𝗕𝟮 | There are only bad decisions beyond us. With the vulture gone, it was time to work on bonding. However, a threat out of their hands attacks once again, causing their actions to have until the last consequence of their will.
(𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗯𝗮𝗻�...
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"They are outside. Get the stone."
Thor spun Stormbreaker in a mesmerizing arc, the weapon's edge slicing through the air. Nikolas brought a fist to his mouth, blowing toward the spinning axe. Their combined powers surged as Thor launched the weapon like a boomerang. Energy beams, crackling with thunder and swirling with dark, ethereal hues, cut through the battlefield in a deadly, rhythmic dance electrocuting them.
Nikolas was momentarily stunned by the sea of bodies lying trampled and lifeless on the ground. His shock was abruptly interrupted as he was seized by the neck, his instincts driving his hands to protect himself. He was flung onto his back, the Hulk-sized creature's grip crushing him with terrifying ease. Nikolas screamed as he felt one side of his ribs shatter under the pressure. Tears welled in his human side but quickly evaporated under the cold resolve of his monster self.
His arms, now covered in bone scales, dug into the creature's arm with desperate ferocity. Nikolas clawed and stabbed with the tenacity of a cornered beast until he managed to twist around. He gripped the creature's jaw with one hand and its forehead with the other, forcing its mouth open.
With the opening he sought, Nikolas unleashed a storm of souls from his mouth, fueling his dark possession. The energy surged forth, overwhelming the creature until its body froze and disintegrated into a lifeless sculpture of dust. As Cull Obsidian crumbled to pieces, Nikolas staggered clutching his injured rib.
"Guys, Vision needs backup right now!"
"Shuri," Nikolas muttered as the sound of shattering glass echoed through the air.
"Wanda..."
"I'm on my way," she responded, her voice sharp with urgency.
Wanda dashed into the forest, while Nikolas staggered after her, hobbling as he clutched onto a rock for support. His body was struggling to heal, DNA slowly knitting back together, he could feel his fractured ribs grinding together with every move and breath.
The air around him suddenly chilled, his blood running cold as the weather took a drastic turn. Leaves swirled violently in all directions, and the once chaotic battlefield grew eerily silent, tension thick in the air. Nikolas glanced over his shoulder, swallowing hard as dread settled in his chest. A portal materialized from the space stone, and from it, he emerged.
Nikolas felt the shift in gravity, the final stretch of their battle weighing heavily upon him. His eyes widened as he saw it—the gauntlet, with only one space left.
He turned, his heart pounding, eyes locking onto Wanda and Vision, knowing that the fate of everything hinged on these final moments and it's weight of what was to come bearing down was on them.
Bruce was the first to try to stop Thanos way to them. Then the king followed. And finally, it was Nikolas—broken, battered, and drained of energy—who charged in with all he had left.
As he reached out, his transformation—his power—was brutally stripped away. He felt it being torn from him, dismantled by the power of an Infinity Stone, leaving him nothing more than a fragile human shell. Every attempt to fight back crumbled before it even began.
Nikolas's body began to tremble. For the first time, he felt a terror that went beyond pain—the fear of losing the part of himself he had spent his life hating. The part that had made him a weapon, the reason Tony had recruited him. Now, that part was gone, and all that remained was a terrified boy.
"I don't feel anything..." he murmured, his voice shaking as he pressed a hand to his chest. "W-What did you do to me... What—"
His words caught in his throat as a hand, cold and callous, brushed through his hair, then down his cheek, before roughly seizing his chin and forcing his gaze upward.
"Guardian of the dimension. Bearer of souls," Thanos's voice rumbled. His grip tightened around Nikolas's neck, lifting him effortlessly until his feet no longer touched the ground. "A... human."
Panic surged through Nikolas, his hands pounding weakly against the titan's arm. Fear and desperation consumed him, tears streaming down his face as he kicked and fought for breath.
"I-I don't want to die... I don't want to die," he sobbed, the raw fear in his voice.
"My child. I can't kill you yet."
Nikolas's mind was disoriented by the overwhelming force of Thanos's power. One moment, he was suspended in the titan's grip; the next, he found himself in a hospital room. He saw a woman, her face twisted with desperation, screaming at the doctors in their blue coats. One of them held a baby, cradling it protectively.
"MY SON! GIVE ME BACK MY SON!"
"Get out of my head," Nikolas muttered, his voice trembling as he stared at the heart-wrenching scene, knowing it was an illusion. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
But the nightmare continued. This time, a little girl's voice echoed in the room, soft but filled with fear. "Mommy? My brother scares me."
Nikolas gasped, the illusion shattering as he was hurled against the trunk of a tree. Pain shot through his back as he crumpled to the grass. His eyes fluttered weakly, but he still caught the last haunting words.
"It would be a shame to kill you. You will be very useful in the future."
His eyes fluttered closed, his breaths coming in shallow, slow, ragged gasps. A heart-wrenching scream echoed in the distance, and then—silence.
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