Chapter 181 – Only the Brave
181
The Battle of Earth
6:54 p.m.
Phil Coulson had only hidden behind cover for about four seconds before his blindside was attacked, but it was not hostile. The hug that Daisy Johnson offered him could never have been.
When the rest of world teetered and burned, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. answered the call and took up arms against such overwhelming odds. Nick Fury joined shortly with Maria Hill and the countless other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and soldiers to push through the battlefield together. Phil fought alongside them, with Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez, Lance Hunter, Bobbi Morse, Jemma Simmons, Leopold Fitz, Deathlok, Deke Shaw, and so many more. In the course of the raging battle, many agents had broken off—either forced to or by their own free will—to help where they could. The only ones left in Phil’s group were Fitz, Jemma, Deke, and Yo-Yo.
Coulson and Yo-Yo could defend themselves rather skillfully, what with Elena’s super speed and Phil’s robotic hand allowing them to have survived for as long as they did. The energy shields Phil crafted with his hand, plus the returning fire he sent with his pistol ensured that he could keep himself and his team safe from any alien insurrection. Fitz, Simmons, and Deke all ran with pistols in hand. They all defended one another and themselves.
But shortly after Ultron’s Fortress had entered the battle and tore apart the earth, Phil led his team to safety behind the nearest rubble he could find. It acted as cover, some breathing room between them and the war for the very universe. When Coulson rose to check on his team, he was blindsided and crushed by a hug and in familiar arms.
Her voice, especially, caught his dying heart.
“You’re safe!” Daisy gasped, clutching onto Phil and never wanting to let go. She gazed a thousand miles and still never took her eyes away from the three behind Coulson. Fitz, Jemma, and Deke all held their breath when they saw Daisy, joy and tears filling Jemma’s eyes. Daisy couldn’t help herself either and let the wetness flow.
“You’re all safe…” she whispered, burying her face into Phil’s shoulder and shivering as she held him tighter. Coulson felt his heart break at her pained, shaking breaths. His hands rose and comforted her in a hug only he could return, offering the daughter he never had with as much warmth and assurance as he could muster.
Perhaps for Daisy, for the surrogate father she believed Phil to be, that real assurance could finally be brought to fruition.
Behind her, what remained of S.H.I.E.L.D. came together for a quick but satisfying reunion. Mack could hardly contain himself as she limped forward and wrapped Yo-Yo in a tight hug. Elena felt a wave of relief washing through her as her boyfriend clutched onto her body. She returned the favor, robotic arms clutching his back and shoulder. Friday aided the wounded Melinda May in order to join the group, Fitz and Simmons rushing to her aid. May gave them each a quick hug before the pain overcame her senses, forced to lie down with help from the two.
Fitz cast the Iron Man suit of armor a glance and an appreciative nod. “Thank you for keeping her alive,” he said. Jemma, tears still in her eyes, managed a grateful smile to the Mark 45.
Friday could only offer a nod in response, her attention and expression shifting elsewhere. She caught the trail of fire in the air, seeing her creator Tony Stark tearing through the skies and fighting his way to the inevitable clash with Thanos. Friday gazed to him a moment longer, and then kept staring.
While quick reunions filled the remainder of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daisy and Phil’s lasted longer. She wanted it to last an eternity, just to know the man who took her in when she had nothing was safe and alive a second longer. Yet she knew she had to break away. She knew that he could, in fact, live truly. The only real assurance that Daisy had left was giving Phil the Centipede Serum, the only cure capable enough of aiding his heart and freeing Coulson’s death sentence from the Ghost Rider. And she could do it. Right then and there, she could save him.
So, she broke the hug, held onto Coulson’s shoulders, and stared into his eyes.
He stared back, that warming smile she had missed for five years finally returning to him. “I knew you’d make it out all right,” he told her. He shook his head at that, still quite shocked that he was able to take it all in, still holding his smile with hers. “I am so proud.”
Daisy managed a short chuckle, eyes still melting and tears still building. “I had your training… and definitely your perseverance.”
Through the blurred tears, Daisy stared into Coulson’s eyes and saw only that fatherly warmth, that bond only he could share with her. That grave shadow clouded her heart when she knew what was to become of him, what he so stubbornly rejected as if his contract with the Ghost Rider usurped all other things. He would stand for nothing more, every attempt to save his life just met with rejection. And now he was alive, brought back from the Decimation with his life once more ticking away.
The cure to it all simply rested inside her Quake Gauntlet. Daisy’s hands fell and she gazed to it, to the orange vial glowing within her gauntlet and beckoning to her. She raised that hand, stared to her open palm, then clenched it into a tight fist.
“Phil,” she began, voice barely above a whisper but the war surrounding them momentarily ceasing so she could be heard. And Phil heard her. She stared to him, and presently, quickly explained, “There’s something I need to—”
The screams cut her off and earned all of their eyes.
The chaotic war resumed, all heads flinching and ducking and turning to the source. Just a couple hundred feet, through the valley pockmarked with warring bodies, debris, and corpses of every variety, Discord and Thanos engaged one another for the battle of the ages. For the Nano Gauntlet. The agents fell in silence, gazing in awe to the draconequus and the Titan going toe to toe. Daisy took a step forward, terror lacing every detail in her tear-stained eyes.
