Chapter 124: Aftermath

A/N: The aftermath of Thanos' defeat.

-x-X-x-

It's over. Somewhat anti-climatically at that, though Tony supposed from Thanos' perspective it must have been nail-bitingly close. As he stares down at the genocidal maniac's corpse, Nebula still looming over Thanos holding onto the double-edged blade buried in his thick bald head, Tony finds himself considering how they got here.

Obviously, he was never going to fight fair. It was just a matter of how much bullshit he could manage to slip past the giant purple thumb before it all came crumbling down around him. As a matter of fact, the answer to that question was… quite a lot.

Nebula was the lynchpin, of course. And it was why he'd been so leery to go through with this plan for so damn long. He'd waited until it was almost too late, mostly because he knew if he did this, he would be risking Nebula's life. And yet… for all that he owed the Nebula from his timeline quite a lot, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one. More than that, Tony knew deep down inside he would sacrifice this Nebula a million times over to guarantee the safety of his family.

Fortunately, it hadn't quite come to that. Everything had worked out in the end, mostly because despite his immense personal power, despite his armies and fleets, despite all of the tools at his disposal… Thanos was so very, very easy to manipulate. Dangle an Infinity Stone in front of him and you might get a visit from his Black Order, or a backdoor funded invasion of your world. Dangle ALL of the Infinity Stones in front of him, with the caveat that the most important one was going to be destroyed in the process, and you were sure to get his FULL attention.

Tony had never had any intentions of destroying the Time Stone, truth be told. He didn't need to, not when he'd already destroyed the only known method of getting Soul. Between leaving Earth after his talk with the Ancient One and landing on the Milano to pick up Nebula, Tony had made a pitstop over the planet of Vormir and blasted it out of existence.

The power of three Infinity Stones had been enough to blow up the planet of Vormir and in the process, completely erase the only known location of the Soul Stone. Tony didn't think the Infinity Stone was actually destroyed, of course. Perhaps it would spawn on another planet somewhere in the universe, showing up again and again like a bad penny.

It didn't really matter though, because he had no intention of ever trying to obtain it in the first place. There was no world in which he would sacrifice even a single one of his loved ones for the Soul Stone. Full stop.

Regardless, with Vormir destroyed, Tony had continued on to pick up Nebula, where he'd fed the Luphomoid a whole laundry list of lies. Telling her that he needed her to spy on her father for him was just the first and probably least of those lies. The rest was predicated on his understanding of Nebula's character… and knowing she was completely unable to control her bloodlust for longer than five minutes once she was back in Thanos' presence.

And so he'd told Nebula all about his scheme to 'destroy the Time Stone'. He'd also told her all about his defenses, about the fortress he'd turned the Terran System into and how once they'd destroyed the Time Stone, they would turn all of those weapons of war towards the task of taking the fight to Thanos and ending the threat he posed to the galaxy once and for all.

All Nebula had to do, or so Tony told her, was keep her cool, stay undercover, and broadcast her location until they were ready to go on the offensive. Tony had said this to Nebula knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back and that the exact opposite would happen, resulting in Thanos rushing to invade the Terran System and stop Tony before his 'ritual' to destroy the Time Stone could come to fruition.

Oh, and there was one more lie, albeit it was more a lie of omission than an outright verbal deception. Tony had planted JARVIS on Nebula, both in her systems and on a packet of nanites that had transferred from her body to Thanos' ship the moment that she'd arrived back on board the Sanctuary II.

JARVIS had in turn infiltrated the systems of Thanos' flagship from there. He hadn't done much… mostly because Tony didn't want to just kill Thanos, he wanted to wipe out everyone who followed and served the big purple thumb all in one fell swoop. And so all JARVIS had done was go into the Sanctuary II's navigation system and change one single, measly set of coordinates, before propagating the alteration through every ship in every fleet Thanos had at his beck and call.

One minor change that would assure that when Thanos gave the orders for all of his armies and fleets to pack up and converge on the Terran System… they would wind up here instead. In Alpha Centauri.

Alpha Centauri was physically the closest star system to their own. Even then, it was pretty far away by conventional means. Fortunately, he and JARVIS didn't have to rely on conventional means anymore. They hadn't for a long time.

Of course, it also looked nothing like the Solar System. For one, Alpha Centauri had three suns. For two, it had a whole lot less in the way of planets. However, there was one world which was in what was considered the 'habitable zone', that nice thin line of not too close and not too far from the sun where a world much like Earth might develop life.

Fortunately there was no intelligent life on Proxima b, so Tony didn't feel all that bad about making it the target for Thanos' ire. Giving him the long, drawn out final battle that the genocidal alien thought he deserved had thoroughly pulled the wool over his eyes, right until the very end.

