Little Situation

Chapter 33

 Out of the portals, Steve watched everyone start to appear. Tony and Thor finally got up to join the masses.

"This everyone?" Strange asked.

Wong looked at him. "You wanted more people?"

T'Challa started to chant in Xhosa as the rest of the Wakandan army chanted back in a call and response as they walked in. Scott, now a giant, bursted through the crumbled up compound. They all started to pick up the chant the Wakandans were yelling and soon everyone was shouting in Xhosa. Steve smiled as Sarah stood next to him, chanting with the rest of them.

"Avengers!" Steve called.

Mjolnir flew right into Sarah's hands and she passed it to her dad. Steve gripped the hammer and looked back at Thanos.

"Assemble."

The fighting was brutal and intense. In the end it became just like the Battle at Wakanda— Thanos had the stones and they had to stop him. Thanos knocked Tony back. Thor hit him before Thanos could grab the gauntlet. He held the axe to Thanos' neck and that sprung Steve and Bucky into action. They ran behind Thanos to hold him. The axe almost cut him before Thanos threw his head back to knock Steve and Bucky off and then slammed forward into Thor to knock him off again.

Thanos slipped the gauntlet on. Carol blasted beams at him while Sam tried to swoop in and grab the stones. Carol grappled with the gauntlet, keeping Thanos' fingers spread far apart. Thanos grabbed the power stone from the gauntlet and used it in his other hand, to knock Sam away and then her. They thought they had an opportunity when Thanos froze mid-air.

Sarah wasn't sure how long she could hold him, clearly using the Space Stone wasn't a power Sarah was very developed in. The team was struggling to pull the gauntlet off but felt like they had a chance. Thanos was using the Space Stone and Power Stone on the gauntlet to fight against her. He broke out when Sarah panicked and noticed him flinch the first time. She quickly regained focus and held him but he knew that he had some wiggle room.

"Sarah!" Thor called. "Just a little longer."

"I'm trying! I swear I'm...not again."

Some of the team looked over. Tony recognized the look on Sarah's face and they all saw the red glow of the Reality Stone. Thanos had the opportunity to move again as she reached up to turn off the hearing aids. The team watched as Thanos' smile turned more solemn. They looked back to Sarah, her feet were coated in hardened Space Stone, glueing her to the spot. The vibration let Sarah know where Thanos was and she focused all her energy on holding him even in a different reality. But now she was left vulnerable and if they could take you out, they would win.

Peter swung by and knocked out the first alien as it got near Sarah. The team scrambled even more to take the gauntlet but with all the stones, even as she held him, Thanos was beating them. Steve heard Peter grunt and looked back over to see aliens had swarmed them and were overwhelming Spider-Man. Sarah couldn't hear a thing and was still in the pitch black that Thanos had created. Steve looked at the purple giant whose fingers he was keeping open.

He had a choice and it wasn't a hard one to make. He wasn't Captain America, he was Steve Rogers. And after all those years, Steve Rogers was a selfish man. He left Thanos and swooped up his shield, throwing it at the alien that had gotten close enough to scratch Sarah. Thor had taken Steve's place but Steve didn't care if no one had. He was invested in protecting his daughter.

Sarah's palms glowed bright blue with the stone as the full Space Stone on Thanos' gauntlet glowed bright blue as well. And then her concentration broke. The blades on her palm fell off abruptly. The hardening stone around Sarah's feet shattered. Steve heard her scream and turned to catch Sarah as she fell to the ground. Sarah shook her head thinking she had just cost the team a win. Thanos chuckled holding the hand with the gauntlet up.