(MCU) Arcs Collide: Chapter 44 - The World After

Chapter 44 - The World After

Summary: The fate of the universe is entrusted to someone—read to find out the results.

Carol kept floating next to Stephen watching the two rivals facing each other on the smaller island.

She watched as Tony sent Mjolnir at Thanos, and the titan using the power stone to deflect the coming attack, but with his focus on the movement of the hammer he missed Tony launching himself at the purple warlord as well.

She looked as Tony grabbed the gauntlet and tried to pull it away from Thanos's arm. Had Tony become that desperate? Was this his desperation acting out? After all, Tony should be smart enough to realize this move would never work.

And as she predicted Thanos, with a face full of anger, pulled back a punch to send Tony's way. Tony's helmet and boot disappeared, the nanites creating a thicker casing around the chest just before Thanos's punch hit it.

Tony was sent backwards, his back hitting a boulder which Tony leaned on to support himself in obvious pain.

Carol began to worry. Tony was out of nanites, parts of his body exposed and because of his injuries he wouldn't be able to dodge Thanos's next attack. Thanos aimed his fist at Tony with a smile and said something Carol couldn't hear.

But as his face turned into a surprised one, hers morphed in confusion as to what was happening there, until she noticed the same thing Thanos did—there was no glow from an infinity stone coming off the gauntlet.

Her head snapped at Tony at the same time as Thanos's, both realizing what had just happened.

Carol felt her heart rate rising when Tony raised his right arm to reveal a gauntlet of his own, the two stones Thanos had now in his possession. The energy surging down his arm to his chest. She noticed his eyes beginning to glow again and figured the only reason Tony was still alive was the Extremis in his body, but what would be its limit?

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Thanos charge at him with full fury. She was about to launch herself hoping to save Tony when a large orange glow came between the two, sending Thanos a couple of steps backwards.

The huge flash of light caused everyone on their island to stop the fight again and look over. When the light faded what was revealed was an orange stone floating in the air between Thanos and Tony with some figure hiding behind a black cloak directly under it.

Carol could hear the unusual sight of Gamora's gasp before she said in a voice laced with shock, "The Soul stone."

Everyone watched as Rogers made a fool of himself as usual, as Thanos claimed the power of the stones in the name of balance and how the figure, Red Skull was it?, shut him down. They watched the figure's proclamation of Tony being worthy of the soul stone.

The figure turned into dust and disappeared with the wind; the orange stone meanwhile floated into Tony's raised gauntlet. Making Tony's face contort further, and his eyes glow brighter, obviously the Extremis reaching its limit. The only way Tony could survive the ordeal would be...

Suddenly in front of her eyes the time stone floating near Strange began to fly with great speed toward Tony's location as well.

Stephen managed to say, "You know what you have to do," before Carol was off at her own top speed, trailing the three stones already ahead of her.

She reached Tony just in time to see his armor beginning to melt under the power of the six stones combined. She was quick to hug him around his midsection from behind.

Carol could feel the surge of power moving from Tony to her. For a moment she thought she would be enough, but then the power began to overwhelm her as well, and a look toward Tony showed he was still in extreme pain as well.

Carol tried to move her arms so she could reach for stones and pull some away, but she found herself unable to move, actually her legs began to shake, and she was about to fall to her knees when she felt a portion of the power being lifted away from her.

She was still in pain and found it impossible to move, but thankfully she didn't feel like falling to her knees anymore. She looked to her left to see Thor with his head back holding onto Tony's shoulder.

It took him a moment to get control of the power surging toward him, and when he did the god of thunder smiled at Tony's direction. Carol noticed Tony was still dazed in pain and groaned.

That was when she felt another drain on the foreign power in her body, she looked to her other side to see the Hulk holding Tony's other shoulder with a simple grunt.

Carol had to admit she was surprised at how much power Hulk could absorb into himself, it was easily three times the power Carol herself took before Thor came to help.

She was shaken from her musing by the encouraging words of Hulk and Thor to her fiancé. That was when she noticed Tony was coherent again and added her own words, which seemed to focus him.

Tony glared back at Thanos and said, "And we are the Shield," before he snapped his fingers.

Carol felt the energy completely drain away from her and looked around in confusion that was when she noticed Thanos's army beginning to turn into dust, the same way the figure did earlier, and disappeared in the wind until there was none of them left. Even Thanos's destroyer ship began to dust away.

"Aghgh... What happened?" Tony's voice asked.

She looked at him to see, he now looked as if he had just woken up from some dream. All four of them turned their heads when they heard heavy footsteps not too far away from them.

