The Souls

Curse words flew out of Hawkeye's mouth as he ran through the battlefield clutching the Infinity gauntlet under his arm.

He was leaping over fallen bodies and dodging shots and avoiding explosions as he raced through.

He was beginning to resent this Guantlet thing. It was kinda stealing away his arms dammit. His bow and arrows were sitting at his back, absolutely useless while his hands were occupied carrying this thing.

But Clint wasn't about to let it go. Not when it was so obviously important to past-Thanos.

He'd almost lost it when he'd casually given it to past-Nebula. And then he'd gained it back when Now-Nebula killed past-Nebula to save past-Gamora... Clint was still quite confused about that honestly. All he knew is that he wanted this stupid glove away from him so he could actually do something useful in this fight other than dodge bullets.

He had been lucky so far (unbelievably lucky) because if anyone or anything came straight at him he had no way of defending himself.

"Hey Cap!" Clint yelled out, "What the hell do you want me to do with this thing?"

"Get those Stones as far away as possible!" Cap replied, grunting as he fought.

"No!" Bruce yelled, "We need to get them back where they came from."

"Can't get them back," Tony said, "Thanos destroyed the quantum tunnel."

"Hold on!" Scott spoke up as he shrunk back down to normal size. He reached into his pocket and grinned, "That wasn't our only time machine."

He pushed a button on the remote in his hand and from somewhere on the battlefield, came the sound of Luis's van.

Steve looked around, not knowing where it was coming from, "Anyone see an ugly brown van up there?"

After a few seconds, there was a reply.

"Yes! But you're not gonna like where it's parked!"

Steve looked up to see Valkyrie, pointing her sword towards the ground.

"Scott, how long you need to get that thing working?" asked Tony.

"Maybe ten minutes."

"Get it started," said Steve, "we'll get the Stones to you."

Scott opened his mouth, but was beaten to it.

"We're on it Cap," nodded Hope, suddenly standing next to Scott. He flashed her an adoring grin, before they both shrunk back down, The Wasp grabbing Ant-man's hand as she flew them away.

Not long after, Hope flew through a hole in the ugly brown van, dropping Scott on the front seat and landing in the driver's. They grew back to normal size and got to work.

"It's a mess back here," Hope shook her head.

"It's... it's dead."

"What?"

"It's dead, I have to hotwire it."

Hope groaned, "Dammit."

:::

Clint was still running. This time towards the van, hopefully.

He couldn't believe he had made it this far through so many enemies without a weapon. By some miracle, every time something came too close it was gunned down by stray bullets.

But he knew his luck would have run out eventually. There were suddenly Outriders all around him. He breathed heavily as he backed away from the advancing aliens.

"Shit," he heaved, "Shit shit shi-"

Suddenly, there was a loud bang, and then Clint was surrounded by a cloud of purple smoke.

He blinked away the smoke, and saw that all the surrounding Outriders were dead on the floor, and in the middle of it all, stood the Black Panther. His mask disappeared around his face and he held his hand out.

"Give it to me, Clint."

Clint gladly handed the gauntlet over, and he couldn't help his smile.

"You remember my name?"

T'Challa only smirked as he took the Guantlet from Clint.

"How are you doing?"

Clint opened his mouth to answer, and then he noticed that T'Challa was actually looking behind him.

"Oh you know, killing aliens, dodging eight legged dogs, same old."

Clint's eyes widened and his head snapped around when he heard that voice answer.

"Mainly I've been getting rid of all the little monsters that have been going after this oblivious idiot," she jerked her head towards Clint.

Clint stared as she approached. A gun in each hand, hair disheveled and face covered in dirt.

"You know Hawkeye, for a spy, you really suck at noticing when you're being followed."

He still hadn't said a word when she finally stopped in front of him.

"So now that you don't have that Gauntlet anymore can you get your arrows and help me kill these stupid things? They don't go down as easy as- oh." Natasha blinked when there were suddenly strong arms wrapped around her.

"O- oh. Okay."

The arms only tightened around her, "Clint?"

"I'm sorry." She heard a whisper by her ear, "God Nat I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey stop with that."

