Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Supergirl, Oliver and all the other superheroes made their way back through the Quantum Realm. They resumed their respective sizes on the platform in the compound's laboratory, under the astonished gaze of John Diggle.
"Wow, that was fast," he exclaimed joining them.
Everyone looked at each other. Their combinations disappeared. Supergirl could see Tony holding a briefcase that probably contained the Tesseract. They had succeeded. And she saw Thor with his hammer Mjolnir, to his surprise. He had told him that he had lost his hammer when his sister Hela had destroyed it.
"Did we get them all?" Bruce asked, looking at everyone.
"You telling me this'll actually work?" Rhodey said, raising the orb in his hand.
"Have we the six Stones?" exclaimed Supergirl, radiant. "We did it. It's… (She paused when she saw someone missing.) "Wait, someone is missing. I don't see Natasha."
The only one in the group who was not happy was Clint. He had a dark expression. Bruce and Steve turned to him.
"Clint, where's Nat?" asked Professor Hulk.
Clint didn't speak. He looked at his companions, tears in his eyes. Everyone understood that Natasha wouldn't come back.
Supergirl looked upset and helpless. She had tears in her eyes too. She had just lost another person around her. Natasha who had been there for Kara, when she had no place to live. Natasha, with whom she had bonded a lot.
"No, no, she isn't dead…" she moaned in a low voice.
Clint's silence said everything about Natasha's fate. Even Oliver and John were shaken by the news. The mission was completed but at a very high cost. The sadness exceeded everyone. Bruce fell to his knees and hammered the floor.
Shortly after, the Avengers were gathered outside the compound, on a terrace near the lake. Kara, Oliver and John shared their grief. The kryptonian had resumed her jogging outfit and was crying in her corner.
On Vormir, Natasha and Clint had met a strange man with a red skull who had imposed on them a sacrifice to be able to obtain the Soul Stone. Clint wanted to sacrifice himself, but it was Nat who did it for him.
"Thanos said he had to kill his daughter to get the Soul Stone," Oliver explained, who had just remembered this detail.
He looked at Clint, seeing how saddened his colleague's death was. With a look of compassion, he put his hand on his shoulder.
After a silence, Tony decided to ask, in spite of himself:
"Do we know if she had family?"
Steve, sitting on a bench with tears in his eyes, answered with his head bowed:
"Yeah. Us."
"She had no one but us," Kara sobbed. "It isn't fair! She should be here with us! It isn't fair!"
"What? What's wrong with you, Kara?" exclaimed Thor suddenly.
Kara looked at him with a confused look.
"What? What's wrong with me? And you, what's wrong with you?"
"You're acting like she's dead. Why are we acting like she's dead? We have the Stones, right? (He looked at Steve.) As long as we have the Stones, Cap, we can bring her back, isn't that right? So stop this shit. We're the Avengers, get it together."
Kara wondered if Thor was serious or drunk.
"We can't get her back," said Clint, looking at the lake.
"Wha- what?" exclaimed Thor again.
"It can't be undone, it can't," archer Avenger said, looking confused.
And to Kara's surprise, Thor laughed curtly before retorting to Clint:
"I'm sorry. No offense, but you're a very earthly being. Okay? We're talking about space magic. And "can't" seems very definitive don't you think?"
Clint remained neutral before retorting:
"Look, I know that I'm way outside my paygrade here. But she still isn't here, is she? It can't... be undone. Or that's at least what the, great floating guy had to say. (Then he got angry.) Maybe you wanna go talk to him? Okay? Go grab your hammer, and you go fly and you talk to him."
"Clint, calm down," Oliver said softly. "I know how you feel. But this anger will not help you. Trust me, I know that."
Oliver was upset for his archer friend. If it were him instead of Clint, the archer of Earth – 1 would have acted exactly the same.
"It was supposed to be me," Clint went on. "She sacrificed her life for that goddamned stone. She bet her life on it."
In a burst of anger, Bruce grabbed a bench and threw it away into the lake. Kara would also like to be angry and turn into a ferocious creature. She would give everything to bring back Natasha.
"She's not coming back," said Bruce. "We have to make it worth it. We have to."
"He's right," Kara nodded. "Natasha has been like a sister to me for five years. And her death affects me as much as you. But we don't giving up fighting. We have the Stones. We'll use them. If we cannot bring back Nat, bring back those who can be. That's what she wanted. So let's do it for her and for all those who have been dusted by Thanos."
"We will," Steve replied, getting up from the bench.
