Hoping for a Hero - part II of II [COMPLETE]

Chapter 15: The Final Battle

When I came to, a voice was speaking to me. "Amber, get up!" it said. I didn't recognize the voice, but when my eyes finally opened, I understood its words, "Get out of here!"

The ground above me was crumbling quickly. I hastily looked for an escape, but couldn't register where I was. It all had happened so fast that I didn't remember I was underground. All I knew was that I needed to get to the distant light to my left.

I rose to my feet and instantly, a sharp pain shot up my left leg. Not having the time to consider it, I clumsily ran toward the light as rocks from the collapsing ceiling fell around me. The light became closer and closer. I was almost there when a boulder above my exit loosened. If it fell, I knew I'd be sealed in with no chance of survival. There was barely time to think as I instinctively formed a forcefield beneath the rock. Thankfully, that held it suspended in the air just long enough for me to slide safely through the opening.

The tunnel to my left caved in as I lay on the ground, trying to catch my breath. As I stared above me, I saw a curtain of smoke in the sky that covered it in a shroud of black. My eyes drifted down and I turned my head to the right where the scene was more sickening than the smoke. Everything was in rubble. Dark and utterly destroyed.

I breathed out a heavy sigh in despair and returned my gaze upward. It was then that the voice from before spoke again, "No significant wounds. There is a minor fracture in your left ankle, but I've increased the suit's tension around it so you can walk without worsening the injury."

It took me a moment to realize that the voice was coming from my earpiece. The artificial intelligence Tony installed! My heart lifted at the thought of not being alone and hope began to rise. "And the baby?" I asked.

"No damage," was the reply. "Mr. Stark's additions significantly increased the chance of its survival. Without them, the fatality rate from that fall would have been ninety-three percent."

I closed my eyes in relief and silently thanked Tony. Even when he wasn't there, somehow he still managed to point out 'you owe me big time'.

As I lay there on the ground, a storm suddenly formed in the sky and thunder crackled. Thor? I quickly turned over so I knelt and then pushed myself up to stand. When I looked out over the destruction, a streak of lightning caught my attention as it fell from the sky directly on Thanos. I didn't think before I burst into a run toward the battle. My instincts told me to fight when my logic would have warned me about the possibility of death. If Thanos won, those of us who had survived the first time would surely die the second.

I leaped over the rubble and discreetly dodged in-between the ruins until I reached the battle. Before me stood Thanos with his double-edged sword, looming over a figure that took me a moment to identify.

A few feet away lay Cap's body. Unmoving. Panic filled me as I rushed to him, aware of Thanos' nearby presence but uncaring. I placed a forcefield around us and bent down to check if he was alive.

"Cap," I whispered as I touched his cheek. "Steve, I'm here." He breathed heavily from the taxing fight, but I was grateful he was breathing at all.

"Get out of here," he said through clenched teeth as he strained to get up. His shield was chipped and he was exhausted, but he wasn't done fighting yet.

Thanos watched us and seemed to think the situation was humorous. "In all my years of conquest," he said, "violence, slaughter, it was never personal."

"I don't back down on my promises," I said as I grabbed Steve by the shoulders and helped him rotate his body. "I'm not leaving."

"But I'll tell you now," Thanos continued to look at us with a terrible expression of anger and dominance. "What I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet . . . I'm gonna enjoy it. Very, very much."