//------------------------------//
// Chapter 167 – Payback 
// Story: Infinity Era 
// by JDPrime22 
//------------------------------//


167



Upstate New York



The Ruins



6:00 p.m.




Tony Stark hit the earth with resounding force. Six panels emerged from Iron Man’s back, each equipped with a repulsor at the end of each tip. Further down the torn landscape, Captain America was on his own handling the Mad Titan, easily getting tossed around by Thanos’ overwhelming attacks. He didn’t have much time. Neither of them did. Tony worked fast.

And in the end, he wasn’t alone. Lifting his shimmering blue eyes, Stark spotted Twilight hovering directly over his head. Rainbow flew similarly to his right, with Rarity to his left. They all hovered above him, all analyzed his weapon capabilities, and formed their nanites to follow Tony. Three more Lightning Refocusers materialized from the backs of each mare, all four iron-cladded Avengers facing Thanos dead ahead.

“Thor…!” Tony called.

Twilight cast her eyes a quick glance backwards, her HUD acquiring a hard lock on the Mad Titan shortly after. She turned forward to face Thanos and shouted, “Charge us up!”

Several yards behind the group of four Avengers, the God of Thunder stomped forward. He held both Mjølnir and Stormbreaker as he roared to the thundering heavens above. Clusters and strikes of lightning rained down and fueled his body, those streams of electricity flowing from his arms and into his weapons. Ramming both his hammer and his axe together, a bolt of bright blue lightning shot forth and eviscerated the battleground between him and the four other Avengers.

The lightning coiled across the dirt, ripping apart rocks, debris, and the earth itself. Once it reached the Avengers, however, it reacted differently. Like a lightning rod, the refocusers consumed the bolt of lightning as it broke apart into four separate streams of electricity. Each stream impacted the backs of Tony Stark, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They filled the Lightning Refocusers and charged up each suit of armor to their maximum capacity.

Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity flinched after feeling the overwhelming surge of energy impact them and flow through their suits. They gritted their teeth, truly believing their Iron Mares wouldn’t take much more energy. They surely couldn’t contain that power forever. Following Stark beneath them, they jammed their hooves outwards and released that lightning through their repulsor beams. Each panel the mares bore on their backs fired at once, a stream of twenty-four golden repulsor beams coming together and shooting forth.

Iron Man jammed his palms forward alongside the ponies, watching as their conjoined beam reached Thanos within a second. Yet the Titan was ready for them. Slicing at Captain America’s shield with his blade and launching the First Avenger several yards back, Thanos heard the sudden rising scream of the repulsor blast. He turned to face it, raising his double-bladed weapon and spinning it with skillful vigor. Until his sword was just a blur of silver, Thanos tightened his stance as the conjoined repulsor beam impacted him. 

His feet skidded back an inch or two, but he remained. The stream of energy was cut to shreds upon impacting his blade. Thanos gritted his teeth at the immense pressure and energy pushing against him, roaring out as he pushed back. The air and wind were torn to accommodate the battle cries of his Uru blade, the sword spinning with a fierce intensity. The repulsors were unable to proceed any further. So, Stark did.

He stomped forward while keeping the fire and the pressure on, Thor’s lightning continuously hitting his back and strengthening his repulsors. The three mares remained where they hovered, struggling to maintain the same firepower that Tony easily handled. Through narrowed eyes, Twilight spotted Tony breaking the distance between himself and Thanos, his own repulsor adding even more pressure onto the Titan and pushing him back several more inches. Those inches earned the Avengers miles. They had hoped it would.

Instead, Thanos took those miles from them when he swung his spinning blade downwards, slicing the remaining distance between himself and Stark and practically knocking Iron Man off his feet. The flow of lightning was cut off. The conjoined repulsor beams were killed. Stark was at the Titan’s mercy. Materializing an energy blade onto his left wrist, Tony swung high in a last desperate act of retaliation. Thanos caught his forearm, glaring into the blue eyes of the Mark 85 and the man hiding underneath it.

With their suits still cooling down from the lightning, the mares eyed the confrontation with rising fear in their expressions. Twilight spun around, jamming her hoof to the Allfather and screaming, “Thor, help him!”