Again and again, Discord would snap his fingers, changing reality in hopes to silence the Mad Titan for good. He would throw boulders, debris, pull forth entire houses, cars, and even Chitauri chariots out of thin air and launch them at him, but Thanos would always retaliate. He would dodge and push through every obstacle the Spirit of Chaos threw at him. The ground erupted and tried to consume Thanos. Vines and dirt would rise up like tendrils and wrap around the Titan’s limbs. He even tried to snap Thanos out of existence. The Dark Lord, through pure adrenaline and fury, fought through it all. He threw his blade and knocked Discord right out of the air, stopping the draconequus from snapping his fingers and obliterating the Mad Titan into a million rubber duckies.
Once Discord hit the earth with resounding force, he grunted and raised his eyes over to the Nano Gauntlet. Instinctively, Discord raised his left eagle talon and prepared to snap, prepared to send the gauntlet somewhere Thanos would never get his hands on it. Unfortunately, he never even connected his claws in time. Thanos sprinted forward and sliced down as he leaped over Discord’s body, severing Discord from his entire left hand. Yelping at that, Discord could only stare to the stump on his left arm before his vision was filled with darkness, Thanos ramming his foot across the draconequus’ face and launching the chaotic spirit clear across the valley.
In that moment of relief, Thanos turned and narrowed his focus on the gauntlet, on the Infinity Stones. Nothing else stood in his path. He ran for it, for them, and nothing stopped him.
Time seemed to slow itself as Daisy Johnson analyzed their predicament. She could only hear her heavy breaths entering and exiting her lungs, slipping through her chapped, blood and dirt-splotched lips, and join the smoke-infested air. Asgardians and Chitauri slaughtered one another all around her, their bodies moving at a molasses’ pace. So slow and so unnatural. Yet even with the horrors of war and death all around her, a simple path was laid out, clear of any death, of any fire, of anything except the Nano Gauntlet.
And Thanos.
Daisy knew exactly what would happen if he got his hands on the Infinity Stones. Instead of half of all life, he would finish the job, and kill every single one of them. Captain America made it clear over the comms earlier what Thanos’ endgame was. Thanos would kill the entire universe to prove himself right. Everything they fought for, everything they sacrificed, what they had gained from their efforts, it could not have been for nothing. If Thanos got the Infinity Stones again, it would all be for nothing.
It did not take a genius’ intellect to know she was no match for him. Their last personal confrontation ended with Thanos punching her to the dirt. Even with her Inhuman powers, she was nothing compared to the Mad Titan, gauntlet or not. Besides, all she ever wanted was to see Coulson alive again. Bringing her friends back, bringing him back, ensuring his life was freed and cured with the Centipede Serum was everything to her. She barely lasted five years, and going another second without her surrogate father was too much for her to bear again. She couldn’t go through it again. Coulson needed to live so that she could. The serum was his, but she wasn’t strong enough to take on Thanos on her own, in her current state.
It all fell apart around her. The world, the war, the reality, and the severity of the situation.
In the end, even Daisy knew what was needed. In the end, she was given the choice: Save Coulson… or the universe.
It took every ounce of strength in her heart to turn back to him, to turn and meet Phil’s eyes with her drained and wounded pair. She reached for his hand, his real flesh and bone hand, and held it with her own. He turned to her.
“You have to promise me that no matter what happens…” Daisy whispered, a single tear slipping down her cheek, “… you make it out of this. You find a cure. You save yourself. For all of their sake… and for mine.”
Before he could even breathe, her hand fell away from his. Just like that. He never even had the chance to hold her back.
Phil realized that and said, “Daisy… what are you—?”
She backed away from him. From all of them. They all lifted their eyes and watched her go. From Melinda May. Alphonso Mackenzie. Elena Rodriguez. Leopold Fitz. Jemma Simmons. Deke Shaw. The men and women she proudly served with for the greatest years of her life. Her team. The agents who had become something more. Her family.
Her shield.
They watched her go and they did nothing. They knew nothing. No one knew but her of what she would do when that path was severed and she was free.
“Stay alive,” she called, taking several more steps backwards and looking nowhere else but onto them. Onto Phil Coulson especially, as her voice broke and her heart broke with it.
“I love you.”
Then, she turned and ran.
“Daisy,” Phil called, then cried as he raised his pistol for the Chitauri rushing her from behind. “Daisy, no, wait!”
The Chitauri cut them off, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their former director forced to fight for their lives as one of their own ran off into the fires. Daisy Johnson was not captured. She was not caught by their claws, their blades, or their blasters. Her years of training under May, under Coulson, all of their experience onto her kept her alive and pushed her onwards. The path ahead was filled with growing Chitauri of every race, distant Outriders rushing forward and leaping for her. Only one Outrider broke through the fire to reach her. Only one Elite tore across the valley and aimed its sword for her.
She leaped over a mound of rock, rearing back with her fist and reaching out with her boot. She drove her foot into the face of the charging Elite, cracking its visor and bending its neck back at an awkward and painful angle. She slammed her right fist down and quaked the nearest Outrider to her left, crushing it into the dirt where it belonged.
Rolling forward, Johnson let loose with every last ounce of power and strength she had left flowing through her Inhuman veins. Tremors of energy shot forth from her fists, tearing through Chitauri after Chitauri, Sakaaran and Outrider, and even the slew of Ultron Sentinels that sought to finish the job like they should have back in the alternate timeline. Daisy tore through all of them, not a single one able to stop her and not a single one left standing in her wake.
Before she knew it, the path was severed. She was free of the fire. All that was left was the Nano Gauntlet and the Mad Titan mere feet away from reaching it.
