a breath. "Look… you're right. I was just using you. I thought you were just a curse I didn't want and then I thought I could turn that curse into a gift but… you're not a curse and you're not a gift either. You've always been a part of me as much as I am a part of you. Look… for what it's worth, I'm sorry for how I've been treating you in the past but we don't need to fight each other. We're a team, Hulk, you and me."
"Hulk and Banner no fight?" Hulk asked, curious.
"We don't have to fight each other. We can help each other, help our friends. We have to. If we don't… there'll be no more Hulk, there'll be no more Banner. We're always gonna look out for each other and right now, we need to look out for every single person that is here on Earth and out there in space. We're in this together, Hulk." Bruce said.
"Together… Hulk and Banner… team…" Hulk repeated and seemed to nod in agreement before the image faded and Bruce saw only a reflection of himself in the mirror and a moment later, his skin was turning green as his muscles enlarged, tearing his clothes.
Hulk jumped out of the window and landed on the ground, following the heroes and the Wakandian army.
"So, looks like Bruce has overcome his performance issues." Tony cracked.
"You ready, Ollie?" Sara asked Oliver.
"Always." Oliver nodded.
"We're gonna get through this." Natasha said, holding Matt's hand.
Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian stood outside the barrier as T'Challa, Steve and Natasha approached it.
"Where's your other friend?" Natasha asked, remembering Corvus Glaive.
"You will pay for his life with yours." Midnight vowed. "Thanos will have that Stone."
"That's not gonna happen." Steve said.
"You are in Wakanda now." T'Challa said. "Thanos will have nothing but dust and blood."
Midnight smirked. "We have blood to spare."
And as Midnight raised her sword, on cue, the pods opened to reveal a horde of Outriders and a red bolt of lightning passed by as various familiar faces appeared, among them being the Five Fingers of the Hand and their ninjas, Damien Darhk and his Ghosts, Malcolm Merlyn, Zoom, Malekith and his Dark Elves and more villains that the heroes had faced in the past.
"Oh, boy…" Oliver groaned as he looked through the goggles, while Matt heard dozens of familiar heartbeats.
"Did they surrender?" Bucky asked.
"Not exactly." Steve said.
"A lot of familiar faces." Barry noted.
"That's why Thawne forced Harry to give him the tachyons. They're time remnants." Ronnie realized.
"It appears that this is going to be even more dangerous than the Metapocalypse." Stein noted, inside Ronnie's head.
From the dropships ran out several four-armed aliens, roaring and rushing towards the shields.
"What the hell are those things?" Cisco demanded, getting uncomfortable flashbacks from 'Alien' film.
"Outriders. I've heard of them." Kara said.
"They're mindless beasts that'll rip apart anything getting in their way." J'onn explained.
"Looks like we pissed her off." Natasha noted.
"Yeah, what's new?" Caitlin shrugged.
T'Challa and his army started to chant their war cry as the Outriders ran towards the barrier, pushing through it, much to the heroes' shock.
"They're killing themselves." Okoye whispered softly.
The Outriders managed to break through as T'Challa gave an order and the Wakandans raised shields as the beasts rushed towards them. T'Challa gave another order and the Wakandans opened fire with their vibranium spears. Bucky, May, Frank and Diggle opened fire too, while Tony, Sam, Rhodey, Ronnie and Ray flew around, shooting down the Outriders, while Clark and Kara fired heat vision beams.
"You see the teeth on those things?" Sam demanded.
"All right, back up, you don't wanna get singed." Rhodey warned.
Sam, Ronnie and Ray retreated, while Tony and Rhodey dropped bombs on the Outriders.
"They're trying to circle around." Kara realized.
"We need to keep them in front of us or they'll get to Vision in no time." Oliver said.
"How do we do that?" Okoye asked, turning to T'Challa, who then got a very bad idea.
"We open the barrier." T'Challa said as he reached for his comms. "On my signal, open Northwest Section 17."
"Requesting confirmation, my king. You said 'open the barrier'?" The technician asked from the other end.
"On my signal." T'Challa confirmed.
"This will be the end of Wakanda." M'Baku muttered.
"Then it will be the noblest ending in history." Okoye said.
T'Challa gave an order in Xhosa as his army dropped their shields before T'Challa put on his mask. "Wakanda forever!" And with a united roar, the army charged forward. "Now!" T'Challa ordered and a gap in the middle of the barrier appeared as the Outriders rushed in.
"One batch. Two batch. Penny and a dime." Frank muttered before he opened fire with Steele, Bucky, May, Hunter, Rene and Diggle and the Wakandans.
"A bit like old times, is it, Barnes?" Steele quipped.
"Maybe, if we had aliens seventy years ago!" Bucky said.
