Entries tagged with avengers

Thanos, the Mighty Titan who thought he had the right to murder half of the universe in order to achieve his perfect vision of it, was now dying. One or two more blows from the two Avengers working together in concert to finish him, would end his threat to the universe forever. 

Together, they moved in on Thanos. His eyes blazed as they came closer to him, and knowing his time was about to be ended, he used his last breath to utter a venomous curse that was heard throughout the entire battlefield.

"Stark, you may have defeated me, but my curse shall follow you till the end of your days," Thanos ranted, spitting his final breaths out before he was ended by them, his voice laced with malice. "You are going to die in unrelenting agony, and your death will not come swiftly. No power in the universe will be able to save you from this fate! Not even its greatest wielders of magic!"

With one final, decisive charge, Iron Man and Captain America lunged at Thanos, their combined might sealing his fate. When he fell where he had uttered his vile curse upon Tony, the battlefield became suddenly quiet except for the heaviness of Steve's breaths.

Tony turned to him, fear gripping him as he saw how Steve was barely staying on his feet. Tony's heart raced as he looked around, desperation evident in his eyes. He grabbed Steve's arm, his grip tight and urgent, "We need to get you to a doctor now!"

 When Steve mustered a weak smile, Tony couldn't help but notice the pallor that had overtaken his features. It was a smile tinged with resignation, "Too late, Tony. It's... it's too late."

"No, it can't be too late! We have a doctor who's become a wizard! Where's Strange? Does anyone know where to find him?"

"Tony, I—" 

With those two words, Steve lost his valiant battle to remain on his feet, his body collapsing to the ground, the weight of the moment heavy upon them all.

Tony knelt down beside Steve, his grip on his friend's arm tightening. The pain etched on Steve's face, tore at his heart. "We're not giving up, Steve. We've been through worse. We'll find a way to fix this."

Steve gave another weak smile, his voice weak. "I appreciate the sentiment, Tony. But you know as well as I do that... this... this is different this time. This fight... it's taken everything out of me."

Tony's eyes searched desperately for a solution, for a way to save the man who had been both his friend, and his antithesis. He looked to Doctor Strange again, pleading for his help. "Strange, you've seen things beyond our understanding. Can't you do something? Anything?"

Doctor Strange, his expression grim, shook his head. "Tony, I understand your desperation, but the injuries Steve has sustained... they're too severe. Even my magic can't solve everything, and has its limits. There's no easy fix for this."

Tony's frustration and his determination. "There has to be something we can do. We can't just let him di... fade away like this."

There was acceptance in Steve's voice, "Tony, we've been through battles that we thought we couldn't win, yet we always found a way. But this... this is where the long road ends for me. I'm proud of what we've accomplished together. But it's time for me to rest."

Tears welled up in Tony's eyes, and he started to protest, further urge Steve to hang on and keep fighting but he never got the chance. He never got the chance because before he could say another word, Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson appeared from elsewhere on the battlefield and when they did, Tony knew it was only right that they both get to talk to Steve in his final moments.

Peter Parker was nervous when he walked into the offices of the Daily Bugle. Why was he nervous? Well because he knew he was already skating on very thin ice with the newspaper's editor-in-chief, J. Jonah Jameson. The editor had already verbally shredded his latest batch of photos of himself as Spider-Man calling them "uninspired" and "bland," and as a result Peter had a sinking feeling that his days as a freelance photographer for the Bugle were numbered.

From the very second he stepped into Jameson's cluttered office, the editor got straight to the point just like he always did. "Listen, Parker, I'll make this quick. I need a new, spectacular picture of Spider-Man and I need it in the next 24 hours. If you can't deliver, you're fired for good."

Peter's stomach did flip flops. He had been struggling to capture a new angle on himself as Spider-Man for weeks now, and he had no idea how he could come up with something truly spectacular in just one day.

Of course he he couldn't let himself get fired. He needed the money, and he needed to keep his connection to the Bugle, even if it meant putting up with putting up with Jameson's not so nice personality.

After taking a couple of deep breaths Peter set out to find new inspiration for his secret identity. He went swinging throughout the city, in the hopes something, anything, might catch his eye.

With most of the day already having gone by, Peter could feel his desperation get bigger and bigger. He took some pictures of himself stopping a few petty crimes here and there but so far he'd captured nothing that was sensational enough for Jameson's standards.

Peter had just nearly given up any hope he had of saving his freelance work with the Bugle when he spotted a group of children trapped in a building that was in flames. He didn't hesitate, swooping into the flames using every bit of his physical enhancements to get them all to safety.

As he rescued each child from the peril, he saw the flashes of cameras, and one time he turned his head to look to see who was taking the pictures. A group of reporters were nearby capturing all of the action. Peter couldn't help but smile to himself as he felt some hope, because perhaps just the sort of shot Jameson would want had been captured.

Sure enough, the next day's edition of the Daily Bugle featured a front-page photo of Spider-Man saving the children from the burning building. Jameson sings the praises of the shot calling it spectacular and iconic and Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course, Peter knows he will never ever be able to satisfy the editor all of the time, but at least for today, he'd managed to keep his job. But best of all, he'd been able to rescue those little kids from an awful fate. That was the best thing of all.

Fill 17 Card 1: Curse

Fill 14 Card 1: Deadline