In her sprint onward, Daisy reached for her silver Quake Gauntlet. Her breath was raw and heavy as she pulled the vial free from its hidden compartment and out for the entire world to see. No one but her saw the Centipede Serum in its grandest form, the orange liquid sloshing back and forth with each daring footfall closer she took towards the Titan. His back was turned. His focus was only on the Stones and nothing else.
Knowing that, knowing what truly hung on the line, and knowing that the fate of the universe was more than Coulson, Daisy Johnson shut her eyes, gritted her teeth, and injected the vial into her left shoulder. The syringe pushed forth the fluid inside of her, the resulting effects and reactions completely and totally instantaneous.
The Centipede Serum consumed her. Her eyes shot open and each iris was laced in a burning orange hue.
Thanos had made it. He had reached his destiny. He grabbed the gauntlet and gazed hungrily to the Infinity Stones, rearing back with his right hand and jamming it forward to fit inside the glove. The unrelenting shock wave from behind him prevented him from proceeding an inch closer. He was punched forward, launched several yards ahead with the speed of a rocket and the impact of one to boot.
Crashing against the burning corpse of a Leviathan, Thanos lost his breath and cried out in mixtures of pain and anguish. He pried himself from the melting body of the serpent, stumbling as his feet hit the earth. Regardless of his pain, of his torment, he faced his never-ending war ahead and sought, once more, the Infinity Stones.
The gauntlet crashed further off to his left. Dead ahead, he saw her rise fully. Thanos stopped breathing and narrowed his eyes onto the Inhuman.
Gazing to her arms, her fists, and to her very body, Quake stood breathlessly, almost as if she felt she did not even need to breathe. The power flowing through her gave her every breath she needed, the burning fire of the Centipede Serum infused perfectly with her veins, body, spirit, and mind. Every vein visible on her body glowed a haunting orange, shimmering through her jumpsuit and rising up around her clean face. All leading up to her eyes, the twin orbs of blistering orange energy shimmering with unshaken and unquenchable fire.
Daisy Johnson breathed again. She lifted her eyes and met the Mad Titan’s. He glared at her. She glared back. Within seconds, they were already charging one another.
While Daisy reached back with a devastating second punch, Thanos escaped her reach, rolling forward and retrieving his Uru blade from the dirt. Spinning around, Daisy’s black bangs flung madly to her movements, Quake jamming out her right palm and screaming as that tremoring wave of energy left her fingertips. Thanos was not fast enough to dodge a blast of such speed and power. He raised his arms, his sword, and took the spearhead of the quaking assault head-on.
The sound waves made his ears and nose bleed, but Thanos held on, tightening his jaw through every second of the assault. His body was continuously pushed back, the earth shredding and cracking around him while the Titan persevered. When he realized she wasn’t going to letup any moment soon, Thanos drove his blade into the earth and stopped himself from moving another inch backwards. Daisy kept up the assault, pressing forward with her palm still jutted forth, still unloading that pent-up energy within her freshly-fueled body.
Together, the two of them broke the distance to each other, Thanos driving his feet into the dirt and fighting against the wave of tremoring energy, and Daisy unloading more pulses of that energy onto Thanos with each step closer. Until both simultaneously broke it, Daisy rearing her hand back and Thanos breaking free from its hold. They were face to face. Thanos glared down at her. Daisy breathed.
His swing for her head was missed by centimeters, Johnson ducking the blade with cat-like reflexes. She bent low, using that same speed and ferocity that never let go of her and unloading it onto each punch and strike she sent onto the Mad Titan. Her punches were rapid, hitting first his kneecap then rising up to his sternum, all leading up to the devastating punch across Thanos’ cheekbone. His armor cracked and shattered with each strike she delivered, a sickening impact of her fist against his bone twisting Thanos’ neck to the far right. Several yards in that direction, he flew and crashed. Hard.
When he rose, Thanos coughed droplets of violet and gazed to the dirt, seeing his blood splattered upon it. He ignored the stars in his eyes, knowing that her strikes had dealt far greater damage than he had initially dreaded. His insides ached as he rose up to his feet, Thanos recognizing the shattered ribs and pushing on anyway. Broken bones were temporary. His destiny and rest soon to come were eternal.
Looking up, he heard her war cry and saw as Quake descended from the sky with fists high above her head. Thanos rolled out of the way, looking over and shielding his face as she struck the earth and tore it apart. Fragments of rock and stone shot out and sliced at his body. Reacting fast, Thanos reached forward and wrapped his palm around her throat, raising her high and bringing her down where her back impacted the cracked and broken rock. Daisy raised her head and opened her fire-fueled eyes onto Thanos, only to meet the darkness of his palm as he slammed it over her face.
Grabbing hold of her head, Thanos lifted her body and slammed her repeatedly into that same impact point. He leaned back and tossed her with fervent ferocity across the valley, roaring as he relinquished her head from his grasp. To his continued shock, Daisy spun in mid-air, landed on both feet upon the earth, skidded several yards further back, and kicked off from it. Her speeds were unmatched, Thanos unable to react in time as her body was propelled towards him and gored the Titan clear across the battlegrounds.
Grabbing hold of Thanos, Daisy planted her feet upon the earth and tossed the Titan from her. He crashed and rolled for several hundred more feet, only able to rise shortly after regaining his footing. By that time, there was already a considerable distance between the two. There was already enough time for Johnson to lift her fists and bring them down.