Oliver, Roy and Nyssa fired arrows and Steve lunged forward, throwing his shield as it bounced off the Outriders.
Logan lunged forward, roaring but was knocked down by a tall man with black coat and razor-sharp teeth as he got up to his feet, and next to the tall man appeared an Asian woman with adamantium fingernails, who looked eerily like China White with dark hair.
"Well, well, well, look who the cat drags down. Missed me, Jimmy?" Creed gloated.
"We have some unfinished business, Logan." Deathstrike said.
"Then let's end this." Logan growled as they lunged at each other.
Nidallevir
Thor was opening the mechanism as the beam of the star was burning him and Loki just stared, hoping that Thor would survive as the furnace started to burn, melting the Uru metal in the var.
"Hold it! Hold it, Thor!" Eitri ordered as he went to see the metal melt and pour into the mold, with Thor exposed to the full power of the star, roaring in pain until he passed out, crashing back to the forge, lying down and unmoving as Loki, Groot and Rocket rushed towards him.
"Brother…" Loki whispered, shaking Thor gently.
"Thor! Say something. Come on." Rocket said. "Thor, you OK?"
Eitri dropped the mold and smashed it.
"Dwarf, what about the axe?" Loki demanded.
"Where's the handle?" Eitri looked around. "Tree, help me find the handle!"
Groot considered before he reached out, growing a hand and wrapped it around the axe before cutting his arm off, creating a handle for the axe as it lifted into the air, with lightning pulsing from the weapon and from Thor's hand as Loki stared.
"Odin…" Loki whispered.
Wakanda
In the meantime, the enemies the heroes had faced in the past, charged forward, engaging them.
Clark was flying around, incinerating the Outriders with his heat vision beams before he was knocked down by Zod as they both got up before Clark saw in Zod's hand a blue kryptonite dagger. Before Clark could react, Zod sliced him across the chest as Clark groaned. Clark tried to block but Zod managed to cut him across the wrist.
"Seeing as you love these humans so much, let's see if you fight like one!" Zod snarled.
Zod attempted to stab Clark but Clark used his cape to wrap it around Zod's hand and slammed him to the ground. Zod kneed Clark as he groaned before punching him in the face, sending Clark sliding down the ground. Clark got up and delivered an uppercut to Zod's chin, sending him flying away as Zod slid down the ground.
Zod then got up to his feet as they both then exchanged blows before Zod kicked Clark, knocking him back. As Clark got up, he dodged, when Zod attempted to stab him and grabbed his hand as they struggled.
"Unlike you, I will lead from the throne, not from the shadows. Every human, including the woman you love, will kneel before Zod!" Zod vowed.
"You already destroyed my first home. I won't let you take this one." Clark sneered before disarming Zod, headbutting him and flying with him in the air as they took the fight into the skies.
Oliver and Matt engaged Malcolm as they crossed their weapons.
"I lost people I care about because of you. I'm gonna make sure you're gonna pay for that." Matt sneered.
"I doubt that." Malcolm smirked, headbutting Matt and kicking Oliver back.
Matt suddenly sensed something and flipped away in time as Bullseye threw playing cards at him.
"We've got some unfinished business, Hornhead." Bullseye said.
Matt threw his billy club but Bullseye caught and threw it back at him as Matt jumped and caught it before kicking Bullseye in the face, staggering him back. Next thing Matt knew, Ikari attacked from behind and Matt jumped, barely able to avoid the Kamas and kicking them both back.
Blade and Deacon Frost exchanged strikes with their swords. Blade jumped, when Deacon attempted to slice him in the legs, kicking Deacon in the face and cutting his arm off but it instantly regenerated. Jared Nomak then jumped in and Blade had to block his blows before he kicked Nomak, knocking him down.
"You're too late, Blade." Deacon sneered.
"Some motherfuckers are always trying to ice skate uphill." Blade growled as he pulled out a wrist blade and engaged them both.
Bucky, Frank, Diggle, Rene and Natasha kept firing before they had to dodge a grenade, knocking them down and Frank then glared at the man with a shattered skull mask, who had a machine gun with an attached grenade launcher.
"Russo!" Frank roared.
"What is it that you told me and Rawlins? All men die! And now it's your turn, Frankie!" Russo snarled, shooting at Frank, who ran to dodge and Russo took cover as the rest opened fire at him.
Natasha rushed forward but was knocked down by a man in white cape and a skull mask before Natasha got up, glaring. "Oh. It's you."
"Let's dance." Taskmaster said, as Natasha attacked with her batons but Taskmaster blocked with his staff. "Familiar. Don't you have anything better?"
