Tony viewed the battlefield through his suit. FRIDAY showed the logistics of his attacks and monitored his blind spots. His repulsors powered and charged to burst through alien flesh and rip off Outrider limbs. Chitauri attempted to shoot their weapons at the red and rose-gold suit, but Tony blew them to smithereens before they could land a hit. Missiles deployed from his shoulders and weapons soared through groups of Outriders, raining the crater with guts and gore.
'Pepper!' Tony called at the sight of the blue and green-gold suit. 'How's the suit?!'
'It's unbelievably terrifying!' the Potts cried, firing her repulsor with an arched arm. The shot still its target, that being a Chitauri's chest, but didn't meet it's full potential.
'You're doing great, love!' Johnny was heard, the Storm flying low to melt a few aliens. 'You look hot too! And Stark, what the hell did you do to my sister?!'
'Wasn't me, hotshot! You have to take that up with the silver Charles Xavier.'
At the mention of the woman, Sue flew above Tony and Pepper and landed between them. Shots of blue sparked from her forearms that she threw down beside her and four Chitauri were thrown backwards. Spinning her arms and shielding herself at the same time, Sue bewildered her watchers beyond words as she obliterated masses of aliens at once.
'Sue, honey, babycakes, you're scaring me,' Tony voiced with wide eyes. 'You wanna tell me what happened?'
Sue turned to Tony, who finished with an Outrider and waited for her explanation. The Iron Man suit stared at her, its eye holes lit and arc reactor gleaming in its chest. She had cleared a path and allowed her time to head over to Tony as his helmet and mask retracted into the neck of his suit. Pepper glanced over her shoulder, unsure if she was being snuck up on, before heading over to the two while her own helmet retracted.
'Susan, you look...' Pepper went to finish but stopped at the sight of the purple veins throughout the Storm's face. '...um... refreshed?'
'It's a bit of a long story and I don't technically get it myself. But from what I've gathered, is that more radiation equals more power so...' Sue shrugged with her bottom lip jutted out before realisation hit her. 'Oh, my god, Pepper. What are you doing here?! Whose looking after the kids?!'
'I gave them to my parents. Don't worry,' Pepper smiled and resisted the urge to tear up. 'As soon as Morgan came back I... I couldn't believe it. Booker was confused but... I'm sure he'll learn what happened when he gets older. But I knew you would need some heavy machinery in this fight, so I took them to my parents. They were happy to take them-'
'Guys, I know I've been gone for five years, but can we not discuss things without me?!'
An array of heat shot over their heads as Johnny lit up a group of Outriders that barrelled towards them. Johnny looped around in the air and stopped above the three, his flames roaring on his shoulders but clearing to show his unimpressed expression.
'I've missed a lot, haven't I?' he frowned, and Pepper smiled sadly up at him, her orange hair blowing into her teary eyes.
'Yes... but you have all the time in the world to meet her,' Pepper said, and Johnny knew what she meant without elaboration.
'Looks like we've all got an obligation to live through this.'
'Damn right, reaper sauce.'
Thundering footsteps made the group turn to see Cull Obsidian with his large axe. The colossal beast roared and targeted the four, its previous encounters with the Storms and Starks unfinished. The alien reared back its large weapon and the group split, Tony and Pepper jumping to the sides with their helmets reformed over their faces. Sue's blue waves carried her into the air and joined Johnny, the siblings leaving the enormous menace to the Iron suits.
Sakaraans were a race that they wished they never had the misfortune to encounter. They were grotesque creatures with black skin and skeletal-like faces. Their yellows eyes beamed through their armoured helmets, but once ripped off in battle, the full brutality of their appearance was known. They had guns like the Chitauri but were menacing with their attacks as they snuck up on their opponents and made sure their kills were dead long after their last breaths were taken.
'They're like orcs!' Johnny cringed into the earpiece and avoided a Sakaarans shot from below.
'Too bad we've got no ring to rule them all,' Sam replied and swooped low to help Steve.
'Let's leave the references, please,' Sue rolled her eyes and dropped to be beside Doctor Strange. The man glanced at her entrance and created portals to send Sakaarans into places with dire conditions like Everest and onto active volcanoes.
'Miss Storm,' Strange nodded in greeting and Sue did the same.
'Good to have you back, Doctor.'
'You look like shit.'
'Thanks.'
Sue helped the Doctor, the two back-to-back as they battled through Thanos' army. Scott's large being ran past them and they dodged his feet that threatened to unintentionally crush them. Sue created forcefields while watching Scott crush Cull Obsidian, saving Tony at the last minute. A zap to her hip made her whip her gaze around to see a Chitauri's weapon aimed at her. The shot was absorbed into her suit, and she narrowed her eyes. It's head twitched to the right and it dropped its weapon to hold its swelling stomach. Letting out a wail, the Chitauri's body exploded and a forcefield broke out from its ribcage. Alien lungs and organs that Sue couldn't decipher flew in all directions, some even landing on Stephen Strange's red cape.
'What the-' Stephen flinched and shoved his chin over his shoulder to peer at the green sludge. When he saw the Chitauri remains staining his precious Cloak of Levitation, he glared at Sue with his angled eyes.
'Real nice, Storm.'
'I always thought cloaks were a little outdated, don't you think?' Sue shrugged and she relished in the way the Doctor seethed. He was pulled back into a battle with a Sakaaran and Sue turned back to the scene of Tony, who she was embracing Peter Parker. Her heart melted as Tony gripped the boy tightly and Peter was confused at first, but sunk into the hug that he never thought he would receive from his hero.
'Oh, this is nice,' Peter said and beamed over Tony's shoulder, seeing Sue smiling at them from across the crater. He raised his hand that laid on the Stark's shoulder and waved, which she returned.
