The Soulmate Initiative: Book 2

16. Patience

LOCATION: AVENGERS MANSION

Thanos starts shooting the garage and mansion, collapsing them with the Avengers inside. Thanos doesn't attack the Asgardian field, not even realising they're there. The Avengers are injured, some completely trapped and having to help each other, others just separated from each other. Thanos starts sending Chitauri down and Asgardians grab weapons and follow Tasia's lead into battle, to try and give the Avengers some time to get themselves out of the rubble. Thanos transports himself down and Nebula approaches him "Daughter." "Yes, father." "So, this is the future. Well done." "Thank you, father. They suspected nothing." Nebula removes the orange piece of metal and tosses it aside "The arrogant never do. Go. Find the stones, bring them to me." "What will you do?" "Wait." Thanos sits himself down and Nebula searches for the nano glove.

Up in the sky, Gamora looks away from the window and approaches the Nebula of this time "Tell me something. In the future, what happens to you and me?" "I try to kill you. Several times. But eventually… we become friends. We become sisters." Gamora offers Nebula a hand "Come on. We can stop him." Nebula takes her sister's hand.

Ashley finds Stacey "Come on, wake up, babe." Stacey gasps as she wakes up "You lose this again, I'm keeping it." Ashley holds up the Captain America shield. Stacey looks around "What happened?" "You mess with time, it tends to mess back. You'll see." Ashley helps her soulmate to her feet and the pair find Tasia, who's been fighting off Chitauri, but is now just staring at Thanos, who's just sitting down relaxing. Ashley asks "What's he been doing?" "Absolutely nothing." Stacey asks "Where are the stones?" Ashley shrugs "Somewhere under all this. All I know is he doesn't have them." "So we keep it that way." Tasia adds in "You know it's a trap, right?" Ashley sighs "Yeah. And I don't much care." "Good. Just as long we are all in agreement." Thunder cracks as Tasia stretches out both hands to summon both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir. Her casual clothes transform into her armour and cape, her long hair braiding down her back "Let's kill him properly this time." The trio walk over to confront Thanos face to face.

Candice is running with the infinity gauntlet. She blows a hole in a wall so she can escape from the army chasing her. She lands on her back, out of breath. Nebula approaches her, staying silent "Oh, hey." Nebula crouches down and reaches for the gauntlet "I know you." Candice allows past Nebula to remove it from her grasp. She puts her hand on her earpiece "Father." Candice gasps dramatically and lifts her head off the ground "I have the stones." "What?!" Candice tries to get up, but past Nebula steps her foot down on her and points her gun at the Avenger. Past Gamora walks round the corner, her gun pointing at her sister "Stop." Past Nebula takes her foot off Candice and steps over her, putting Candice between the sisters, but she keeps her gun pointed at her "You're betraying us?"

Present Nebula joins the group, her hands raised in the air. Past Nebula immediately aims her gun at her future self instead, and Candice uses the opportunity to roll out of the way and aim an arrow at her instead. Present Nebula speaks up, as past Nebula looks between them all, nervously "You don't have to do this." "I am this." Gamora shakes her head "No, you're not." Present Nebula adds "You've seen what we become." "Nebula, listen to her." "You can change." Past Nebula blinks away tears and chuckles sadly, as Gamora lowers her gun "He won't let me." Past Nebula points a gun at Gamora instead and Gamora shouts "NO!" But it's too late, Present Nebula saves her life and shoots her past self, killing her. Candice takes a breath and picks up the gauntlet up off the ground, where it had just clattered to.