Thor did the first thing that came to mind. He tossed his hammer out in front of him, winding back with his axe and striking Mjølnir with it. A resounding clang filled the air from the impact of the Uru weapons, Mjølnir flying forth with ramming speed onto the God of Thunder’s target. As the god’s target, Thanos saw the hammer breaking the distance and only getting closer. With Stark in his grasp, Thanos reacted quickly and lifted the Iron Man from the earth, holding his entire body out in front of him and ultimately using Stark as a makeshift shield. It worked as well as he expected.

Mjølnir impacted Tony dead in his Arc Reactor, the force of the strike so profoundly strong that it launched Tony back and even made Thanos stumble to the opposite side. Tumbling through the rock and rubble, Iron Man eventually came to a rest amongst a pile of debris, his back crashing hard against it and his HUD quickly flashing danger lights. The residing electricity slithered across the Mark 85’s frame as Tony tried to rise again, as he tried to lift his head but simply couldn’t. The hammer had knocked the wind out of him, the following darkness in his vision being too much for Stark to handle.

His head fell back to the debris, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he breathed out a painful groan. Homer noticed his creator’s fading consciousness, the AI shouting, “Sir, wake up! They’re getting overwhelmed!”

But Tony Stark didn’t wake up. His mind faded into a cloudy and uncertain state of unconsciousness. He left his team to deal with his demon.

And deal with him they did. The three mares shot forth once their suits reacted to their commands once again, Thor joining his equine allies headlong into battle. Rainbow was first, jutting two energy blades from her forelegs and driving them downwards onto the Titan in a daring dive-bomb. Thanos merely raised his blade and blocked her own, swinging down to his right and launching the Pegasus to the earth. He brought his focus forward, the remaining three still actively engaging him. Twilight flew off to the right, her horn igniting and a beam of magic blasting forth and striking Thanos’ left side. The Titan raised his left palm to block her magic, his focus taken away and allowing Rarity to engage. The unicorn flew forward, cut off her own flight, and slid on the dirt to Thanos’ deep right. She fired various repulsor blasts from her hooves onto him as she slid by, Thanos’ attention brought down to his right and away from the King of Asgard charging straight ahead.

Thor screamed as he reared back and drove his axe directly into Thanos’ chest. The lightning fueled his strike, the blast once Stormbreaker impacted the Titan’s chest being so powerful that it launched Thanos several yards backwards. The Titan was thrown like a rag doll, Thanos grunting and growling as he bounced, crashed, and eventually slid back onto his own two feet. Finding that footing and feeling the large indent Stormbreaker had made onto his chest plating, Thanos snarled and lifted his eyes skyward. The skies darkened as a flurry of lightning swarmed the being rising forth from the earth, striking against the God of Thunder and following him in his descent.

Thanos’ eyes widened at that, the Mad Titan leaping back as Thor struck the ground Thanos once stood upon with the head of his axe. Lightning ripped apart the very earth, tearing through the rocks and dirt and forcing Thanos even further backwards. He raised his arms and sword as the lightning struck his armor with a fierce intensity. He nearly crumpled to it, but the Dark Lord had faced far worse. He stood his ground and swatted his arms aside, breaking the lightning trying to consume him and facing his foe head-on. 

Thor arose from the shattered earth, his remaining eye glowing a heavenly blue. His teeth were grit and his Uru arm was coiled with electricity. Stormbreaker hung low in his right hand, the God of Thunder emerging fully and stepping into the wind. That infected, smoke-covered wind tugged at his flowing red cape and braided beard, the King of Asgard glaring to his foe. They met each other’s eyes. They each broke the distance and charged. 

As he ran, Thanos reared back with his blade and tossed it ahead of him. The Double-Edged Sword spun violently over Thor’s head, the god sliding underneath it and quickly rising back to his feet. With Thanos weaponless, Thor intended to take his opportunity as fast as possible. He sprinted, leaping off a piece of concrete and driving his axe straight onto Thanos’ head. However, Thor hadn’t noticed the sword spinning backwards like a boomerang, returning to Thanos’ grasp and knocking Stormbreaker away at the last second.

Both Thanos and Thor engaged in close combat, Thor swinging madly for the Titan’s throat and head with each attack. Every time, he went for the head. Every time, Thanos would dodge it and reply with his own deadly swings. Thanos slicing at Stormbreaker, gaining the advantage and swinging more and more with Thor managing to block every other attack. The ones that were lucky cut at his armor and exposed skin, drawing blood. Thanos screamed, rearing back and driving his blade’s edge low, so low that Thor would either be knocked back or sliced in half. 

