Dark Paradise(Marvel) *book one*

Another One Bites the Dust

you can tell it's me by the song title

~A.M.

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The scene whites out. It cuts sharply to a view of Thanos his hand on his chest, no wounds visible. Thanos now seems to be inside the Soul Stone, where he sees a young Gamora and the pavilion from the home world of the Zen-Whoberi.

"Daughter?" Thanos questions.

Gamora turns towards him, "Did you do it?"

"Yes." Thanos simply answers.

Gamora pauses for a beat before asking, "What did it cost?"

"Everything." Thanos solemnly remarks, looking at his 'daughter'.

Now out of the Soul World, Thanos is snapped back to normal reality, and notices the damage inflicted on the gauntlet - the metal scorched and distorted from heat, the stones no longer glowing.

"What'd you do?" Thor quietly asks before angrily repeating, "WHAT'D YOU DO?!"

Thanos nearly seems to not notice Thor before he uses the Space Stone and teleports away, leaving Stormbreaker behind on Wakandan ground.

Steve stumbles into the clearing, holding his left side. "Where'd he go? Thor... where'd he go?"

"Steve?" Bucky asks as he stumbles in, examining his already disappearing arm.

Bucky suddenly stumbles over, and collapses into ashes, much to Steve's shock; he walks over and touches the ground where Bucky's ashes evaporated unbelievingly. All Steve can do is sit and look incredulously.

On the battlefield, Wakankan soldiers disintegrate to ashes, much to M'Baku's horror.

T'Challa reachs for a fallen Okoye. "Up, General. Up! This is no place to die." T'Challa holds out his hand for Okoye. But he suddenly disintegrates into ashes and an anguish Okoye falls back on the ground.

"Kumkani?!" Okoye cries out.

Groot slowly corrodes into ashes as well by Rocket. "I am Groot..." Translation: "Dad?"

Rocket approches where Groot was sitting after losing him yet again. "No.... No. No. No. No! Groot, no."

Wanda is mourning over Vision. She then turns into ashes. An injured Falcon turns to ashes, hidden in the undergrowth.

James Rhodes searching for Falcon, missing him by only a few feet. "Sam? Sam!? Where you at?!" Rhodey calls.

On Titan, the remaining members of the Guardians and Avengers collect themselves - Mantis props up Star-Lord, Spider-Man helps Tony to his feet, Drax and Nebula manage to limp over on their own.

"Something... is... happening." Mantis as she gets killed into ashes.

Drax turns to Quill as he dissolves. Quill?" Quill stares in horror.

Tony holds a comforting hand out. "Steady, Quill."

Quill looks at Tony in worry, "Aw, man." Quill also gets disintegrated into ashes.

Strange calmly turns to Stark. "Tony, there was no other way." He finally gets erased.

Peter Parker realizes he's fading away. "Mister Stark? I don't feel so good..."

Tyler watches in horror as Peter stumbles and begins to shake her head. "No, no, no..." She tearfully repeats.

Tony, trying to be calm, his voice shaking as he looks at Peter in terror. "You're all right."

Peter Parker, stumbling and terrified, "I don't know what's- I don't know what's happening. I don't-" Parker falls into Stark's arms, clutching him tight and crying. "I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go, sir, please. Please, I don't wanna go. I don't wanna go... I'm sorry." Parker tearfully whispers to both Tyler and Tony as disintegrates into ashes in Stark's arms.

Tony wraps weak arms around Tyler as she sobs, they're both waiting for the other to disintegrate.

Nebula to Tony Stark, seeing Thanos' victory. "He did it."

Stark and Tyler mourn silently at their failure it caused.

Back on Wakanda, the remaining team members, Captain America, Thor, War Machine, Black Widow, Bruce Banner, and Rocket are left mourning near Vision's dead body.Captain America turns over Vision's bleached corpse as the Black Widow runs up to the other survivors.

Hecate looks around at others who are still disintegrating. Her eyes go wide and she sighs in relief as Shuri runs toward her, a cut on her forehead the only visible injury.

Shuri runs into her girlfriend's arms before gasping and panting.

Hecate seems to realise what's happening  and stiffens, "No, Shuri, don't. You can't."

"It'll be okay. You'll figure it out." Shuri says before disintegrating.

"NO!" Hecate cries. The team stares as she silently collapses next to a sobbing Steve.

Rhodey runs towards them all, "What is this? What the hell is happening?" He, almost angrily, asks.

".... Oh, God." Steve sobs.

Meanwhile, in a different place, in a rustic house on a terraced slope with a scarecrow made of discarded armor, Thanos sits down and watches the Sun rise.

Cut to Fury and Maria Hill driving.

"Still no word from Stark?" Nick asks Maria.

Maria shakes her head, No, not yet. We're watching every satellite in both hemispheres, there's still nothing."

Receives three beeps from her device and looks down at it in shock.

"What is it?" Fury questions in worry.

"Multiple bogeys over Wakanda."

"Same energy signatures as New York?"

"Ten times bigger."

"Tell Klein. We'll meet him at-" Nick said.

"Nick!" Hill calls as a car spirals out of control in front of them. They get out and Hill checks on the passengers.

"They okay?" Fury questions.

Behind their vehicle, a motorcycle lies in the middle of the street with a concerned citizen approaching it.

"There's no one here." Maria says in shock.

They hear helicopter rotor sounds from the direction they'd come, but it sounds wrong -- a Leonardo executive helicopter, tail rotor smoking from damage already, appears and crashes nose-first into a building. Screaming intensifies. The two are now witnessing civilians around them suddenly disintegrating.

"Call Control. Code Red." Nick orders and Maria nods, rushing back to the car. She grabs a pager.

"Nick?" Maria worriedly questions.

Fury turns around to see Hill disintegrating.

"Hill?" He questions.

Fury then races back to their car and gets a what appears to be an old pager with extra gear attached out of his bag on the back seat. He sends out an emergency alert, mere seconds before his hand turns into ashes.

"Oh, no. Motherf-"

Fury corrodes to dust. The pager falls to the ground, red lights blinking on the additions; the camera zooms in and we see the device display "SENDING..." then display a red-blue-and-gold star insignia -- the symbol of Captain Marvel.

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aaand that's a wrap! wow. we actually just finished a story! we hope you enjoyed and we will be back for endgame!

~A.M.