The REM Trials

Chapter 35

It takes a minute to come to, and a moment longer to become aware of what's going on around me. There's a rock pressing into my back and a boot settled on my chest making it hard to breathe. People are shouting somewhere nearby.

I open my eyes to see the giant prune looming over me. He's staring down someone in front of him, but I can't turn my neck to see who. "Stark." Thanos calls.

"You know me?" Dad asks in reply.

"I do." Thanos grimaces. "You're one of the few cursed with knowledge. From what I have seen, it seems your child is too."

Even though I already felt like throwing up, his words somehow make it worse. I don't want to be known by Thanos. I just want this to be over—for the universe to be safe, to have a moment of normalcy and peace.

"The only curse is you." Dad snaps, and I can hear the whistling of more rockets heading towards Thanos.

"Come on." Thanos seems to antagonize as he holds pressure on my chest to keep me down and uses the gauntlet to block the blasts. As he raises it, I can see a glimmer of hope—a crack in the gauntlet and a trail of maroon blood running down burns on his arm.

He's not invincible.

I crack a small smile at the knowledge that it was me who did it.

I made a Titan bleed. I made him burn.

Still, Dad uses the window and shifts the feet of his suit into one large piece that rams into the titan's chest and knocks him off balance. It's enough to cause him to stumble and release pressure from my chest.

I swallow deep breaths as I struggle to get back up and help my Dad fight. He locks himself into place and rams Thanos's chest until he falls back. I stand next to him and use what little strength I have left to dodge and land blows at the right times.

Thanos rips Dad's helmet off his suit. It quickly reforms thanks to the perks of nanotech, but he still suffers a blow to his face. "Dad!" I shout and run to his side.

"Get out of here." He wheezes as I help him to his feet and looks back to Thanos, who rips the device from the gauntlet so he can once again close his fist. I can hear the panic rising in Dad's voice as he shouts, "Now!"

"You know I can't." I retort as I we both put up shield to block the stream from the Power Stone that pushes us back. "This isn't just your fight."

"Yes, it is." He yells back, and I can practically see his expression despite the helmet that hides his face. "Now, go."

I'm shoved to the side as he swings out of the blast zone. It makes me feel like a small child being told to stay in the corner as I crouch behind the remains of a brick wall. I know he wants me away from this particular fight, but I can't let him do this alone.

He's always done things alone. Carried the weight the weight of the world, fought every battle, taken on every burden on his own.

I can't let it happen again.

Dad pins the gauntlet beneath his foot and clamps it into the ground and uses a modified rocket powered fist to punch Thanos. The latter pants and touches his cheek before letting out a small laugh. "All that for a drop of blood."

In the blink of an eye, Thanos lifts his hand, which sends Dad flipping backwards. I run towards them as Thanos beats my dad down into the ground, again and again. He blasts him backwards with the Power Stone, and I rush to stand next to him and guard him with a shield of shadows as he levels a blaster stream towards the titan.

"I thought I told you to get out of here." He manages to wheeze as he uses the nanotech to repair the destroyed pieces of suit and add a second beam of power barreling towards Thanos.