A GODS WEAKNESS [l.laufeyson]

THIRTY NINE

"Excuse me, but...Does your friend often do that?" Mantis points to Strange who is sitting cross-legged, his hands poise in a mystic gesture with the Time Stone suspended between them. His eyes are closed and his head is jerking rapidly from side to side.

"Strange, we alright?" Tony calls out for him as Strange seems to snap out of it as he falls forward, letting out a cry.

"You're back. You're alright. Hi." Tony calms him down, worried about the expressions on the wizards face.

"Hey, what was that?" Astrid asks as her and Peter step forward towards them.

Strange replied breathlessly "I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."

"How many did you see?" Quill now joins the group also intrigued.

"14,000,605."

"How many did we win?"

Strange pauses a while before answering.

"One."

One chance. That's all they got.

~

Strange has come face to face with Thanos. Thanos shows him his home before it was destroyed. The group is hidden all around Thanos with weapons at the ready, waiting for the signal to attack. Astrid spots the monster who took away her family. Pure hatred fills her body as she feels the power inside her building up. She's still healing, physically and mentally. But if this was the only chance of taking Thanos down, then so be it.

"Congratulations. You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that... Mercy."

"And then what?"

"I finally rest...And watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills." Astrid squeezed her hands tight into a ball. He doesn't deserve to rest peacefully. Loki never got to watch the sun rise again, so why should he.

"I think you'll find our will, equal to yours." Strange uses his hand motions.

"Ours?" Thanos looks up in time to a see a chunk of wreckage coming down on him and tries to use the Power Stone to stop, but is too late. Iron Man suddenly comes flying in.

"Piece of cake, Quill."

Quill comes flying in from the other side. "Yeah, if your goal was to tick him off."

The wreckage on top of Thanos erupts, the pieces glowing with purple. He shouts as he uses the Power Stone to force the pieces at Iron Man. Spiderman webs his eyes and swings in to kick him in the face. Strange then summons a blade, but Thanos stops it with his hand and tears the web from his eyes. He advances on Strange and kicks him just as Strange summons a shield, absorbing the force of his blow but knocking him back.

Star-Lord shoots Thanos from behind and Thanos uses the Power Stone to shoot balls of energy at Star-Lord while he advances by the steps Strange formed in the air and places a electric mine on his back. He turns to Quill, as he disengages his helmet he dives backward into a portal, flipping him off.