In Your Eyes // Steve Rogers

Back to Basics

From a portal above the ground, I dropped back onto Titan. I saw Strange in front of me, sitting on the barren steps of a collapsed building. From him, our allies were fanning out. They stopped in their places with my appearance.

"Clara?" asked Tony, sliding his mask up. "Good news?"

"News," I admitted. "Earth's being attacked right now. They have it centered in Wakanda only, everyone's there defending. T'Challa's sister is removing the stone from Vision's head and Wanda is standing by to destroy it," I explained. I turned to Strange, pleading, "You have to protect the Stone until we can separate Thanos from the Gauntlet, then you have to take it and run, anywhere, but not here. I'm gonna take the Gauntlet to Wakanda and Wanda and I are gonna give it our all."

"Which leaves us with just defeating Thanos without the Gauntlet," mused Quill.

"He's still powerful, but his best weapon will be across the universe. You can find out where Gamora is and have plenty of back up," I agreed. I smiled at them, a true, heartening smile, because I had faith in us, for the first time on this journey.

Everyone fell back into motion, finding outcomes to make themselves unseen in the foreground of where our battle against Thanos would take place. I started to find a hiding place when Strange called my day, summoning me to his place on the stairs.

"What's up, Doc?" I wondered.

Strange stood from the stairs and carefully pulled the Eye of Agamotto over his neck. He had it positioned to slip over my head, but I was quick to step back.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Trust me, Clara. The Stone needs to be with you," he said softly. He placed it around my neck, then created a replica over his chest. He hid mine from view with magic.

I sighed. I trusted in him to guide us in the right direction, based on his view of the future. "Okay. Where do you want me?"

"Just hide. And attack with all you have," he advised. As I nodded in agreement, he held out his hand for me to shake. "It's been an honor, Clara."

I furrowed my brow, wondering why he was being sentimental. Nevertheless, I agreed, then I hopped into a split crevice of the rocky terrain, creating a small portal above my head to see and hear Strange.

I watched as a rip in the air brought forth a giant, purple-tinted being. He was bald and wore golden armor around only his mid section. On his left hand, he wore a golden glove. The Infinity Gauntlet. He certainly lived up to the scary.

"Oh yeah," mused Strange. "You're much more of a Thanos."

His voice was deep, tired. "I take it Maw is dead."

Strange nodded.

Thanos sighed. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that. He brought you face to face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

"Where do you think he brought you?" asked Thanos, closing the gap between him and Strange.

"Let me guess. Your home."

"It was. And it was beautiful."

He curled his fingers into the glove and the landscape around us began to cascade in a circle around us, changing the wasteland to a beautiful paradise. Crystal blue water, green grass. A prosperous living destination.

"Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around. When we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide," guessed Strange.

"At random. Fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a mad man. And what I predicted came to pass."

He let his fingers release and the landscape shattered to reality. Destroyed. Deceased.

"Congratulations, you're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor," argued Thanos.

Strange's face hardened. "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," said Thanos. He raised the Gauntlet and the few Stones he did hold in his possession shimmered.

"And then what?"

"I finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe," admitted Thanos peacefully. "The hardest choices require the strongest will."

"I think you'll find our will equal to yours," said Strange fiercely, pushing his hands together to create his mandalas.

I figured that was the signal. I created a portal beside me and hopped through it, closing in on Thanos from behind. 

"'Our'?" repeated Thanos.

I heard a soaring whir above my head. I saw a massive shadow expanding on the ground and whipped my head up. Stark had grabbed a few floors of a decaying building and was pushing it down rapidly to crush Thanos.

I dove through a portal to Strange's side and fell on top of him through another portal, away from the impact radius. A cloud of smoke brushed out across the land. We turned until it cleared, still carefully stepping back to where Thanos was currently situated under a building.

Stark touched down beside us. He looked to Quill. "Piece of cake, Quill."

"Yeah, if your goal is to piss him off," muttered Quill, hitting his mask to activate.