How had Tony done it, one might ask? How else? He'd drawn upon the power of Infinity, of course. Specifically, he'd drawn upon Reality to place a paper thin illusion of the Solar System over Alpha Centauri. He'd used Space to propagate that illusion all across the star system, while concentrating the more realistic parts in Thanos' path, throwing the sorts of heroes and warriors and gods that the Mad Titan thought he should be facing against him and his children to 'defeat' and 'destroy'.

With the Power Stone backing it all, it was… well, he wouldn't call it easy, but it also was well within his means. And with JARVIS supporting him every step of the way, it was all that much more imminently doable.

The weapons platforms were real, after all. So were the ships. While some of Thanos' fleets had in fact flown straight into one of Alpha Centauri's three stars because their sensors didn't even register the building heat, much of his armies and forces had to be destroyed by JARVIS directly.

All of it had gone far too well. That said…

"J? Status report on the prison break?"

"Sir. I can report a complete success. The replica Nidavellir that Thanos created has fallen into the hands of the Asgardians. King Eitri and those of his captured subjects who still draw breath have been recovered."

Good.

"However, King Odin and Prince Thor have begun to question the absence of both you and the Mad Titan, Sir. I believe they're beginning to grow suspicious."

Tony blinks at that, before snorting derisively.

"No reason to lie to them any longer, J. Tell them the truth. Tell them Thanos is dealt with, permanently."

As JARVIS relays the message, Nebula finally looks up at him, her black eyes narrowing. She leaves Thanos' double-edged blade buried in his skull and straightens up as she turns to face him properly.

"… You lie a lot, don't you Stark?"

Tony smiles a bit sadly, knowing he hasn't exactly left the best impression on the bald blue alien. In the end, he shrugs and answers honestly.

"Only when I have to. Just a heads up, but we probably have Asgardians showing up any second now. You want to still be here when they arrive, or…?"

He trails off, gesturing vaguely with one hand. She's seen what he can do with portals, and she's not stupid. Nebula understands immediately that he's offering to send her anywhere in the galaxy. For a long moment, the Luphomoid hesitates… before letting out a disgruntled growl.

"My sister. I will return to my sister."

Tony nods, before smirking slightly.

"Understood. But first, you want me to fix what Thanos did to you?"

A flicker of confusion spreads across Nebula's alien face as she tilts her head to the side.

"Nobody can fix everything my so-called 'father' did to me."

A rueful smile spreads across Tony's face, tinged slightly with a hint of melancholy.

"Right. Can't change the past, can we? But… that body of yours… I do have the Reality and Power Stones right here, just yearning to be used some more. What do you say? Shall we undo a bit more of Thanos' work before you're on your way?"

Nebula hesitates for a moment… before finally nodding. A couple minutes later and a completely flesh and blood Luphomoid is stepping through a portal that he opens for her; one final solid nod sent his way before she departs back to the Milano. Tony, meanwhile, nods back a bit absently, trying not to stare too hard. Who the fuck knew that Nebula's natural hair color was BLONDE of all things?

It's mere moments after she's gone that the Bifrost beam reaches Proxima b, landing a few dozen yards away from where Tony is standing. Odin and Thor step out alone, only to stop dead in their tracks at what they see around them. Their eyes land upon the desolated battlefield where every last one of Thanos' slave soldiers has been laid to rest. Eventually, they note the fallen bodies of the last three members of the Black Order… and then Thanos himself, slain by his own weapon.

"Shield-Brother! What… what have you done?!"

Tony knows that Thor's dismay is not over the mass killing that Tony himself has just performed, but rather over the fact that they didn't get to do it together. Huffing softly, Tony shakes his head in wry amusement.

"Finished the job, Thor. Sorry for the deception, but I had to deal with Thanos my own way. It was the only way to minimize casualties."

Thor pouts mightily, but before he can respond, Odin steps forward and places a hand on his son's shoulder. Peering at Tony with his one working eye, the All-Father frowns.

"Thanos had armies and fleets, Stark. I struggle to understand how facing him and all of his forces alone could be the best way."

Tony smiles as he steps over towards Thanos' body. One more thing to be done.

"Thanos had armies and fleets, yes. But I had JARVIS. Frankly… it was no contest."

As Tony stands over the purple thumb's corpse, Thor asks what's probably on both Asgardian's minds at this point.

"… How? How did you and JARVIS manage this, Tony?"

Stretching out his arms, Tony unfurls the Aether from within his body. Tendrils of red liquid extend out from his hands, tinged with purple electricity throughout their lengths.

"I can give you both a proper rundown of everything later, but suffice to say… I gave Thanos everything he wanted. And I made him choke on all of it."

As the tendrils touch Thanos' body, Odin speaks up again, his tone slightly wary.

"King Eitri told us he could not hold out forever, not while Thanos and his men tortured his subjects. He told us he made what Thanos wanted from him… the Infinity Gauntlet that you were so concerned about."

Tony hums and nods.