What they saw was Thanos pausing and looking around with wide eyes at his army which was almost completely gone, until finally it was no more, not even his ships survived whatever Tony did.

Eventually Thanos closed his eyes and sat down on the ground with a small smile stretching his lips.

Carol was wary when Thanos opened his eyes, looked directly at Tony and said calmly, "It was a glorious battle, you have been a worthy rival and have earned this win. The universe is now yours to watch over."

With those words Thanos himself began turning into dust, the smile on his face showing he accepted his fate just before he was carried away by the wind. His threat gone forever.

"It's over," Tony's voice was breathless, his eyes wide as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing until he repeated himself with rising joy, "It's finally over."

Carol smiled at him and said softly and reassuringly, "It is. You did it Tony, you won."

Soon they were crowded with many people. Rhodey was the first to fly in and pull Tony into their usual bro hug as he said giddily, "You glorious bastard, you actually made a god bleed and then went on to kick his ass."

Rhodey was soon pushed away by the overly excited Peter and Kamala both jumping in place with a few bruises decorating their faces. Peter spoke first, "Sir you did it! You won!"

Kamala was quick to follow, getting straight into Tony's face she said rather loudly, "You were so awesome..." She punched the air and said, "You punched him and then he was all like..." She tried to imitate Thanos's deep voice, "All of that for a drop of blood, but you were all..." She smirked and made a dramatic pose, "You are no god. Then you just..." she snapped her fingers before finishing, "And he was gone."

Carol had to push both teens away from a dazed-looking Tony, obviously he was overwhelmed by the youngsters' enthusiasm. And all she could do was shake her head with a smile.

Strange and Loki approached him with Loki giving Tony a grateful look and said in a voice much lighter than she ever heard him use before, "Well done Anthony, it is quite the achievement."

"One in fourteen million," added Stephen with a knowing smirk.

Tony finally shook off his daze and went back to the real world. He smirked back at Strange and responded with an amused, "You know it's called cheating when you look forward in time to see the result."

He then looked around and screamed only one thing, "Shawarma on me, who can open us a portal?"

Carol just shook her head in amusement—leave it to Tony Stark to open with a joke after wielding the six infinity stones and taking out the biggest threat to the universe.

But then again he wouldn't be the man she loved if he wouldn't.

---

In an unknown location.

A mysterious figure sitting on an oval golden throne, wearing a green and purple high-tech armor with a helmet that hid his face behind blue visor hummed and said in deep thought, "So Tony Stark defeated the Mad Titan and stayed alive... That will complicate my plans."

Another voice in the room scoffed, "It's just Tony Stark, he is no equal to you, Boss."

The figure turned to glare at his subordinate, "Was it not him who left you beaten in the ground not so long ago?"

The subordinate shifted uncomfortably, but didn't reply.

The figure stood from the golden throne and turned around to watch out the window where ten thousand soldiers were marching into formation, high tech ships filling the air above them.

The figure took a moment to admire the decades of work coming into fruition as he said, "After all my own ancestor considered Tony Stark his equal. He is not an opponent to be underestimated."

The figure heard his creation leaving the room, as he knew better than to stay in the room while the figure thought aloud. "You might set me back for a few decades my dear Janet, but soon my conquest will be able to resume," he said ominously into the empty room.

---

Tony was sitting with most of the Avengers, the Guardians, The Defenders and the Rogues in one of the conference rooms with the screen turned on, the faces of all the council members filling it.

After everyone calmed down from the big fight and congratulated each other Stephen and his sorcerers opened the portals back for all those who came from across the stars and different countries.

Surprisingly Tony got all kinds of offers from many countries in the world to come to their country and take part in some projects, they went as far as to agree to negotiate his terms with him. But what was shocking was the offers he received from those on other planets.

He got offers that ranged all the way from visiting Xandar and the Nova Corps HQ to joining any raid he wanted with the pirates. And if Tony was honest, he wasn't sure which offer was more tempting.

But now that everything was over and the universe was saved it was time for one of the things Tony regretted not fixing while still having the stones—debriefing.

Mrs. MacKenzie had a small smile on her usually stern face, "Well done everyone, thanks to your contribution and efforts the universe and our planet are safe."

Ms. Price wore a much larger smile and added, "And a special thanks to Dr. Stark who faced the titan and won against all the odds while providing moral boost for his allies."

