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thousands of minions flooding through the barrier, and it was up to the Avengers to defeat them.

Alex touched down, immediately freezing the minions charging at her. She ran over to the nearest teammate, which was Bucky. He was shooting minions using a semi-automatic rifle,

"You better stay alive down here,"

"Worry about yourself, Mr. Robot." She replied, sucking all the energy out of a minion, killing him. The sensation of energy and knowledge that she had just killed someone sent a volt of shivers through her spinal cord. "That felt weird."

Next to Bucky, a small raccoon was shooting furiously at anything in sight. Alex's eyes widened as she watched the crazed creature.

"What are you looking at, gorgeous?" It spoke.

"I'm honestly not sure."

"Name's Rocket, don't question anything else."

"Alex." She nodded before focusing back on the minions.

Bucky picked Rocket up, turning in a big circle to shoot more minions down. She caught a glimpse of Thor, and ran over. On her way, she drained multiple minions in her path.

"Thor, thank God you're okay," She spoke, standing next to him as they both fought minions off. "Nice axe,"

"It's beautiful, isn't it? How are you doing, you know, with--"

"Probably not the best time to catch up." She cut him off.

From a couple feet away, Steve spoke to them. "New haircut, Thor?"

"Noticed you've copied my beard." Thor replied.

Next to them, a walking tree-man looking thing sent his branch through multiple minions, killing all of them. Alex wondered if she missed something, because no one seemed to be alarmed by the tree or the raccoon.

"By the way, this is a friend of mine--Tree."

"I am Groot," The tree barked back at them.

"I am Steve Rogers," Steve awkwardly replied.

"Alex, and that is the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"I am Groot!"

"He said 'you'd be surprised.'" Thor spoke, earning a confused expression from Alex.

Alex kept fighting, and they weren't seeming to be getting anywhere. For every minion that was killed, it seemed to be replaced by two. She fought using her suit to kill as many minions at once that she possibly could, and thanked the heavens that she was immortal and didn't have to worry about fatigue.

A huge thresher came rolling through the field, its sharp wheels threatening to injure anything in its path. It almost hit Nat and Okoye, who fought side by side, but Wanda stepped in at the last minute. She lifted it into the air using her mind, and she released it onto a herd of minions.

"Guys, we got a Vision situation here." Sam spoke over the radio.

"Somebody get to Vision!" Steve yelled.

"I got him!" Bruce was heard.

"On my way," Wanda spoke before being clobbered by Proxima Midnight, the blue haired trustee of Thanos. She stumbled into a ditch, where Proxima menacingly followed.

Alex saw Wanda hit the ground, and made her way over as quickly as possible. She nodded to Nat, who had also seen Wanda fall.

"He'll die alone, as will you."

"She's not alone." Natasha smirked, standing behind Proxima. Next to her appeared Okoye, swinging her sword. Lastly came Alex, who simply sighed.

"Thought you had learned your lesson last time."

Proxima charged at Natasha, who easily blocked her with her weapon. With her bare fists, Proxima knocked Nat down, pinning her to the dirt. Alex froze Proxima, and Wanda lifted her up into the sky, sending her into the path of an incoming Thresher. Proxima's dark blood splattered over all of them, and they groaned in disgust.

"We need to get to Vision to protect him and the two stones." Wanda spoke to Alex.

Alex nodded, her chest heaving from the fighting. She teleported to Vision, who was next to Steve. They both were standing over a dead minion, who Alex assumed they had just killed.

"Steve, you good?" Alex spoke.

"I'm fine. Are you hurt? Where's the stone?"

Alex fished it out from under her spandex-tight suit, and showed him.

"Guard that with your life."

"Sir, yes, sir." She fake saluted. "We really could use Tony right about now."

"I know. I hope to God he's alright."

"Of course he is. He's Tony," Alex waved off.

Wanda finally caught up, landing right next to them. Concern washed over her face when she saw how weak Vision was.

"Are you okay?" She asked. Vision opened his mouth to speak, but flinched in pain. "What? What is it?"

"He's here." Vision choked out.

Alex looked to Wanda, who shared the same nervous face. The wind picked up slightly, and it was eerily calm.

"Everyone, on my position. We have incoming." Steve spoke.

Slowly, the teammates came into the forest area where Vision was. Bruce, in his large suit still, stood next to Alex. T'Challa and Nat came over next, followed by Sam.

A familiar orange glowing circle appeared, and Alex was relieved. That circle belonged to Dr. Strange's magic, but it wasn't Strange who stepped through.

Appearing in front of them was Thanos, standing tall. His glove now had three more shiny additions, and all he seemed to be missing were the stones that were right in front of him.

"Cap, that's him." Bruce softly spoke.

"Eyes up. Stay sharp."

Bruce was the first to attack, but went right through Thanos and was cemented into the rock wall behind him. T'Challa was next, but was thrown to the ground. Sam shot missiles at Thanos, but the missiles turned to rubber as a red aura glowed around Thanos' glove. It became evident that the power Thanos wielded was too much for them to meet.

Nevertheless, they didn't relent. Wanda moved to destroy the stone after arguing with Vision, but she reluctantly agreed. The next events all happened in slow motion as the team attacked.

Rhodey fired his guns at Thanos, but his armor was crushed by the gauntlet. Okoye and Natasha attacked together, but were bound by rocks. Groot and Bucky attacked, easily thrown by the Power Stone.

Steve finally tried, getting the closest to Thanos. His teeth gritted as he grabbed the gauntlet, and Thanos was taken aback by the amount of strength held in one man. But, Steve wasn't strong enough, and Thanos delivered a blow so strong to his head that he was knocked out.

Alex was tearing up as she watched all of her teammates be so easily defeated. She stayed hiding, waiting for the right moment to strike. Thanos moved onto Wanda, who was still destroying the Mind Stone.

