Frostbite

Nine

"Everyone, on my position. We have incoming," Steve told the team. They slowly joined us in the clearing one by one. Thor was the only one who didn't appear, still dealing with the enemy vessels.

The wind began to pick up, blowing eerily around us. We all exchanged nervous looks, unsure what to expect.

"What the hell?" Natasha muttered.

Swirling blue and black clouds appeared across the clearing, bringing forth a figure. I gasped at the sight of him. I had seen him before, in the vision I'd had. It was the same titan I had seen all those years ago, who the tesseract had been warning us about. He stood over eight feet tall, his purple skin covered in simple armor, as if he didn't need anything heavier.

"Cap. That's him," Bruce said quietly.

"Eyes up. Stay sharp."

Bruce attacked first, lunging for the titan, but he used the space stone to make him immaterial. Thanos buried Bruce in the cliff side behind him, freezing him in place.

Steve didn't even get close before he was struck by a blast of purple energy, flying out of range. T'Challa leaped at him, the kinetic energy radiating from him as he attacked, but Thanos snatched him by the neck and smashed him to the ground, the energy discharging violently.

Sam swooped down from the air, firing his pistols. His wings didn't stand a chance against the reality stone as they became rubbery, and he fell from to the ground. He was taking us out too easily.

I glanced back at Wanda and Vision. They were talking softly, saying goodbye. My throat clenched at their pain, but I didn't focus on it as Wanda began destroying the mind stone with her own magic.

I kept my place in front of them, waiting for him to get closer. My magic might have been the only thing that kept him from the pair. Rhodey flew into view, but his armor cinched around him, crunching sickeningly as he dropped from the air. Groot shoved his roots into the ground, trying to reach him that way, but Thanos just snapped them and kept coming.

Bucky charged forward, firing his gun continuously at him. He was immediately knocked aside by the power stone. Okoye and Natasha were the last two. Thanos threw Okoye to the side while wrapping Natasha in bands made of earth.

My eyes landed on the gauntlet on his hand as I was preparing to attack, and I froze. The time stone glimmered there; the mind stone was the last stone he needed. What had that meant for Stephen, Tony, and Peter?

"Where are they? Stephen wouldn't have given you that stone without a fight," I growled, pointing my weapon at the large brute.

He paused, cocking his head to the side before answering, "Ah- the other Stark. I met your brother... And your friend gave me the stone willingly."

"You're lying."

He had to be. Stephen would never. And that meant they had gone up against Thanos, and if he had fought his way through us so easily... He had mentioned Tony specifically. That's when I knew what I had felt before. My heart sank deep into my chest.

"I'm not going to ask again. Where is Tony?"

"Still on Titan. Though I doubt he survived the wound I left him with," he shrugged nonchalantly. My breathing hitched as I tried to determine if he was lying. He didn't seem the type to resort to it.