Fall of the Mighty ★ [4] ✔

Aurora

I rose from where I crouched on the ridge, snow crunching under my boots, my hood low. I watched her fall. I raised my chin when he ran to her, cradled her, wept before her, burying his face into her flame-tinged hair.

I never thought I'd see the day. I never thought it could actually happen. From what I'd read—the extensive S.H.I.E.L.D. files and Project Hourglass that were dumped onto the net in three years ago—she was practically invincible.

Not today, it seemed. No. Today, she had fallen. The mighty had fallen.

I could've sworn I'd felt a change in the crisp air when the bullet ripped through her chest. It was like the world dimmed. The white expanse turned a dying grey. Icicles fractured and turned black by the time they'd hit the snow. The sky darkened.

The soldier with the single arm prodded the captain. But the captain remained statue still, hunched over the fallen warrior.

The Time Walker. The Lady of Time.

Andromeda

I watched the captain scoop the Time Walker up, her body limp in his arms, and he and the armless soldier hobbled to their ship. I watched with keen eyes as it took off into the clouds, and blasted away into obscurity.

My brow furrowed and my upper lip curled as the words pierced my consciousness.

Is he dead?

Power rippled through my hands, ribbons of purples and blues and greens dancing among my fingertips.

I pulled my furry hood down further. No. The Time Walker took his place.

The Lady of Time is dead?

Yes. She took the bullet.

There was silence, an unnerving silence that set my teeth on edge. I hated it when he did that. When he left an open gorge of saying absolutely nothing as he thought about his reply carefully.

This is bad, he said finally.

The Spanish Inquisition was bad, I bit back. The death of the Lady of Time is catastrophic. I heaved out a heavy exhale. We have bigger problems.

Yes. Yes, we do. I could hear the anxious tension in his voice. He's coming. He's close. He has the Gauntlet. It's only a matter of time when he storms the Earth looking for the Stones.

I walked up the ridge and rubbed my hands together. I'll be ready for him.

You must make the others ready, too.

I angled my head, scrunching my face uncomfortably at the throbbing headache that followed his words. A warning.

It's up to you now, Aurora. It's up to you to unite the Earth against the common threat.

Snow-capped mountains arched along the horizon before me as I approached the edge.

And what of the Time Walker? I asked.

The dead is of no use to the safety of the universe. We must march on.

I looked to the cloudy sky, the sun barely piercing through the storm.

We have to stop him, Adam, I said.

And we will, Adam replied. But we cannot do it without them.

He was right. We couldn't do this alone. We weren't strong enough. We needed the Avengers. All of them.

Thanos will fall, Adam proclaimed.

I whipped my hands out and rose them high, summoning the Aurora Borealis to take to the sky, painting it in purples and greens.

The lights would show us the way.

And Thanos would fall.