[Underground Tunnels. Beneath the Avengers Compound.]
The red emergency lights flickered, casting long, dancing shadows against the wet concrete. The air was thick with dust and the screeching of alien beasts.
Clint Barton ran. He clutched the Iron Gauntlet to his chest like a football. He was limping, his ankle twisted from the fall.
"How far?" Clint wheezed.
"The structural integrity is compromised," Sebastian ran beside him, effortlessly keeping pace despite the debris. "We must find a service ladder. Approximately two hundred meters due north."
SCREEECH.
The ceiling ahead of them exploded. Four Outriders—six-limbed, teeth-gnashing nightmares—dropped into the corridor, blocking their path.
Clint skidded to a halt. He drew his bow, nocking an explosive arrow.
"Behind us!" Clint yelled.
Sebastian turned. Another six Outriders were crawling down the walls behind them. They were trapped.
"Ten of them," Clint panted, aiming his bow. "I got three arrows left. This is gonna be tight."
"Mr. Barton," Sebastian stepped forward, placing himself between Clint and the forward group. "Do you trust me?"
"Not really!" Clint fired an arrow, blowing the head off one Outrider.
"Good," Sebastian began to unbutton his cuffs. "Then trust your fear. Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Close them," Sebastian ordered, his voice dropping into a register that vibrated in Clint's bones. "And do not open them until I say the word. Some things... are not meant for human witnessing."
Clint looked at the demon butler. He looked at the snarling aliens. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears.
"Okay," Clint whispered. "They're closed."
[The Slaughter]
Sebastian sighed. He let the human mask slip.
The Outriders charged.
Sebastian didn't move. He simply... expanded. The shadows in the corridor didn't just darken; they became liquid. They became teeth.
SQUELCH.
The first Outrider didn't just die. It was unmade. A massive, shadowy tendril erupted from Sebastian's coat, spearing the beast and tearing it in half.
Sebastian moved like a blur of violet light and obsidian smoke. He didn't use martial arts. He used predation. He caught an Outrider by the jaw and ripped it open down to the sternum. He drove a hand through the chest of another, crushing its heart before it could scream.
It wasn't a fight. It was a feeding frenzy.
Clint stood in the dark, eyes squeezed shut. He heard wet tearing sounds. He heard the chattering of the aliens turn into high-pitched squeals of terror, then silence. He felt a cold wind rushing past him, smelling of sulfur and old blood.
The screaming stopped.
"Mr. Barton."
Clint opened his eyes.
The emergency light flickered back on.
The corridor was painted black and purple with alien blood. Limbs were scattered everywhere. The ten Outriders were gone—dismembered so thoroughly it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
Sebastian stood in the center of the carnage. He was buttoning his cuff. There wasn't a drop of blood on his suit.
"The path is clear," Sebastian said pleasantly. "Shall we?"
Clint stared at him. He swallowed hard. "Remind me never to make you mad about the coffee."
"Duly noted," Sebastian gestured. "After you."
[The Surface. The Battlefield.]
They climbed out of a ventilation shaft, emerging into the gray, smoke-choked daylight.
The Avengers Compound was gone. In its place was a massive crater.
In the center of the crater, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor stood facing Thanos.
They looked broken. Tony was unconscious, leaning against a rock. Thor was bloody. Steve's shield was shattered in half.
Thanos stood tall. Behind him, the Sanctuary II lowered its ramps.
Thousands of Chitauri, Sakaarans, and Outriders poured out. Leviathans floated into the sky. It was the largest army the universe had ever seen.
Steve Rogers stood alone. He tightened the strap of his broken shield. He staggered forward. One man against a legion.
Sebastian and Clint crouched behind a pile of rubble on the ridge.
"We have to get the Gauntlet to the van," Clint pointed to the ugly brown van with the Quantum Tunnel in the back, miraculously untouched across the field. "We need to get the stones out of this timeline."
"We will never make it," Sebastian said, looking at the army. "Not without a distraction."
Then, a crackle of static broke through the silence.
"Cap... it's Sam. Can you hear me?"
Steve stopped. He touched his earpiece.
"On your left."
Behind Steve, a circle of orange sparks appeared. It widened into a portal.
Three figures walked out. Okoye. Shuri. And the Black Panther.
Then, Sam Wilson (Falcon) flew out.
More portals opened.
Doctor Strange descended from Titan, bringing Spider-Man, Drax, Mantis, and Star-Lord. The Wakandan army chanted. The Ravagers arrived. Pepper Potts landed in her blue Rescue armor. Bucky and Groot walked out of the trees. The Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj formed shields. Wanda Maximoff floated down, eyes glowing red.
Everyone came back.
Sebastian watched from the ridge. For the first time in his existence, he felt something akin to awe. Not at the power, but at the sheer, stubborn will of humanity.
"Bloody hell," Sebastian whispered. "They actually did it."
[The Charge]
"AVENGERS!" Steve Rogers summoned Mjolnir (which Thor had brought from the past). "ASSEMBLE!"
The two armies collided.
"Go!" Clint yelled. "Get the Gauntlet to the van!"
Clint tried to run, but his leg gave out. He stumbled.
"Give it to me," Sebastian grabbed the Gauntlet.
He sprinted.
He was a black dart weaving through the chaos. He slashed a Chitauri soldier, jumped over a gorilla-beast, and slid under a Leviathan's laser blast.
"Mr. Stark!" Sebastian yelled into the comms. "I have the package!"
"Get it to the van!" Tony's voice came back, weak but alive. "We need to send the stones back!"
Sebastian ran. But the battlefield was too dense. He was surrounded.
Suddenly, a web line attached to the Gauntlet.
"I got it!" Spider-Man swung in. He snatched the Gauntlet from Sebastian's hands. "Hey, Mr. Sebastian! Nice to see you! We're not dead!"
"Master Parker!" Sebastian deflected a spear aimed at the boy. "Activate Instant Kill!"
"I did!" Peter yelled, his spider-legs stabbing Outriders. "This is awesome!"
Peter swung away with the Gauntlet.
Sebastian stopped. He looked around. He needed to find Tony. His duty was not the stones. His duty was the Master.
He saw Iron Man across the field, fighting Cull Obsidian.
Sebastian ran toward him.
But then, the sky darkened.
"Rain fire!" Thanos ordered.
The Sanctuary II turned its cannons downward. It didn't aim. It just fired everywhere.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
The battlefield turned into a blender. Water from the bay flooded in. The ground shattered.
Sebastian was thrown into the air by a blast. He landed hard, skidding through the mud.
He looked up. The cannons were turning toward the van. Toward the Gauntlet.
And toward Tony.
[End of Chapter 49]
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