War

Chapter 14

There was a change in the air and Raptor slowed to a halt as the wind began picking up with an eerie feel to it. She turned her head to the side as Pietro came to a stop next to her, his hair a mess and clothes just as stained as her scales in grime.

"Thanos." He sounded out of breath, which actually surprised her as she couldn't recall him ever seeming this tired.

She growled and began making her way in the direction the Avengers were converging in. Together the pair managed to reach Thanos' location, though not before he'd taken out many of the Avengers' previous attacks against him.

"We have to keep him from reaching Vision." Raptor pushed herself to pick up the pace and began weaving between the trees with a plan to sneak up behind the Mad Titan once he was in sight.

"Wanda..." Pietro slowed and looked in another direction. He glanced over at her, fear reflecting in his gaze.

She motioned for him to leave with her head before continuing tracking down Thanos, which wasn't hard given the loud crashes and shouting. Raptor caught sight of the Avengers through the trees and began making a circle around. Thanos' back was to her- finishing off ruining Falcon's attack- and Raptor crouched down before leaping high into the air with her claws ready to dig into his flesh.

Earth erupted around her and forced her back onto the ground with a hard thud. Raptor screeched in pain as the dirt and rocks began dragging her down deeper by the power of Thanos' gauntlet. The titan turned around and looked down on her as she struggled, her thrashing only seeming to cause the earth to crush down on her more.

"Back into the earth, beast." He walked away in the direction Pietro- and most likely Wanda and Vision- were in.

"No!" Another roar rang out at her fast failure to stop him.

Raptor's lungs felt like they would be crushed and her movements became slowed. The earth froze in place over her as Thanos' attack ended with his departure. Her form slowly shifted back to that of her human body, allowing for some breathing space, and Raptor laid there for a moment to catch her breath before dragging herself out and rising to her feet.

She barely had time to decide whether to help the others or go help Pietro and Wanda before lightning lit up the forest. Raptor stared as silence followed for a moment before starting to walk in that direction... Was this over?

"It can't be... One attack? I know Thor's powerful but... surely not powerful enough to kill Thanos alone."

"No!" Thor's shout rang through the trees to back up and confirm her fears.

Raptor instantly began shifting once more as she ran in that direction, hoping Pietro was okay. When she got there she found Pietro on his knees over the grey body that had once been Vision. Strangely Wanda wasn't anywhere in sight and Raptor began having a bad feeling rising in the back of her mind. Slowly, one by one others joined them... but it was obvious not everyone had made it.

"Thanos did it... He won." Anger charged through her. "If I was stronger I could've been more helpful... Or dead..."

She cautiously approached Pietro and settled down on his right, letting her large form melt away. "...I'm sorry."

"I couldn't stop him. He just... turned back time and made Vision's sacrifice worth nothing." He lowered his head even further in grief and Raptor hesitated before wrapping her arm around his shoulders and pulling him closer.

"I get it... She was his sister- it's like when I lost my pack... This is all I can do for him." She looked back at the others; only Thor, Steve, Bruce, Rhodey, and a weird raccoon were left. "How did Thanos manage to just... erase half the universe with the stones so quickly? ...What are we going to do now?"

Everyone was tired, wounded, and confused. Gradually, in a daze, they began making their way back to the city to regroup and piece together who was left... and what they were going to do next.