Johnny was covering the sky with Sam, Rhodey and occasionally Pepper. He made sure to keep an eye on his wife who was doing well for her first time in battle but wasn't the best at flying. When she activated her thrusters, he hung back at least five metres to cover her blind spots. Anything that tried to sneak up on her was burnt to cinders and Pepper wouldn't even notice. But Johnny was happy to have her back.
He wasn't sure what made him first look up, but when his eye was on the sky, he caught the glint of something that reflected the sunlight. It grew bigger at an intense speed and Johnny, who was encased in his flames and helping Rhodey with a pack of Chitauri, squinted as it headed straight for him. Johnny prepared a ball of fire in his hand to launch at the object, but it flew past him before he could release it. Turning around in his flight, Johnny watched as the silver being took out a large Outrider Gorilla that had leapt into the air. The alien would have swatted at Johnny and brought him down into the crater, before tearing at him limb from limb. But the beast was sent back down to Earth and landed with a loud roar in pain. Its mouth then went slack, and it was dead, the force of the hit killing it almost instantly.
Johnny watched as its attacker flew up and stopped in front of him. The surfboard was as sleek as ever and its rider stood tall, its lean figure solid and shining in the limited streams of sunlight that broke through the clouds of smoke. Its expression was still blank, and its eyes focused on Johnny, the old enemies meeting and at a stagnate.
'It is favourable to see you alive, Johnathon Storm,' the silver surfer greeted.
'Oh, yikes,' Johnny cringed at the use of his full name. 'I heard you did something to my sister. Are we fighting it out here?'
'I am not responsible for Susan Storm's state. It was foretold that the Earth's light would be saved by it's equal. Susan Storm is your saviour.'
Johnny was confused and went to reply, but was interrupted by Tony, who flew between the two with a group of Chitauri in chariots on his tail. Johnny went to head after him, but he didn't need to. The surfer generated its power from his board and the energy crept up his legs and into its arms. Jutting forward its hands, a zap of energy shot out its fingers and sliced through the Chitauri. They let out a screech as their chariots nose-dived with their legs still onboard, but their torsos fell in other directions. Tony looked over his shoulder at the surfer in surprise. He circled around and stopped beside Johnny, his thrusters keeping him stable and hovering in the air.
'So, you are pulling a redemption arc?' Tony made sure and the surfer slowly lowered its arms down by its sides.
'Thanos promised me exclusion from his plans of execution. But I lost my planet to his greed and the one I love. I will no longer serve him,' the surfer shook his head and Johnny raised his eyebrows, the information new to him.
'Does he know about that?' Johnny motioned his head down to the titan, who was busy fighting soldiers of the Wakandian army. The hilt of his sword collided with heads, and he grew irritated at the constant flow of soldiers. He was yet to see the traitor of his children and the surfer wanted to keep it that way for now.
'He looks busy,' Tony mentioned, and he turned his head to Johnny, the two exchanging a look. They weren't certain, but the surfer seemed like he had changed sides. But could they put aside their nearly six-year feud with the alien? He had helped Thanos take the Infinity Stones and snap away half the universe. But in this moment, they needed all the help they could get. Their side may be powerful, but Thanos was merciless.
'Alright, Bruce Willis,' Tony said through his mask as he and Johnny turned back to the surfer. 'You're with us. I've got no plan, so, just... do your thing to anyone who's not on our side.'
The surfer didn't need any more direction than that. Johnny and Tony split and the surfer followed, the trio raining down on Chitauri, Outriders and Sakaarans alike. Thanos had spotted the surfer after he threw a Wakandian solider away like a rag doll and cursed through gritted teeth.
'Traitor!' he cried but the surfer ignored him, helping Johnny take out an Outrider Gorilla.
Nebula emerged from the debris of the compound with Gamora, who came from the past with the intent of helping Thanos. But she had been swayed and the sisters reunited with Quill, who received a kick in the nether region. She was yet to meet the Guardians of the Galaxy in her timeline and was unaware of her relationship with Quill. The man from Missouri groaned and rolled around on the floor, earning a roll of the eyes from both Gamora and Nebula.
From the other side of the demolished compound, Clint emerged with the gauntlet containing the Infinity Stones. He took in the chaos that was the battle of everyone who had returned from the blip and the army gathered that from the past with Thanos. Clutching the red glove in his hands, Clint spotted Steve and ran while avoiding zaps from Chitauri and the snapping jaws of Outriders.
'Cap! What do you want me to do with this damn thing?!' he screeched, running away from an Outrider that ran after him. It was the Barton's first time seeing such a creature and he let out curses as its jaws got closer to his vital organs.
'Get those Stones as far away as possible!' Steve threw his broken shield like a discus and caught it when it came back, its edges covered in blood and guts.
'No!' Bruce interrupted from nearby. 'We need to get them back where they came from!'
'No way to get them back,' Tony voiced while flying low. 'Thanos destroyed the Quantum tunnel.'
Scott thought of the idea to power up the old van, which held the power to go through the Quantum Realm. He and Hope Van Dyne, also known as the Wasp, worked together to get it started while the others continued to hold off the army. They would need time to get the van started, but their defences were running thin. And with Clint running through the middle of it all with the gauntlet in view, it was bound to become a difficult situation.
T'Challa called for the gauntlet and Clint handed it to the King of Wakanda. Thanos threw his double-edged sword and it stopped him in his pursuit to Scott's unexpecting brown van. T'Challa was impended on by Thanos but was stopped when someone jumped into his path.
'You took everything from me,' Wanda hissed, her eyes swimming with scarlet and her hands swirling with her crimson abilities.
'I don't even know who you are,' Thanos scoffed, and Wanda resisted a smirk.
'You will.'