The Man My Father Always Talked About • A CAPTAIN AMERICA STORY

64

~64~

As they walked down to face their opponent, Steve and Clara stayed side by side. Neither one had the words to say in their silence though they both knew the possible outcome of their fight. They had discussed their plans. They would circle him in order to have the upper hand. After all, it was four against one. Thanos sat in his spot, waiting for his opponents as he looked around at the mess he made. As they descended the last hill before they were forced to confront the beast, Steve grabbed a hold of Clara's gloved hand and held it tightly. "You know I'll never leave you, right?" He said this, referring to the promise he made to her all those years ago. In a way, it was their form of saying 'I love you,' and 'I'll always be with you.'

Clara's heart beat fast as she was filled with fear, knowing there were infinite outcomes of what could happen. She knew there was a chance she would lose the man she loved, her brother, or her best friend. She knew that going head first into battle with a purple giant could result in her death as well. At the end of the day, she was only human. What chance would she have up against a powerful titan? If her time had come that day, she'd leave this world with so many regrets. Instead of letting her emotions out, she simply nodded her head and breathed out a soft, "Always."

Steve looked at her one last time before following Tony. He and his brother-in-law approached Thanos from the left as Thor and Clara went to his right. They circled him slowly, taking a few steps as he started his monologue. "You could not live with your own failure, and where did that bring you?" He asked from his seat as he stared down the Avengers. "Back to me." He smirked as he watched them come closer. He shifted in his seat as he looked up to the sky. "I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible. And as long as there are those that remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be. They will resist."

"Yep. We're all kinds of stubborn," Tony said as he paced around Thanos.

"I'm thankful. Because now, I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom. And then...With the stones you've collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost but only what it has been given. A grateful universe." Clara's blood began to boil as his original plan turned for the worse. She would use every bone in her body to prevent Thanos from destroying the world she had vowed to protect.

"Born out of blood," Steve started coldly as he stared down his opponent.

"They'll never know it. Because you won't be alive to tell them," Thanos snarled and the fight started. Tony immediately took his shot, Steve following before Thor shot Thanos with a bolt of lightning. Steve and Clara did their move where she shot a powerful beam off of his shield, throwing Thanos off balance. He knocked Steve and Clara aside, the couple going their separate ways.

Tony made a contraption on his back before yelling to Thor. "Okay, Thor. Hit me." Thor summoned lightning then fired it into Tony's back, powering his new blasters. Thanos fought off Tony before Thor was the only one left. He used Stormbreaker to fight him off, but Thanos didn't flinch. He simply threw Thor aside. Clara flew in, kicking him with her feet as they formed into a ram. She flipped before landing on her feet and forming a sword. She flew up and hit him in the neck, the metal of her suit clashing with his armor. It didn't do much damage, but it pissed him off. Thinking back to the time she encountered his minions in New York, Clara formed four reactors that came out from her back.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" He snarled as the reactors charged themselves.

"It's never been a trait of mine," Clara smirked under her helmet. She fired at him through the four reactors which caused him to stumble backwards. He started to deflect the beams with his sword and shot one right back at her. She fell but got up quickly, forming blasters again and shooting at him. He walked straight through her before grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the ground. He lifted her up again and repeated the action a good two more times. The nanobots of her helmet couldn't form back fast enough and left her helmet damaged on the right side. Half of her face was exposed while the other was trapped behind the mask.