Cosmic Mix Up

chapter eleven

Billy's POV

Turns out the monk was a little bit off when he said Thanos was approaching, so we had some time to prepare ourselves.

Dr. Strange turned to me and gestured me to follow him off to the side of the group. Once we were away from prying ears he whispered in a conspiratorial tone, his eyes boring into my soul. "Billy, you are destined for grand things. I cannot tell you how this will play out exactly because then it will not come to be, but I can tell you that everything comes at a price. Everyone will have to make a sacrifice, but it does not always have to be the ultimate one. Understand?"

"Not really, no."

He grinned mysteriously, patting my head. "You will, when the time is right." With a flip off his cloak he turned back to the group but not before calling over his shoulder. "Remember Billy, I have seen the future. No matter how dark things get, everything should turn out alright. Should."

"That's not very comforting!" I whined, finding my place back next to Tommy and Tim.

"Did he tell you anything useful?"

"Not really." I grumbled, about to say more when one of the monks interrupted my pouting with a shout and a point to the glass ceiling. We all turned up to see a ginormous space craft blocking the majority of the sky light. How it got there without anyone noticing sooner is beyond me.

Instantly we all got into defensive positions as Dr. Strange summoned a force field a split second before the space craft attacked with a bombardment of projectiles. The force field protected us from direct damage but the force of the projectiles still rocked the building, knocking some of us off our feet.

Staggering back up, I grit my teeth in frustration. "Face us like a man!"

A blue cloud of smoke poofed up, depositing Thanos in the middle of us with a shocked expression. Dr. Strange turned to me in mild annoyance. "Careful what you wish for, Demiurge!"

Thanos saw where he was and grinned, eyes locking on Dr. Strange immediately "Stone Keeper, hand over the Time Stone and I may spare these annoying children."

Dr. Strange rolled his eyes, summoning up two magical orange whips. "Not a chance."

"Very well, you shall all perish then."

Thanos summoned the use of the Power Stone, charging at Dr. Strange and aiming a punch right for his head. Before he could strike, Conner jumped in the way and punched Thanos in the gut, only accomplishing making the Titan angrier. Thanos growled, punching Conner with the full force of the Power Stone directly in the face. Conner crumpled instantly, unmoving.

I gasped in terror, fearing the worst for my friend.

Thanos smirked, summoning the Space Stone to bring a dual bladed sword into his grasp. He swung it all around him, cutting down the monks that surrounded him and severely dwindling our forces. I barely jumped out of the way of the sword, crying out when I saw the blade connect with Roy's stomach.

That was my mistake.

Thanos followed my eyes and saw Roy grabbing his bleeding abdomen. With a malicious grin, Thanos stabbed the sword through Roy's chest and ended his life.

I felt the tears pour out of my eyes as I looked at the dead bodies of two of my friends. Thanos chuckled. "Demiurge, you are more pathetic than I thought. Becoming attached to these mere mortals, crying over their inevitable demises." I felt the fire of rage burn up within me so with a cry of distress, I released it as my blue fire, channeling it towards Thanos. He went flying backwards, scorched by my flames and even more angry. "Enough! Give me the Stone and I shall spare the rest."

"Like I believe you." I spat, summoning bolts of lightning to strike the Titan.

Thanos used the Space Stone to teleport out of the way, appearing behind Kaldur. He grabbed Kaldur by the head, thrusting his sword through his back and out through his chest, killing him instantly. "How many more of your friends do I have to kill, Demiurge, for you to realize you cannot beat me?"

"You can try to kill all of us, we'll still keep fighting!" Wally yelled, creating a tornado around Thanos.

I grinned, grabbing one of Jason's knives and teleporting onto Thanos' back. I stabbed the knife into his neck while he was distracted by Wally. Thanos screamed, swinging his sword wildly in his pained state. I gasped when I saw Wally get hit multiple times, knowing he was not going to survive those wounds.

I teleported off Thanos before he could grab me, landing next to Dr. Strange. "What do we do? He just keeps killing us!" It was as if time slowed down as I watched in horror as Thanos grabbed Tommy by the neck, holding him close to his chest. Thanos stared me dead in the eye as he took Tommy's head in both hands, snapping it violently to the side, breaking his neck. "Tommy!"

I watched the light fade out of Tommy's eyes as he fell to the ground lifelessly, a new found rage boiling within me. I was about to unleash everything I had onto Thanos when Dr. Strange grabbed my arm and shook his head solemnly. He turned to Thanos. "Enough! You want the Stone, you can have it."

"What?" I growled, watching helplessly as Dr. Strange flew up to Thanos and handed over the Time Stone.

Thanos grinned, adding the Stone to his gauntlet. "Five down, one to go." He looked to Strange, grabbing the sorcerer by the neck. "Thank you for your cooperation." He stabbed Dr. Strange, dropping his luckily still breathing body on the ground.

I roared, flying at Thanos and grabbing his head in my hands. I could see the bright blue aura around me, feel the power surging through my body as I hissed at Thanos with as much hatred and venom as one person could possibly hold in them. "Begone."

Thanos disappeared from my grasp and I floated to the ground, the glow disappearing from around me as I walked towards Dr. Strange. He looked up at me as blood dripped out of the corners of his mouth. "It had to be this way, I'm sorry."

"No, it really didn't." I sneered, turning away as the life faded out of the sorcerer. I walked up to my three remaining teammates, all of whom looked shell shocked and traumatized. Not that I blame them, we just watched half our team die. "I can try to bring them back...I-I can do it."

"No, Billy, you can't." Jason stated matter-of-factly. "But you can release Wanda and she can bring them back. She's our only hope right now."

"Jason's right." Artemis swallowed thickly, looking away from Wally's mangled corpse. "Wanda is the only one who can fix all of this. And right now she is trapped inside a stone that a genocidal maniac wants to add to his collection, a stone that only you can get her out of."

I nodded, a new steely determination fueling me as I looked away from all the death and destruction surrounding me and at Tim, Jason, and Artemis. "So what are we waiting for?"