She slammed her fists into ground, screaming through every second of every tremoring impact that she sent across the valley. From her fury, a massive earthquake was birthed and shot forth across the entire battlefield. Armies caught within the tremor’s hold either ceased their conflict or were consumed by the shattering earth. Shards of that earth were raised and dropped, Thanos leaping through it all just to near her. From one piece of landmass to the other, Thanos broke the distance and flew high above her head. He tossed his sword for her. Daisy dodged it by centimeters, the blade’s edge scraping against her cheek before it stabbed the earth by her side. Before she could even turn back, he landed with his boot kicking her in the chest. Daisy rolled back, lifting her head and eyeing the Titan in his feral approach. He ripped his blade free from the ground, snarling and unleashing it upon her.
Each swipe and slash were more deadly than the last, Thanos’ intense power and speed finally finding its advantage over hers. And with each strike forward, Daisy found herself being pushed back further. The adrenaline she had was fading. The fire in her veins was giving its last light. Daisy’s face contorted further and further into different depths of desperation. She blocked his sword with her gauntlets, grabbing the blade and using it as leverage to drive her elbow right into Thanos’ face. With Thanos staggered backwards, she ran forward and kicked off his chest, leaping over his head and landing behind him. She reared back with her fist and spun around, unloading her most devastating punch yet. One that would kill. One that couldn’t miss. Her screams followed her, echoed across the battlefield. She spun and met him. Thanos spun around at the same second.
They froze when their eyes met. Daisy’s fist froze in mid-air.
She lost her breath. She couldn’t breathe.
Thanos could. He breathed in and out, again and again, and dropped his eyes. Daisy made the mistake of following him.
Embedded in her chest, she saw only the end of Thanos’ blade. A clean cut. A perfect incision. Between each breast and directly through her heart.
The fire in her eyes faded, leaving just her. The Inhuman. The woman. Just Daisy.
Carefully, Thanos ripped it free and backed away, gazing on in silence. She clutched her agape and bleeding wound and crumbled to one knee. To her rear, falling back and only able to keep herself straightened by her left palm pressed against the dirt and rock. Even that faltered, the pained intakes of air wet and raspy. That wetness flowed from her mouth in short streams of crimson, that same color that painted her glove over her chest. A different wetness flowed from her eyes, clear and painful.
That wet and dark glove over her heart could feel the fading beats, stronger than ever… and quietly slowing down. Quietly, slowly, she fell. Rested at long last.
Her head lulled to her left, tear-stained eyes seeing the dark figures of Phil Coulson and the other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. successfully emerging from the fire. Alive and well. Daisy managed a sharp intake of air at that, relief replacing the pain, and leaving nothing in return. There was nothing. No more pain. No more suffering. Her eyes, glazed over, stared on ahead and looked nowhere else except where Phil and her family stood.
It was the only thing she wanted to see.
She breathed out her last.
And was gone.
By the time Phil and the others had reached her, fought through hell and fire, they were already too late. They could only gaze upon the aftermath in mixtures of utter disbelief and horror. Fitz’s eyes popped open to the highest degree he could manage. Jemma cried out, hands rising to cover her mouth. But Phil took it the worst. He did not cry, did not react as the others could, because what he saw was something he couldn’t believe. He couldn’t believe it to be real and therefore could not react to it. He was trapped in a frozen state of shock for so long that he had grown numb to the world around him. Her bleeding body was stained in his memory, her eyes latched to him in a desperate final act to reach him.
And now he could no longer reach her. He failed. He lost her.
He couldn’t even come back to reality in time. Thanos swiped his bleeding blade out in front of him, spinning towards the various agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and stomping towards them with that same murderous intent glowing in his eyes.
Tempest Shadow leaped from the smoke with Stormbreaker in her magical aura, her screams crying out for her fallen Avenger as she slammed the axe across the Titan’s body. The thunderous impact sent a shock wave of lightning and fury across the valley, and all had felt it and reacted to it. Phil Coulson was numb to it all. He was the first one to her body. The others came shortly after his hand reached behind her head and cradled it.
Thanos blocked Stormbreaker with his Double-Edged Sword, currents of lightning and electricity sparking off the axe’s head and shocking his face and body. The Mad Titan seethed at that, glaring to the glowing blue eyes of the unicorn as she drove Stormbreaker further and further onto his chest.
Phil cradled her head while the others checked her wounds, tried to find some way to save her. He rubbed strands of her dark hair out of her face.
Tempest cried out in mixtures of rage and anguish, all of it a creation of Thanos’ dastardly and heinous actions on her fellow Avenger. She was too slow to come to her aid in time, but never too late to stop the Titan from taking another life. Her teeth tightened so hard she could have crushed steel. Thanos’ own mirrored Tempest’s as that axe grew closer to his chest. To his exposed neck.
Fitz checked the wound while Jemma held Daisy’s hand, searched for s pulse, and clutched onto her best friend, desperately praying for a miracle. Fitz could find none, his expression crestfallen as he brought his hand away from her wound. Mack stood as pale as a ghost. Yo-Yo was speechless. Jemma cried and held Daisy’s hand, tightened it so hard that she shivered. She sobbed and wailed.
Phil cradled her head. Stared to the others and saw their shattered reactions. He let his eyes fall to hers, saw as they gazed beyond him and into the burning skies. Shakily, he lifted his free hand and washed his palm over her vision, closing her eyes. He joined her, resting his forehead against his surrogate daughter’s and letting loose the tears. The pain. The reality of it all.
Tempest’s cries became a call to arms, nearby Avengers, heroes, and the brave answering them to the best of their abilities. Daisy’s sacrifice became the spark to their fire, igniting the whole world against Thanos.