Thor continued to surprise the Great Titan. He slid to his knees, bending his spine as far as it would allow and glaring skyward. The sword passed mere centimeters above Thor’s nose, maybe slicing a few strands of his filthy blond hair, but ultimately missing him. Thor spun around on one knee, slamming Stormbreaker’s head against the back of Thanos’ own knee. With the Titan crumbling and roaring to that strike, Thor wasted no time and pulled back, spinning as he turned to reach Thanos’ front and bringing Stormbreaker with him. He rammed the sharpened end of his axe forward, intending for his throat and abruptly stopping.

He only stopped once Thanos raised his left hand and caught Stormbreaker’s handle. 

Everything fell apart from then on. 

Ripping his axe away and knocking the weapon to the dirt, Thanos grasped the God of Thunder by the throat and tossed him with a renewed savagery. Thor’s body disappeared through the tower of rubble he was thrown through, the tower falling and a wave of dust washing through the battlefield. Thanos only had a second to breathe and rise up back to two feet when the onslaught continued. 

Turning to the scream of repulsors, Thanos spotted the sky blue Iron Mare land upon a fractured spire of cement and rebar ahead. The suit shot out its wings in an intimidating fashion, Rainbow Dash’s undeniable voice crying out, “Rares, bring on the rumble!”

Rarity flew through the smoke behind Thanos, the repulsors on her hooves fading and the Iron Mare landing upon the earth. With his back to her for the time being, the unicorn jammed her forelegs forward into the earth. The dark purple nanoparticles swarmed her forelegs and hooves, forming into two large jackhammers. The mallets at the ends of her hooves struck the earth in fast, piston-like movements, cracking the rock beneath her and sending that infectious crack slithering to the Mad Titan. With the tremors causing Thanos to stumble, the crack nearly consumed his left leg and brought the Titan to the ground. Knocked off his feet, Thanos grunted and turned back to face the source of the tremors. Rarity lifted the blue eyes of her Iron Mare onto him, ceasing her assault on the earth.

Letting her team take the advantage she gave them.

Captain America leaped through the rubble, rearing back and tossing his shield through the air. The star-spangled shield impacted Thanos’ helmet, the Titan yelling at that. His foot was still trapped between the split earth, leaving Thanos vulnerable for the moment. Instead of the shield returning to Steve, Twilight caught it in mid-air, the Alicorn soaring down and ramming the shield once more across Thanos’ helmet. Sparks danced wildly from the impact, Thanos growling and prying his leg from the ground. Sliding on the dirt, Twilight spun around and sent the shield back into the air. It met Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus leaping forth from the concrete and sending a fierce buck mid-air onto the shield. It flew back down and struck Thanos a third time in the helmet, bouncing back in Steve’s grasp. 

That was enough. Thanos had enough. He ripped his leg free, taking one more hit from the Captain before finally regaining his footing. Steve Rogers spun as he slammed his boot across Thanos’ face, the Titan slowly glaring back onto the Avenger. Raising his shield, Steve only had a second to tighten himself once Thanos drove his fist into the solid vibranium. The force of the punch launched Steve back into a pile of rubble, the Captain crashing through it and lying on his chest, barely moving.

Three more. Spinning madly to the raging Pegasus, Thanos raised his sword just in time to meet hers. Rainbow created an energy blade upon her left hoof, jetting forward with an extra push from her wing repulsors. She intended for Thanos’ exposed neck, one of the only areas on his body not covered by armor. Instead, Thanos raised his sword and blocked her. Slicing her blade aside, Thanos jammed his left palm forward and grasped her body. He slammed the Pegasus fiercely against the earth. Blows that would have crushed the spine and rib cage of any normal being merely caused Rainbow to lose her breath, her suit of armor mostly protecting her. Growling to the mare in his grasp, Thanos spun around, roaring as he chucked Rainbow directly into the flying Alicorn. Twilight raised her repulsors onto Thanos with his back turned, but when he spun to her, Dash was launched into Twilight’s chest. The two mares disappeared as they flew into the piles of rubble in the distance. 

One more.