"I destroyed it already. It's gone."

He's glad to hear Odin sigh in relief, though the King of Asgard isn't done questioning him.

"… And what are you doing now, Stark?"

"Finishing the job."

Thanos' corpse jerks as tendrils of Power-laced Reality make contact with it. Covering the Titan's immense body in the liquid red of Reality, Tony focuses… and does to Thanos what he did to the Infinity Gauntlet. He erases him.

This isn't just breaking down the body. This isn't just reducing Thanos to dust and ash. This is deeper than that. Tony isn't so foolish as to try and make it so Thanos had never existed at all. Not only would that probably require Time alongside Reality to make happen, but it would also alter the very fabric of the universe and change the trajectories of millions upon millions of lives.

Perhaps for the better, but in the end, Tony wasn't going to make that call. However… he refused to have his hard work undone. Ever. He'd gone back in time for this shit, and he never wanted to see Thanos' scrotum-shaped head ever again.

Thanos will still have existed… but with the Power Stone and Reality Stone acting in conjunction with one another, he will never be able to exist again. The universe is a big place filled with all sorts of insanity. Magic and technology that maybe even Tony himself doesn't fully understand. But he'd used Reality to bring back Fenris for Hela. So he could damn well use it to make sure nobody could ever bring Thanos back in any way, shape, or form.

Once he's done, nothing of the Mad Titan remains. Not even the double-edged blade used to kill him. Letting out an explosive sigh, Tony turns to Odin and Thor and nods.

"It's done. With this, he can never come back."

Their eyes widen in understanding, with Thor still looking rather put-out that he'd missed the fighting. Odin though, simply looks ready to go home, a feeling Tony can very much share. And yet, the King of Asgard makes no move to leave. Instead…

"What now, King Stark?"

It's a sign of respect, Tony realizes. More so than ever before. But god… he's just too tired to care as much as he probably should. Smiling slightly, Tony looks around at the destroyed battlefield one final time. Additional bonus of holding the final battle here instead of on Earth… no real cleanup necessary.

"Now? Now we go home, All-Father. We hug our women and children, and we rest easy knowing that there's one less mad man in the universe after today."

Odin considers this for a moment before answering Tony's slight smile with one of his own.

"In that we are in agreement, King Stark."

"Yes! I shall go to Lady Jane and see if there are any strange new culinary concoctions she craves in the midst of her pregnancy! Heimdall! Send me back to my Lady, please!"

The Bifrost takes Thor away a moment later, leaving just Tony and Odin. For a split second Tony wonders if Odin will use the opportunity to have some sort of heart-to-heart, King-to-King talk with him. But instead, the All-Father's smile only grows.

"And to think, you told me they would tire of one another if I let Thor have his mortal fling."

Tony's smile grows as well and he shrugs in a 'what can you do?' gesture.

"That's not quite accurate. I believe I said they MIGHT tire of one another. In the end, what can you do in the face of true love?"

Odin just hums… and a moment later the Bifrost takes him away as well, the All-Father not even having to call for it out loud to be whisked off back to Asgard. Tony sighs and then steps back through a portal of his own, arriving on the top floor of Stark Towers.

"Tony!"

By the time Pepper has reached him, bounding across the room in half a second, he's already let his armor melt off of him, meaning she impacts his real body as they cling to one another, holding each other tightly.

Besides JARVIS, Pepper was the only one who had known pretty much the entire plan from top to bottom. He'd left everyone else in the dark, but he'd told her everything and given her the most important task of all… holding down the fort.

And of course, if it all went to shit and somehow he died, Pepper was in charge of getting together all of their rather unusual family, both the children and the women and all of their closest friends and getting the fuck out of dodge. Much in the same way that JARVIS and Friday were tasked with taking as many Infinity Stones besides Time and Mind as they could get from Tony's cooling corpse before Thanos did and running to the ends of the universe with them.

… Luckily it hadn't come to that, but even thinking about the possibility makes Tony all the more tired.

"It's over, Pep. He's dead and gone. It's over."

Pepper lets out a shuddering laugh of relief as she clings to Tony with all of her considerable strength.

"Good. You did good, Tony. You can rest now. We're all going to be okay."

He didn't know how badly he needed to hear those words. He hadn't realized how long he'd been going at full throttle, ignoring all signs of exhaustion and fatigue. He lets Pepper take him to the couch and he lets her pull his head into her lap as he lays down… and he lets himself nod off as she cards her fingers through his hair and whispers sweet nothings to him.

Because she's right. He can rest now. Everything is going to be okay.

-x-X-x-

A/N: And thus now we know Tony's true sacrifice to defeat Thanos... he and his original Nebula might have been thick as thieves after what they went through together, but in using this Nebula like he did, they'll never have that same relationship. Alas~

Just the Epilogue left to go everyone, see you all tomorrow!

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