Slamming his palm down on the axe, Thanos knocked it free from his throat and drove his forehead into Tempest’s own. She fell back from the hit, losing Stormbreaker momentarily as she crashed into the dirt. Thanos raised his blade, watching as it was caught in another magical aura and ripped from his grasp. He watched the blade bounce and crash against some rubble, Thanos staring to it before his glare was ultimately brought back to the unicorn in question.
Starlight leaped forward from the mound of rock, driving her hoof across Thanos’ cheek and earning some spittle of blood from her impact. Thanos grunted and fell to his knee, spinning to face her as Starlight skidded across the dirt. She spun and fired a spell onto the Titan, meeting his forehead and pushing Thanos back several feet. Maud slid into action, bucking Thanos in the back of his knee and knocking back to the ground. Derpy dive-bombed from the sky, she and Trixie unloading streams of dark magic and lightning onto the withering Titan. Thanos howled as their conjoined assault continued to strike him down further and further. He had sustained their annoyance for far too long, allowing them to somehow gain an advantage over him.
No more.
Clenching his palms into fists, Thanos rose up. The lightning from Derpy’s Domino Gun and the dark fires from Trixie’s horn all faded away when Thanos reared down, captured Maud in his hand, and chucked her for them. Both the unicorn and the Pegasus were knocked out the air, leaving just Starlight. She charged once more for Thanos, vanishing and reappearing by his face for another devastating spell. Only Thanos expected it, roaring as he drove his fist directly to her flash of magic and punched her.
As Starlight vanished across the rubble, Thanos leaned back to dodge the swing of Stormbreaker. Tempest returned, and more relentless than ever. Her swings with the axe were only fueled by her undying ferocity and hatred for the Mad Titan. Fire and lightning melted off the weapon, spinning madly with her on every daring push forward. Thanos would dodge it constantly, but realized quickly that he wouldn’t be able to forever.
He realized it too late. Tempest rammed the axe into his shoulder, breaking through the armor and tearing through flesh and bone.
Bellowing in agony, Thanos raised his right hand and gripped the axe’s handle, trying desperately to pry it out. Violet blood flowed from the shattered armor and painted his right arm, and it only continued to flow. The axe continued to dig deeper. Tempest Shadow continued to seethe with rage before him. Falling to his knee, Thanos turned desperately from the axe and back to the glare of the unicorn. Her eyes were a heavenly blue, fueled only by the axe and the strength it gave her.
It all clicked for him at that moment. Showing his feral teeth, Thanos managed to raise his left arm, grasping the handle with both hands and using what remaining strength he had to lift the axe. The opposite force and pressure made the ordeal of removal excruciating, and it was. Truly, it was. Thanos screamed as Stormbreaker, slowly but surely, was raised from his bleeding shoulder.
To Tempest’s shock, she gazed to the axe and widened her eyes when Thanos had successfully pried it free. Every ounce of her magic was put into the axe, so when Thanos ripped it from her grasp, it felt as if all the breath, the strength, the will in her body was simply stripped from her. Momentarily, for a second or two. But that was all Thanos needed, just a second.
He punched her across the head, Tempest unable to hold on any longer. Her magic was relinquished from the axe, Stormbreaker falling dark and Thanos tossing it aside. Free and bleeding alive, Thanos stomped towards Tempest with ill-intent burning in his glare. Shaken and fractured, Tempest felt the crack in her horn and the magic sputtering out of it. The punch dealt more damage than she initially feared. She saw stars, heard a ringing in her left ear, and tried to shake it all away.
She couldn’t, but faced Thanos either way. She charged a spell.
Thanos punched her.
Stumbling backwards, Tempest felt and tasted the blood in her mouth. Regardless, she faced him again, holding her ground and never surrendering. Another sputtering spell in her horn. Another punch from the Mad Titan.
Bruises formed and blood flowed from the unicorn’s face, from the freshly-acquired cuts, her nose, her lips, and her mouth. All relinquished the pain she could not express any other way. With every deafening punch, with every stumbling step backwards, Tempest Shadow continued to rise again, continued to hold her ground and charge up any spell that might have made a difference, that might have pushed Thanos back. But nothing came. So, she stood.
She faced him again and Thanos punched her again. Again. Again.
Until she could stand no more. Until she finally fell and gave in to her body’s demands. Resting against the dirt and rock, Tempest inhaled and exhaled wet and ragged breaths, blood practically raining from her face and painting the dirt she lied on. With eyes bruised and bloodshot, Tempest finally turned her expression back up to the Titan, to the darkened figure overshadowing and glaring down at her.
Tempest wheezed.
Thanos narrowed his eyes, grew that snarling expression, and reared up with his boot.
Quickly and desperately, Tempest fell onto her back and charged up her horn, one last hopeless attempt to save herself. To concoct a spell, to prove to herself that she could do it and that even broken she was whole. In her awestricken gaze, she watched as the light from her horn shimmered through it all. Through the cracks, fractures, brokenness and created a shield. Just a shield of pure magic directly before her, protecting her. She had done it. Tempest did it and gasped.
Thanos tore through her shield with his boot and crushed her chest.
That gasp was caught at the last second, Tempest pressing her hooves tightly against the Mad Titan’s armored shoe. She tried to breathe, managed short bursts as the foot over her chest, her lungs, halted nearly everything. From basic motor functions, brain activity, and even breathing. She stared nowhere else but up, to the Mad Titan glaring pitifully at her. She glared back.
He pressed down.
