Lost Our Minds |5| The Ascension

Chapter Forty Seven: Endgame-The Pride and The Fall

The Avengers reappeared on the Quantum platform, each of them looking around at the recovered stones. "Did we get them all?"

Rhodey laughed, astonished. "You tellin' me this'll actually work?"

McKenzie smiled in relief. "We did it." Then, as she made to step away from Clint's support, she cried out, falling to one knee.

Zosia's eyes widened. "Mom!"

"It's fine," McKenzie managed, her face contorted in pain. "Clint shot me a little, but it's fine."

"What?"

Clint held up his hands defensively. "I was trying to stop her from jumping off a cliff!"

"What?!"

Natasha knelt to check the heart rate monitor on McKenzie's suit. "I'd be more worried about the heart attacks. Although, to be fair, she was only dead for about ten minutes."

"What?!"

McKenzie chuckled. "Relax, it's just a blood pressure thing." She made a face. "Actually, it's feeling kinda high aga—" Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed out.

"A faint?" Clint guessed.

Natasha shook her head, checking the readout on her suit. "Cardiac arrest, left side. I'm defibrillating."

***

Later, they'd moved her to a hospital bay, where she lay unconscious in a bed. Were it not for the twin heart rate monitors, the onlookers might have thought she was dead. Even so, they knew it had been close. She was barely breathing.

"Do we know if she has any family left?" Tony asked, watching her sleep from the window. "Anyone she'd want with her?"

Natasha fixed him with a hard look. "Yeah. Us."

"She's lost so much," Bruce sighed. "We have to make it worth it. We have to."

Clint set his jaw, determined. "We will."

***

In the next few days, all work was focussed on creating a gauntlet strong enough to hold the stones. They'd all seen Thanos' in action, and they knew it had to be perfect, so when the time came to place the stones into their own version, Bruce and Rocket watched with bated breath. Tony implanted the stones, and they glowed for a moment before dimming. They stared.

"Boom!" Rocket exclaimed. The others flinched, then groaned.

***

"Alright, glove's ready," Rocket announced, looking around at the gathered Avengers. "Question is, who's gonna snap their freakin' fingers?"

"I'll do it," Thor volunteered.

Scott's eyes widened. "Excuse me?!"

"It's okay," Thor insisted.

"No, no, no, wait a sec," the others all tried.

"Thor, just wait," Zosia ordered.

He blinked. "I'm sorry. What, we're just sitting around waiting for the right opportunity?"

"We should at least discuss it," Scott reasoned.

Thor shook his head, resolute. "No, no, sitting here staring at that thing is not gonna bring everybody back. I'm the strongest Avenger, okay? So this responsibility falls upon me. It's my duty."

"It's not that," Tony tried.

"Stop it!" Thor exclaimed, tearing up. "Just let me. Just let me do it. Just let me do something good."