STARGIRL

twenty-four.

Thanos appeared through his cloud of blue smoke, glaring around at his surroundings, looking for the man who held stone. Eleanor hid behind a large piece of debris with Teddy squashed in behind her. They were waiting for Eleanor's dad's signal.

"Oh, yeah," said Strange. He was sitting on the stone steps, "You're much more of a Thanos."

"I take it the Maw is dead," Thanos replied, and Strange gave a short nod, "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that," said Strange, "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

"And where do you think he brought you?"

"Let me guess. Your home?"

Thanos placed his gloved hand on his thigh, smiling eerily, "It was," he used the Reality Stone to shape the environment, "And it was beautiful. Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide."

"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike," explained Thanos, and Eleanor listened with her mouth kind of open. The Titan was a lunatic, "They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." the planet warped back to its normal reality.

Strange didn't change his blank expression, "Congratulations, you're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

Thanos stared blankly back at him, "With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist. I call that mercy."

Strange stood up, "And then what?" he took a step forward. Thanos waved to the ground beneath him, "I'd finally rest... and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

"I think you'll find our will is equal to yours." Strange slammed his hands together and spun them, making small shields for his fists.

"Our?" Thanos looked up, just as a whole piece of debris was pushed onto him by Tony, causing a massive dust cloud.

Eleanor looked up to see Tony being attacked by lots of little birds, and she laughed. She stayed duck and cover, waiting for her dad's signal. Teddy peered over her shoulder.

"Boom!" Peter flicked Thanos the middle finger and jumped backwards into one of Strange's magical portals. Thanos fell to his knee as he got zapped furiously in the back by the device Peter had just placed there.

Eleanor and Teddy ducked quickly after Thanos sent fire their way. Eleanor's heart was beating quickly and she rested her back against the rock, "Do you think he saw us?" she asked Teddy. He scrunched his face up, "Dunno. Probably not."

"Shit!" Eleanor yelled, as she popped her head up again to see a massive ship crashing into Thanos. Unfortunately for the two teens, the ship was headed straight towards them. Teddy grabbed Eleanor and they managed to dive behind another rock. "That was a close one, Ellie." he smiled.

Eleanor fought the urge to scream.

"I can call you Ellie, right?" he asked.

Eleanor smiled, "You'd be the only one."

"I'm fine with that."

 "Hey, kids!" Peter yelled, "We need you!"

Eleanor quickly pushed herself up, bringing out her gun from her back pocket. She positioned the gun to Thanos' head. Teddy went over to Tony to help pull the gauntlet off Thanos' hand. Eleanor's chest rose and fell quickly. Her arms were shaking slightly as she held the gun up.

Peter landed next to Eleanor, "Good job," he told her, before facing Thanos, "I thought you'd be hard to catch. For the record, this was my plan." Eleanor rolled her eyes.

"Not so strong now, huh?" taunted Peter, "Where is Gamora?"

"My Gamora." Thanos groaned in pain.

Eleanor glared up at him.

"No, bullshit!" Peter yelled, angrily, "Where is she?"

"He is in anguish. He... he... mourns." Mantis added.

Drax spoke angrily, "What does this monster have to mourn?"

Nebula looked up in realisation, "Gamora."

Hearing her name made Eleanor feel sick. Her arm shook even harder as she tried to not lose her cool. Her bottom lip quivered as she tried to hold back her sobs. Peter turned around to look at Nebula. His expression was so devastating that Eleanor spat out as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"What?" Peter asked.

"He took her to Vormir," Nebula explained, "He came back with the Soul Stone. But she didn't."

Eleanor felt her heart sink. Her stomach felt extremely tight and she knew that she was going to be sick if she moved even the smallest of steps. Her tears rolled down her cheeks faster and her arms shook even more. She yelled out in pain and pulled the trigger on the gun, "I'll kill him!" she screamed, "I'll kill him! I'll kill him with my own two hands!"

"I had to." muttered Thanos.

"No, you didn't," Peter replied, tears forming in his own eyes, "No, you didn't."

He slammed a fist right into Thanos' face.

The next few moments were a total scene. Eleanor was still screaming, threatening to kill Thanos, as Peter kept slamming his fists onto his face whilst Tony yelled at him to stop. He grabbed Peter's arm, holding it away from Thanos.

"I got it! I got it! I got it!" the younger Parker was saying excitedly, until Thanos came back and grabbed the gauntlet causing the two to fly away. Thanos threw Mantis from his shoulder and the younger Peter jumped after her.

Thanos kicked Drax away, and chucked Strange away also. He slammed his arm into Tony, causing him to go flying away. He kicked Eleanor away, and she slammed her head off a rock. Her vision started to go blurry, but she still stood up, quickly grabbing her gun. She ran at Thanos, but he blasted her away with the Power Stone. She groaned out in pain as she landed on her arm. This time she didn't bother trying to get up again. Her head was throbbing and her arm was tingling. Her mind swirled with thoughts of Gamora - she was gone. He had murdered her. He had murdered his own daughter for a stupid orange stone.

"Hey, bean," Peter sat next to her, and she cried a little trying to sit up, "Hey, hey, take it easy. Have you broken anything?"

"Probably," she replied, placing her head on his shoulder. She sniffed, "He killed her, Dad."

"I know, Els," Peter replied, placing a soft hand on her shoulder and he kissed the top of her head, "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault, Dad."