INFERNO │ Marvel

9.5 ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Everything was quiet except for the rustle of leaves in the woodland as Steve and Amelia looked around, waiting for the purple monster to make an appearance. Her heart was beating so fast but she wasn't afraid for herself. She was terrified for her friends, for the world. If they lost, whether they did it together or not, half of the universe's deaths would be on them.

"Everyone, on my position," Steve instructed through the comms. "We have incoming."

A dark blue cloud appeared in the woodland in front of the team. A portal. Out walked Thanos, no longer wearing the armour Amelia had last seen him in. She and Wanda readied their powers, the latter letting out quiet, shaky breaths.

"Cap, that's him," Bruce confirmed. Steve readied his shields again.

"Eyes up, stay sharp," he said and then ran at Thanos.

Bruce got to him the quickest, but Thanos used the space stone to phase him through his body, the Hulkbuster melding into the rock wall behind him. He then hit Steve with a blast from the power stone and he went tumbling to the side. T'Challa was forced to the ground with a punch and Sam's wings were broken with ease. Amelia prepared herself as he advanced.

"Wanda, it's time," Vision said softly. Amelia grimaced but kept her stance in front of the couple, not taking her eyes off of Thanos. "They can't stop him Wanda but we can."

"I can hold him off," Amelia assured. "I'm sorry. You have to get it done."

She left the couple behind and walked towards the Titan. In front of her, Rhodey tried to attack, but Thanos crushed his suit around him. Amelia ignited her wings as she kept on advancing. Bucky and Okoye were thrown away by the power stone while Nat became encased in Earth. She shot daggers of fire that pierced Thanos' skin but barely earned her a grunt of pain. Steve moved in to attack again, managing to push back against his powerful fist but just ended up being thrown away again. There was no one left to fight. It was up to her and Wanda now.

Amelia released the biggest blast of fire she could muster while Wanda used her own powers to destroy the mind stone. She hit Thanos with it, stopping him from advancing any further. At that moment, she was the last line of defence and she hated that it fell down to her. She especially hated that Thanos seemed to know her greatest weakness of all, and that cost them everything. Through his groans of pain, he spoke just four words that managed to shatter her heart into a thousand pieces.

"Your brother is dead."

She stopped. She almost had him but she stopped the second those words left his mouth. It was like all the life had left her body. If her brother was dead, she might as well be dead herself. And if she was going to die, Thanos was going to die with her. She screamed, releasing all of her power into a giant flaming sword and stabbing Thanos in the gut. She pushed it deeper and deeper while he yelled out himself. Orange veins grew from the wound, spreading the fire through the rest of his body. Even as he activated the power stone on his gauntlet, she kept her stance, forcing the fire to consume him, to eradicate him off the face of the Earth.

It was too much, though. She had done a great deal of damage, but the power stone had weakened her enough that he just tossed her away with a final hit from the gauntlet. He didn't even bother to finish her off. Wanda took up the defence as she finished off destroying the stone. Amelia pulled herself back up, not willing to part this world until the Mad Titan had too. He was already burned and she would finish the job.

Before she could reach them, the mind stone broke. Amelia covered herself with a fire shield before the blast could push her back. Wanda had done it. Even if Amelia had failed, Wanda had saved the universe. When Thanos approached her, now exhausted from her efforts, Amelia covered her with her body. He looked down on her, amused.