Later, in the lab, Tony used his knowledge and technology to make a red glove. He carefully placed the Infinity Stones with nervous precision.
Finally, the work was completed. Kara had put on her Supergirl suit and was staring at the red glove like everyone else around her.
"All right. The glove's ready. Question is, who's gonna snap their freaking fingers?" Rocket explained, looking at everyone.
Indeed, the question was obvious: who would put on the glove and snap fingers with the power of the six Infinity Stones? Thanos had almost died using them. Supergirl might not have a chance of survival, even with the sun's rays. Who would be powerful enough to do it? Oliver and Diggle looked at each other. They asked themselves the same questions, too.
"I'll do it," Thor said as he made his way to the glove. "I'll take care of it."
But Supergirl, Steve, Tony and Scott held him by their arms.
"Wait, Thor, wait! Not so fast!" said the kryptonian.
"We haven't decided who's gonna put that on yet," Captain America retorted.
"Oh, I'm sorry. What, were you just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?" asked the Thunder God with sarcasm.
"We should at least discuss it," Scott said.
"Yes, I agree with Scott," added Supergirl. "It concerns everyone who is here. We must make this decision together."
"For once, Ant-Man is right," Oliver said. "We should discuss it together."
"Look, us sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back," Thor explained. "I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."
Supergirl rolled her eyes as she heard Thor show off, but remained calm.
"Thor, I understand your reasoning, I get it," she explained gently. "But it's not just the fact that glove is channeling enough energy to light up an entire planet, I'm telling you, you're in no condition. Physically and mentally, you can't. I want to bring everyone back, but it's not so simple. If Thanos nearly died with the Stones, I would be surprised if I did, even with the sun to regenerate me."
"Kara, you have the sun, me, what do you think is coursing through my veins right now?" Thor replied.
"Cheez Whiz?" Rhodey said.
"Lightnings! Lightnings!"
"Lightning won't help you, pal," Bruce said in a determined tone. "It's gotta be me."
Everyone looked at him. Professor Hulk seemed very serious. He wanted to do it.
"You saw what those stones did to Thanos. As Supergirl said, it almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"And you think you can be able to support the power of all the Infinity Stones together?"Oliver asked.
"I don't know. But I am potentially able to survive. The radiation's mostly gamma. It's like…uh… I was made for this."
Further towards the Quantum Realm platform, the 2014 Nebula, which had taken the place of its look-alike of the future, began to activate the portal.
In the big room of the complex, everyone prepared. Oliver had donned his Green Arrow suit without his hood. Diggle had resumed his Spartan suit. Steve was in Captain America's outfit, just as Ant-Man had put on his visor helmet. Rhodey had his war machine armor. Tony was giving Bruce instructions:
"You remember… everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last five years."
"Got it," said Bruce, shaking his head.
"And bring back all those missing in the Multiverse," Diggle added.
"Got it."
Supergirl stood near Captain America and Ant-Man. While Green Arrow and Spartan stood near Iron Man and Clint Barton. Once Tony had his armor on him, he locked the entire Avengers compound.
Bruce walked to the glove.
"Everybody comes home," he said.
Anxious, Supergirl began to pray in her head, wanting her friend to bring everyone back and at the same time survive. She could not bear to lose another friend.
"May Rao be with you," she murmured.
Bruce pulled his powerful hand into the glove… and immediately the surge overwhelmed him. He groaned in pain and rested his knee on the ground, holding his gloved hand. He screamed in pain, struggling not to fall.
"Take it off. Take it off!"Thor shouted.
"Hold on, Banner!" Oliver shouted.
"Bruce, are you okay?" Captain America intervened.
"Bruce, stay with us, are you okay?" exclaimed Supergirl, panicked.
Despite the pain that was eating him, Professor Hulk managed to shake his head:
"I'm okay, I'm okay!"
In the laboratory, Nebula brought the gigantic vessel of Thanos, which crossed the Quantum Realm and arrived in the present.
Bruce screamed, fighting the intense pain that went through his body through the glove. In a last effort, he managed to lift the glove in the air, snapped his fingers. A powerful detonation sprang up and crossed the room. Professor Hulk fainted and the glove slid off his arm. All ran to him.
"Bruce, can you hear me? Bruce!" exclaimed Supergirl, anxious.
"Banner, are you okay?"exclaimed Oliver.
Then the Kryptonian girl used her super-breath on the mutilated arm of Hulk.
With a kick, Clint pushed back the glove, while Oliver and Diggle joined the green giant on the ground.