"I'm so, so sorry, I-"

"Clint," Natasha said firmly, "You've got nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who jumped, remember?"

But Clint kept shaking his head, whispering in her ear.

"I'm sorry Nat."

"Hey look at me. Clint look at me."

Reluctantly, Clint drew back so that their eyes locked.

"I'm alive." Natasha told him, "I'm here, alright. We're both here. So let's get back to work and kill these mother-" she was cut off when Clint surged back forward, nearly suffocating her in the hug.

Natasha sighed, patting his back with the gun in her hand.

"Goddammit Barton," she swallowed hard, "I've got a reputation over here."

T'Challa smiled, seeing Natasha reunite with her best friend. He knew it hadn't been long, but coming back from the dead was emotional for everyone. Even Russian spies.

T'Challa turned away from them. He had a job to do after all. He turned towards the van he had been hearing about, and ran.

With one arm holding onto the Guantlet, the Black Panther charged through the surrounding enemies, Vibranium claws cutting through anything in his way.

With punches and kicks and leaps over enemy heads, T'Challa was unstoppable.

Until he was caught by Thanos's eye.

:::

Thanos was not happy. Not in the slightest.

He was the great Titan. His destiny was to dominate. To squash his enemies as if they were nothing. To conquer until they knew without a doubt that he, and only he, was mighty.

These enemies were not falling in line. In fact, they were fighting back. Hard.

And he was not happy.

Thanos's head snapped to his side.

"Where is Nebula?"

"She's not responding." Corvus Glaine told him.

Thanos bared his teeth in anger, and then Ebony Maw called out the him.

"Sire!" He pointed, and Thanos followed his finger, and saw the Gauntlet. The man holding it was cutting through Thanos's army like it was nothing. That only angered him more. He swung his sword and using all his strength, threw it at the man.

T'Challa heard the sword before he saw it, but even then it was too late to move away. The blade sliced through the air, hitting him with such force he flew through the air, the gauntlet in his arm falling to the ground. For some seconds, T'Challa didn't know which way was up. Blinking his eyes open, he looked up to see Thanos, the sword he had thrown back in his had, and charging towards him.

But before he could get close, T'Challa saw two pairs of feet drop heavily in front of him. And then they both rose a foot off the ground.

T'Challa let out a relieved groan. If those two were in front of him he knew he'd be fine.

Wanda and Vision stood in front of the Titan, cutting off his path to T'Challa and to the Guantlet.

The Titan hardly acknowledged them, and Wanda smiled.

"Vis." she said lowly, "You think you could make sure I get a moment alone with him?"

Vision looked around, seeing the Chitauri and Outriders already advancing, ready to eliminate a threat to their leader.

"Of course, darling," he nodded as he rose higher and higher, Cape billowing behind him. He had discovered through this battle that he had been wrong. His powers had not disappeared with the mind stone. They were harder to control without it, yes, but at this moment, control was not a priority.

He spread his arms, and as if he were an explosion, yellow beams of light shot out around him raining down on those who dared approach his Wanda.

Vision knew that she could definitely take care of herself, but right now, she had a bigger problem to take care of.

Thanos was looking with wide eyes as his troops were destroyed around him. His eyes went down to the one in the centre of them.

The woman approached him without fear. Which was absolutely unacceptable.

Wanda's hands were ablaze as she glared at the Titan in front of her. Oh how she hated him.

This man had killed Vision. Yes, he was back now, but that didn't take away the fact that she had watched as he crushed Visions head, right in front of her.

With gritted teeth, she snarled, "You tried to take everything from me."

Thanos was unbothered, "I don't even know who you are."

"You will."

With that, Wanda raised her hands, eyes red and surrounded by flames.

She rose from the ground, rocks and debris breaking out of the earth and rising with her.

Thanos shook his head. Just another obstacle. He lifted his sword as heavy rocks were thrown his way. He broke through, rearing his sword as the earth came crashing around him. Sill the woman kept going, her hands a flurry as she broke through the ground and sent it flying at Thanos.