Like a feral, snarling beast, the Mad Titan spun to face all that remained. His last opposition. One little pony in a suit of purple armor. He started to smile when he recognized her. Rarity seemed to notice her odds, as well, her glowing blue eyes slowly scanning her surroundings and noting the desolation. The silence. The utter disdain practically radiating off of Thanos’ person and directed solely at her. Slowly turning back to face him, Rarity’s mask detracted back, unveiling her face and the shaken expression beneath the helmet.

“Come then,” Thanos declared, twirling his sword by his side, jamming its end in her direction. “Face me as you were before, as you are now… coward.”

Rarity felt herself cringe at that name, her heart dropping and wanting to give in. An old part of herself wanted to resurface and acknowledge the name he called her. Coward… He wasn’t wrong. The decisions Rarity had made years ago had haunted her, the choices where she refused to fight had cost her nearly everything. That old part of herself was slowly taking command once again, her nerves shivering, her forelegs quivering, and her breath quickening. Yet for some reason, she moved. For some reason, she found that strength and spoke. 

“For over eight years now… I would always wake up in the middle of the night… seeing nothing but you… and being terrified,” she stated under the veil of a soft, petrified whisper. Rarity slowly walked around him, Thanos eyeing her with a growing curiosity. His smirk grew even wider to her words, Rarity’s frown only deepening. Darkening. Hardening. “You tortured me… for so, so long. Do you know what I see now when I look at you?”

That part of herself that cowered, that gave in, that had lost… fell away. And it never came back.

She stopped. She slammed her armor-plated hooves into the earth and cracked it before her. A slick pair of nanoparticle wings extended from her back, numbering four, and glowing a bright blue at the end of each tip. A feral glare burned on her expression, melting into pure, fiery magma alongside her voice. Alongside her battle cry.

“Not… a damn… thing!” 

Thanos’ smirk died. Rarity’s mask covered her face, her eyes a glowing a blue storm of fire and rage and malice, all from the years of pent-up torment Thanos had inflicted on her. With her wings jetting her forward, Rarity flew at top speed towards the target of her rage. Thanos quickly reacted, raising his sword to block her. Planting all four hooves forward, Rarity landed on his sword and fired a pulsating shock wave of repulsor energy onto the Titan. Thanos stumbled back, grunting as he watched the mare leap over his head. She formed a quick Repulsor Cannon on her right hoof, firing a devastating blast onto him in mid-air. The blast struck Thanos in the back, the Titan roaring out as he stumbled forward.

With a battle cry of his own, Thanos spun around with his blade’s edge leading. His sword struck Rarity in mid-air, the sparks flying from his sword and from the side of her face. The force of the strike sent the unicorn crashing into the dirt, only she caught herself and slid on the ground. With eyes facing the earth, a sickening slash against her Iron Mare’s helmet, Rarity faced forward and once more jetted forth. Once more engaged. Once more did not back down to her demon. 

Thanos swung for her head, that time intending to see it go flying free from her body. Instead, Rarity dropped to the earth, rolled once, then emerged with her hind legs leading. With added speed and strength from her Iron Mare, Rarity sent a vicious buck into the Titan’s sternum, causing him to hunch forward and lose his breath. Rarity did not stop. Her suit calculated her next moves that would equate to the quickest, most impactful strikes onto her target. With added agility thanks to her suit, Rarity slid to her right and kicked out Thanos’ right leg. He fell to his knee, only able to see her glowing eyes meet his when she flew skyward.

And rammed her hoof directly under his chin. 

With the added boost from her repulsors, Rarity sent Thanos careening backwards. He almost fell onto his back, but his feet managed to stumble in order to maintain his balance. Shouting a slur of nonsense—mere growls and roars of madness if anything—Thanos brought his focus forward and onto the unicorn. She flew once more, wings extended, horn and hooves glowing with two Repulsor Cannons ready to meet his head. 

Thanos thought fast and raised his boot. Rarity was going too quick to react in time and crashed directly onto the flat of his foot. She had not time to escape when Thanos drove his boot into the earth, the nearby piles of rubble trembling from the tremor he caused. When he raised his foot, there lay the unicorn in her suit of armor, destroyed wings lying by her side, and flickering blue eyes slowly gazing back up to the Mad Titan. Glaring to her, he raised his boot and fully intended to leave nothing on the second stomp. 