Alex ran out, freezing Thanos so that Wanda could continue. He was particularly hard to freeze, but she managed to hold it. Suddenly, the Mind Stone shattered, and a wave of energy swept across the forest. Vision fell limp, and Wanda was on the ground. Alex's hold over Thanos was disrupted, and stood from where she was. Thanos began to approach Wanda, who was weeping on the ground.

"I understand, my child, better than anyone."

"You could never." Wanda snarled at him.

"Today, I lost more than you can know. But now is no time to mourn. Now...is no time at all."

Thanos then clenched the gauntlet, making a gesture similar to Strange. It glowed green, and the past minute was reversed. The sensation was new to Alex, who was now standing where she had previously been.

"No!" Wanda yelled, but was thrown aside by Thanos.

He picked a now-alive Vision up by his throat, and simply plucked the Mind Stone from his forehead. Vision fell limp again, the color drained from his body. Thanos gingerly placed the Mind Stone into the gauntlet, and then turned his head to Alex.

"There you are." His voice was calm, and non-intimidating.

"It's lovely to see you again, Barney." She said, hiding any trace of fear in her voice.

"I believe you have something of mine,"

"And I believe that you're deranged. There's no way on Earth you're getting it from me."

"Would you prefer another planet?"

She humorlessly laughed. "I see the stones gave you a sense of humor."

"This can go a lot smoother if you just comply."

"No, in fact, I am done complying. How about you give me the stones, and I don't kill you?"

Thanos laughed now. "With what, may I ask?"

"Haven't you heard?" Her suit began to glow, the black outlines of her veins radiating. "I'm quite powerful."

She held her hand out, and locked eyes with Thanos. He felt the stones begin the vibrate as she began to drain them. The stones, she learned from Shuri, were powered by energy, thus able to be absorbed. Alex gritted her teeth as she kept going, feeling the stones' power begin to surge within her.

It grew painful as she kept absorbing. Thanos attempted to stop her, but he couldn't use the stones whilst she absorbed their power. Her hair began to glow as well as her eyes, and she felt more jolts of pain as she continued.

Suddenly Loki appeared beside Thanos. He ran over to her, but her focus remained on the stones.

"You need to stop." He spoke hastily.

She rolled her eyes, still going. "I thought I killed your ass."

"Alexandra, I'm serious. If you continue to do this, you will die."

She kept draining, but fell silent. How could she trust him? The fate of the universe was at stake, and lied in her hands. She didn't care if she had to die if it meant her teammates--her family--could live.

"I don't care if I die. Millions will be saved."

She held out her hand to finish it off, and Loki's eyes widened.

"No, Alexandra!" Loki yelled.

Everything next happened so fast. Loki managed to break the stream of energy, and Alex fell backwards from the force. He gingerly unclipped her necklace, removing it from her neck. She sat in a daze on the ground, the energy from the stones quickly leaving her body.

"Thank you, Alex, you've done a great service." Thanos grinned.

Loki walked over to Thanos, handing him the necklace with the stone on it. Thanos nodded to him in thanks, placing the final stone in its spot. The power from all six stones jolted through Thanos, and he yelled in temporary pain.

Loki, ignoring Thanos' success, walked back to help Alex up. She regained her consciousness, and looked up at him with tear-filled eyes as she realized that they'd lost.

"What did you do?"

"I couldn't let you die." He whispered. "Everything I did, Alexandra, was for you. I had to keep you alive."

"I don't und--"

Suddenly, a strike of lightning hit Thanos. He lifted the gauntlet, firing back at the source, but it was too late. An axe was wedged in his torso. Thor landed in front of him, putting his hand on the back of his head and pushing it further into Thanos. A scream of pain emitted from Thanos' lips, and he wearily opened his mouth to speak.

"You....you should have....you should've gone for the head."

With that, he weakly lifted his gloved hand, and snapped his fingers.

"What'd you do?" Thor said angrily. "What'd you do!?"

Thanos didn't respond, evidently shaken that he had succeeded. He quickly teleporting away using the newly acquired Space Stone.

Steve emerged from the bushes, holding his injured side. "Where'd he go? Thor? ....Where'd he go?"

Alex locked eyes with Steve, and shook her head. Tears formed violently, and she looked back to Loki.

"You son of a bitch," She whispered as a tear fell. "Why did you..."

He softly wiped away the tear, and she was too shaken to stop him. "You'll understand soon. I hope you do."

She looked down at the ground, and looked back up at him. But, he was gone. Without a trace.

"Steve," Bucky's alarmed voice was heard from a couple feet away, looking down at his arms. They watched in horror as his body turned to ash, causing him to vanish.

"What the hell?" Alex said out loud.

She looked over to Wanda, who looked terrified as she also began to vanish. Alex ran over to Steve, grabbing his arm to make sure he stayed intact. Thor walked over as well, embraced by Alex. They sat there in silence, not having any idea who else they had just lost.

Bruce, Natasha, Rhodey, and Rocket had made their way over, all embracing one another in mourning.

"What is this?" Rhodey's voice panicked. "What the hell is happening?"

"He did it." Alex's voice croaked. "He won."

There was a long pause as Steve crouched over Vision's dead body. No one had fully registered what this event really meant, but there was a mutual understanding that they had just suffered a great loss. Alex thought about Tony, and where he was. She prayed silently that he was alive.

Alex then quickly realized that this went beyond just their team. Pepper was at risk. Happy. Her ex-fianceé. Her parents. Her old college roommate. Her first boss. Real people, with real lives, were about to vanish into thin air. Her hand slowly went to her mouth, horrified with Thanos' master plan that had just become a reality.

"Oh, God."

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𝚠𝚘𝚠

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