He grunted in effort, seeing that maybe this witch was a problem. He wanted to finish this now. He charged at her before anymore debris could be thrown his way. He lifted his sword and shouted out as he swung it down on her, intent on ending this.

But red magic froze his sword and his arms before it could touch her. Thanos looked into flaming red eyes as she drew back her fist and with a yell, sent him flying.

Surprise and shock tore through his face as she advanced on him still.

With her hands, debris rose from the ground, and in the centre of it, so did Thanos.

The surprise on his face disappeared as he was lifted off the ground. He gasped in a breath through a throat that was suddenly being crushed. He tried to swing his sword, but his arms would no longer move. His eyes widened as they locked on the woman. Her flaming hands spread out towards him, crushing him. Paralyzing him.

She was beating him.

Thanos gasped through his constricting throat. No. He would not lose.

"Rain. Fire!" he managed to wheeze out.

"But sire, our troops!"

"Just do it!" he gasped.

He felt the air leave his lungs completley, and he was gasping in desperation, when finally the ships above him started raining fire onto the battlefield. On the enemy and his own troops.

He didn't care, because then, the magical hold on him siezed as the shower from the canons forced the witch to release him as she went for cover.

:::

From across the battlefield, Loki snarled. As if this fight wasn't bad enough, now he had canons?

Debris flew around as the ground was hit with raining bullets. Allies and aliens alike went for cover as they avoided certain death. Loki saw Sam Wilson fall from the air, Bucky in tow, as one of his wings caught fire. He saw the woman in the suit of iron crash into Stark, just as a canon was about to knock into him. He saw Wanda fly up and snatch Vision out of the air, helping him dodge the raining fire. He saw Groot on the floor, the racoon called Rocket trying to cover him with his much smaller body.

This was not good. Not good at all. Raining fire could only be dodged for so long. Loki saw some of Strange's wizard friends with shields over their heads and those close around them. But the shields were too small, and there weren't enough of them. They wouldn't be able to protect everyone.

Loki took a moment to wonder why he suddenly cared so much about protecting anyone. He shook the thought out of his head and took a breath, knowing what he had to do. He shut his eyes in concentration, squeezing them as tightly as possible. And then with a burst of magic, Loki's eyes flew open, and suddenly the battlefield was covered by dozens and dozens of Loki's.

No one had time to voice their shock, because as one, all the Loki's raised crossed arms above their heads and green shields several feet wide materialised above them all.

The Avengers looked at the different versions of the god of mischief in awe.

The only one who didn't seem surprised was Thor.

"That's my brother!" he shouted to anyone who would listen, "Loki you're doing great!"

The Loki closest to him merely rolled his eyes, but allowed a smile to slip as Thor took off the ground with a flash of lightning.

:::

Peter Parker almost cried in relief when Loki appeared out of nowhere with his shield.

He had been this close to finding a rock to hide under and curling up in the fetal position until this was over.

This was not fun. This was not fun at all.

He was tired and sore all over and beaten up and just tired.

And when one of those ships started raining fire, he had just about had it, and then one of the Loki's showed up and Peter had had to restrain from hugging him.

It's when he was catching a breath that he saw it. Just laying on the floor a few feet from him. His eyes widened just as he heard the voice in his ear.

"Guys!" yelled Cap, "Anyone with eyes on the Gauntlet?"

"I got it!" Peter shouted immediately as he ran, shooting a web at the Gauntlet and clutching it close when it came to him.

And even though he was under a shield, almost immediately, he was surrounding by Chitauri.

Clutching the Gauntlet to his chest, Peter growled through gritted teeth.

"Activate Instant kill!" he shouted.

:::

From the air, Pepper was trying her hardest to take down whatever flying aliens she could get to.

Flying above the ship that was raining down constant fire, she, Tony, Valkyrie and Rhodey were the only ones up here trying to control the threats from the sky.

It was as she shot down one of Thanos's flying minions that she saw it. The dam holding back water from the nearby lake was collapsing under the constant fire, and the water was coming down. Fast.

"Hey guys?" Pepper said through the Comm, "Anyone else seeing this?"

Eyes looked up to Pepper and then to where she was staring.