"How about this?" Natasha dropped a smoke pellet, blinding Taskmaster before she sent a flurry of strikes, catching Taskmaster off-guard but he managed to quickly adapt due to his reflexes and knocked her down.
"Nice try but I know every trick you make." Taskmaster said.
"Yeah. But how fast you can catch up?" Bucky taunted as he and Taskmaster rushed at each other, exchanging blows. While Taskmaster was able to copy and predict every move Bucky made, Bucky's enhanced physique gave him a clear edge as he grabbed Taskmaster in chokehold, snapping his neck before he offered Natasha his hand. "I do remember you."
Natasha smiled as he helped her on her feet.
Luke and Jessica exchanged blows with Diamondback and Bane but both Luke and Jessica were knocked down before they got up and charged forward.
Barry and Thawne were engaged in a superspeed fight, with Thawne barely managing to dodge all strikes from Barry's sword.
"What's the matter? Too slow to beat me, Barry?" Thawne gloated.
Barry sheathed his sword and glared. "We shall see who's too slow."
They rushed at each other, exchanging blows in superspeed.
Sara, Roy, Nyssa, Danny and Colleen exchanged blows with Jade, Sowande, Murakami, Bakuto and Nobu before they found themselves cornered.
"Is this your family now?" Bakuto gestured around. "Let me show you who you are by taking them away."
Colleen dodged and parried Bakuto's strikes before Nyssa rolled down to dodge as Nobu swung his Kyoketsu-Shoge at her. Sara raised her staff as the chain wrapped itself around the staff, disarming Nobu before Nyssa cut his head off.
Roy disarmed Jade of her sais with his batons as he flipped before kicking her in the face, knocking her out but then Sowande struck him in the throat as Roy choked. Before Sowande could finish him off, Sara kicked him back and Roy recovered before they resumed their fight.
Hulk and Blonsky exchanged blows before Hulk was knocked down by Blonsky. Hulk recovered and punched Blonsky and slammed him to the ground, knocking him out before Ramsey Ross attacked, while in his monstrous form, impaling Hulk and trying to infect him with Ramsey's blood. Much to Ramsey's shock, Hulk glowed green, smirking.
"Gamma-enhanced metabolism. Burns out any disease." Bruce said mentally before Hulk punched Ramsey, knocking him out.
Oliver and Malcolm continued fighting until Oliver disarmed Malcolm of his sword and hit him in the face with the bow, knocking him down. Malcolm lunged forward with a knife but Oliver was prepared for it and dodged before he pulled out a fletchette and stabbed Malcolm in the heart. Malcolm seethed before he fell back but then, Oliver sensed something flying his way and ducked as a shuriken grazed him in the neck and Oliver turned around and glared.
"Like I told you, I'm always ten steps ahead, Oliver." Adrian said before he pulled out his sword and Oliver raised his bow to block.
As much as the heroes were holding their own against the villains, they found themselves quickly overwhelmed before a beam of light struck into the ground, incinerating Thanos's army and some of the villains as a big axe circled around, slicing down Thanos's army as Thor appeared with Loki, Groot and Rocket as the heroes smiled but were surprised to see Loki, to say the least.
"What the hell is Reindeer Games doing here?" Tony demanded.
"Bruce did say that Loki had changed." Rhodey shrugged.
"Bring me Thanos!" Thor roared as he charged forward with Rocket and Groot and Loki and Thor jumped into the air and slammed the Stormbreaker into the ground, incinerating some of Thanos's army.
Then, they heard a monstrous roar as a red muscular monster looking exactly like Hulk jumped in.
"Uh, guys! They have a Hulk too!" Tony noted.
Notes:
Barry getting a sword is inspired again by Stand's 'Crisis on two earths'. One thing I frankly always find quite dumb in Arrowverse is Barry's overreliance on his speed. Throughout the series, Barry has proven himself to be a skilled fighter even without his speed, despite that he would unlikely be a match to Oliver or Sara for example and would most likely be able to briefly to hold his own against them. Asides from the scenes, where Barry trained with Oliver in the early start of 'The Flash', there is no indication of Barry getting any advanced training in hand-to-hand combat, although I'm gonna guess that Barry trains in superspeed some moves.
The conversation between Hulk and Bruce is again inspired by Stand's story 'Crisis on two earths' and Aragorn II Elessar's story 'A Beautiful Journey', since it would be a bit dull without Hulk and as much as I like Professor Hulk in comic books, he was quite dull in MCU and it stripped Bruce/Hulk of his essential traits, since Bruce taking over Hulk's form fulltime the way it was done in MCU seems like an insult to the character.
This felt like a good place to stop. I didn't want to involve all the characters fighting, since it would be too congested and difficult to keep track, so if you missed other heroes and villains here that did appear and were suggested, they did fight off-screen so to speak.
