Monsters (Wanda Maximoff x male Superman reader)

Chapter Forty-Three: Thanos

It had been two days since (Y/N) had returned to the compound and been freed from Thanos' control. He was still distant from the rest of the team, for the most part, but at least he wasn't trying to kill every last one of them.

He was in his old room at the compound, the one that was directly adjacent to Wanda's. God, that felt so long ago. And yet, somehow it feels as though it were yesterday.

Sometimes, (Y/N) would think of something, then say to himself, 'Oh, Wanda will love this,' and then he remembered everything. It hurt to think, it hurt to live without her. She truly was his world.

Rhodey burst in, interrupting (Y/N)'s thinking. "She found him."

"What?"

"Tony. Carol found him."

(Y/N) got up off his bed and followed Rhodey outside. Steve, Nat, and a person who (Y/N) could only assume was Pepper Potts, were already outside. From behind the compound came Carol, carrying a massive spacecraft into the courtyard. The landing gear from the ship extended and it touched down, with Carol lowering her arms and letting go of it.

A ramp lowered, and from inside came two people: an ailing Tony Stark and a blue-skinned android, who turned away to speak with Rocket. (Y/N) would later learn her name was Nebula.

Steve went to help Tony out.

"I lost the kid," Tony said.

"We all lost," Steve said, glancing at (Y/N). There was a sudden realization from Tony, who nodded at (Y/N). (Y/N) smiled weakly in return.

Steve, Tony, and the others went back inside the compound to discuss Thanos. (Y/N) went back to his room to clear his head.

-----

It had been a little while since the other Avengers had gone to the briefing room when Bruce Wayne came into (Y/N)'s room.

"You'll need to see this," was all Wayne said before leaving. (Y/N) followed.

In the briefing room were most of the other Avengers, with the exception of Bruce Banner, who was tending to Tony's health, and Pepper was staying with him.

"When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a release of energy of ridiculously huge proportions," Rocket was explaining. "Nothing like this has ever been seen before."

"Not even the destruction of my homeworld," (Y/N) added.

"Right," Rocket continued. "That is, until two days ago, on this planet." Victor projected a hologram of a remote planet far from Earth.

"He used the stones again," Natasha concluded.

"Let me guess," Bruce Wayne said, "He used the stones the exact time you came to rescue me in that bunker."

"Down to the second," Victor said.

"He must have used the stones to release me," (Y/N) suggested.

"But why?" Steve asked. "Why would he release you?"

"Why didn't he just mind control all of us?" Barry asked. "He totally could."

Carol suddenly got up and left.

"Where are you going?" (Y/N) asked her.

"To kill Thanos."

"Oh, well then I'm coming with you," He said, getting up to follow her. "Suit up," he said to the other Avengers.

"Let's go get this son of a bitch," Steve said.

-----

The ship departed from Earth, the team strapped in to the seats, wearing full battle gear.

"Alright," Rocket addressed everyone, "How many of you have never been to space before?"

Steve, Natasha, Rhodey, Bruce Wayne, Victor, and Barry all raised their hands.

Rocket groaned. "Nobody throw up on my ship!"

The ship surged forward, throwing the Avengers back in their seats.

It took a few minutes, but the ship finally slowed to a halt above an unknown world. Carol departed from the cabin and went outside.

"I'll head down for recon," She said.

The Avengers waited a moment for her return.

"This is going to work Steve," Natasha said.

"I know," Steve responded. "Because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't."

Carol floated up to the ship's cockpit.

"There's no ground armies, no anti air defenses. It's just him."

"And that's enough," Nebula said.

"Let's get to it," (Y/N) said.

-----

Carol was the first to attack. She fired one of her photon blasts at Thanos through the roof of his home, which he blocked with the broken gauntlet. She whirled around behind him, grabbing the mad titan by the neck. Thanos tried to clench his fist, use the stones, but before he could, (Y/N) burst down from the roof and grabbed his arm, using his breath to freeze it solid. Rhodey came in and grabbed Thanos' other arm, restraining him. Thor came down from the sky and chopped the gauntlet clean off Thanos' arm, the latter yelling in pain as he did so. (Y/N) released his grip on Thanos' now-stumpy arm as Steve and the rest of the Avengers entered the house. Rocket flipped Thanos' severed hand over, revealing...

nothing.

"Where are they?" Steve asked.

"Answer the question," Carol said, tightening her grip on Thanos' neck.

"The universe required correction," Thanos said, "After that, the stones served no purpose."

"That's not a very good answer," Bruce said. "Where are the stones?"

"Gone. Reduced to atoms."

"You used them two days ago," Victor said accusingly.

"I used the stones to destroy the stones."

It suddenly became apparent to (Y/N) why he had been released from Thanos' control. He didn't want it to be true. It couldn't.

"It nearly killed me," Thanos continued. "But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable."

"He has to be lying," Barry said. "They've got to be around here somewhere."

"My father is many things," Nebula said. "But a liar is not one of them."

"Ah, thank you daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly-"

Thanos was cut off as Thor swung Stormbreaker at his neck, cutting the mad titan's head clean off.

"What did you just do?" Rocket asked.

"I went for the head," Thor said as he left the house.

(Y/N) turned away from the rest of the group. The stones were gone. And there was nothing anybody could do about it.

"(Y/N), wait," Steve said, but it would be useless. (Y/N) shot off into the sky, leaving everyone else behind.

-----

He landed back outside his fortress a while later, tearing off his Kryptonian suit and holding out in front of him, the light of the sun blocked out by the stormy clouds, the symbol appearing darkened without the light.

He let the suit fall from his hands, and into the deep darkness of the mountain below.

Hope had failed him.