Tony noticed from the corner of his eyes that Rogers was scowling at not being acknowledged, not that Tony saw much that he should expect considering he spent most of the fight knocked out or gaping, the only thing stopping the blonde from voicing his opinion was Romanoff who kept whispering in his ear discreetly.

The German representative cleared his throat before asking carefully, "While there is no denying the overwhelming victory to our side..."

Overwhelming is right. Because after Tony snapped not only did all of Thanos's forces turn to dust but any member of their army who was dead or injured was immediately back to full strength. Tony wished he could bring back the other people Thanos killed in his travels across the universe, but he knew with the number of years passed from those events to bring them back would cause more problems than be a kindness.

Tony came back to the conversation when he heard the German accented voice finishing, "I believe we should know what happened with the infinity stones."

The Spanish representative nodded and added his own piece, "I agree those artifacts should be studied in case we can utilize them somehow."

Tony's eyes narrowed and he began to feel rage bubble inside of him, but before he could comment a snort came from Jessica and she said with a sneer on her face, "Remind me how did your last pet projects with infinity stones end?"

Mrs. MacKenzie seemed to notice the growing tension and chose to intervene, "Ms. Jones is correct. Humanity has proven ill equipped to deal with the outcomes of messing with such powers." She paused at the angry face the Spanish man had adopted and then went on, "And Dr. Wagner is correct as well, those are powerful weapons that we should keep tabs on."

Tony nodded before speaking, after all he was the only one that knew about it, "When I snapped part of my wish was for the stones to be out of reach for anyone who seeks their power. After that they were gone, so I think we are safe for the time being."

Barton was the one to bring the tension back when he muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, if it was intentional or not Tony had no idea, "Are we going to trust Stark with something like that?"

"Considering he was the one to defeat Thanos I don't see the problem," Coulson, in a smooth and calm voice responded and Barton flinched a little.

Rogers on the other hand seemed as if he couldn't keep his mouth shut anymore, "It's true Coulson, Tony already proved he can't be trusted with an infinity stone..."

It was Carol that snapped at the past American hero, though most of the room looked like they were just a mere second behind her, "Will you shut up! Who was the one that literally said, 'I want this thing studied as fast as possible'? Don't go around blaming others for your faults."

Romanoff frowned next to him, while Rogers himself looked like he was about to shout back at her but was interrupted by the Romanian representative, "Ah, Mr. Rogers I am glad you have brought up our next topic."

Rogers looked confused, but Romanoff sat straight and alert, noticing the giddy tone of the man that spoke.

Mrs. MacKenzie gave a firm nod and said in an even tone, "Director Coulson please proceed."

Coulson stood from his seat at the same time a group of armed SHIELD agents entered the room from both doors.

There was confusion in the room until the Director spoke, "Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, you are under arrest for a list of crimes that will be presented to you by your appointed lawyer, until then you will be held in custody by SHIELD. I must warn you that any resistance can and will be met with any force necessary including lethal."

Romanoff looked around wildly, her eyes looking straight at Yelena, but all the blonde did was look at her former sister with indifference. Romanoff tried her last ditch with her, "You are going to let your sister rot in prison?"

Yelena raised an unimpressed eyebrow and responded flatly, "You left me to be tortured in the Red Room, at least I'm not letting them experiment on you, consider this my mercy as your sister."

Romanoff looked like Yelena might as well have shot her in the gut. Barton slammed a fist on the table and screamed, "What about the damn Pardons?! You said that if we help take down the purple dude, we are free."

Ms. Price's eyes narrowed, and her voice was cold, "You might have missed the part where it said any crime committed after your return will open you up to prosecution at any given time for all your previous crimes."

Romanoff, out of her moment of shock, regained her wits and said calmly, "We followed the set rules of our contracts."

Rhodey was the one who answered that in his formal 'leader' voice, "You have broken your restriction orders multiple times. Rogers has a few counts of assault, including minors. So does Barton. While you have a few counts of attempted hacking into the tower systems."

Rogers shook his head and said firmly, "There is a big mistake here. We are heroes. The original Avengers. I understand that all of us made our own choices and that's all any of us could do but we have to move past... AGHGH?!"

Mack was quickly pushing Rogers onto the table and locking his hands behind his back with Tony's special power repressing cuffs. His deep voice echoed in the room, "I think we heard enough of you man."

Barton tried to resist with growls of anger but was quickly shut down by an agent with the same special bullet he was hit with last time.

Romanoff seemed to consider her options one last time before leaving the room without any resistance.

When the Rogues were taken out of the room Ms. Price spoke again, her voice firm, "Mr. Wilson, Mr. Barnes you have broken no rules and so your pardon stands, but you will be on probation for the time being."