Well, couldn't make this too easy for the heroes, could I? I mean, where's the fun in that?
The next chapter is going to cover the second half of the battle.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 7: United we stand
Summary:
The heroes unite to face off against Thanos in his conquest for the Infinity Stones.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Cull Obsidian was smashing some of the Wakandans with his mace before Kara flew towards him, punching him in the face, knocking him out but then, Dinah Drake unleashed her sonic scream, sending her flying back.
Kara groaned, glaring at Dinah. "I really hate screamers."
Kara dodged as Dinah unleashed her Canary Cry again before flying with her up in the air and slamming her to the ground and grabbing her by her throat, snapping her neck as Dinah tilted her head with a glassy look.
Hulk rushed at Red Hulk as they both exchanged blows before Hulk grabbed Red Hulk's fists but much to Hulk's surprise, Red Hulk heated up, draining Hulk of his gamma energy, weakening him.
"Who's puny now, Banner?" Red Hulk gloated and Hulk's eyes widened.
"Ross." Hulk growled.
"That's right." Ross smirked and started to crush Hulk's hands as Hulk groaned in pain, falling on his knees.
Clark flew in, punching Ross in the face, sending him flying away but Ross recovered.
"Hulk thanks caped man." Hulk said. Clark nodded before he had to fly up and fight Zod again and Hulk and Ross rushed at each other.
Logan and Steele fought Deathstrike and Creed, with Logan dodging as Deathstrike attacked with her claws and then Logan jumped at her, flipping her over his shoulder and slamming her to the ground but Deathstrike kicked him back.
Steele and Creed exchanged blows, before Steele grabbed Creed by his hands.
"You're a monster, Victor. Almost regret letting you help us years ago." Steele said.
"This is who I've always been." Creed smirked before headbutting Steele and slamming him to the ground. "I can see your spine, Johnny boy. Funny. I didn't think you had one."
Steele rolled to shake Creed off before he threw Creed up as the threshers ripped Creed into pieces, scattering them across the battlefield as blood spilled.
Deathstrike and Logan exchanged strikes with their claws before Logan grabbed her in neck lock but Deathstrike stabbed him in his side and Logan groaned before she slammed him to the ground, pinning him down.
"I'm going to carve your brain out through your eye sockets. Maybe that'll end you, James." Deathstrike said, about to plunge her claws through Logan's skull.
"And how about frying your brain from the inside?" Steele quipped.
Deathstrike looked up, just as Steele fired from his grenade launcher, as the explosion knocked Deathstrike down. When she got up, Steele forced a grenade into her mouth and pulled the pin as Deathstrike choked, with the grenade in her throat and then Logan threw her away, just as Deathstrike's head exploded.
"I doubt that'll kill her, bub. I survived a nuclear bomb in Nagasaki." Logan noted.
"At least it'll slow her down, if nothing else." Steele said.
Hela impaled some of the Wakandans with her Necroswords, while throwing Mjolnir around before facing Thor.
"Hello, brother." Hela smirked, twirling Mjolnir. "Tell me, what were you the god of again?"
Thor glared as he and Hela engaged each other, crossing their weapons, with Loki helping as Loki deflected Hela's Necrosword with his dagger, while Thor blocked Mjolnir with Stormbreaker.
Hela sent a discharge of lightning, knocking them both away and threw Mjolnir at Thor, about to finish him off but much to her surprise, it flew into Steve's hand as Steve smirked before the Avengers remembered their little conquest back in Avengers Tower.
"I knew it!" Thor laughed before Hela kicked him in the face.
Steve threw Mjolnir and his shield at Hela as Hela attempted to block them both with her Necroswords but Steve threw both weapons into the air as they bounced off each other, with Mjolnir hitting Hela in the back and the shield in the front before they both returned to Steve's hands and then Steve struck Hela down with lightning, taking her out temporarily.
A blue portal opened in the middle of Wakanda as Thanos raised his hand and charged his gauntlet before an explosion of energy knocked them all down. Next thing they knew, they were all knocked down as Thanos stepped up onto a nearby hill, staring down upon the heroes.
"You will resist. You will always resist. It matters not." Thanos said. "In all my years of conquest, violence, slaughter, it was never personal. But I'll tell you now, what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet, I'm gonna enjoy it very, very much."
More villains then marched towards them, with the Black Order and Thanos's army and the villains that had been united.
But then, they were surprised to see golden circles appear in the middle of the battlefield as from one of them went out Doctor Strange, Wong and the Masters of the Mystic Arts.
From another portal then went out Peter Quill, Drax, Mantis and Nebula.