Bruce, half-blown, took Steve's arm.
"Did it work?" he asked.
"Worth a shot. It's over. It's okay," Thor told him calmly.
Then, the entire installation of the Avengers unlocked. After making sure of her friend's health, Supergirl stood up to look around her, and saw something she had not seen for a long time. In the distance, outside, she saw plants and birds singing and flying around. For five years she had not seen any birds, and she was amazed.
With pure happiness, she watched the birds perched on the tree in the company of Ant-Man. If the birds had come back, then everyone was back! She thought of her sister Alex, her friends J'onn, Barry, James, Lena, Cisco… all those who had vanished five years ago had come back?
"Guys… I think it worked," whispered Ant-Man with a smile on his face.
"Yes, it looks like," said Supergirl, beaming with happiness.
She joined Oliver and Diggle, who were as stunned as she was.
"Oliver, I think Bruce brought everyone back. It worked!"
Green Arrow looked at his friend answering:
"Clint's wife calls him on the phone… (He looked astonished in his turn.) That means Felicity, William, Lyla and the others came back …"
Diggle, in a state of pure happiness, laughed:
"How to know?"
Supergirl looked up at the sun, and looked horrified at seeing a gigantic ship overhang the entire Avengers complex. She saw a missile falling on them.
"LOOK OUT, WE'RE UNDER ASSAULT! WE'RE UNDER ASSAULT!"
Immediately, several missiles coming from the ship destroyed the whole enclosure, carrying the superheroes with the rubbish in the basements.
Diggle regained consciousness with Clint. He rose slowly.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine," Clint replied, shaking his head.
"We're in the sewers," Diggle said, looking around him.
Clint activated a flashlight and held up the light above him to see what had happened.
"Cap?"
"Oliver, can you hear me? Oliver…" called John with a headset. (Then he saw something that caught his attention.) "Oh, damn it!"
He picked up the glove that contained the Six Infinity Stones. Then Clint unsheathed his bow.
"We're not alone!" replied he.
He shot an arrow with the light toward the dark tunnel and found hordes of Outriders.
"I know these critters," Diggle replied."They are part of the Thanos army. Let's get outta here!"
Clint and Diggle ran into the sewers to escape the Outriders.
"Let's split up!" Diggle shouted. "I can do diversion."
"I agree, give it to me!"
John handed the glove to Clint. He fled immediately into the basement, while Diggle faced the monsters and killed them with his guns.
Outside, through the ruins of the complex, the ship overlooked the whole. A beam of energy suddenly burst from the ship, and Thanos appeared on the ground, facing his Nebula who was making his way towards him.
"Daughter," murmured the Mad Titan in a calm voice.
"Yes, Father," said the bluish creature proudly.
Thanos looked around as he spoke:
"So this is the future. Well done."
"Thank you, Father," Nebula replied, removing the gold plate from his skull. "They suspected nothing."
Thanos planted his double blade sword on the ground, removed his helmet and placed it on the edge of his sword.
"The arrogant never do," replied the Mad Titan, sitting down and addressing Nebula."Go, find the Stones. Bring them to me!"
"What will you do?"
"Wait."
Somewhere in a ruin, Supergirl pushed back a block of concrete that was on her back and turned to Oliver. During the attack, she had used her indestructible body to protect Green Arrow.
"Are you alright?" she asked her archer friend.
"I'm fine, thank you Kara," Oliver said.
"The ship that attacked us, I know it, is Thanos. How is it possible? Thanos is dead five years ago…"
But Oliver was not surprised by this news.
"We messed with time," he explained. "There are always consequences when you mess with time." (He thought, then seemed to understand.) "2014."
"What?"
"In 2014, Nebula said that Thanos was already searching the Stones at that time… as well as… that all his children, including Nebula… At that time, she was still faithful to him… We were manipulated…"
"Come on."
Both came out of the ruins and saw Thanos sitting with his sword near him. All looked at him with amazement and anger. Supergirl and Green Arrow joined Captain America, Tony and Thor who, too, had their eyes fixed on Thanos. All together contemplated him.
Supergirl looked at Thanos. He looked exactly like the day she first met him. In his armor, with a look of power. It was no longer the fear she felt about her. It was anger and hatred. She thought back to when the Mad Titan had slammed her fingers, when half of the universe had perished, removing Barry, Alex, J'onn and all the others… the five years of suffering she had endured as a result of that. She had never wanted someone to die until today. She wanted more than anything to see Thanos die.