Tempest heard the snap and lost her breath. Her eyes bugged out, jaw unhinged, and expression frozen in that perpetual state of shock and terror. The pain was something she knew of, amplified only by the horrific realization that it was absolute. It was complete. And it was temporary. What was not was the wretched feeling of guilt clouding what remaining senses she had, knowing she had failed to repay her debt fully to the ponies she aided, the ponies she sided with. The ponies who, through it all, befriended a broken monster like her.
To that, she found a semblance of ease once again.
Thanos dug deeper, grunting as his boot drove the unicorn deeper into the ground. With that, Tempest relinquished her remaining breath in a drawn-out sigh, her head falling back and resting on the cold, broken dirt.
She closed her eyes and lay there. Never moved…
Never opened them again.
“NOOO!” Starlight screamed. “Tempest!”
It was if he had grown numb to death, to the fires of desolation around him, and to the unholy wails of pain and anguish as the suffered, the living, the spared turned their swords onto him. For retribution. For vengeance. For so many things that Thanos could no longer keep track off. He pulled his boot from her body, spun around and faced the next onslaught as quickly and efficiently as he could.
Starlight charged ahead with Trixie right beside her. Derpy was crying as she fired relentlessly from her shoulder-mounted lightning gun, screaming Tempest’s name again and again. Hearing nothing in response. Maud ripped boulder after boulder from the ground and hurled them at Thanos. All of their efforts, all of their strengths, all of their pain pushed onto one being.
And he threw them aside.
To Trixie and Starlight, he raised his armored forearm and blocked their spells, swiping low and striking both across the face with his forearm. Their bodies flew like ragdolls across the air, crashing and lying unmoving against the gravel. Thanos grunted and cried as the Domino Gun struck his chest, but he fought through it. He drove his shoulder into the boulder that was flung for him and shattered it. Fragments rained over the Titan, Thanos catching one and chucking it right for the Pegasus. Derpy had no chance of escape, no hope to evade, and was knocked out of the air by it.
Thanos screamed. He screamed as more and more boulders were thrown at him. He screamed as the torment of their resilience and his stripped destiny continued to assault him. He screamed as he rammed each shoulder into a different boulder each time, eventually breaking the distance, eventually reaching Maud and punching the earth where she stood. The force of the punch, the shock wave he created, launched Maud several yards back.
Then, he breathed.
He suffered.
He lived.
He pushed on and retrieved his sword, running for the gauntlet. It was almost over.
The slew of events that followed felt like a blur, entrapping Thanos in another wave of rebellion and chaos. The Punisher flew down and tackled Thanos into the dirt, the burly Punisher Armor rising high and sending vicious punches across the Titan’s bleeding and bruised cheeks. But he wasn’t alone. From the smoke and fire, Daredevil answered Tempest Shadow’s call at long last and ran, driving his knee into the Titan’s chest and proceeding to knock Thanos further to his knees.
Elektra screamed as she ran towards him, leaping forth and sending a brutal kick across Thanos’ temple. He fell to the side, still barely standing. Luke Cage was ready for him, rearing down and slamming his fist across the Titan’s cheekbone. Violet blood sprayed from Thanos’ mouth, pushing him onward to Jessica Jones, who met him with a punch directly into his forehead. The Iron Fist was the last to join, the strongest to hit, as Danny Rand leaped forward and drove his golden fist into the heart of Thanos’ chest.
The Mad Titan slid several yards backwards, the shock wave of the punch doing more damage than he initially calculated. Thanos clutched his chest, writhing in pain and shocked to see plates of his armor cracking and falling into his open palm. Had his armor not held, Thanos could only fear what might have become of him.
The Defenders charged on.
Thanos lifted his eyes to them and breathed.
He whipped his blade forward so quickly and so rapidly that none expected it. It tore across Jessica’s arm, Danny’s leg, and the side of Matt’s helmet. All three of them cried out and clutched their wounds, falling away while the others pushed on. Thanos caught Elektra’s sai intended for his throat, breaking the weapon and headbutting her fiercely. He threw her body against Danny’s, she and the Iron Fist tumbling out of sight. Luke drove his fist towards Thanos once again, but the Titan was ready. He raised his sword, blocked Cage’s devastating punch, twisted his arm, and slammed the side of his blade against Luke’s body. He flew back, rolling and crashing into the rubble.
All within five seconds.
Yet time proceeded on, and Frank Castle didn’t waste a second more. He leaped over Luke’s rolling body, his Punisher Armor stomping heavily as he tore across the battlefield and reached the Titan. He whipped out his right arm, the gauntlet attached to his armor unsheathing a chainsaw. The weapon roared to life as the sharpened blades spun and spun, no hope of stopping. No hope of stopping the Punisher from seeing Thanos’ head on a platter.
Jetting high, Frank brought the chainsaw down with a thunderous clash against Thanos’ sword. Sparks and fire shot off from the impact of the two weapons, the blades of the chainsaw grinding and slicing and crying out against the side of the Mad Titan’s sword. Thanos cringed against the sparks dancing across his vision, seething in panic when he noticed the chainsaw nearing his exposed neck. The weapon roared. Frank Castle, from beneath the skull-painted mask and burning red eyes, roared.
Then, in a desperate act, Thanos twisted his sword so the sharpened edge collided with the chainsaw. The blades cried out and broke apart, flying in multiple directions as the Uru greatly outpowered the weakened steel and metal. Seeing his chainsaw break apart, Frank tore his eyes rapidly away from Thanos and that was his downfall. His chainsaw shattered, Castle nearly crumbling to the ground from the excess force he applied to it. From that, Thanos reared back and punched Frank right between the eyes.