Stormbreaker spun madly as it met Thanos’ back, knocking the Titan clean off the earth and far from where Rarity lay. The unicorn gave a painful sigh of relief to see Stormbreaker fly back into the familiar hands catching it in mid-air. 

As Thanos rolled back to his feet, sword in one hand and the other grazing the dirt, he lifted his head and rapidly rose up to full height. He brought his sword with him, barely managing to block Stormbreaker’s edge from falling right on him. The lightning coursed from the axe’s head and licked at Thanos’ sword and armor, that lightning originating from the God of Thunder wielding his weapon and glaring down the Titan on the end of it.

Thor had one more fight left in him. Thanos sneered. That sneer transformed into a sickening glare as the pressure from the Allfather only increased. Spinning his sword, Thanos managed to knock Stormbreaker right out of the god’s hands. Thor managed to grasp onto the Titan’s blade and rip it from his hands, as well, leaving them both empty-handed. Like that mattered for the Mad Titan.

He sent a vicious punch across Thor’s face, disorienting the God of Thunder for a second. A second was all he needed. Thanos gripped his shoulder and chucked Thor like he weighed nothing into a cluster of cement and a downed tree. He broke through the roots and crashed into the rubble, Thor raising his arms to block the following flow of punches Thanos sent into his face. Gripping the god once more, Thanos threw him even harder than last time and back to the earth. Thor’s back impacted the slab of rubble erected from the ruins, the king once more raising his arms to block the inevitable punches.

Instead, Thanos reared up and drove his boot into Thor’s chest. The Avenger lost his breath, dropping his arm and leaving his head exposed. Thanos took that and drove his fist directly into Thor’s face, a sickening crack following and a flow of blood falling freely from Thor’s nose. Even more blood spewed from his mouth, a delirious and exasperated Thor reaching out for his axe in a desperate attempt to escape. Thanos followed his hand, shooting out his own and catching Stormbreaker in mid-air. He rammed the axe downward onto the god it belonged to, Thor catching it before the sharpened edge could reach him. Thanos pressed his opposite palm onto the back of the weapon to increase the pressure, adding his own weight alongside his strength to only further see his devious actions be brought forth into reality. 

It was an opposite tug of war between two immovable objects and unstoppable forces. They each pushed against the other by the axe they gripped. Thanos, pushing the axe deeper and deeper onto Thor’s chest, and Thor simply trying to keep it away from him. His efforts were failing him. The pain flowing through his head, the straining metal of his Uru arm, and his fleeting strength were finally starting to take their toll. His forehead felt like it was splitting open, Thor gasping out blood as the inches turned into centimeters, as the axe slowly eased itself through his armored chest. Thanos smiled with devilish intent. 

Yards behind him, the mighty hammer of the gods, the legendary weapon of Asgard, the seemingly-abandoned Mjølnir lay with its head in the dirt. It remained unmoving, forced to watch its worthy predecessor get thrown around and beaten. Now with Thor just inches from death, the hammer did nothing because Thor did not call to it.

And then… it rose. 

Thor growled as he felt the axe hit his skin, bloody teeth grit and strength failing. Thanos, with his full focus on seeing the God of Thunder die beneath him, paid no heed to the environment around him. He especially didn’t hear the cry of the mighty Mjølnir flung his way, the hammer impacting Thanos’ shoulder and knocking Stormbreaker free from his hands. Thor, Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity all lifted their heads from where they individually laid, seeing the hammer pause in mid-air, then suddenly being yanked back by that invisible force. Thanos turned to watch it fly back. Rarity followed the hammer, watching it soar over her head and return…

… to him.

Mjølnir was caught and held in the gloved-palm behind the star-spangled shield, the stoic expression of Captain America slowly turning back and gazing ahead to the Mad Titan. He bent low, both shield and hammer in hand, and stood worthy beneath the face of heaven.

Rarity breathed an astounded gasp, a smile slowly creeping its way onto her lips. Twilight was in utter awe, the Alicorn’s jaw falling and eyes widened to the point where they may have just popped out of her skull. She couldn’t even breathe. Her mind couldn’t even fathom what she was witnessing. Rainbow, instead, slowly nodded from where she and Twilight lay. 

Rainbow Dash nodded and croaked, “All right Rogers.”

And through the blood, dirt, and pain, Thor managed a smile. “I knew it.”