Worthy

Part 70 - Spare His Life

Finding some clothes sitting on a nearby chair, Vision quickly turns his back to let you change. "Miss Kate, I must insist..."

"Insist what Vision?" You yell, still feeling drowsy and nauseous, but determined. "That's our friends out there fighting for their lives, for all our lives. I can't..." You stumble as you try to get dressed. Thoughts of Thor, Tony, everyone you've ever cared about out there swirling in your mind. Underneath the pile you find two guns, a thigh strap, as well as two of Nat's taser batons. Making a mental note to thank her later, if you get the chance, you instantly start strapping a gun to your leg.

"No offence intended Miss Kate, but Captain Rogers..." His sentence is cut short by another large roar of thunder as it shakes the room, making the lights flicker on and off. Before he can stop you, you're already out the door. "I cannot allow this." Vision phases out of the room, appearing suddenly before you, grabbing your arm.

"Vision," You say calmly. "Let me go." As he shakes his head, a strong rage builds itself within you; a similar feeling you had on Ego's planet when you realised what he had done. That power was no longer within you, thankfully, but something else was. Unable to believe what he is seeing, Vision simply gasps as you grab his hand and rip it from your arm; struggling yourself to believe the strength within you. "I'm going Vision, you should stay behind."

You take a deep breath as a small amount of bile rises in your throat, nausea threatening to take over again. Your whole body still feeling the effects of what you had just been through. Shaking it off, you start to run towards the fight, Vision following closely behind you.

"I promised Mr Stark I would never leave your side," He explains, with a hint of a smile on his face. A part of him glad, and feeling that he could maybe turn the tide of the battle to your side.

The compound lawn was barely recognisable, nothing but dirt, dust and blood; covered completely by the almost endless shadow of Thanos' ship hovering above you. Most of the fighting seemed to be taking place close to the lake; smaller battles going on closer. A swirl of red mist descends on a group of creatures close to you, killing them instantly, before Wanda lands, grabbing you into a hug. "Thank god you're awake," She pushes you back immediately afterwards. "But you have to go..."

"Stop telling me what I need to do," You snap, looking over towards the lake to see if you can recognise any of the figures standing there. "This is my planet, my family, my fight."

"Kate," Wanda sighs, placing one hand on your shoulder, before taking your hand and placing it on your stomach. Your breath hitches as you remember your dream; remember the little voice in your head. It was all real. "This is your family."

"Does Thor..." You gulp, trying to hold it in.

"He knows," Wanda smiles, but it's tinged with sadness. As she wipes the tear from your face, she wraps an arm around you, trying desperately to make you turn around and head back into the compound. Questioning what you should do you can't help but start to follow Wanda's lead before a large quake shakes the ground. Looking back once more towards the lake, you see a huge glow of green light burst into the sky. At first you imagine it's Loki, but this green has a different hue. Suddenly Vision crouches down in pain beside you.

"The time stone," He manages to grumble out. "He has the time stone." As Wanda kneels to help him, a voice echoes over from the lake; it's filled with pain and anguish, but you recognise the voice. Loki.

***

Moments earlier...

Thanos scoffs as Thor lands before him; pent up rage making him grit his teeth as he slowly marches towards him, Mjolnir gripped tightly in his hand. "What do you hope to achieve? Other than your end." Thanos speaks calmly, making a fist with the gauntlet.

"It will be your end." As Thor raises Mjolnir to the sky, drawing forth as much lightning he can muster, he instantly turns it onto Thanos, pushing the Titan from his resting place and throwing him back; unfortunately Thanos manages to block some of it out using the gauntlet as a shield, digging his feet into the ground to stop himself being flung back further. Landing beside Thor, Tony also sends bursts of his repulsors to try and ward him off, but the Titan keeps on walking. Giving up, Thor lets Mjolnir go, staring in disbelief that he remains unharmed.

"I warned you," Thanos cricks his neck in preparation of his attack. "This is inevitable," He once again makes a fist, charging up the stones ready to fire. As he targets Thor, a blur of red, white and blue knocks his fist, making the energy bursting from it shoot outwards, hitting a group of Thanos' own army.

"I should have warned you," Steve proudly shouts, standing next to Thor and Iron Man. "That I could do this all day." Tilting his head to the side, Thanos inspects the trio, wondering who his weakest target would be; before realising that it won't matter.

"Fine," He smiles, standing his ground, gesturing with his arms outstretched. "Give it your best shot." The fight becomes chaotic; one after another the three of them take shots at Thanos, who does his best to trick them using the different stones from gauntlet. One by one, he slowly wears them down, until the only one with enough power to stand is Thor; even though it's a struggle, the god of thunder will not be stopped. Images swirl in his mind of his father, of Thanos choking the life from Loki, but mostly of you. "Give it up Asgardian," Thanos smirks. "Lay down in the dirt like your friends and accept your fate."

With all the power left in his body, Thor makes a last charge. He lets out a mighty roar, lightning erupting from every part of him as he makes one last attempt to kill Thanos. Finally feeling the force of Thor's attack, and losing patience, Thanos grips tightly, using all the power of the four stones to ignite a blast of energy which sends Thor flying backwards, landing harshly; while Mjolnir sprawls a distance away. Feeling blood trickle from his head, in absolute rage Thanos grabs Thor by the scruff of his neck, slamming him against a pile of rubble, and then again into the ground; the final time throwing Thor like a rag doll, smashing him into the almost repaired Milano, Thor's body crumbling to the side.

As he struts towards the almost lifeless form, Thanos grabs his double-edged sword, which had sat stuck in the ground during the entire fight. "I told you," He raises it, preparing to end Thor once and for all. "I am inevitable."

"STOP!" Strange yells out, barely able to walk. "Spare his life," He struggles to speak, breathless after the seemingly never ending fight, still knowing what needed to be done. "Spare his life and I'll give you the stone." Looking around to see if it was a trick, Thanos nods, simply holding his hand out towards Strange. His hands shaking, a mixture of the nerve damage mixed with the knowledge of the future, Strange reluctantly opens the Eye of Agamotto, bringing forth the time stone and sending it hovering towards Thanos.

No emotion shows on Thanos' face, but the delight that flows through him is tantamount to glee as he delicately places the time stone within the gauntlet. The surge of power that flows through him makes a burst of green energy shoot out towards the sky; the enormity raising back through his body. Slowly but surely, other members of the team witness the power now emanating from the Titan as he chuckles. "One more to go," He smiles, looking towards the compound building in the distance; the last three of his 'Children' manage to make their way towards him.

Sensing Thanos is making a move towards the compound, Loki sneakily tiptoes his way towards Thor; fear and desperation filling him, needing to know if he's still alive. As he gets close to his brother, a spear appears out of nowhere, striking hard down into Thor's stomach. In complete shock, Loki looks up to see Thanos' grin widen as he plunges down harder with Corvus Glaive's spear. The sound of anguish that leaves Loki is enough to make everyone stop; turning their heads to look in that direction.

Little did he know that you had heard it too; and were already on your way.