She heard a few 'Oh shit's coming from a lot of different people. Only one of those voices was useful though.

"I've got it," said Doctor Strange.

He ran to where the water was starting to flood towards them. Stephen held up his hands, and just before it washed him away, the water stopped, splashing and flowing to the sides as if an invisible wall has appeared suddenly in front of it.

The battle raged behind Stephen as he pushed at the wall he had created. He couldn't let go lest he let everyone drown. He would have to stay here now, keeping the water away, no matter how tired his arms got.

Stephen strained against the enormous wave in front of him, and then out of nowhere, some pressure was taken away from his arms.

He turned to his side, and was not surprised to see Loki standing at his side, arms outstretched towards the water, all his doubles still shielding the rest of their army.

All this straining must have been taking a toll on him, but the bastard didn't even have a hair out of place.

"Go back there," Strange told him, "I've got this."

"Do be quiet, Stephen, I'm trying to concentrate."

It's then that the wizard noticed that Loki wasn't exactly helping him keep the water back. The god stared at the wave in concentration as his arms shook in front of him.

Stephens eyes widened when he saw a sheet of ice start to form from the wave.

Quickly, he pushed harder, letting his magic hold the wave back as he let Loki work. The gods teeth were bared as Jotun magic flowed through his arms and slowly but surely froze the lake in front of him.

Stephen could not help but stare as Loki's eyes began to glow red, and the tips of his fingers began to spread a dark blue.

A bead of sweat flowed from Loki's forehead and froze on his cheek, and still he aimed trembling arms at the wall of water.

With a shout and a final burst of magic, Loki dropped his arms and dropped to the ground as his knees gave out.

The wall of water, now hard ice, stayed where it was.

Stephen rushed to him, and saw that his skin and eyes had returned to their normal state.

Loki brushed him off as soon as he got close.

"I'm fine. Now go do something useful will you?"

Stephen only hesitated for a second before nodding and billowing off, back to the battlefield.

Before he could return to the fight, heavy metal feet landed next to him, and a mask was drawn back to reveal a wide eyes Tony Stark.

"Holy shit," he said simply as he stared at the wall of ice. Stephen only nodded in response.

Tony turned to Stephen, and his expression sobered.

"Hey. You said one out of fourteen million, we win, yeah? Tell me this is it."

A pang of guilt cut at Strange, but he pushed it away, as he knew he had to.

"If I tell you what happens, it won't happen."

Tony stared at the doctor for a few seconds. He did not like that look on his face. He did not like Strange looking at him like that. Like he was sad for him or something.

Tony already had a bad feeling about this, and that look was not making him any less uneasy. He sighed deeply, shaking his head.

"You better be right."

:::

Peter had no idea why he hadn't used this instant kill thing earlier. The spider legs Tony had built into his suit were absolutely brutal.

Thanos was sending all his minions for the Gauntlet, and once they saw it in Peters arm, they came at him like moths to a flame

Instant kill was really helping him out. But he should have known he couldn't rely on it for too long. These things just kept coming, and with every outrider he put down, three Chitauri seemed to take its place.

But he was fine. He had this. He could get this gauntlet to the van, no problem. He had this.

Right?

"I got this!" He kept yelling. Mostly to himself, even as more and more aliens surrounded him.

"I got this!" He gasped. He was drowning. Aliens all around him and under him and on top of him.

"Okay I don't got this!" Peter gasped, "Help! Somebody help!"

Almost immediately, he heard Captain America's voice in his ear.

"Queens, heads up."

Peter looked up just in time to see Mjolnir zoom towards him. He shot a web out, and it stuck to the hammer just in time, pulling him away from the aliens that had basically been on top of him.

Peter screamed as Mjolnir carried him through the wind, dodging raining fire as he went. He didn't even have time to enjoy the ride when there were suddenly Iron hands catching him out of the air.

"Hang on kid, I got you."

He recognised the voice of Pepper Potts and sighed, "Oh thank yo-" he yelled as he was suddenly dropped, landing a second later on the back of a flying horse.

"Got you!" the lady flying it called back to him.

"Hi I'm Peter P- Oh my Gooood!" Peter's shouts carried through the air as the Pegasus flew faster than anything he had ever felt.

