stark, peter parker

vii. of all the ways to die, this has to be one of the least cool

"oh, yeah...you're much more of a 'thanos.'" strange said as thanos arrived on titan. strange sat by himself on what could've previously been plaza steps.

"i take it the maw is dead." thanos said. "this day extracts a heavy toll. still, he accomplished his mission."

strange nodded. "you may regret that. he brought you face-to-face with the master of the mystic arts."

"and where do you think he brought you?" thanos asked.

unbeknownst to the mad titan, the rest of the group were in hiding. quill was crouched behind some wreckage, peter peeking from above and behind strange. "let me guess. your home?" strange replied.

"it was." thanos said, smiling reminiscently. "and it was beautiful." he curled his fist, activating the reality stone to show strange what the planet looked like before its destruction. green lawns, intact buildings, strolling citizens. "titan was like most planets. too many mouths, and not enough to go around. and when we faced extinction, i offered a solution."

"genocide."

thanos shook his head. "but at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. they called me a madman. and what i predicted came to pass." as he relaxed his fist, the stone's glowing stopped and the illusion faded into the destructed state of the current titan.

"congratulations." strange said sarcastically. "you're a prophet."

thanos shook his head. "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."

strange stood. "and then what?"

"i finally rest...and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. the hardest choices require the strongest wills."

strange then entered a fighting pose. "i think you'll find our will...equal...to yours."

"ours?" thanos asked. he looked up to see a chunk of wreckage descend upon him, too rapidly for him to react. the two starks powered it, crushing the alien.

"piece of cake, quill." tony said.

"yeah," quill agreed, "if your goal was to piss him off!"

the wreckage that had fallen on top of thanos erupted into a purple blast as he bellowed with rage. using the reality stone, he turned the hovering fragments into a flock of bats, swarming tony with them and driving him back through the ruins. dakota flew out of the way just in time to avoid them, getting knocked off of her balance in the process.

peter swung towards thanos, webbing his eyes and kicking him in the face just as drax leapt from his cover, sliding on his knees behind thanos to cut the backs of his knee with his blades.

dakota flew back into the scene, extending an arm and blasting thanos on the side of the head. he recoiled with a grunt, turning to see who had done it. before he could react, she was on the other side of him, and hit him with the same force and the same move.

dazed, thanos regained balance, only for strange to jump through a portal in front of him, summoning golden energy to duel with him.

annoyed by drax continuing to slice his legs open, thanos punched him through a ruined wall, shattering his blade with a hand and tearing peter's webs from his eyes. he moved to advance on strange, only for his cloak to lift him above the ground.

quill, on the ground now, shoot at thanos from behind. the titan used the power stone to shoot blasts of energy at him, but quill used magical platforms thrown by strange to climb his way to thanos' head. he then flipped him over and slapped a mine on his back. he flipped off thanos before falling backwards into a portal, just in time for thanos to be knocked to his knees by the explosion on his back.