From another portal went out Diana Prince and an army of Amazons.
From another portal went out Arthur Curry and an army of Atlanteans.
From another portal went out Nyssa al Ghul and a small army of her assassins.
"Is that everyone?" Strange asked.
"What? You wanted more?" Wong snapped.
From the ground emerged Giant-Man and from other portals went out an army of Ravagers, the Ghost Rider, John Constantine, Zatanna Zatara, Stick, X-Men as all heroes got in line with Steve summoning Mjolnir into his hand.
"Avengers… assemble!" Steve shouted and with a united roar, the heroes charged forward as the villains rushed towards them, engaging each other.
Colleen and Nyssa fought Bakuto, who used his sword and scabbard to parry their attacks.
Roy and Sara exchanged blows with Sowande, who held his own against them before he used his fingers to hit their pressure points with pinpoint accuracy, momentarily paralyzing both Roy and Sara before Sowande knocked them down but before Sowande could finish the job, Stick cut Sowande's hand off as Sowande cried out in pain.
"I don't think so, shithead." Stick said before he sliced Sowande's head off.
Gao attempted to use her telekinesis but staggered back, when she heard someone shouting in Latin. Next thing she knew, Constantine lifted her into the air and summoned hellfire, burning Gao into ashes.
Alexandra and Stick exchanged strikes with their swords before Danny jumped in, striking Alexandra with his Iron Fist as Alexandra crashed to the ground with her bones broken.
"You wanted the Iron Fist, you got it." Danny quipped.
Colleen channeled chi into her katana and cut through the blade of Bakuto's sword. "You were right, sensei. I was never cut for the Hand."
Before Bakuto could do anything else, Nyssa swung her sword as Bakuto's body toppled, blood seeping from his neck as his head rolled down the ground.
Stick blocked Murakami's knives before cutting Murakami across his chest. Stick dodged, when Murakami attacked again and cut Murakami's hand off as Murakami cried out in pain. Stick then swung his sword, cutting Murakami's head off.
Thawne dodged Barry's sword and disarmed him, knocking Barry down.
"I don't need my powers to kill you, Barry." Thawne said.
Pietro then sped in, punching Thawne, knocking him down. "You didn't see that coming?" Pietro quipped.
"Huh. Mr. Maximoff. You may be fast, but not as fast as me." Thawne smirked as he got up.
"Maybe not, but there's only one way to find out." Pietro said as he and Thawne exchanged blows in superspeed. While Thawne was faster than Pietro, his lack of any combat training gave Pietro an edge. Pietro grabbed Thawne by his arms and kicked him in the leg as Thawne screamed in pain, falling on his knees.
Thawne glared up at Barry and Pietro, laughing. "Even if you'd kill me, I'll find a way to come back. Who knows, maybe I'll—"
What none of them noticed was an inhuman roar sounding out as Time Wraiths flew in, circling around Zoom as Zoom's body decayed and he turned into a zombified version of the Flash. They then noticed the roar getting louder as Black Flash sped towards Thawne and plunged his hand into his chest.
Thawne gasped as Black Flash pulled away and sped off and Thawne screamed as he disintegrated, fading into nothingness.
Thanos attempted to use the Gauntlet but Tony fired some kind of a contraption, preventing Thanos from using the Gauntlet before Nebula struck him in the face with her baton.
"You should have killed me." Nebula sneered.
"Would've been a waste of parts!" Thanos snapped as Nebula attacked but Thanos blocked with his gauntlet.
"Where's Gamora?!" Nebula demanded.
Thanos grabbed Nebula and threw her away, just as Pietro and Barry circled around Thanos, delivering a series of punches but Thanos clenched his fist as the pulse of energy knocked them both down.
Oliver and Adrian crossed their weapons and Oliver dodged, when Adrian scratched Oliver's armor. Oliver used his bow to deflect the shurikens Adrian threw at him. Adrian rushed at Oliver but Oliver dodged as Adrian cut his hood off before kicking Adrian back.
Adrian elbowed Oliver as Oliver spat out blood but Oliver managed to knock Adrian's sword off his hand and whacked him in the face with his bow, dazing Adrian. Oliver then took out an arrow and stabbed Adrian in the thigh. "This was for Matt!" As Adrian fell on his knees, Oliver took out another arrow and stabbed it into his shoulder. "This was for my friends!" Adrian looked up at him, smirking one last time as Oliver took out a third arrow. "And this…" He jammed the arrow into Adrian's chest. "…was for my son."
"You… are… a… monster… after all…" Adrian whispered hoarsely as he laid on his back, dying.
"No." Oliver said with a smirk. "I did it because you are a monster who had to be stopped at all costs. I did what I had to do. I am not a monster."