"What's he been doing?"Tony asked.
"Absolutely nothing," said Thor, who seemed lucid this time.
"Where are the Stones?" asked Captain America.
"Somewhere under all this," said Iron Man."All I know is he doesn't have them."
"So we keep it that way," said the super-soldier.
"We have a real advantage, this time, Tony," retorted Oliver."As long as he has no Stones on him, we've the advantage."
"And he's not going to get them," Supergirl said.
"You know, it's a trap, right" Thor pointed out.
"Yeah. And I don't much care," Tony said.
"Me too, I don't much care, but we've no choice, we must fight him," said Supergirl looking at Thanos with determination.
"Good. Just as long we are all in agreement," replied the Thunder God, raising his arms in the air.
He threw lightning around him, then Stormbreaker and Mjolnir came towards him. Thor caught them, while lightning changed his clothes. He now wore Asgardian armor with a red cape, while his beard and hair were better maintained.
Supergirl finally recognized the real Thor she had met.
"Let's kill him properly this time." Thor said.
"If we get together, we can defeat him," Oliver added, taking out a spear."There will be no failure."
Then all five made their way to him. Thanos looked at them with a grin. While the five heroes looked at him with angry looks.
"You could not live with your own failure. And where did that bring you? Back to me," he scolded, as if he was talking to himself.
"Whatever year you come from, you made a big mistake coming here," Supergirl snarled, her face filled with hatred and anger. "You'll regret having made this trip."
"It's you who made a big mistake in making this travel time," replied the Mad Titan with the same grin. "It's you who will regret having made this trip. I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
"Yep. We're all kinds of stubborn," Tony said.
"You imagined a grateful universe by suppressing his half, but you were wrong," Oliver replied angrily. "Look around you, there is no grateful. Only death, suffering and chaos. How can we prosper? How can we move on in life? The past determines who we are. And we'll always be stubborn with it.
"I'm thankful," Thanos nodded."Because now I know what I must do. (He finally stood up and stared at the five heroes.) I will… shred this universe down to its last atom. (He put on his helmet and took his sword.) And then...With the Stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."
"Born out of blood!" exclaimed Captain America as he prepared to fight.
"They'll never know it. Because you won't be alive to tell them."
"And who are you to decide what is better for the universe?" Supergirl spat with hatred. "Who do you think you are? A God? A savior?
"I'm a survivor," said the Mad Titan dryly.
"We're survivors," corrected kryptonian girl with rage. "You are just a madman!"
Thor waved his hammer and ax screaming, flashing lightning, while Iron Man and Supergirl flew up into the air. Thanos fended off Captain America's shield as he struggled against Supergirl, Green Arrow, Iron Man and Thor.
Meanwhile, Clint ran with the glove of the Infinity into the sewers, escaping the Outriders. He managed to repel them with explosive arrows and with his katana cut one into pieces.
He fell to the ground blowing and saw Nebula coming towards him.
"Oh, hey… I know you," he murmured in a breathless voice.
He handed her the glove. Immediately the blue humanoid contacted by atrium:
"Father, I have the Stones!"
"What?" exclaimed Clint, stunned.
She immediately pointed a weapon at the Avenger Archer. Then Gamorra and the other Nebula came to them.
"Stop!" said Gamorra threatening her with a weapon.
The 2014 Nebula seemed surprised to see his sister with his double of the future.
"You're betraying us?"she exclaimed, addressing Gamorra.
The other Nebula presented herself to her, her hands raised in the air.
"You don't have to do this."she said to him gently.
"I am… this!"
"No, you're not," Gamorra said.
"You've seen what we become." said Nebula of the future, pointing to his skull.
Then came John Diggle who approached her gently.
"You don't have to do this!" he said gently. "You don't have to be like that! It's the fault of Thanos! He stole your life, and he made you his puppet! You have the choice! You can be free! You can choose to be whatever you want."
"Nebula, listen to him, he's right," Gamorra said beseechingly to her sister in 2014.
"You can change," said the other Nebula.
The 2014 Nebula still held his weapon in the air. She seemed reluctant to shoot, then ended up stammering:
"He won't let me."
"Not if we stop him!" Diggle continued. "Join us and together we can defeat him definitively before he gets the Stones."
"No," replied the 2014 Nebula. "Nobody can stop him."
She brandishes her weapon on Gamorra…
"No!"
But the other Nebula was faster, and fired on her double of 2014. Immediately, she collapsed on the ground, dead, releasing the glove that contained the Stones on the ground. All looked at her with sad looks. Clint took the opportunity to pick up the glove.
