"So, what? It was too dangerous
for me to fight against Iron Man
and Black Widow last year because
I was too young and it was too
dangerous, but now some alien dude
wants to destroy the planet and I'm
suddenly totally cool to fight?"
Sequel to...
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CHAPTER NINETEEN | THE END OF EVERYTHING
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she bears pain better than most and that's why people do not think she is struggling. they do not recognise she is hurting each time her lungs inhale and exhale, how every breath feels like a dozen stab wounds.
-nikita gill
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Thanos was bigger than Bella had thought he would be. He was ten feet of pure muscle with purple skin and a deeply lined face. Gulping, she curled her fingers around his child's scepter and prayed he didn't hold any special attachment to the two children of his she'd killed.
"Eyes up," Steve ordered. "Stay sharp."
He and Bruce both rushed at Thanos. The alien didn't even need to lay a hand on them to move them away. He curled his fist that was covered in the gauntlet Bella had heard so much about. He sent Bruce through him and then into a rock wall. He flung Steve back, all with the power of the stones. T'Challa fared no better and dropped the the ground like a rag doll when he launched himself at Thanos. Sam fell to the ground as well. All that was left was Bella, stood in front of Wanda and Vision.
"Wanda," Vision said. "It's time."
"No," Wanda hissed.
"Do it," Bella snapped. "You should've done it way earlier, but now you don't have a choice."
"Listen to her," Vision pleaded.
As he reasoned with her, Bella dropped the scepter and teleported to behind Thanos. She needed to buy them time. God, she was about to die. Shoving down her fear, she curled her fingers around the dagger hilt and teleported onto Thanos's shoulders. Before he could react, she stabbed the dagger into his arm. He barely even winced. He reached back and grabbed her by the throat. His eyes were peering into hers, and she was certain he could smell her fear.
"Nice try," he sneered before throwing her down.
The back of her head hit the thick trunk of one of Wakanda's trees with a sickening and she slid to the ground. Her head was spinning and there was definitely blood matted in her hair now if there wasn't already some before. She rolled onto her back, gripping her stomach in pain, and squeezed her eyes shut. Should've put the mask back on before charging at the freaking alien, dumbass! Lying in a pained heap on the ground, Bella watched through blurry vision as Bucky, Rhodey, Nat, Okoye, and Ashara all charged at Thanos and failed. Tears stung at her eyes. Letting out a rattling breath, she closed her eyes and turned her head towards the trees. She couldn't bear to watch what was happening. She pressed the circular charm in the suit and let out a sigh of relief as the vibranium retracted back into the necklace, leaving her in her shorts and t-shirt.
"Bella," Ashara whispered. When Bella opened her eyes again, she found Ashara bloodied and battered. How could the Goddess of Victory lose like this? "Bella, sit up. Look at me. Look at me."
Before Bella could even try to comply, Ashara hoisted her up. There were tears in Ashara's eyes, Bella was pretty sure. Though, maybe it was just the concussion.
"Hey, stay awake," Ashara said, gritting her teeth. "Bella, look at me."
Her mouth was dry, but Bella complied. Lazily, her eyes moved to focus on Ashara's face, only a mere few inches from her own. Ashara's eyes were wide and worried, and her hands were clamped around Bella's jaw.
"Wh— what— what are— are you doing?" Bella mumbled.
Ashara didn't answer. She kept her hands on Bella's face and closed her eyes. For a moment, Bella felt nothing, but then a deeply warm sensation trickled underneath her skin and flowed up towards the crack in her skull. She could feel the opening ever so slowly stitch itself closed. It wasn't like how it felt when Alex did it. Alex just healed. This felt like an undoing.
"I'm— I'm transferring some of my power to you," Ashara said. Bella's eyes slowly moved further into focus. "Healing you."
Her hand slipped through Ashara's arm. Just as Bella's vision came back into focus, she watched as Ashara disappeared into dusty specks before her. She stared in shock, unable to process. You killed her! her mind screamed. You did this! Bella scrambled up and looked around the trees, frantic breaths falling from her lips.
"No, no, no! Ashara!" she screamed. "Ashara!"
This is all your fault! Bella spun around, looking for any sign of life. She sprinted back towards the clearing and fell to her knees when she saw Vision crumpled in a gray heap on the ground and specks of dust floating away from the spot where Wanda had been.
Thanos, she realized.
"No! No! Steve! Steve? Steve! Where are you?"
Blindly, crying, she ran through the trees, searching and searching for the man and screaming his name out.
"Bella?"
The voice was faint, but she followed it. She ran so fast, paying attention only to the sound of Steve's voice, that she tripped over a gun lying on the ground. Bucky's gun.
"Steve!" she sobbed, scrambling away from the gun and Bucky's ashes. "I— Ashara— she— oh my, God, Steve! She— she—"
On her hands and knees, Bella curled her fingers into the dirt and sobbed into the ground. Nausea hit her like a ton of bricks, but she squeezed her eyes shut. Slowly, she felt Steve's arms encircle her and pull her into a hug. She could hear him crying quietly, and the sound just made her heart break even further. What had the world come to when even Captain America himself lost all hope?
And then, she realized. Alex.
In a state of panic, she shoved Steve off of her and teleported away. She landed in her room in the compound.
"Alex!" she wailed. "Alex! Are you here? Alex, please!"
She sprinted through the halls, checking in every room. Finally, she reached little Joey's room. Joey slept peacefully in his crib, but beside him laid a dusty pile that should have been Alex.
"NO!"
Bella clapped a hand over her mouth and sprinted into the nearest bathroom. Her body shook with nausea and guilt as she vomited up everything she'd consumed in the past twenty-four hours. Once her stomach was completely empty, Bella slumped against the floor. She didn't know if Peter was safe, wherever he was in the world — or in the universe. Ashara was gone. Alex was gone. Peter was... who knows what was happening with Peter. Bella wanted to believe he was fine, but how could she?
With everyone gone, was the world even worth living in anymore? Was it even worth fighting for?
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Here's a real tear-jerker for you guys! Next chapter is going to be just as bad!
A note: from here on out, we enter Endgame territory. This will contain some spoilers for the movie, but I will mostly be following my own plot. And, as I'm not going to be working off a movie I have on-hand, and since most of it will be my own plot, these following chapters will not be churned out as frequently as the past few have been. That being said, I have a lot of motivation right now (May 01, 2019) to get it done so I'm hoping it won't take me too long and that I will be able to get pretty frequent, decent updates out for you guys. Especially since my semester is almost done!