Hearing that, Adrian's smirk vanished as he coughed up blood, knowing he had utterly failed in his mission. With one last cough, he lay on the ground, his glassy eyes staring without seeing.
Adrian Chase was dead!
Logan lunged at Red Hulk, cutting him across his face before, much to everyone's shock, Red Hulk grabbed Logan, opened his mouth wide open and swallowed him.
"Holy shit!" Peter exclaimed.
"Did he just… eat him?" Rocket stared.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Quill groaned, covering his mouth.
Next thing they knew, Red Hulk suddenly fell on his knees, seeming to be in pain and then, with a roar, Logan cut Red Hulk's stomach open from within and crawled out.
"What's the matter, bub? Something you ate?" Logan quipped.
Red Hulk glared as he got up, his wound healing and he tried to punch Logan but Logan dodged, since Red Hulk was too weakened before Hulk rushed in, punching Red Hulk, knocking him out.
Thanos lifted his hand, trying to use the power of the four Stones he wielded but was stopped by Strange, who used his Time Stone to slow Thanos down. Thanos charged the Infinity Gauntlet and negated Strange's Time Stone by using the Reality Stone and Power Stone but then Thor rushed in, cutting Thanos's hand off as the gauntlet clattered to the ground as Thanos cried out in pain. Thor then swung his axe again as Thanos's head rolled down on the ground and swayed.
Without the power of the Infinity Stones, most of the villains that had been resurrected were turned into the dust and the time remnants then heard monstrous roars as Time Wraiths emerged out of nowhere, taking them as the time remnants disappeared into the portals from which the Time Wraiths had emerged.
"It's over?" Oliver asked.
"Looks that way." Steve said.
"Now what?" Matt asked before they turned to Loki, who could feel himself shrink.
Notes:
And that's it. Hope you liked the fight scenes. Didn't want to involve all the characters because of how congested it would be but I hope you've enjoyed them nonetheless, plus after recently writing a final battle of epic proportions in 'Apocalypse Incoming', I honestly wasn't really up to writing such thing twice in a row within two weeks.
Originally, I planned to involve Venom (Eddie Brock) and Carnage too but that felt like a bit of an overkill, even though it would've been fun.
Thor using the Stones would've made sense here, considering Infinity War and the Stormbreaker would've healed him anyway, considering that it healed him, even when it was forged. But considering that Thanos had only four Stones at that point, no dusting, the villains were just temporarily taken out of commission and considering that most of them were time remnants, it's likely that the time wraiths would put them back in their places. I know, time wraiths are part of the Speed Force but Thawne was the one screwing with the timeline, big time and Zoom got turned into the Black Flash but not like how it was done in the show, since Barry serving Zoom up to the Time Wraiths is a coward's way, considering that Barry was later pretending that his hands were clean, just like with Atom Smasher and Sand Demon. Or Strange could do something by using the Time Stone.
Plus, considering what Stones Thanos had at the point of sacrificing Gamora, it's possible he could've resurrected other villains too even without the Time Stone and Mind Stone, since the Soul Stone itself in comic books can bring people back to life, combined with Power Stone.
I know and don't blame the others for being ticked off by Kara's self-righteousness and ego from later seasons of Supergirl but a simple solution would be to tone down, or just remove it, since Darker Kara (Not Red K Kara, since she's just annoying, unlike Red K Clark) can be fun or at least Kara, who's not messing around and is willing to take a life if necessary, so hope you liked Kara killing Dinah. Frankly, the Canaries are just treated like crap in Arrowverse and I don't really give a damn about 'Green Arrows and the Canaries' since it's just feminism propaganda. Sara was the closest to the comic book portrayal with her training and as much as I like Earth-1 Laurel, her journey as the Black Canary was mishandled and lazily written and rushed because the writers wanted to focus on Olicity. Black Siren wasn't that bad but the redemption arc for her in Season 7 was a victim of lazy writing at the end too with her relapse and quick 180 later. Dinah could've been an OK character and I kept an open mind on her at first but the twist with Vince being alive and Vigilante ruined her for me.
The part with Oliver killing Chase is inspired by Aragorn's stories 'The revenge of Fisk and the Throwing Star Killer' and 'Heroes stand united' and the scene with Logan and Red Hulk is inspired by 'Old Man Logan' comic book and Aragorn's story 'Fight as one'.
Frankly, in MCU, the Five Fingers of the Hand weren't very impressive villains. Alexandra was mostly all talk and no go and her death was pathetic and ridiculous. All Gao had was telekinesis. Sowande seemed to be a skilled fighter, given what he did to Jessica and Luke but we didn't see much of it. Bakuto's fighting skills were inconsistent a bit though, since Danny and Colleen were barely able to hold his own against him in Iron Fist and Colleen was lucky to beat him, yet in Defenders Bakuto was a tough SOB but it's possible that he was holding back in Iron Fist. As for Murakami, he was able to hold up against all Defenders and Matt was able to hold his own against both Murakami and Bakuto.