On the outside, Supergirl, Green Arrow, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor were fighting Thanos. With his double blade sword, the Mad Titan repelled their attacks. Iron-Man landed on the ground, addressing the God of Thunder:
"Okay, Thor, hit me!"
Thor combined the powers of Mjolnir and Stormbreaker on the billionaire. The combination of Iron-Man absorbed the energy, and the Avenger sent dumps to Thanos. He used his sword to protect himself. Thor threw his hammer at the Titan, but Thanos grabbed Tony, using him as a shield, and Mjolnir hit Iron-Man in the head, knocking him out in the distance.
Thanos repulsed Captain America and fought Supergirl. She used her super-breath on the Titan, sending it to the ground. With rage, she took the opportunity to jump on him, and hit him with faces with fists. Moaning with anger, Thanos got rid of the kryptonian and stood up to face her. The Girl of Steel looked at the Mad Titan with a look of anger.
"I've always refused to take somebody's life. But for you, I'm going to make an exception. Because you took me EVERYTHING."
And she stumbled on Thanos flying and using her heat vision on him. Thanos repulsed Kryptonian attacks with his sword, and eventually drove away the Kryptonian, who managed to take his sword from him.
Oliver ran toward Thanos and threatened him with an arrow with his bow. The Mad Titan chuckled at the sight of the Archer of Earth – 1:
"You fool! Do you want to defeat me with a bow and arrows?"
"Honestly, yeah!" Oliver replied with a grin.
He shot an arrow that touched Thanos in the belly, triggering a lightning flash. The Titan groaned in pain as lightning struck him all over his body. Then Oliver fired a new arrow that touched Thanos's shoulder.
"Energy arrows!"he thundered. "Courtesy of your sweet daughter Nebula. She helped me make them! We created them for you! Her and I have a lot in common, like our deep hatred of you."
He ran toward him, while Thanos managed to remove the arrows from his body. Roaring with rage, he intercepted Green Arrow, pulling his bow away. He grabbed the archer by the body and sent him beating against a ruin.
Supergirl, brandishing the double blade sword, leaped and flew like a missile at Thanos, and using her heat vision on him. Thanos lowered her head to avoid the Kryptonian lasers and stopped her by catching her by the neck. With a grin, he snatched his sword from her hands.
"Thanks for giving to me my sword."
And he threw Supergirl to the floor like a bundle and turned to Thor. He threw his sword at the Asgardian, but he dodged it. The sword returned to its owner and attacked Thor. The latter managed to snatch his weapon with Stormbreaker, but Thanos was faster by hitting Thor in several parts of the body. Thor was hit and smothered by Thanos as he beat him. He struck the Asgardian on the head. He tried to summon Stormbreaker, but Thanos managed to grab the ax and did everything to push him into Thor's chest. The latter tried in vain to repel his enemy. Thanos smirked as he pushed Stormbreaker over Thor.
Mjolnir began to float and fly like a ball, hit Thanos and landed… in the hand of Captain America to the astonishment of all.
"Wow!" exclaimed Supergirl, bewildered, watching Thor's hammer in Steve's hands.
"I knew it!" Thor replied with a smile.
Thanos struck a Thor ground and continues its battle against the super-soldier, brandishing both his shield and Mjolnir.
Captain America charges Thanos, swinging the hammer and hitting the Titan in the face, sounding it. Steve throws his shield and Thanos dodges it. He throws Mjolnir on his shield, creating a shockwave and knocking down the Mad Titan. Captain America went on the offensive on Thanos using both his shield and the hammer and invoked a lightning Thanos.
This eventually take over, he withdrawn a helmet, dagger was Steve in the leg and hits Mjolnir out of his hand. Thanos proceeded to destroy Steve's shield with his double-bladed sword and the jet was on the battlefield.
Captain America tries getting up with pain.
Supergirl got up and joined Oliver, who had just got up. With Captain America, everyone looked at Thanos, who was watching his environment.
"In all my years of conquest...violence...slaughter... It was never personal. But I'll tell you now... what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet... I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."
And to the horror of Supergirl, a beam of energy from the gigantic ship made all the Thanos Children (Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian) appear, as well as a huge army of Outriders and Chitauris.
Oliver was horrified to see such an army behind Thanos as he advanced. He looked at Supergirl and Captain America, wondering how to deal with such an army.
"Rao, please, help us," Supergirl murmured, horrified and helpless.