Age Of Miracles | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Fifty-Two: You Will Die

Music is "No Man's Land" by Rupert Gregson-Williams from the Wonder Woman OST.

Picture is of Earth.

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"At this moment, no living thing in the universe will die. Not the lowliest bacteria, nor grandest Celestial. While stars collapse and implode, blown to dust, all that possesses "life" refuses oblivion. All of it lives on despite its destiny, in defiance of the engine of evolution that culls the weak...I am the only reason you live. And because Thanos decrees it, you will die."

- Thanos

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CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Over my short lifetime, I've come to learn that there is a sentence, a series of words, that has the power to destroy them. "I don't love you," is a big one for most people. Sometimes even the opposite, "I love you," is just as devastating when it comes from someone you despise. Perhaps even the terrible, "I've fallen out of love with you," is the worst one of all.

For me, it's the simple acknowledged that I might lose this fight with Thanos. "He might win," is a thought that crosses my mind as we begin to battle, throwing cosmic punches and infinity-packed jabs. He might win this fight. I might lose. It's repeated over and over in my head as he gains on me, forcing me to the ground with his metal fist.

But I can't let him win. I have too much to lose, even still. So I'm searching my mind for a series of words that can destroy him, something I can use to get the upper hand.

For now, I guess I'll have to be content with throwing my fist up against his jaw, flinging him across the Wakandan landscape.

I pull myself up, quickly eyeing the direction in which my fist sent Thanos flying. I see a line of upturned earth where he landed, but no Titan himself. I fly over to it, looking around for him. My newly improved eyes scan the landscape, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

While doing that, Thanos sneaks up behind me and grabs me by my silver hair, tossing me into a cliff face a few meters away. My body breaks into the rock as I make contact, and I force my struggling body to pull myself out.

"You couldn't just let it die," Thanos growls, throwing his fist at my head.

I dodge it a millisecond before the glove crushes my face. My feet leave the ground in flight, and I find a semblance of safety in the air above him. I wipe the blood from my face, spitting the rest onto the ground in front of him. "It's my world, too," I reply, breathing heavily and unevenly. "It's my home. I'll do what I have to."

Thanos' eyes narrow and he clenches the Gauntlet, using the Space and Power Stones to tear a massive chunk of rock from the cliff. He throws it at me at alarming speed. Instead of attempting to dodge, which I know I don't have enough time for, I power my Gauntlet and use the Deity Gem to power through the hunk of earth, plowing straight through it without a scratch.

"You will die," he growls, using the Reality Stone to warp the universe around us. It shifts and spins, like a fun house mirror. Though distorted, I use my version of the Stone--the Dimension Gem--to counteract his attempts to gain the advantage.

"No, I think it's your turn to do that," I reply.

We continue to brawl, using all the physical and cosmic strength we can muster. When Thanos throws a punch, I dodge. When I blast cosmic rays at him, he uses the Gauntlet to absorb them. When each of us try to use our Infinity Gauntlets to gain the upper hand, the other uses the corresponding Stone or Gem to counteract it.