The resounding clang of metal against bone filled Castle’s ears and continued to echo in his head. He flew back and crashed back-first onto the earth, rolling until his feet met solid ground once more. With hands planted, armor grinding, and breath tightening, Frank slowly lifted his flickering red eyes and met the Titan’s.
Thanos stomped towards him on a murderous warpath, twirling his blade and nearing Castle by the second. He only stopped when the earth shuddered next to the Punisher. He turned to it and nearly lost his breath when Tony Stark himself had landed next to him, come to his aid, and rose slowly. To stand defiantly one last time against Thanos. To stand with Castle one last time.
Then Rescue landed next to him, by her husband’s side.
Then War Machine.
Then Friday.
Spider-Man.
Twilight. Rarity. Rainbow Dash.
An iron army. A team. A family.
He saw them all and Frank Castle rose with them.
“Sometimes the world’s greatest miracles happen by accident.”
"I lost what I defined myself to be... Then I lost those who stood by me... And now, I'm simply... lost. I feel as though there is almost nothing left of me. Out here, I'll either lose myself completely... or find something new to be."
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DAISY! TEMPEST! NOOOO!!!!
Tempest and Daisy are gone! Now Thanos is going to really get it! And if that dude mess with one or more of them, he gets all of them!
And man this war just keeps on raging! And it’s looks like the Iron Team is coming to kick Thanos back into space!
Sad day for the Avengers. But Thanos can't really rejoice, for there are, like, 40 more of them to avenge the 2 who have fallen.
TEMPEST!!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Thanos you bastard 😡
R.I.P. Tempest and Daisy.
When is Thanos’ blade going to be destroyed?
Let’s see if the Iron Individuals can cause extreme pain to The Mad Titan.
Fics over 800k Words now, quite the milestone, good job, anyway, in other news
Her head lulled to her left, tear-stained eyes seeing the dark figures of Phil Coulson and the other agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. successfully emerging from the fire. Alive and well. Daisy managed a sharp intake of air at that, relief replacing the pain, and leaving nothing in return. There was nothing. No more pain. No more suffering. Her eyes, glazed over, stared on ahead and looked nowhere else except where Phil and her family stood.
It was the only thing she wanted to see.
She breathed out her last.
And was gone.
Thanos dug deeper, grunting as his boot drove the unicorn deeper into the ground. With that, Tempest relinquished her remaining breath in a drawn-out sigh, her head falling back and resting on the cold, broken dirt.
She closed her eyes and lay there. Never moved…
Never opened them again.
Damn....you......THANOS!!!!!!!
Well, the first 2 major casualties of this battle have occurred. But boy did they go out on a brave note. Thanos, you may have extinguished two candles, but there is a wildfire waiting to take their place.
And as she faced the end, she cast no shadow...
Two brave souls have left this mortal plane. Brave warriors who fought to the very end.
Rest In Peace, Daisy “Quake” Johnson and Tempest Shadow.
You will be avenged.
RIP Daisy... and Tempest...
At least Daisy died with having a chance to see Coulson again, and saying her goodbye to him, her father figure...
At least Tempest died with having her horn, something she wanted since it was destroyed when she a foal. That desire lead her to commiting terrible things but at the end she redeemed herself. A villain that turned into a hero...
Their sacrifice will not be forgotten!
Now I'm seriously afraid what you have planned for the next chapters, because I'm certain they're not going to be the only ones to die...
Wow. You are rrrrrreeeallllyyyy stretching the continuity of both worlds here. Please tell me this isn't permanent.
What a tragically beautiful exit for the both. Makes me very sad that they're dead but if no had died I'd probably be complaining about that.
So I'll just, those are nice pictures.
Hey people , today in your... No, You know what ? today is a sad day : we lost two great soldiers , Tempest Shadow and Daisy Johnson (Aka Quake) fought till the end and even then they didn't give up. They gave their all and even if it wasn't enough they shall be remembered has some of the people who protected Earth and the Universe with all they had.
Sadly this meant for them to pay the ultimate sacrifice. But not in vain my dear readers, "why ?" you might ask. Well , because even if they couldn't not be saved ...
You can be damn sure they'll be Avenged !
Oh and here is your usual Avengers cover, didn't forget it.
I CRIED SO HARD i'm serious DAISY NOOOOOOOO!!!! KILL THANOS LIKE NOW GRRRRRRRR
i did not think that daisy was going to die at all and what about May what is her reaction to daisy dieing?
AMAZING chapter
can't wait for the next part 
i wonder if doctor strange saw that coming too?
Daisy was the one that i didn't WANT to die now i'm sad and upset i feel the same way as when i felt when black widow died in the endgame movie (because i didn't want her to die, she was my favorite, nat i mean) now whyyyyyy!!!!!
now i really want agents of shield to come out sooner now so i can be happy again especially if we are going to get locked down because of the virus, thanos is the virus LOL
.
Holy shit, I did not expect that!
Intense chapter. Wondering how Strange has been holding Ultron this whole time.
Yeah. Let's say that this ain't the first time someone's pissed us off, peanut butter and jelly.
Hate me for this but...
It seems Tempest had a crushing defeat.
So, are we going to ignore the fact that Ultrons are still going after everything? I know that this is a time for sacrifice, but there's got to be a lot going on right now what with 3 armies in conflict with each other. And with these small fights, it almost feels like we're going to be losing our view on the scope of it all.
