Hiding in the Shadows

Chapter 43 - A Truth Revealed

My sword shattered the bone, allowing me to cut through the skin and take possession of the gauntlet. Loki successfully pierced his head, burying his dagger in Thanos's brain. However, this failed to kill Thanos immediately, instead he looked up at us in a mixture of surprise and great pain. As much as I knew I shouldn't enjoy seeing his agony, I found myself relishing in it, knowing that he wanted to kill the people I held most dear.

"Loki, I should have known you would evade death once again," Thanos breathed, clearly holding onto life by a thread. "But you, you I was not expecting, at least not if your father had anything to say about it."

"You know who I am?" I questioned in shock, wondering how word of me had reached him in space.

"Of course I know who you are, (Y/N) Stark. A Deviant always recognizes one of the same species, even if their blood is diluted with pitiful mortal blood. You have the gauntlet now, finish what I have started, or else the universe will suffer," Thanos replied, falling to his knees as purple blood poured from his head wound.

"The universe would suffer if I did wipe out half of all life, you purple bastard. Besides, your plan was terribly thought through. If you were to wipe out half of all life that would include plants, leaving the ratio of creatures to resources the same as it is right now. You weren't doing this for the good of the universe, you were only doing this to make people suffer," I reprimanded him, all of my anger I had pent up towards him spilling out of me. "You deserve to die this slow and painful death and no one will mourn you."

"In time you will see, give in to your heritage and join me on my quest to save the universe," Thanos muttered right before he lost consciousness.

"Is he dead?" Steve asked, brushing the dirt from his suit.

As Loki checked Thanos's vitals, I picked up the fallen gauntlet, detaching it from Thanos's severed arm. Part of my mind still lingered on what Thanos had said about my race, wondering if I was true. I decided to cut of a chunk of his skin for testing later. Part of me assumed that he had merely been lying in order to sway me to his cause, but part of me also believed that he was telling the truth and I needed to know which part was correct.

"(Y/N), I would be careful with that if I were you, it takes an extremely powerful being to wield just one infinity stone and in that gauntlet sits five," Loki warned me as I went to slip the gauntlet onto my arm.

"You said the space stone allows you to teleport, correct?" I clarified, earning a nod from Loki. "Then I am going to use it. I have never teleported to another planet before and I struggle just traveling across earth. So clearly I need to get some help if I am to go fetch my father and boyfriend. I have a feeling Tony won't be exactly pleased if you were to go pick him up, Loki."

"Yeah, why is Loki here? I wasn't even on the team back when he attacked and I know that he's a bad guy," Sam wondered, causing me to shake my head.

"He should explain his situation while I am gone, but I think that Loki has earned our trust. This plan to kill Thanos was all his doing and he is not entirely to blame for New York, I think that he has been a bit misunderstood. Regardless, Thor trusts him and now so do I," I answered, causing Loki to give me one of the few genuine smiles I had ever seen him make.

"Thank you, Lady (Y/N), for supporting my brother, although I am once again shocked to find that he is still alive. I know that I must not keep believing that he has actually died, but his fake deaths are so lifelike that I actually thought he was gone once again," Thor admitted, despite the fact I hadn't seen him arrive.

"Wait, hold up a second, (Y/N), that's you?" Bruce interrupted, staring at me in shock.

I removed my hood along with the mask shrouding my lower face, "I apologize, I forgot that you haven't been here in a while. Yes, I became Shadow a few months ago, but my identity has still remained a secret." I then turned to T'Challa, who had removed his panther helmet and had been watching the conversation in silent interest, "King T'Challa, may we hold a meeting somewhere in your country to discuss the dispersal of the infinity stones? I think that the Avengers, as well as whoever you may want at the meeting, should determine a plan as to what to do with them next as it is extremely unsafe to keep them so close together and already in the gauntlet."

"I must request that you stay here with the gauntlet. I may be the only here who does not know who you are, but I do not trust you enough to leave with the gauntlet. If Thanos was telling the truth then you are someone like him, how do we know that you are not going to use the gauntlet for evil?" He replied, catching me off guard with his suspicions.

"With all due respect, King T'Challa, you are completely wrong about (Y/N)," Steve immediately defended me, beating the rest of the Avengers who seemed just as eager to ensure that I could be trusted. "I do not know what Thanos was saying about her heritage, but (Y/N) has been a part of our family since the beginning. She would never use those powers for anything but good, I doubt she'll even use them more than simply to teleport to bring back those stranded in space."

"If you are unsure whether or not you can trust me, you may also ask your sister. Shuri and I have been friends for a while, we've actually been helping each other with our inventions," I decided to contribute, knowing that he would trust Shuri above all.

"(Y/N)!" I heard a voice call out with perfect timing. "I was wondering why you weren't out there on the battlefield."

"Shuri! I will explain everything, but first can you just tell your brother to trust me?" I replied, wrapping my arms around her briefly.

She turned to her brother, "I don't know what (Y/N)'s up to, but you should just let her do it. Besides, she'll probably do whatever it is anyway, regardless of if you give her permission or not."

I smiled at her words, figuring now was the best time to put the gauntlet on. Although I had been fairly nervous about it engulfing my entire arm due to the size of Thanos's, as I slipped it on it began to tighten around my suit, locking me in.

-

(A/N): do you think you're powerful to wield the gauntlet? And do you think that Thanos was telling the truth? I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!