Saving Grace

Ninety Three

Tony opens a large energy source on the back of his suit, then says, "Okay, Thor. Hit me." Thor yells as he calls down lighting, then hits Tony's back with it, charging up the suit so much and so quickly that Tony can hear it.

He blasts Thanos with all of it, and Thanos simply spins his blade, blocking it. Still, Tony walks closer, and he can tell Thanos is struggling. And then Tony sees Thor's hammer fly in and hit Thanos's blade. It's knocked from his hands, and so he picks up Tony instead, using him as a shield from Thor's hammer, which hits Tony square in the face and sends him flying backwards, skidding until he hits the back of his head on a rock. Instantly, he blacks out.

When he wakes, he can see Thanos trying to kill Thor with his own axe, forcing it down on Thor, who's on the ground, Thanos's foot on him, holding him down. Tony starts to go to help despite his immense pain and his inability to actually get up, but then he stops trying, as he doesn't have to help. Not this time.

For a moment, he thinks he's dreaming, as he watches Steve Rogers lift Thor's hammer with ease, then throw it at Thanos. It hits him, saving Thor, and causing both he and Thanos to watch as Steve calls it back to himself. His shield is on his other arm, and the shock stills the battlefield for a moment.

And then Thor shouts, "I knew it!

Thanos turns and kicks him, breaking the rock he was laying against, and Tony struggles to sit up, though it hurts too much and he can't. But it doesn't seem to matter.

Steve spins the hammer as he and Thanos charge at each other, and Tony thinks that Thanos is a complete idiot all the while. It's proven, too, when Steve hits Thanos with the hammer, sending him flying backward, mirroring Tony's plight from earlier. Steve then spins, throwing the shield, and Thanos knocks it away, but Steve wasn't aiming for him.

He throws the hammer, hitting the shield with it, creating a blast which knocks Thanos forward. Steve then catches both weapons and jumps, actually kneeing Thanos in the chest. Tony snorts, watching Thanos stumble back. Steve then attacks his knee with the hammer, then his face with the shield, then hammer, then shield. And then he throws the shield, lets it come back, and hits it at Thanos again, hitting it with the hammer like it's a freaking baseball. Light flashes as it connects with Thanos' face.

Then, Steve calls down lightning, sending it rumbling through the ground right toward Thanos, and it throws him backwards, right onto his back. Steve calls lightning again, and Tony asks, "Friday, am I dead?"

"No, boss, you're alive," she says, "and this is very real."

Steve pulls the lightning down directly onto Thanos, and Tony can hear him roar from where he sits. Steve jumps on Thanos again, still using lightning, and only then does Thanos manage to dodge and get up.

He turns and grabs Steve by the throat, then slams him into the ground. Tony struggles, watching as Thanos picks up his blade, tosses off his damaged helmet, and swings at Steve in anger, missing every time as Steve dodges. But he can't dodge forever. After deflecting the blade with his shield, Thanos gets him in the leg. Tony can see Steve cry out, but he swings the hammer anyway, still fighting.

Thanos punches it away and sends Steve back to the ground. He gets up, but Thanos comes with the blade, swinging at him, managing to break off the top of Steve's shield, and then damage it further, leaving little more than half of it in tact. But Tony still can't get up. Not even when Steve is on the ground, away from Tony's sight.

"In all my years of conquest," Thanos says, "violence... slaughter — it was never personal. But I'll tell you now: what I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet, I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."