Ultimate Avenger
Smoke poured out of the broken wreckage of skyscrapers. Thousands of Chitauri littered the blackened streets of Detroit. Above the embattled city a giant world-ship floated, Chitauri sky-chariots streaming from it's hangars. The mad Titan Thanos gazed down upon Earth, below him he beheld a circle of tiny specks, the Avengers, this planet's pitiful guardians. All the might of his armies was concentrated on them. Soon the only beings capable of stopping him would be slain.
Thanos settled back in his floating throne and flexed his arm. There was nothing so satisfying as conquering a planet, watching millions of life-forms plead for mercy. . .and then destroying them. A lowly slave approached him, not daring to look upon him. She presented him with his golden Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos slipped it on, admiring the Green stone gleaming in it's center. He had not used this in a while. Thanos decided he should test it, no good going into battle with a faulty weapon. He turned to the slave and smiled. "Run". She only got halfway to the observation deck door before a green beam of energy melted her. The gauntlet still worked.
On the streets of Detroit the battle for Earth raged. Captain Steve Rogers caught a dozen laser blasts on his shield and threw a grenade into a squad of Chitauri. A block away The Vision's forehead shone as his Mind Gem took control of a huge floating space wyrm. The wyrm turned and plowed through a squadron of sky chariots. Hawkeye leaped from rooftop to rooftop, pelting the alien invaders with arrows. Thor landed beside Captain America and blasted a chariot out of the air with a streak of lightning. The Asgardian was grinning. "It has been to long since I fought such a glorious battle." Steve glanced around and saw a dozen civilians lying dead outside a mall. "The longer this battle lasts the more people will die. These things just keep coming, just like New York." Thor lost his smile and threw his hammer, knocking a space wyrm into a building. Iron Man landed behind them. "We need to take down that world-ship. We do that and every one of these aliens will go kaput." Steve looked up at the vast starship casting a shadow over the city. "O.K. Barton, Romanov, Scarlet and me will hold down the fort while Thor, Hulk, The vision and you fly up and get that ship into space. If it gets destroyed here half the city will go with it.
Thanos glanced down through the observation room force field and noticed the little heroes blasting through the atmosphere towards him. They had finally deduced that this ship was the key to his conquest. In a way he was pleased. They would almost be a good challenge.
Thor arrived first. His mighty hammer carried him through the force field and onto a balcony. A few yards away Thanos floated in his chair. Thor fired lighting at him. The green gem glittered and a lightning rod appeared between them, channeling the bolt into the world-ship. Thanos smiled. Tendrils of energy whipped out of the gauntlet, swirled around Thor's defenses and stabbed at him with piercing blades. Iron Man rocketed into the room and fired bursts of power from his palms. Thanos was hurled out of his chair. Now he was annoyed. A gleaming green T'Mirak crystal raced across the room and latched onto Thor's chest-plate, burning with unbearable heat. Iron man raised his arms for fire again but green tendrils slammed him into the wall, holding his arms in place and tearing apart his armor. Thor tore at the slippery crystal and toppled off of the balcony into space.
Vision had taken a little longer to get to the ship because he was giving the Hulk a boost. He flew into the room and took in the scene at a glance. He tossed Hulk at Thanos and caught a battered Anthony Stark as the tendrils released him. Hulk lashed out, catching Thanos by surprise. The Titan slammed through a wall, but was ready for the follow up punch. He caught the Hulk's fist and held it there, seemingly without effort. Hulk kicked at him. Thanos sidestepped it and kicked the beast's other leg out from under it. He had memorized several hundred pressure points for every type of humanoid species. As Hulk leaped back to his feet Thanos threw his first punch of the battle, right under The Hulk's chin. The green beast's head snapped back and Dr. Bruce Banner sailed through several walls and out into orbit.
Back on the ground the Avengers regrouped in a warehouse. Steve leaned against a crate and shook his head. Clint Barton and Romanov were busy helping the National Guard to hold a perimeter. Thor lay propped up against a forklift, burn marks all over his chest, his beard burned away. Tony Stark tried to rise and sank back with a cry. Scarlet Witch was using her telekinetic power to hold shut his stab wounds and stitch them shut. The Vision flew into the warehouse, holding the sleeping form of Bruce Banner in his arms. He told Steve about the being they had fought in the ship. Steve tried to think, although the laser burn on his leg made it tough. They had to stop the aliens, but more would always come from the ship. They had to destroy the ship, but a being in the ship had stopped them. So, they had to destroy the being.
As Steve shared his thoughts with the remains of his team Stark raised his hand. Steve knelt, removing the Billionaire's oxygen mask so that he could speak. "I've got a crazy plan." Steve looked around at the others. "Right now I would try anything."
Thanos flew across the room and sat back in his chair. The invasion of Earth was going well. He decided to send some space wyrms over to the country named Japan. Shake up Asia a bit. Several laser batteries fired up and spewed streams of energy into the sky, shooting down the missiles that the earthling army had been sending up all day. Even if any got through they would not penetrate the energy shield surrounding the world-ship. He noticed another figure flying up straight towards him. Another hero come to challenge the invincible Thanos. He signaled the laser turrets to leave it alone and sat back in his chair to wait.
Thor's hammer Mjnolnir hit his chair, shattering it into a thousand splinters. Thanos smashed through the ceiling, and another, and another. His head felt rather sore after blasting through all 300 stories of the world-ship and into orbit. Thanos turned to observe his new attacker. Before him hovered a suit of powered armor, forged of a gold-titanium alloy. The armored figure held in one hand the hammer Mjnolnir, in the other hand the vibranium shield of Captain America.