It's then that Peter saw the canon coming straight at him. He noticed it a second too late, and it knocked him clean off the Pegasus and hard onto the ground.

Peter gasped as he landed painfully. He scrambled to grab the gauntlet which had fallen a foot away from him. He braced himself for the next hit, and it didn't come. He peered from a crack through his arms, and saw that the cannons had turned away from the ground, and were now pointing at the sky.

Sam looked up from punching an ugly alien-dog in the face, "What the hell is that?" He asked.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y what are they firing at?" Tony wondered.

"Something's entered the upper atmosphere." she informed him.

All over the field, eyes looked up at the sky, when suddenly, a bright light of thundering energy surged through the clouds, and then shot into the ship, and out the other side, cutting through like it was butter. The light left a series of explosions in its wake, and just like that, the ship broke apart, spiralling dow in a crash landing.

The bright light finally came to a stop in the air, revealing itself as none other than Carol Danvers.

Those who knew her cheered, and those who didn't only stared in awe.

"Danvers, we need an assist here," Steve said through the Comm.

"Quantum tunnel is activated!" Scott called out, "Bring it on!"

With that, Carol flew to the ground, and landed in front of a wide eyed kid, with a dirty face and a bloody nose. He was clutching the Gauntlet to his chest, both his arms and his left leg wound tightly around it.

"H-hi," he stuttered, "I'm Peter Parker."

"Hey Peter Parker." Carol smirked, "You got something for me?"

Peter scrambled to his feet, still staring wide eyes at the woman on fire. He handed over the Gauntlet with shaking hands, and only then did he notice the advancing enemies.

It seemed that now, every single being on Thanos's army was coming for the Gauntlet. Coming for them.

Every single one.

Peter gulped, "I don't know how you're gonna get through all that."

Before Carol could reply, a flurry of red flames landed heavily next to Peter. Wanda smirked at him.

"Don't worry."

From behind him, the Wakandan general stepped in front of him, swinging her spear.

"She's got help."

Not a second after, Pepper Potts landed next to her with a thud. Mantis and Shuri, stepped in front of Peter with faces of steel. Above him, Valkyrie flew down on her Pegasus, Dragon Fang sword held out. The Wasp flew in above his head, while Nebula and Gamora... and Gamora, marched forward.

And at the front of the pack, with a heavy gun in each hand, stood Natasha Romanoff.

Peter Parker's eyes widened as he was surrounded by the Avengers. All powerful in their own rights, standing between him and killer aliens.

For the first time since he had arrived on this battlefield, he could honestly say that he felt safe.

Thanos's army charged, and led by the Black Widow, so did the Avengers.

Shouting as she fired her weapons, Natasha took down countless charging creatures with her heavy fire.

Gamora and Gamora, each with a sword in hand, sliced at a roaring gorilla until it lay defeated at their feet. Okoye stood face to face with Corvus Glaive swinging her spear through his chest. In the air, Valkyrie carved her sword through the side of one of the Leviathan ships, bringing it crashing to the ground, while Wanda's magic put an end to the other.

The ladies sliced and carved and stormed their way through the army, setting a virtually clear path for Carol.

She smirked proudly at her fellow teammates as she shot like a bullet towards the van, flying past evil aliens and shooting through enemy blockades as if they were nothing.

Fury roared through Thanos when he saw the woman making a mockery of his defences. He charged towards her, making to finish her off himself, but before he could get far, three other woman stood in his way.

Pepper reared in front of Thanos, flanked by Shuri and Hope, and the three shot blast after blast at the Titan with enough force to get him backing away.

Thanos roared in anger as he was pushed back, away from the Gauntlet. The woman was flying towards the van, getting closer to the quantum tunnel. Closer to getting the stones away for good.

He could not allow that.

With a roar of effort, Thanos threw his sword with all his might, and it crashed into its target, destroying the ugly van. And the quantum tunnel with it.

Carol, who had been so, so close, was caught by the force of the blast, and was thrown back, the Gauntlet slipping from her fingers as she crashed to the ground.