Both of them nodded quickly without an ounce of reluctance. Tony had to appreciate their resolve in making amends. Last time he checked Barnes was advancing very well with BARF and his therapist, even Wilson was using his past training to help Robocop.

Mrs. MacKenzie smiled and said warmly, "Now that the unpleasantness is gone, let us discuss the future of the New Avengers initiative."

Tony leaned back and looked around him at the people he would be sharing the future with, and he was content.

---

Tony was taking a deep breath and thanking in his mind Carol and Helen for teaching him to control his powers.

His hands flew to his tie again and he began to adjust it nervously until an Irish voice filled the room, her tone clearly amused, "Your tie is just leaning a tad to the right Boss."

Tony untied his tie while mumbling sarcastically, "Thanks baby girl."

Friday obviously heard him and chose to ignore his tone as she replied happily, "Always Boss."

"Oh, honestly Tony." Laura said as she stepped into the room.

Tony turned around in surprise and asked, "L. What are you doing here?"

Laura raised an amused eyebrow at him and replied easily, "Someone should make sure the groom is presentable."

Rhodey followed her into the room and immediately protested, "Hey! I'm the best man, it should be my job!"

Laura turned to him with a soft smile and said gently, "Oh honey I love you, but knowing this fact is the exact reason why I am here. If it's not a military uniform, you are as hopeless as the groom here."

Rhodey let out a small pout, but didn't protest any further.

As Laura began to work on his tie his mind drifted onto the past couple of months since the defeat of Thanos.

The first major event was Pepper and Laura demanding to know the date of the wedding now that the threat of Thanos was gone.

Both Carol and Tony were caught off guard and Tony sputtered the first free date that came to his mind. For just a moment the women looked distressed at how close the date was before they forced Hope and Sharon to join their group and began running the show.

The next notable thing was the trials of James Barnes as the Winter Soldier. Barnes provided closure to 276 families and closed over 300 cold cases with his testimony. It took the jury about ten minutes to come to a not-guilty verdict.

Afterwards was the trial for his crimes during the Civil War of which he pled guilty to all and received mandatory psychiatric help and ten years of community service as an unpaid Avenger. Barnes accepted both verdicts with grace.

Next were the trials of Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton.

Barton acted exactly the opposite of how one should in a trial. He screamed, cursed and when all else failed began to try attacking the gallery for their comments against him.

It was an eventful affair that ended with Barton receiving about 20 years in prison. It could have been 14 or at least have a parole option, but his behavior really left the judge no room for leniency.

Romanoff's trial on the other hand was anything but eventful. She tried to keep finding ways to get scot free, and when that was obviously not going to happen, she began to argue for a working sentence like Barnes's, which the judge was quick to deny. In fact, he shut it down so quickly Romanoff looked insulted.

In the end none of the ex-spy's tactics worked and she was sentenced to a life sentence.

And finally, Rogers. Oh, Rogers. The man remained delusional even after the verdict was announced.

The entire trial Rogers tried to portray himself as the mighty hero trying to save the world from the corrupt system of the accords, and to save Tony from himself. Rogers kept leaning into the evil accords, and that Tony was a good man that just needed the right guides to steer him away from making mistakes like he had been doing for the past year.

Tony couldn't even find it in himself to be insulted at the way the man treated him as a pet rather than a human being far less one of the most intelligent ones on the planet.

In the end he was sentenced to life in prison and for the serum to be removed from his blood the moment there would be a safe method to execute such a thing.

Even as he was dragged away Rogers was screaming that everyone was making a mistake, and he was a hero. No one paid him any attention, which probably hurt the oaf more than the verdict itself.

"Uncle Tony!!" A few voices called loudly as they entered the room snapping Tony out of his thoughts.

First to run in were Lila, Cassie and Holly, behind them was Cooper, Harley and Peter, and finally they were followed by Kamala and Kate who was holding little Tony in her arms.

Harley smirked and said snarkily, "Looking sharp old man."

Lila turned to give Harley a dirty look that had the boy taking a step back in fear before she turned to Tony with a wide smile and said, "You look great Uncle Tony."

The kids kept fawning over him, obviously trying to distract him, which worked. After what seemed like an eternity Laura let go of his neck and announced, "You are ready."

Tony took a deep breath, put on his smirk, not the fake one he wears for the media, but a real one, one filled with pure and genuine happiness as he walked toward the doors and said, "Then let's get this show on the road."

The End........?