[The Ruins of the Avengers Compound. The Battlefield.]
The sky was on fire. The ground was mud and blood.
Thanos wore the Nano-Gauntlet. The energy of the six Infinity Stones surged through his body, burning his arm, but he didn't scream. He smiled.
"I am... inevitable," Thanos declared.
He raised his hand.
Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers) lunged, grabbing the Gauntlet. She forced his fingers open, her binary energy flaring. Thanos headbutted her. She didn't flinch.
Desperate, Thanos ripped the Power Stone from the Gauntlet with his free hand. He clenched it.
BOOM.
A violet shockwave of pure cosmic force exploded. Carol was blasted backward, flying across the battlefield. Thor was knocked unconscious. Steve Rogers was thrown into a pile of debris.
Thanos slotted the Power Stone back into the Gauntlet. He stood alone. The path was clear.
"No," Tony Stark whispered from the ground. He tried to stand, but his suit was failing.
Thanos raised his hand to snap.
[The Intervention]
A blur of tattered black cloth shot out from the smoke.
Sebastian Michaelis.
He was bleeding black ichor. His left arm hung uselessly at his side, broken from the earlier barrage. He was starving, exhausted, and operating on sheer will.
He leaped.
He didn't attack Thanos's head. He attacked the hand.
Sebastian latched onto the Gauntlet. His gloved hand—the one bearing the contract seal—grabbed Thanos's thumb. He dug his boots into the mud, straining every demonic muscle fiber to keep the Titan's fingers from closing.
"You!" Thanos roared, recognizing the butler from Titan. "Insect!"
"I am..." Sebastian gritted his teeth, his eyes glowing a blinding, furious fuchsia. "NOT... DONE... SERVING!"
Thanos growled. He used the strength of the stones. He twisted his arm, lifting Sebastian into the air.
With a brutal backhand, Thanos slammed Sebastian into the ground.
CRACK.
Sebastian bounced, skidding through the dirt, his body broken. He lay still, coughing up black blood.
But he had bought the second.
[The Steal]
That single second of distraction was enough.
Tony Stark lunged. He grabbed the Gauntlet with both hands, wrestling with the Titan.
Thanos looked at Tony with pity. He pulled his arm free, throwing Tony aside like a ragdoll.
Thanos adjusted the Gauntlet. The stones hummed.
"I am... inevitable," Thanos repeated.
SNAP.
The sound echoed across the battlefield.
Nothing happened.
Thanos frowned. He turned his hand over.
The Gauntlet was empty. The sockets were bare.
Thanos looked up.
Tony Stark was kneeling a few feet away. The nanotechnology of his suit was shifting, flowing down his right arm.
One by one, the six Infinity Stones slotted into place on his Iron Man glove.
The surge of power was catastrophic. Tony gasped, his head thrown back, as the cosmic energy fried his nervous system. The metal of his suit began to char.
"Tony..." Sebastian whispered from the mud, unable to move.
Tony looked at Doctor Strange across the field. Strange held up one shaking finger. One way.
Then, Tony looked at Sebastian.
Their eyes met. The Master and the Servant.
Sebastian saw the intent in Tony's eyes. He saw the acceptance. There was no fear. Only peace.
It's okay, Seb, Tony's eyes seemed to say. You can let me go.
Sebastian felt a tear—a genuine, human tear—slide down his cheek. He bowed his head into the dirt.
"As you wish, Young Master."
Tony turned back to Thanos.
"And I..." Tony's voice rasped, metallic and defiant.
He raised his hand. The stones burned brighter than the sun.
"...am... Iron Man."
SNAP.
[The White Room]
A blinding flash of white light consumed the world.
Thanos watched as his army began to dissolve. The Chitauri. The Outriders. The ships. They all turned to dust, blowing away in the wind.
Thanos looked at his hands. He looked at the sunrise breaking over the horizon. He sat down on a rock. He took a deep breath.
And then, he was gone. Dust in the wind.
[The End]
Tony Stark slumped against a piece of twisted metal. The right side of his body was charred. The stones flickered and died.
Rhodey flew down. He opened his faceplate. He put a hand on Tony's head.
Peter Parker swung in. He collapsed in front of Tony.
"Mr. Stark?" Peter cried. "Hey! Mr. Stark? Can you hear me? It's Peter. We won. You did it, sir. You did it."
Tony stared past him, his eyes glassy.
"I'm sorry," Peter sobbed. "Tony..."
Pepper Potts gently pulled Peter away. She knelt in front of Tony. She placed her hand on the Arc Reactor.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Pep..." Tony wheezed.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y.?" Pepper asked.
"Life functions critical," the AI replied softly.
Tony looked at Pepper. He looked at the sky.
Then, he looked past them all. To the figure limping out of the shadows.
Sebastian Michaelis dragged himself forward. He fell to his knees beside Pepper. He didn't care about the other Avengers watching. He didn't care about the secret.
He took Tony's unburned left hand in both of his. He peeled back his own glove, revealing the glowing purple contract seal.
The light of the seal was fading. The contract was completing.
"Seb," Tony whispered.
"I am here, Sir," Sebastian said, his voice breaking. "I am here."
"Did I...?"
"Yes," Sebastian squeezed his hand. "You saved them all. It was... immaculate work, Sir."
Tony smiled. A weak, final smile.
"Good," Tony breathed out. "I can... rest now."
The light in the Arc Reactor flickered.
Once. Twice.
Darkness.
Tony Stark's hand went limp in Sebastian's grip. The seal on Sebastian's hand flared brightly one last time, then dissolved into nothingness.
The contract was fulfilled.
Pepper kissed Tony's cheek and began to weep. Peter buried his face in his hands. Thor bowed his head. Steve Rogers cried silently.
Sebastian did not cry. He stared at the dead face of the man he had served for decades.
He felt the soul leave the body. It was right there. Hovering. A soul of unparalleled quality. A soul seasoned by suffering, heroism, arrogance, and love. The ultimate meal.
Sebastian opened his mouth to inhale it. To claim his prize.
But he stopped.
He looked at Pepper. He looked at the grieving Peter. He remembered the little girl with the alpaca.
He remembered the man who offered him a drink in a cave in Afghanistan when he was nothing but a monster.
Sebastian closed his mouth.
He released the soul.
He watched the golden essence of Tony Stark drift upward, dissolving into the ether, free and uneaten.
"Go," Sebastian whispered to the air. "You have earned your rest."
He released Tony's hand. He stood up, unsteady and broken.
"Sebastian?" Steve Rogers stepped forward, reaching out to steady him.
Sebastian pulled away. He looked at the Avengers. He looked at the ruins of the world they had saved.
"The service is concluded," Sebastian said coldly.
He turned his back on them. He walked away into the smoke and the rising sun, a silhouette fading into the history books.
The Demon Butler was alone once more.
[End of Arc 8]
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