Avenge the Fallen • Endgame AU

One

Thor raised Stormbreaker up in the air with shaking hands then hurled it in Thanos' direction with all of the strength in his body, a powerful trail of lightning flashing around it as it flew towards Thanos and landed in his chest. Not even the might of every Stone in the Infinity Gauntlet could stop the impact of the enchanted Uru metal.

It immediately dug deep.

Thanos was knocked backwards, and he reached up and grabbed the handle steadily with a look of defeat etched on his face. Barely any blood emerged from his wound, as if his body itself is too shocked to do anything but freeze.

Down on one knee, he groaned in pain as Thor landed on the grass in front of him, staring at him directly. His old eye flickered with pain, and the new one held a darker emotion. Taking a few steps forward, he placed one hand against the side of Thanos' head. His stare turned into a deep glare as he spoke.

"I told you you'd die for that," he said through gritted teeth, taking two meaningful pauses as he thought of his brother, Loki, and his friend, Heimdall. The pure malice from those two deaths drove him further into his fit of rage, so he pushed the axe deeper into Thanos' chest to match his spiralling anger. He pushed it once more, watching him crying out in pain and not feeling even a small spark of remorse.

Thanos stopped yelling, and looked down to the ground for a few seconds. He slowly switched his gaze back up to Thor, his eyes opening slightly and then closing profusely.

"You..." he began. He took in a jagged breath, then started again. "You... You should have..."

His eyes opened a little wider and he stared off slightly into the distance.

"You should have gone for the head," he finished weakly.

A smile twitched at his lips as he raised his hand wielding the Gauntlet, moving to press two of his fingers together. Thor could barely even gather what was happening. He began to feel weak, not only physically but also emotionally. The emotion escalated quickly, and he shot the Gauntlet a short look of hopelessness.

He then shouted "NO!" at the top of his lungs, but it was already too late.

Thanos snapped his fingers.

---

The Gauntlet burned as soon as his fingers snapped, but Thanos didn't feel pain. He didn't feel anything. The closest thing to an emotion he could gather was something along the lines of grief, but what he was feeling could also stick pretty close to triumph and satisfaction.

"What did you do?" Thor said quietly, blinking a couple of times as if doing a double-take.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" he repeated much louder, looking back at Thanos.

Thanos said nothing, but clenched his fist with the power of the Stones and flew backwards into a portal, dropping Stormbreaker on the ground with a crash, now covered in his dark purple blood.

Thor took deep breaths, staring where his enemy was once kneeling.

That's it.

He lost.

Everyone lost.

And he had no idea what was about to happen.