The Iron Man helmet opened. The calm purple eyes of The Vision gazed back at him. He looked about to say something. No doubt some appeal to his humanity or reason, thought Thanos. He had no time for this. The tendrils of green energy streaked from the gem towards Vision. The android fired his suit's thrusters and whirled aside. Vision tried to find an opening. But Thanos surrounded himself with a whirling mist of green. Vision darted forwards, but but the mist swirled towards him and he pulled back. Thanos was playing a cautious game, analyzing his enemy's abilities. Vision pulled away as if retreating, then raced forwards, sheltered by his shield, and smashed through the net of energy. Thanos turned to recieve a blow from Mjnolir that made his head ring and hurtled him out into space. The Titan stopped his tumbling, just in time to receive another blow from the hammer. Vision hit him again and again. Thanos lashed out with his gem, forming a huge hammer sweeping through space. Vision took the blow on his shield and struck Thanos again. He reeled, somersaulting through space before the moon stopped his fall. Thanos rose to his feet. He had never lost a fight, and he never would. He formed a wall of green energy between himself and Vision. The android struck it with his hammer, to no effect. Thanos began to recover confidence. Vision could not pierce his defense. Soon he would find this challenger's weakness and destroy him. Then he noticed that his world-ship was no longer hovering above Earth.
Captain Steve Rogers gazed through the porthole as the world-ship blasted past Venus. He wore one of Stark's suits of armor to protect him from the cold of space. Falcon had flown him up to the world-ship while Thanos was busy. It had taken Steve a few minutes to take out the Chitauri guards on the bridge. The navigation system was very strange, but J.A.R.V.I.S. had talked him through it. Now the world-ship was on a new heading, straight into the sun. Steve sighed, he would miss his friends back on Earth, but he HAD insisted on carrying out this plan himself. A dozen Chitauri warriors came clattering down a hallway towards the bridge. Steve was ready for them.
Thanos saw in an instant how he had been deceived. He made his decision, dropping the unbreakable wall and racing after the world-ship. Vision followed him, blasting at the Titan with his mind gem. Thanos focused all his power on speed and slowly began to pull away. Vision threw Mjolnir. Thanos felt it coming and barely dodged it. Vision was still losing the race. He was too bulky. The android launched every missile in the armored suit at Thanos. The space around him was filled with a ripple of explosions. Thanos lost control again and tumbled off course.
Steve kicked the last Chitauri warrior into the wall and turned back to the porthole. The sun now filled his view, a unimaginably gigantic yellow orb. Dozens of warnings flashed on the alien control panel. Steve looked away, studying some strange markings on the wall. This was the part about being a soldier he liked least.
Thanos had lost the race to the world-ship. Vision floated between him and the receding spacecraft. Thanos reactivated his energy wall, keeping it between himself and Vision as he circled around towards his ship."Do you think losing that ship will hurt me?" He taunted the implacable android. "I will return with more Chitauri, or simply conquer your planet alone. You can do nothing against my power." No reply. Thanos got between Vision and the ship. Now he backed towards his prize. Vision closed the helmet over his face, but then noticed a warning. Steve Rogers was in the world-ship. If he did not act Steve would die. Thanos felt the enormous gravity of the Sun tugging at him. He shifted away. To bad about the world-ship, but it was replaceable.
Vision struck, slamming into the energy wall. Thanos watched calmly as he hammered the wall with Mjolnir and his mind stone. Vision drew back to plan. The world-ship was gleaming red now, shaking apart under the strain of gravity. Vision forced himself to focus, focus all his power on one square inch of the energy wall. He blasted it with all he had, his hammer, his mind stone and the arc reactor on his chest. And the energy wall broke. Thanos did not have time to cringe before Vision streaked forwards and kicked him into the Sun.
Vision flew towards the disintegrating world-ship, he pierced the shattered hull and plunged to the bridge. The glare and heat were terrible. Steve lay on the floor, sliding towards the view-port in the grip of the Sun's gravity. His armor was flaking away in charred embers. Vision grabbed him and boosted away. The world-ship peeled away around him, plunging into the sun. Vision strained, the boosters on his suit failed. He was held in place by gravity, unable to retreat an inch from the rippling ball of gas that was cooking Steve to a turn. Vision felt his strength ebbing, slowly he slid backwards, away from Earth. The blue planet was just a speck now, another point of light in the enormity of space. The Vision looked down at Captain America, who he held tucked under one arm. Any moment now the armor that stood between his comrade and space would chip off and Steve would die.
Vision slid back another centimeter and looked away from the searing sun. There on his wrist hung Mjnolnir. He threw the hammer away and lurched forwards a few feet. Again he threw it, and again. Steve must have regained consciousness because his boosters came on. Faster and faster the two Avengers pulled away. And then they were streaking away, carving through space towards Earth. Three minutes before they landed Steve Roger's suit fell apart, blowing away like leaves in the autumn. On the ground Hawkeye and Thor rushed over to see the Captain. Steve blinked and coughed on some ashes. "I guess I'm gonna have a pretty good tan." He said. Thor thwacked Vision on the back. "Truly, you are a mighty warrior. Can I have my hammer back?" Everyone smiled in spite of themselves. Wade Wilson, the Falcon and the recovering Dr. Banner joined the group. The Avengers were again united and the Earth was free.
Thanos floated in the center of the Sun. His mighty eyes watered in the heat of the plasma exploding all around him. His stomach cramped in the gravity. If he had required air to breath it would have burned in his lungs. He would not die, but could not bear to live in this burning maelstrom of pain. The green stone in his fist glowed, brighter than bright and slowly, ever so slowly, an inch at a time, Thanos began to move, out of the heart of the Sun
Thanks for reading my story. It's just a first draft. Please comment below and tell me how I did.