Like I've said before, it's up to debate, if Thawne can be killed after Season 6 of The Flash, but I hope that Black Flash ending him somehow works.
And with this done, it's time to deal with the aftermath of the Infinity War.
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this and want for me to continue.
Chapter 8: Aftermath
Summary:
Everyone deals with the aftermath of the Infinity War.
Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Arrowverse or Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Comics, Marvel Comics or any characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises or anything else you may recognize.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Tonsberg, Norway
"Brother, all I did, was trying to help our people, when will you realize that?" Loki pleaded, locked up in a cell in New Asgard.
"I think you can spend a good portion of your life here, contemplating on what you had done, brother." Thor said, crossing his arms, shaking his head in disappointment.
"So you've given up on me?" Loki asked as Thor was walking away, both of them staring at each other with unreadable expressions.
"I do realize that I shouldn't give up on you, brother. But… a road to redemption is a long and uneasy journey. You want to get our trust backs? Think about how you can earn it." Thor said as he left and Loki stared from his cell with a contemplative look on his face.
Later, the Playground
"You're going to be alright, sir." Fitz said as he, Daisy and Jemma were at Coulson's bed, their eyes getting wet. "We can help you—"
"There's no helping me anymore, Fitz." Coulson said, smiling at Daisy, Fitz and Jemma. "For what it's worth… I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you both. In many ways… you've shown me what it's like to have children. I was the one, who'd always look out for you all, in many ways… you were like my family."
"Yeah. You're the one who brought us all together." Daisy said, sniffing.
"We all know I won't be around for long now… so promise me that you'll look out for each other from now on. And whatever happens… never let go of each other, ever again." Coulson said.
"We won't." Jemma nodded.
"Promise." Fitz nodded.
"I never thought this day would ever come… my last moments with people I love… my friends… my family." Coulson looked around and eyed Bobbi, Hunter and the remaining Avengers and Pepper. "I guess we'll never have that beer again, will we?"
"Save us one back up in there." Hunter quipped, looking up in the ceiling.
"I will." Coulson smiled as Hunter and Bobbi chuckled.
Coulson then pointed at Mack to lean towards him as Coulson neared Mack's ear. "I know that S.H.I.E.L.D. is not what it was anymore now but… you're the director now, Mack." Mack raised his brows in shock.
"Sir, I—"
"You're a good man, Mack. And I know you can make the hard calls. Do better than I ever could. Do better…" Coulson whispered lowly.
"I… I promise, sir." Mack nodded as he got up.
Coulson then turned to Natasha, Thor, Tony and Pepper. "It's been a wild ride, hasn't it?"
"It sure has." Tony nodded.
"For what it's worth… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never told anyone one of you I was alive. I had convinced myself that you would do better believing I was dead but… I was a coward." Coulson said. "Too big of a coward to… face the truth."
Tony, Pepper, Steve, Bruce, Natasha and Thor felt touched. None of them were happy about it but they understood.
"It's OK, Phil." Pepper said as she held Coulson's hand before he turned to Thor.
"It… it wasn't your fault." Coulson said weakly as Thor's brows raised. "You… you couldn't have known Loki would trick us again."
"I should've learned from my mistakes." Thor said. "If I had—"
"Dwelling on what you could've done… it will only cause you more pain than my death already has." Coulson said weakly and they knew he was not going to last long as he tried to tell everyone as much as he could to those who were at his bed and close to him, which were Oliver, Matt, the original Avengers and Pepper, Fury, Hill, May, Fitz, Jemma, Bobbi, Hunter and Mack.
"I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you all." Coulson smiled. "Last time we've been like this together…"
"Was New York. Feels like more than five years ago." Matt said.
"More like a lifetime ago." Oliver said.
"I never had children… and I've had just few opportunities to feel true love…" Coulson smiled at May, who was barely able to hold back tears. "For what it's worth… you all here are my family…"
Coulson smiled weakly one last time before he closed his eyes and slumped his head as the heart monitor flatlined and there was not one dry eye at Coulson's bedside.
The heroes were at a conference table, discussing more important issues.
"Can't we just destroy the Stones? I mean, theoretically, it is possible, right?" Cisco asked, turning to Wanda.
"It's not that simple, Mr. Ramon." Strange said. "The Infinity Stones have been here since the birth of the universe, there's no telling what may happen, if they cease to exist."