The Gauntlet lay alone in the middle of the field.

Tony dove, seeing it on the ground. And so did Thanos.

Quickly changing course, Tony made for the Titan, crashing into him and putting more space between him and the Stones.

With a roar, Thanos swung at the Iron Man, sending him crashing to the ground. Once again, he made for the Gauntlet, but a flash of lightning blinded him, and with a shout, Thor swung Stormbreaker at the Titan, holding him back. Thanos made to Push the god away, but then from behind him, Steve swung Mjolnir around the Titan's neck, pulling with all his might.

Thor and Steve, Axe and Hammer in hand pushed and pulled, wearing Thanos down and bringing him to his knees, and away from the Gauntlet.

Thanos could feel himself weakening. Feel his vision blur at the hammer at his neck and the axe at his chest.

No. He would. Not. Lose.

Summoning every bit of strength he had, the Titan let out a thunderous shout as he pulled himself back to his feet. He threw out his foot, kicking away the god of thunder, and then reached over his head, grabbing Captain America and throwing him as far from him as he could.

With a growl, he lumbered forward, towards the gauntlet. Around him his minions fought to their deaths as they kept the Avengers away from him. Long enough for him to finally get his hands on the Stones.

And finally, he did just that.

Thanos picked up the Stones which were rightfully his.

He sheathed the Infinity Gauntlet onto his hand, and cried out as the power of the Stones coursed through his body. Breathing heavily, with his arm raised, Thanos brought his thumb to his finger... And then a ball of fire flew at his hand, holding it open.

Thanos growled.

Her. Again.

With one hand, Carol held the Gauntlet open, and the other she reared her fist back and swung it towards the ugly purple face.

Thanos's head reared back with a gasp. Carol smirked. He obviously wasn't used to being punched. And so that's what she did. Again and again and again, all with one hand firm on the Gauntlet. With one more desperate swing, Thanos grabbed at her arm and managed to toss her away from him.

Once again, his finger and his thumb met, but once again, the woman was in front of him, holding his hand open and staring him dead in the eye.

With an angry yell, Thanos threw his head back and slammed it into the pest of a woman, willing it to get her away from him.

His eyes widened when Carol didn't even flinch. Instead she smirked, and pushed with all her might, forcing the Titan down, onto his knees.

Furious and frustrated, Thanos cried out as he swung his arm once more, but not at the woman's face. He aimed for the Gauntlet, and out of it, he pulled the power stone.

This time when he aimed his enormous fist at her head, she was thrown across the field with a purple blast.

Tony Stark watched as Thanos blasted Carol away.

She had been their hope. Their last hope.

... Or was she?

Breathing heavily, Tony turned his head. Only several feet away, Doctor Strange was on one knee, a twitching outrider in front of him. But he was looking at Tony.

Slowly, Stephen lifted his hand, and held out one finger.

One in fourteen million.

Tony dropped to a knee as he stared at the Doctor, seeing the look on his face. He knew.

One in fourteen million...

Thanos rose back to his feet with some difficulty, and returned the Power Stone to its place. He grit his teeth as the radiation coursed through him once again. For the third time, finger and thumb met, as he made to complete his destiny.

And then Iron flew in out of nowhere, straight for Thanos's hand. He pulled at the gauntlet, but with a growl, Thanos drew back his fist and punched him away easily.

Iron Man lay on the floor, as the great Titan towered over him.

All around the battlefield everyone seemed to freeze, and look on in horror as Thanos raised his hand for the final time.

He stared down at Tony.

"I... am inevitable."

He lifted his head in triumph, bringing his finger and thumb together for the final time.

The Gauntlet gave a metallic clink as Thanos snapped his fingers and...

...

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

Perplexed, Thanos looked down at the Gauntlet in his hand, and his stomach sank slowly when he realised.

The Stones were gone.

Thanos looked up, and there in front of him stood Tony Stark, his right hand aglow with the Infinity Stones he had taken from the Gauntlet.

Tony stood strong as the power of the stones flowed through him, the gamma radiation eating away at his body.

He stared the Titan down as he brought his finger and his thumb together.

"And I... Am... Iron Man."