But, that being said, these were some good fights. Daisy putting her duty first, and in doing so, giving them enough time to rally more teams to hold Thanos down. She came close again, but lost the path forward when the mad titan gave her one sword to the heart.
Team side ponies were next, but they couldn't quite hold him back, and Tempest Shadow ran out of steam when Stormbreaker got lost, and she ran out of stamina.
Then the defenders came in with pure fists. Electra, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Power Man, Jewel, and the Punisher coming down with sheer force. Alas, still not enough to hold it together.
But with Frank giving Thanos hell, that gave enough time for a new team gathering to bring him down. The Iron Legion. The Iron Man, the War Machine, A Rescuer, Punisher, Iron Spider, and the Iron Mares. You had enough trouble with them when going for the gauntlet. Well now how about the new iron team who's out for blood?
The battle's been going for over an hour now. So anyone getting tired yet? Also, any chance we're going to have any other comers? Grogar? Annihilus? After all, what's a war, without referencing a battle of the 5 armies?
RIP Daisy and Tempest you will be avenged
Wonder how long Strange can hold Ultron?
Oh man, that sucks. If I'd watched Agents of Shield, I'm sure that would've been-
...YOU SON OF A-!!!
10139556
i really hope it isn't permanent, but i doubt it.
*ANGRY GODZILLA ROAR* I AM THIS CLOSE FROM RIPPING OPEN A PORTAL AND CHUCKING MY OC'S IN THERE TO AVENGE QUAKE AND TEMPEST, I ADMIRE AND HATE YOUR THANOS' SHEER RESILIENCE AND LACK OF MERCY, KUDOS TO THAT.
10139342 A fitting theme for a fitting end.
10139343 Time for an Iron Army.
10139386 Oh, yeah. There's a lot left.
10139427
10139447
He'll pay...
10139453 That blade won't be lasting much longer after all it's been through.
10139472 Thanks! We'll see if I can reach 1 mil.
10139477 Ooooo, that gave me chills.
10139507 Gone, but never forgotten.
10139530
10139556 This is a separate timeline from MLP season 9 and the MCU. Not everything is staying the same.
10139592 There needed to be more consequences for a grander scope.
10139664 A moment of silence for the fallen...
10139688
Thanos IS a virus. They'll avenge Daisy! 
10139971 Battling him off-screen.
10140029 i.imgur.com/LZiuK.gif
10140154 Last chapter was kind of focusing on the larger scope. We need some smaller, more personal fights to help close out this battle. I think you should count on only Ultron traveling through time.
10140249 For as long as Strange can fight him.
10140281
10140824
That is truly unexpected!
Wow....i scared the master!
10140824
I accepted that a long time ago. I'm just trying to imagine how the rest of the series would continue in your continuity compared to the actual continuity; the Pillars participated in the fight between Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Queen Chrysalis in the last few episodes of Season 9, and even Tempest joined in.
I haven't seen Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D so I don't understand most of the characters and the overall story, so I can't say anything regarding that continuity.
10140959 Well, that's just adding even more potential for future stories.
10141011
As long as Tony still dies, I'm okay. After all, it was his death that served as the base catalyst that started Far from Home.
Oh no...
How come Discord didn’t try to turn Thanos into rubber duckies in the very beginning?
And dang rip Daisy and Tempest. At least they died fighting. With that we have are first 2 major casualties of the Great battle of time and space.
10141372 Depends on what you refer to as the "very beginning".
10141409
I guess either his first fight or when he came back from the dead since at that point Thanos has proven to be more than a decent threat to him.
Daisy Johnson and Tempest Shadow died the way they lived -- as warriors.
Open up your eyes..... and now close them in peace.
NOO TEMPEST 😱😧 THANOS YOUR DEAD WHEN THE MANE 6 and THE OG AVENGERS KILL YOU TO SHREDS 😡
What about the avengers or humans they fought alongside a redeemed monster like her
Tempest no‼️‼️‼️😭
Oh my god... I said that Thanos needed to step up his game as the Big Bad of the story now that Ultron was here but... I never imagined he would go this far. Quake and Tempest, two of the heroes that brought everyone back... they're both gone. Thanos will pay for this!
I think overall, Daisey had a great last stand. She got to reunite with her surrogate family one last time and sacrificed her life to make sure they survived. She loved superheroes when she was first introduced, especially the Avengers, and now she'll always be remembered as one.
But then there's Tempest's death, which is arguably way more heartbreaking. Tempest has been working her flank off trying to redeem herself for her sins with the Storm King. She gathered the creatures of Equus to stand against Thanos, she continued her efforts five years after The Snap, and she helped bring everyone back and was even rewarded with a new horn thanks to her friends. But in the end, she faced the foe she and the others prepared for, and he struck her down without mercy, and unlike Daisey she didn't get to reunite with any of her lost friends or say goodbye to them. What about everything she worked for, and the friends she brought back? What about Grubber? He's her sidekick, he's her best friend, and he's never going to be able to speak to her again, or thank her for bringing him back. Doesn't he matter at all?
At least Tempest's death served one purpose, it reignited the fire in everyone against Thanos. The Defenders and the Guardian Ponies were the first ones to try to avenger her and Daisey, and now the entire Iron Family is next. I know that the Avengers swore "Whatever it takes" this time, and that's the reason they've come so far and why they'll win this time, but I hope their friends can live with the consequences of their sacrifices, because they just lost two close friends forever now.
I think I need a moment to process this.