Variation - W.M.

Chapter 78 - January 21, 2017

Wanda and I joined the rest of the battle and it seemed to be going well until I caught sight of a large figure approaching through the gap in the barrier; a golden glove on one hand and a large weapon in the other.

I had never seen Thanos before nor had I really heard him described, but it was hard to assume this being was anyone but Thanos.

"Guys, problem" I said urgently into the comms, punching the alien in front of me. "Thanos is here and he doesn't look too happy."

As if to illustrate my point, Thanos stepped up to the force field before pushing his hand towards it and closing his fist. A red glow emanated from one of his knuckles as the forcefield seemed to harden, crack, and shatter, raining down on us. Orange barriers blossomed above where our allies were, leaving the uncovered aliens to suffer the cuts and impacts from the falling glass.

"Ollie it's just like every other mission; who's the best suited for this" Steve asked.

"I-I don't..." I stammered, my hands tightening into fists. My eyes refused to look anywhere but the large purple being and fear churned in my stomach as I recalled the impact he had had in my own timeline. "I don't know. Maybe Stephen and Wanda? They have stones and magic. They're probably the strongest out of all of us and he only had two stones, right?"

"You heard her. Strange, Maximoff, you try and kill that son of a bitch. The rest of us will take care of the newcomers" Steve barked and I looked up, my eyes widening. I hadn't noticed it before now but the Chitauri had accompanied Thanos. It made sense that he would have them, especially if Loki had been under his control.

"Don't get scared now; we're just getting started" Nat said, nudging my shoulder before shooting one of the chitauri. "Banner? You think the big guy is up to handle these guys again?"

Before Bruce could answer the ground shook ever so slightly and I looked up, my eyes bulging at the sight of Scott slamming a fist into the giant flying alien.

"That's not an ant! I thought your name was ant man!" I shouted, grabbing a discarded weapon off the ground and driving it into the chest of a nearby alien.

"I go both ways" he answered before clearing his throat. "If I pass out, can someone catch me?"

"Not it" I grumbled, feeling my own energy start to deplete. Sparring Wanda or Nat in the compound was nothing like the endless onslaught of this battle and the outlier experience of my mission in Bucharest had done nothing to prepare me.

I looked over to where Thanos had been last, catching sight of Strange and Wanda slowly overpowering the purple being. His fist shifted between red and purple as he fought but, by the looks of it, there was no way he would be able to win.

Fired up by the sight I put my all into fighting everything around me until the aura of the battlefield seemed to shift abruptly. One look at Thanos told me why.

The arm that used to house his glove was completely gone, the stones that had been in it now locked in orange boxes I assumed were made by Strange. It seemed to happen in slow motion as a red mist surrounded the weapon he had arrived with before it sliced through the skin of his neck. I cringed and looked away.

"We got him" Strange reported and I nodded, the scene replaying in my head.

It took us a while to dispatch the rest of the alien soldiers who seemed unable to do anything but fight til their last breath, but once we were done everyone seemed to collapse in exhaustion.

"What do we do with those now? We can't have four on Earth" I asked, pointing to the purple and red stones. "A repeat of Thanos probably wouldn't be a good idea."

"Three" Tony chimed in and I turned to him with a brow raised.

"Did you get hit too hard? Time and Mind makes two, plus these two is four."

"Maximoff got rid of the mind stone. I figured it'd be hard for him to collect them all if one doesn't exist."

I blinked at the man before I burst out laughing. "God, only you would decide that getting rid of an all powerful stone was the easiest choice." I sagged down onto the ground and let out a breath, my eyes closing. "Would have been nice to be clued in."

"Sorry about that kid," Tony chuckled and I blindly threw up a middle finger in what I hoped was his direction.

It was silent for a moment before I opened my eyes. From my position I couldn't see the carnage around me, just the blue of the sky. "What now? That was it. That was the end. There's nothing after Thanos. He was endgame."

"Now we relax," Steve answered, appearing in my field of view. "We go home, take a shower, and then sleep for a while. Maybe we can have another game night tomorrow."

"I'm playing first!" Peter chirped, Pietro immediately launching into protests. I sat up and looked around at the rest of the Avengers, smiling a little.

This is how it should have been back in my timeline.