They all stared in consideration before Barry spoke up. "Well, in that case, I think the next best thing would be to split them apart across the multiverse."
"Sounds logical. If we take each Stone away and if we are the only ones who know where they are, it's unlikely they'll fall into the wrong hands again." Steve said.
"The Time Stone stays with me." Strange said. "The Masters of the Mystic Arts have sworn an oath to protect it and it's a vow that has been kept for centuries."
"The Power Stone seems very dangerous." Kara noted as she turned to Quill. "You said that most people would die upon touching it." Quill nodded. "I think it might be best if Clark and I take it."
"It'll be safe in the Fortress of Solitude." Clark said as he picked the orb containing the Power Stone.
"My people can protect the Reality Stone." Diana said, picking the container. "Any vile soul shall think twice before challenging the Amazons after our recent battle."
"The Space Stone has been a treasure of my people, which was stolen from us." Thor said. "I shall make sure no one can use it for their own vile purposes, ever again."
"And the Mind Stone?" Vision asked, looking at the Mind Stone, which had been separated from him.
"I'll take it with me to Earth-2." Harry said. "I know a place where it's not gonna be taken so easily."
"As for the Soul Stone, it'll be best to return it from whence it came." Wong said.
"You mean…" Nebula stared and Strange and Wong nodded as Nebula and the Guardians shared solemn looks, dreading at the thought of Vormir and mourning for Gamora.
When it was over and they all were about to part ways, Oliver, Matt, Steve, Tony and the original Avengers and Pepper were confronted by Fury and Hill.
"Look, I understand that you're angry at—" Fury started.
"You know, the word I wanted to say, I wasn't really in the mood for the pun, considering what secret you kept from us." Tony sneered.
"We just did what we thought was—" Hill started.
"Hill, I swear to God, if the next word is 'right'…" Natasha growled.
"I understand keeping secrets from the others to protect them or to motivate them but even after it was over, you kept quiet about Coulson for years, even though we deserved to know." Oliver said.
"Look, as someone who knows it best, I think we can all agree that it's pointless on dwelling on what was in the past and what could've been." Matt said. "Don't expect that all is forgiven just like that, though. Trust is something that needs to be earned."
"You want to make amends, you have a long way to go." Steve finished. "But after all we've been through, I think we can all agree that it may be best to start over."
Fury and Hill looked at each other, then nodded before they shook hands with Oliver, Matt and the Avengers.
"Wouldn't have it any other way, Captain." Fury said with a smile.
"It's over, isn't it?" Sara said.
"Yeah. But more threats may come." Oliver said as they looked up into the sky.
"If we could beat Thanos, we can take anything head on." Matt said.
"Because we're never gonna give up. No matter what." Natasha said as both her and Sara kissed their lovers. No matter what happens, they will face anything together.
Notes:
Coulson's death scene is inspired by my older story 'All for one' and again, Stand's story 'Crisis on two earths' and Aragorn's 'Heroes stand united'.
How was dealt with the Stones is inspired by Aragorn's and Stand's stories and Raptor2216's story 'Worlds Collide, Heroes Unite'.
Thank you to Aragorn II Elessar again for permission to continue his series. I am frankly a little disappointed this was shorter than I had expected but things did turn out well in the end, did they? Hope you have enjoyed this story nonetheless and no, I have no intention of continuing the series, since I have no ideas for continuing.
And funnily enough, while I did say I was done with my 'Darhk War' series, I am tempted to get back to the first story but this time with Oliver/Sara pairing as a standalone or 1-2 sequels added to it, not longer series, since I do like Oliver/E-1 Laurel, despite the issue with Oliver cheating on Laurel and Laurel getting Sara grounded but Oliver/E-2 Laurel feels like a rebound to me after E-1 Laurel's death. Frankly, they could've done with Laurel post-Crisis what they did with Wellses merging with Nash, with Laurel and Black Siren merging together but of course, the writers need to treat the Canaries in general like crap, considering what they did with Sara or how lazily written Laurel's journey as Black Canary was, only to suddenly kill her off so that they could focus on Olicity and don't get me started on Dinah or Black Siren, I think they could've been OK if not for Guggenheim's crappy writing.
I'm not really in a mood to write COIE, considering what a clusterfuck the actual crossover was but I'd like to see how other writers are going to handle it and at least I was able to combine my original ideas for my Crisis story with the Darkseid story.
I do plan on writing a sequel to 'The Hood and the Widow' but I'd like to see the Black Widow film in the cinema first and then get the film on BluRay, since my sequel is not going to cover Season 2 of Arrow.
See you next time when I write my next story.
Please review and let me know if you have enjoyed the story to its end.
With regards
Bl4ckHunter