The King: T'Challa.

Chapter 26: The Snap.

Emily forced herself upright, her side screaming with every breath. Blood slicked her palm where she pressed it against her ribs, but she ignored it. T'Challa lay some distance away, crumpled but breathing. That was enough for now. She dragged herself against the trunk of a shattered tree, leaning on the bark for balance, and tried to take in the battlefield.

It was carnage. Bodies — human, Wakandan, alien — scattered across torn earth. Smoke rolled in waves, choking the air with the metallic tang of fire. Every cry, every clash of metal felt distant, as though muffled by the sheer inevitability of it.

Wanda stood opposite her, hand trembling as she held back the Titan with scarlet fury, the effort visibly tearing her apart. Vision writhed helplessly behind her, his frame flickering, already failing. Emily's chest tightened at the sight — after everything, after all the wars, it had come down to this: one desperate woman trying to destroy the very man she loved to save the universe.

Steve charged, battered but unyielding. He ducked under a swing, came up punching, his vibranium guards slamming against Thanos' chest and jaw. For a breath, it almost looked like he held the Titan back. Steve's hands clamped onto the gauntlet, veins bulging with the effort, teeth clenched. And Thanos... almost looked amused. A flicker of respect, then a cold dismissal as he slammed a fist into Steve's temple, crumpling him.

Emily felt her stomach lurch. Everyone was down. Everyone. Except her — and Wanda.

She staggered forward, raising her hands, light crackling weakly in her palms. "Not while I'm still standing," she muttered to herself.

Wanda glanced over her shoulder, eyes wild with grief, and thrust out her free hand. A wave of red power slammed into Thanos, forcing him back a few paces. His boots dug into the soil, unstoppable even against her full force.

Emily seized the moment. She gathered what little energy she had left, sparks of electric blue dancing through her arms, and hurled it all at the Titan. Beams lashed across his torso, searing him just long enough for Wanda to regain ground.

For a heartbeat, it worked. Vision looked at Wanda, his voice breaking. "It's all right," he whispered, as though soothing her, not himself.

The stone cracked. The air filled with a crystalline shriek as the Mind Stone fractured, splintered, and finally shattered. A wave of yellow energy pulsed outward, rattling the trees, lighting up the field like a dying star.

Vision slumped. Lifeless.

Emily's focus wavered at the sight. Wanda's scream tore through the battlefield. In that fraction of distraction, Thanos lifted his hand, the Power Stone blazing. The blast hit Emily squarely in the chest, hurling her backwards. Her spine struck the tree, the sound of splintering wood drowned only by the crack she felt inside herself. She gasped, pain like fire across her ribs, before sliding to the ground.

And then came the worst of it.

Thanos lifted the gauntlet, emerald light flickering. Time reversed. The shards of the stone drew back together, reassembling, reforming until Vision stood once again before them — alive, whole, terrified. Every sacrifice Wanda had made undone in an instant.

"No!" Wanda lunged forward, grief driving her, but Thanos swatted her away as though she were nothing.

He took Vision by the throat, tilting his head with clinical detachment. Fingers dug into synthetic flesh, and with brutal inevitability he tore the stone from Vision's forehead. The android went limp, colourless, discarded like a broken toy.

Emily stared, her chest hollow. That was it. Their last chance, gone.

Thanos raised the gauntlet, admiring it, the final stone glowing in place. The power of creation itself sat complete on his hand.

But then — lightning. A storm of pure fury split the sky. Thor descended like wrath incarnate, Stormbreaker tearing through clouds and soldiers alike. He landed with a roar, his axe sinking deep into Thanos' chest, lightning carving the Titan into the dirt.

"I told you..." Thor snarled, pressing the weapon deeper, his single eye blazing with vengeance, "you'd die for that."

For the first time, Thanos faltered, his breath ragged, blood trickling from his mouth. Yet still he found strength enough to speak. His lips curved into something that almost resembled a smile.

"You should have gone... for the head."

The gauntlet rose.

The snap echoed like thunder.

The world... shifted. A strange silence swallowed the battlefield.

Emily's head jerked up, panic clawing at her chest. "No... no, no, no..."

Thor's fury faltered. "What did you do?!" he demanded, voice breaking with fear.

Thanos didn't answer. He simply vanished, a pulse of blue light as the Space Stone carried him away, leaving Stormbreaker buried in empty soil.

Steve staggered upright, his face pale. He helped Emily to her feet. Her side screamed in protest and she bit down on the pain. "Where'd he go?" Steve asked hoarsely. He turned to Thor. "Where is he?!"

No answer.

A voice behind them. "Steve?"

Emily spun — Bucky, stumbling forward, reaching for his friend. And then, before her eyes, his body turned to ash. His hand dissolved mid-reach, his voice cut short, and in seconds he was gone.

"No..." Steve whispered, broken.

Emily's chest constricted. Her thoughts turned instantly to T'Challa. She tore away from Steve, sprinting through the wreckage, ignoring the agony tearing through her ribs. "T'Challa!"

She stumbled, tripped on a root, fell hard. She pushed herself up, gasping, and forced herself onward until she found Okoye lying amidst the ruin. She was alive — but her eyes were wet, her face hollow.

Emily's throat tightened. "Where is he?"

Okoye said nothing. Just silence, and the trembling in her jaw.

"Okoye..." Emily's voice broke, "where's T'Challa?"

The General's silence was the answer. Emily's knees gave way, her breath shuddering.

Around them, more vanished — Sam, Wanda, the Wakandan warriors. Dust on the wind.

At last, silence.

The survivors gathered, broken and bleeding, around Vision's grey corpse. Rhodey's voice cut across the void, sharp with desperation. "What is this? What the hell is happening?"

No one answered.

Steve turned the android's body over with shaking hands. His face was drawn, hollow, as though the truth had drained the life out of him. His voice came quiet, almost prayer-like, but heavy with despair.

"Oh, God."

Emily sat down hard beside Okoye, her own wound forgotten, staring blankly into the distance. Her hands were numb. Her chest felt hollow.

Half their family was gone. Half the universe was gone.

Thanos had won.